Let's Play Legends Arceus, Part 3: DE-LE-LE-LE WHOOOOOOOOOP

Last we left off, we're supposed to investigate some alpha Pokemon rampaging or something-or-other. Well, instead of doing that... I ran around the Obsidian Fieldlands and just had a grand old time just... exploring. This is where a game like this will absolutely get me, and what, I feel, is the true potential of what Sword/Shield did with their Wild Area. 

There's a lot of fun bits even in this first field, too. Shaking trees will drop Burmy, an absolutely welcome wink-wink-nod to the headbutt trees from Gen II and the honey-trees from Gen IV. I managed to catch myself a Ponyta (it's one of the few available Fire-types in the Sinnoh games, I remember things right) and got a Silcoon and basically ran around trying to complete the Pokedex. And I really do like it a lot -- I've always been someone who's really into the whole collector/Pokedex vibe of the game, and it actually being a progression point to explore and see these Pokemon do different things is just such a fun game mechanic! I got promoted all the way to two stars. I think I mentioned it last time, but my Rowlet, Kricketot and Shinx have all evolved into Dartrix, Kricketune and Luxio. 

Speaking of fun game mechanics... a quality-of-life improvement that I didn't know I needed but now I want for every Pokemon game... each Pokemon just has their list of 'learned' moves available at all times, and I can order which four moves I want them to have! It's just such an intensely amazing quality-of-life change, eliminating the need for move relearners... all my Pokemon has to do is to learn the move once, and then they'll be able to freely swap that move in and out. Obviously it's not something I can do in the midst of battle, but it does really make sense, doesn't it, that for example my Rowlet can still use Leafage even though he's learned a bunch of newer moves?

I also narrowly avoid being murdered by a very aggressive Alpha Floatzel when trying to catch a big Buizel for that one guard. 

Eventually I actually progress into the Deertrack Heights, where Geodudes are the super-aggressive mofos that hang out. It tracks with what I remember of them from older games, for sure! As the name indicates, there are also Stantler here, though I had to actually run around a little bit to find where they hang out. 

I walk up to a shrine-like location where Mai and Professor Laventon are waiting for me, and... and it's kind of interesting. Mai gives some exposition about how Alpha Pokemon are Pokemon that have obtained energy from 'Almighty Sinnoh', allowing them to have greater power and access to certain moves they wouldn't have normally. That just, again, sounds a lot like how Totem Pokemon are created! Mai and her Diamond Clan revere the Wyrdeer of Deertrack Heights, but that's not actually the Alpha Pokemon I'm facing.

No, instead, with a glorious De-Le-Le-WHOOOOOOOOP, a gigantic Kricketune with glowing eyes just casually saunters into the field. I think the English-localization team have caught on with the meme, becuase every single line of dialogue from the Kricketune is a de-le-le-le-whoooop! That's glorious! I love it. I loved this whole sequence. 

Unfortunately, my own Kricketune didn't manage to take down the much stronger Kricketune, and got wiped out after a couple of Aerial Aces. Dartrix got the experience points in the end, but... well, at least the crisis is averted, right? This Alpha Kricketune is just a little 'pest' that has been bothering the actual 'noble' that lives in this mountain, the majestic Gandalf-esque Wyrdeer. 

Wyrdeer shows up and apparently 'takes a liking' to me. I... I'll take Mai's word for that, the Wyrdeer's expression just looks irritated. But Wyrdeer's acknowledgement has caused the Diamond Clan to allow the Galaxy Team to set up another base where the Kricketune hung out, which means that I've got a brand-new fast-travel point!

Also hinting to what I can probably do later on in the game, Laventon and Mai discuss how Wyrdeer is known to allow humans that they trust to ride them. Laventon outright compares it to the 'ride Pokemon of Alola'... I was a bit baffled by this, but I guess there's no reason for Alola to not have domesticated Pokemon and ride them at this point in time.

As we return and get our obligatory post-level-potato-mochi dinner at the Wallflower, the green-haired shop owner shares some gossip with us -- that there is a Kleavor going around mauling people and putting people in the hospital. Holy shit! I mean, this game is still PG-13 and no human will die in this game, but all this talk of 'mauling' and 'death' is actually refreshingly intense for a Pokemon game. 

In the next day, we get an extended series of dialogue between Adaman, leader of the Diamond Clan, and Irida, leader of the Pearl Clan. It's actually quite fun for what's a pretty dialogue-heavy sequence. I assume we'll have a Skyrim/Fallout-style "pick your faction" later on in the game? But it's also pretty clear -- especially for someone like me who's a bit more versed with Pokemon lore -- that Adaman and Irida are, well, just seeing part of the picture. 

See, the Diamond Clan revere 'Almighty Sinnoh', who they view as a God of Time. Meanwhile, the Pearl Clan revere 'Almighty Sinnoh', the God of Space. Now it's obviously Dialga and Palkia, and if 'Sinnoh' is actually Arceus, that means that these two clans are arguing about the nature of the two "angels" of the actual creator deity. Pretty fun little argument, and the translation is actually pretty catchy in trying to incorporate aspects of time and space into Adaman and Irida's dialogue -- like how Adaman sees that it's not right to 'waste time', and later on Irida finds fault with Galaxy Team for restricting the 'space' of the Pokemon with their Pokeball technology. 

Design-wise... they're all right. Irida's giant... giant back-dress thing is a lot more visually striking for sure. Adaman's all right. He looks like he would fit at home among the cast of Demon Slayer. 

Anyway, the rampaging monster Kleavor is actually a 'Lord' associated with the Pearl Clan, similar to how Wyrdeer is a Lord associated with the Diamond Clan. All this lore is making me happy! And we actually have a nice little quasi-political situation here where the rampaging Kleavor is causing a lot of people to get hurt, but the Diamond Clan can't actually intervene otherwise it'd be taken as an act of hostilities. They don't outright say it, but it's heavily implied that the two clans were essentially warring not too long ago. Both leaders are very proud and take potshots at each other even while they negotiate with Kamado as to how to deal with Kleavor. 

Out of the two, Irida is a bit more cynical about me, and all this new-fangled Pokeball technology in the first place which she, like many parts of the fandom, view as a kind of 'subjugation'. Adaman, though, seems like just generally a lot more chill in general, and I think me helping Mai and Wyrdeer out does make him a bit more predisposed to liking me. Also Adaman alludes to another Lord Pokemon associated with the Diamond Clan rampaging as well, so that's probably what I'll have to deal with after Kleavor. 

There's also a fair amount of discussion where they speculate that I'm associated with Almighty Sinnoh, since I fell out of a space-time rift. Not... not a bad assumption, especially since these are clearly very religious people who's constantly arguing about whether Sinnoh is a god of space or time. 

Cyllene (who doesn't give a fuck about my safety) and Kamado (who impresses me the importance of keeping the clans at peace) send me off to the Heartlands, where I'm supposed to calm down the Kleavor. I am stopped halfway through by Bagin, who gives me some 'inventory tucking-in tips' so that I have extra inventory space in my satchel. I haven't really noticed it basically until I reach the Heartlands a bit later on, but... yeah, the amount of items I craft as well as random enemy item drops does stack up a little bit more. The game does have a giant Resident Evil style item chest that acts as my item PC,  but I actually... I actually like this a fair bit! Upgrading my satchel just by paying money does feel a bit anticlimactic, though, especially after my Breath of the Wild days where I had to hunt down like an entire Korok village to expand my inventory. 

I also explore the crafting system a bit more, because I've unlocked a bit more recipes. I get to make the Heavy Ball (one of the canon Apricorn-based balls from Gen II) and a brand-new one -- the Feather Ball, basically the opposite of it, and apparently works better on flying dudes? I can't manage to find the Sky Tumblestone needed to craft it. 

There's a lot of fun Pokemon I find running around, too -- there's a valley filled with surprisingly aggressive Paras, and in the midst of it all is a giant Alpha Parasect that attack me like a goddamn bug monster from Witcher III or something. It's pretty cool, especially seeing Parasect with glowing eyes and screeching at me. Thanks to Parasect's 4x weakness against flying and having both Dartrix and Kricketune both able to do Aerial Ace, though, Parasect has the distinction of being the first Alpha Pokemon I take down.

Zubats are another species that finally make an appearance, flapping around at night... while at the day, extremely aggressive Staravia show up. I guess after how shy and hard it is for me to catch the Starlies to complete their dex entry, it is sorta-refreshing that the Staravia are so aggrssive? 'Sparky' the Luxio, despite being a Pokemon I didn't plan on using for the playthrough, ends up being kind of the MVP of my team, using his Thunder Fang to murder all the flying-types. 'Jet' the Buizel is also very useful against all the Geodudes and their nasty owl-murdering Rollouts. 

Around halfway through the Heartlands, there's a very cool part of the river where it's clearly been dammed up by beavers. Or rather, by Bibarels! It's such a nice little detail to the area when you can just tell that the level designers really intended to highlight one of the Pokemon species. And, of course, there's a scary Alpha Bibarel that I don't feel like fighting, so I had to ninja around him.

The Heartlands is pretty neat. I think the background music implies that this is the past version of Eterna Forest? There are Buneary just hanging out in the cliffs and Psyducks waddling in the river. Psyduck, by the way, are one of the species that is coded to be aggressive, shooting Water Pulses at me. Pretty shocking! One stretch of the forest leads to a forest populated by Combees, and I bet hunting for a female Combee would be as frustrating as it was in Diamond/Pearl. At the end of this grove is a bunch of Scythers, and... and I do have a Kricketune in my party already, but I can rock with two blade-armed Bug Pokemon. We'll see how I like Scyther, since I'm trying to use new species-es and Scythers evolve into Kleavors in this game... and, hey, as cool as Scyther is, I've never actually used one in a party!

...and it turns out to not quite be that simple. The warden associated with Kleavor is a kid called Lian. I'm... not sure who he's supposed to be? I guess not all the characters in Hisui have counterparts in the future/present, then, since I can't place if Adaman and Irida are supposed to resemble anyone. The closest I can get for Irida is maybe May, the protagonist in Ruby/Sapphire... anyway, Lian is a huge Kleavor fanboy and waxes lyrical about his assigned Noble Pokemon (which is, I guess, just a title as opposed to a 'subspecies' like Alpha Pokemon) and I don't think he's all too upset that Kleavor is going nuts because it's showing its power.

Lian challenges me with his Goomy. Goomy looks good in this engine, but falls pretty quickly. Then Irida, leader of the Pearl Clan, shows up and basically talks about how she doesn't trust me or the outsiders. We get some talk about how Kleavor might have been driven mad because of that one lightning bolt we saw in a cutscene, and Irida finally begrudgingly accepts Galaxy Team's help, though she takes a bunch of potshots at the "Diamond Clan's False Sinnoh". Ah, religious intolerance!

I'm supposed to go and report this to Professor Laventon, but... that's going to be next time! 

(In-between all this, I also did a bunch of side-quests and talking to people. There was a rather funny one where a guard wants me to show her what a Zubat's eyes look like, becuase Zubats can 'patrol' in the dark. Of course, the joke being that Zubat has no eyes, ha ha. Oh, and Beauregard's Wurmple evolves, rather predictably, into a Cascoon and the man's super convinced that it'll evolve into a Beautifly.)

Current party: Dartrix, Luxio, Kricketune, Buizel, Stantler, Scyther.

One Piece 1050 Review: Eruption

One Piece, Chapter 1050: Honor

I wasn't the most satisfied with 1049's ending to the Luffy/Kaido fight, but I did say that I would reserve judgement until this chapter confirms whether it's the actual end or not. And... and now that I have, I think I can safely say that I'm slightly underwhelmed? It's not a terrible ending, I don't think. But it's not a great, cathartic ending -- not in the way that Doflamingo's defeat felt. It's not a tense ending, not in the way that Whole Cake or Marineford ended. It's just a bit... messy? Unlike many people who were apparently led on by some interview-or-other, I wasn't disappointed by the fact that Luffy used a giant Bajrang Gun punch on Kaido -- what else would Luffy do? A super-gigantic Bazooka, I guess? But it's rather the fact that it didn't feel... complete. Kaido did get a flashback, yes, but we really don't fill in a lot of the gaps about his motivations (particularly the death-seeking part), and I think the internet's done a greater job at listing things that seem to point at Kaido getting back up after 1049. I personally didn't think that was going to happen, but... but I did hold up hope for more flashbacks or depth about Kaido, about Joy Boy, about Kaido's motivations... more stuff like that. 

At least Kaido was sent out with a bit of a bang. A literal big bang, anyway, as Kaido and Big Mom apparently drilled a hole all the way to the active pocket of magma (lava?) underneath the thin Mount Fuji... and, jumping ahead a little, we got a huge-fuck-off volcanic eruption to presumably send them flying into the distance, Team Rocket style. 

The narrator gets a cheeky bit of saying that 'the declared victor is revised', which... okay, you cheeky bastard, you omniscient narrator, you. (Yamato also catches Luffy, so he doesn't die from fall damage. Not that I expect Luffy to die, mind you. That's less likely than any of the wild theories about Wano's ending.)

And... and the episode cuts to Tenguyama and Toko in the flower capital. And... just like the first Hiyori confrontation in the midst of Gear Fifth a couple chapters back, it's honestly a pretty good scene. It doesn't feel redundant like the pre-Denjiro-cuts-off-Orochi's-head flashback. Toko and Tenguyama's conversation, discussing the importance of a fight and sacrifice, and calling back to Yasuie's death (a moment that I have a much greater feeling for, having reread the arc and watched it in the anime). There's no greater honour than to be respected for sacrifice, and Toko amends her message from "I want to see you daddy" to  "thank you daddy".

...and then we cut to Nekomamushi informing the battlefield of the victory, and we get a pretty grand two-page spread of all the characters reacting to this news. There's also a bit later on of some Beasts Pirates goons trying to continue to fight, but Yamato puts in no uncertain terms that she will kanabo the shit out of anyone who raises a fuss. 

A bit interesting, though, is Usopp and Franky running in with their respective wounded charges -- Kin'emon, Kiku, Zoro -- and Chopper just being overwhelmed with the sheer amount of casualties that are mounting. I do think we really need to address these guys in the next couple of chapters -- particularly Zoro's weird encounter with the Grim Reaper or whatever. And whether all the Kin'emon death flag... wink-wink-nod hints are going to amount to anything.

Interestingly, we get a scene of Momonosuke talking to Zunesha, and him deciding to not open Wano's borders just yet. We don't really get an elaboration on his reasonings yet (which I assume next chapter should give us?) because the aforementioned volcanic eruption happens, witnessed by Babanuki and the other wardens in Udon Prison. 

It's this giant volcanic eruption that finally alerts everyone to the fact that, hey, a gigantic battle has been happening nearby. Dragon-mode Momonosuke descends on the Flower Capital, declares that he's not Kaido, that Kaido is defeated... and that's where the chapter kind of abruptly ends. Momonosuke lands and de-transforms out of his dragon mode, Hiyori steps out and everyone recognizes her, and Denjiro shows up, about to recap the whole damn arc while announcing the shogun of Wano. 

...which I really hope is going to either be Hiyori or a joint leadership. Sure, Momo might look like Oden, and he might have matured by a fair bit, but leading a resistance movement and leading a country are two wholly different things! 

...we still haven't had a proper reveal of adult human-mode Momonosuke, too. That'd be next chapter, I imagine. 

...and, again, I feel like the pacing's kind of wonky. I'm not sure. I guess there were just big moments and payoffs that felt like they weren't given the proper justice that they deserved (like Momo holding up the flame clouds; Kaido's motivation about being a death-seeker) or maybe some scenes that might've benefited by being shown in a different order (the flashbacks leading up to Orochi's beheading, Denjiro not literally being MIA for a real-life year)... and even the fact that this chapter still plays a bit coy with showing the defeated villain's face. I don't know. One Piece isn't perfect, not by a long shot, and for all intents and purposes this chapter does feel like this arc is over... but I do have the feeling that we might have a couple more surprises down the line. 

Random Notes:

• So despite many, many theories I've seen online, the two figures that show up to save Yonji and Niji are... Ichiji and Reiju. Nothing too surprising, but I honestly don't expect anything super-groundbreaking in the cover story? I'd be pleasantly surprised, but I'm not disappointed that we didn't get anything super wow.
• Ichiji is straight-up choking a little girl. Poor Ananana!
• Other random plot threads that haven't really been resolved: Apoo! Apoo is just... there, reacting in the crowd. I am genuinely shocked he survived the whole arc without a proper takedown. 
• That one CP-0 agent did get away from Wano, so we might have the World Government or Marines coming in after Denjiro gives his big epic 'wrap up the succession plot' speech or something. 
• I guess another point to why I dislike the 'Kaido and Big Mom will get up, we'll get Act 4 and 5' is that... shit, we've been in Wano for a long while. I like the arc, I like these characters, but I kinda want us to move on?
• I'm almost certain Orochi and Ashura Doji might be dead. But then I remember Pell, and Kin'emon running around as a lower body while farting after Kaido bisected him. 

Kamen Rider Revice E35 Review: Hikaru Rising (ft. Vail Episode 5)

Kamen Rider Revice, Episode 35: Unknown Threat, the Way We Should Go

The first part of this episode picks up where we left off in 34, with Daiji bleeding on the ground while monster Akemi rampages. Akemi and Vail beat Sakura, Ikki and Vice in quick succession. Hikaru yells about wanting to help, but eventually it's just Vail running out of 'time' or whatever energy he needs to manifest that ends up saving the Igarashi siblings. Akaishi seems to not want to kill the Igarashi siblings, though, explicitly noting that they are 'children of Gifu-sama' and how they are a 'family', which ties in, in a twisted sense, to the whole family themes that are so strong in this show. 

Daiji and Vice both are kind of fucked up mentally when they return to the Igarashi bathhouse, and Ikki starts playing psychotherapist. It's... it's pretty nice acting and stuff on all the actors' part, but I don't really 'feel' these character developments this time around? Ikki very quickly picks out how Daiji's acting a lot more hot-headed when it's usually him that's the cool, calming part of the group. George also lampshades this, talking about how Daiji doesn't have Kagerou to 'contrast' his 'light', whatever the hell that means. After talking to Ikki and George, Daiji flashes back to Akemi's words about 'righteousness' not being an easy word to throw around, but he will still believe in his righteousness.

Tamaki ends up meeting Hikaru training his body in the middle of the night, and Tamaki ends up accidentally motivating Hikaru by talking about how doing hard work can make things change. Vail and Akaishi also have a bit of a conversation, where Akaishi forbids Vail from killing the Igarashis... while Vail doesn't make any promises, noting that he'll 'leave them barely clinging to life'. 

Ikki and Vice have a conversation, and... and the big primary emotional conflict of this two-parter is basically resolved just like that. "You're not a demon, you're Vice." It's... it's not a conflict whose concept I really liked, so I kind of also like that just as how abrupt Vail's corrupting words are, its resolution also seems to be as abrupt. Okay, then. 

The climax of this episode happens during Akaishi's speech, and Daiji plans to attack Akaishi a short moment into his speech to expose him as a follower of Gifu. It's a pretty simple plan, and Akaishi turning the tables on him is likewise pretty simple, but it's well-executed. Monster Akemi show up to attack them, and to the public (we really could've seen some public reaction to that) it looks like Fenix is just being attacked by monsters. 

Gifu himself actually appears, still voiceless, through a portal in the sky and just drops Vail and a fuckton of Giffterians onto the crowd... and in a surprisingly brutal bit, actually vaporizes the half-dozen Fenix guards around Akaishi. That's actual on-screen death! 

Vice gives a brief monologue to tell Vail that he's not going to listen to his bullshit anymore, and we get a typical multi-henshin and a fight against Vail. Monster Akemi attacks Akaishi and we get some hammy fake-overacting as he topples over and talks about how totally awesome Gifu and his forces are and how fucked-up Fenix is, which leads to his conclusion about how humanity has no hope. As if to emphasize this, Gifu just zaps all the Kamen Riders and forces them to de-transform, before blowing up Fenix's jets and causes its massive Helicarrier to blow up and crash into the river. A lot of people died there, I bet. 

There's a bit with Daiji angsting about how they should be the 'righteous' ones, but then Hikaru of all people show up with the Demons Driver, transforming to Kamen Rider Over-Demons, a repaint of the Vail suit, then uses a bunch of tentacle-claws to evacuate the Igarashi siblings and blow up the Giffterians. A bit of a random conclusion, but as the Igarashis lick their wounds after the battle, apparently Weekend is about to do something, while Daiji meets with Akaishi...

I'll be honest, I'm not really feeling this episode. It's not a bad episode, I just felt like there's something a bit lacking. I guess it's a bit too jumpy? I could see a much better version of this episode where we maybe resolve Vice's stuff a lot earlier, and focus a lot more on Daiji angsting? Not a bad episode in terms of plot progression, though, even if some of the scenes are intentionally a bit overacted. 

Random Notes:

• I've been watching Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood and there's definitely a very strong 'you can't kill the important sacrifices' vibe that's echoed by Akaishi refusing to let Vail kill the Igarashis. 
• There's a brief scene of Weekend talking about the 'head and heart' doesn't always agree, leading to Weekend's resistance. 
• George apparently got injured at some point during the fight with Akaishi (it might be in the beginning?) and his arm is in a sling. 
• Vail Episode 5 Mini-Review:
• It ended... rather well, all things considered. Again, the Vail mini-series, I felt, would've been paced a lot better as a single longer episode, instead of being cut into multiple parts with a present-day segment and whatnot. But we get to see and essentially wrap up some parts... namely, the final confrontation with NOAH. Karizaki Senior ends up turning on NOAH and helping the good guys. The guy played by Bishop continues to be evil, but gets killed off when Vail manifests and rips a hole through him. 
• Vail and Genta then face off, because Vail gets super-duper-jealous about Genta, and we get a pretty neat fight. Considering the V-Cinema status, I'm actually surprised it's not bloodier? There's a 'if you destroy me you'll be destroyed too', but Karizaki Sr. uses the Demons Driver to seal Vail-the-demon, allowing Genta to live. 
• A cool little acknowledgement that without Vail-the-demon in the driver, Kamen Rider Vail is just a suit of armour. 
• Karizaki gets burnt with CGI fire and seemingly killed in the rubble, explaining his Deathstroke mask in the present day. Akaishi recovers the Demons Driver in the post-credits scene. Genta loses his memory and gets plastic reconstructive surgery, while Buu helps to cover their identities.
• ...and that's about it. It's more of a recap than anything, honestly. But it's been a fun little side-series to follow as I watch the main Revice series!

Let's Play Legends Arceus, Part 2: Pokemon Are Terrifying Creatures

Last we left off, I got my starter, and I am going off to Obsidian Fieldlands to undergo my trial so that I can be accepted into Jubilife Village and not be left out to die. But before I can make my first foray into the semi open-world of Hisui, I get accosted by some dude called Volo -- he's got a large backpack and a hairstyle that covers one of his eye. I had to check online to know if he's a 'he' or a 'she'. Volo introduces himself as a member of the Ginkgo Guild, a merchant guild -- I love this. I love this random bit of worldbuilding. 

And then Volo challenges me to battle with a Togepi! Normally the first 'rival' battle or whatever is never all too interesting, but... but it's 3-D... and I can move around in the battlefield! I can actually run around while my Rowlet stares down Volo's Togepi! Rowlet's Gust attack immediately strikes the enemy Togepi, sure, but when the Togepi uses a Tackle attack, it actually bowls over my trainer!

I absolutely love this. I don't know if I have a 'HP' meter for my human character, but a lot of the themes in Legends Arceus so far focus on how the Pokemon are terrifying creatures that aren't domesticated, and even if it's just there as a little cosmetic thing, I do love that your trainer could get 'injured', so to speak, in battle. Even if I find it hilarious that a full-grown young adult could get knocked down on his ass by an egg-baby Togepi. 

After Volo leaves, I, Akari and Professor Laventon go to Obsidian Fieldlands. The travel is by selecting a map, so it's not a 'true' open world but I just jump from one large map to the next, but I'm fine with that. 

And... it's... it's a pretty typical 'Route 1', I suppose. And all the wild Pokemon I'm supposed to catch is still a bit hand-held for me... but I do like that Akari basically goes through different aspects of this game's mechanics. Bidoof is dumb unafraid of humans so it just sticks around like a goober. Starly is a bit more skittish, so I have to sneak and crouch on the grass to toss my ball at him. And the Shinx acts as kind of a boss of this little mini-tutorial, since it's hostile and I have to send out my Rowlet to fight it -- at which point it basically goes back to the regular Pokemon battle system, other than the little wrinkle that I have to aim and throw my ball to catch it. 

Can I love how glorious it is that it's subverted now? That I'm crouching in the tall grass to ambush the Pokemon instead of the other way around?

I also like the little explanation of how a Pokemon would be too distracted in the battle, making it easier to aim the Pokeball -- something that the gameplay does demonstrate pretty well. 

Also also, thank god there's still battle against wild Pokemon. That aspect is easily the worst part of the otherwise pretty decent Let's Go games, where the pretty cool mechanic of Pokemon spawning in the overworld is marred by the fact that every single encounter is reduced to a Pokeball throwing minigame. This one has you chase them, sneak around them, and there's a potential of battle, too -- good show, Legends Arceus team!

Akari is impressed, and Laventon takes a photograph of me with... with a camera? Do cameras exist in Meiji-era Japan? I genuinely don't know. It is kind of interesting that everyone talks about how my Pokemon-cathing expertise would be crucial for the survival of the city... man, if catching a Bidoof, Shinx and Starly is something super-duper awesome, these guys are down pretty bad.

In a very cool aspect, too, I can actually let some or all of my Pokemon out of their balls in Jubilife City! That's so cool! There's also a brief bit where I can chuck my Rowlet at a berry tree and have it help harvest the Oran Berries there. It's pretty cool -- Let's Go and the DLC parts of Sword/Shield have this feature to some degree, and I am happy that they're starting to realize that Pokemon following you around is pretty damn important for the vibe of this franchise in general. 

Cyllene welcomes me to the Survey Corps, and gives me my uniform -- I can finally junk my isekai modern day T-shirt and pants, and dress up in... in a winter ninja outfit? There's something missing, though, and Cyllene drops in to give me that Diamond/Pearl protagonist cap. Now I look cool!

Cyllene sends me off to talk to Commander Kamado on the top floor... and Commander Kamado isn't actually a Demon Slayer with green-and-black kimono. No. It's Professor Rowan! Or, rather, Rowan's ancestor, with a fancy kimono and a jacket that he drapes around his shoulder like a goddamn One Piece admiral. He immediately asks me to try and attack him physically, but he knocks me around with a Judo toss -- something that's sadly not animated. 

After being given a bunch of other stuff like a generic kimono and formally receiving a house, I get my next mission -- Pokeball crafting! Not much to say here, but I think this replaces traditional shops?

Okay, so we have ancient Rowan, ancient Cyrus, ancient Dawn... is Volo meant to be ancient Cynthia? He's got nowhere as much coolness and fashion swagger as Cynthia does; unlike Cyllene and Kamado. Time will tell. 

I walk out of the Team Galaxy building and Anthe, one of the obvious merchants lining the street in front of the Galaxy Building, gives me a bunch of plain kimonos... which are super plain. But I guess just like Generation VI onwards, we'll be collecting clothes too! 

A bit more of the overall gameplay is unlocked at this point, with Akari and Laventon heading off to Obsidian Fieldlands, and giving me a bit of an introduction to the Pokedex. It's... it's a book, which, okay, sure, they don't have digital devices at the time. But it's kind of interesting that every single entry has little side-missions like 'see Shinx use Quick Attack X times' or something along those lines, and I thought that is actually pretty damn cool! A lot more challenging and less repetitive than Let's Go's "catch 20 Pidgey" or whatever, and it even kind of fits the lore since this is one of the earliest Pokedexes we're compiling here. 

We also get a couple random side-quests, recorded pretty neatly like a more traditional RPG. A guard wants me to catch a Wurmple, another lady wants a full Starly Pokedex, another dude wants to see the ears of a Shinx -- that last bit, I completed instantly for a couple of potions. Then it's off to the Obsidian Fieldlands again, upon which Akari impresses upon me the importance of the 'flowing bit of gymnastics' known as a dodge. Because wild Pokemon will attack me, it seems... and they do! They fucking attack me. Especially those bastard Buizels and Shinxes! So far it seems like I can tank quite a bit of 'damage', so to speak, and from the little pop-up guides, I'm going to assume that I pass out/black out like a regular trainer battle in a mainline Pokemon game if they beat me up too much. 

And... and it's just great exploring, y'know? Running around, collecting medicinal herbs and Apricorns and those little greeble rocks that I send my Rowlet to break; running back to the camp to heal up and craft more Pokeballs; sneaking up on those damn Starlies who just refuse to battle...

Ultimately, I return to Professor Laventon and it's interesting that I don't need to do all of the Pokedex 'quests' in order to unlock the entry -- I just need to get a point value of ten, and there are a lot of fun little objectives I can do. Defeating them, capturing them, capturing different forms or weights, seeing them use certain moves, use the 'back strike' on them... very cool!

There are obviously some roadblocks in this area since it's a starter area, but it does feel like Sinnoh. The most prominent Pokemon are still Bidoof, Starly, Shinx and Buizel, though there are also some Wurmple around an area... and a single Eevee that I very nearly missed! I went on overdrive mode and chucked like 10 Pokeballs on the Eevee.

After the expedition and registering some of the early-route Pokemon, we return to Jubilife City and Cyllene promotes me to 'First Star', which I think is this game's equivalent of badges. Or at least in terms of progressing the game and increasing the obedience level cap goes. I also get from one of the NPC's a portable crafting item, which... is nice. I didn't think they'd do it, especially not so early, but I do appreciate them not trying to stretch out the gameplay because some features in the game are meant to force you to run back and forth. 

Akari, Laventon and I dine a bit more in the potato mochi shop, and then... I kind of have free rein of the game! Of course Akari directs me to the next storyline and the plotline, apparently involving her wanting to del with a request from Mai from the Diamond Clan or something... but you know what? I'm just having too much fun exploring and doing side-quests.

And... yeah, some of the side-quests I do are pretty simple. Some dude wants a Wurmple, and that guard is really excited to evolve that Wurmple into a Beautifly, even giving me an option to help him name his Wurmple one of three nicknames beginning with Beau-, and... and the joke just writes itself, yeah? That Wurmple will evolve into an (equally beautiful) Dustox. I like Dustox.

Speaking of Wurmples, the one I have been carrying in my party has reached the requisite level to evolve, and... and it's interesting that I actually have to go to the party and manually click on the X-button to evolve it. Not sure how I feel about this, though I guess to some people it is quality-of-life? The evolution animation, at least the first half, is pertty fucking badass, though -- we get anime smoke and lightning swirling around our Pokemon like some kind of insane Super Saiyan transformation. Way too epic for my Wurmple to evolve into Cascoon, but... okay, sure!

The Pokemon box here is instead a ranch (wasn't this the Ruby/Sapphire tie-in game for the X-Box?), and I can go to the ranch lady to swap out my party. Pretty neat, and it makes sense that I don't have the instant-party-swap technology since Bill or whatever hasn't been around to invent computer systems yet.

Another side-quest doesn't even involve capturing Pokemon or whatever, but I just have to bring my own Bidoof to trick three Bidoof that broke into Jubilife City. I got this one from a 'commissions blackboard' in the Galaxy building, which... is always been a trope of J-RPG games I really love for no real discernible reason. It took me longer than I care to admit to hunt that one last Bidoof down, let me put it that way. At the end of that quest, we meet another unique-model NPC, Sanqua, who is the head of the Construction Corps and ends up putting the Bidoof to work in the city. Sanqua looks like Karen, specifically the Karen from HeartGold/ SoulSilver. I assume it's going to be a running gag for every single NPC? It's interesting that we get a non-Sinnoh NPC as the basis, for sure!

I spent a while just running around picking up side-quests in the city as well as inside the Team Galaxy HQ. One of the guards talks about a Drifloon that apparently has been seen playing with kids in the village!! Oh noes!!!1!

I also went to the fashion store (ran by a woman that seems to share a hairstyle with Platinum's Darach) and she gave me a bunch of gifts that I think are DLC? I'm never going to wear the Pikachu or Eevee festival masks, or the Shaymin kimono, but the thought's nice. I did use the money I got from my expedition to buy better sandals, as well as that cool ronin straw hat -- it looks so much more appropriate in feudal-era Hisui compared to that little modern-day cap I have in my default outfit

Akari then challenges me to a bit of a battle against her partner, which is, of course, a Pikachu. A disobedient Pikachu, mind you, and one who's apparently the cause of her being thundershock'd by a Shinx. Really do like the battle theme here -- though Pikachu really isn't a threat. This does serve as a bit of a tutorial because the leader of the training grounds, Zisu, shows up and gives me a bit of a tutorial on the "Agile Style" and "Strong Style". Apparently this game runs a bit on something that's not exactly turn-based. I did notice how some Pokemon seem to be able to do Quick Attack in quick succession, but it's not a bug. It's a feature! Agile Style deals less damage but you can potentially attack twice in a turn, while Strong Style deals more damage but you have the potential to skip a turn. Or something. 

What matters, though, is that we get a cool-ass samurai movie black-and-white screen with "STRONG STYLE" superimposed on it. Rowlet looks like such a dorky badass with his angry cute baby owl face when he does it!

Zisu also gives move tutor services, which is a godsend for anyone who wants Shinx as one of their primary Pokemon since he learns the elemental fangs. Shinx is very useful in this early game with its pretty powerful Bite and Thundershocks; as is Buizel's Aqua Jets. Really do appreciate how the dex does want me to witness certain Pokemon doing specific moves, too!

Anyway, back to the Obsidian Fieldlands, and after a brief tutorial on the back-strike moves from Volo,  we meet Mai... who's a goth chick! Or, rather, she's the ancestor of Marley, the goth chick from Diamond/Pearl. Not having an actual goth dress does make her a lot less obvious compared to some of the other NPC's, though! Mai gives some exposition about "Alpha Pokemon", which I assume are going to be bosses similar to the Totem Pokemon in Alola. I mean, shit, we already have that giant space-time rift... I bet the Pokemon theorists are already tying this in to the Ultra Wormholes!

Mai is from the Diamond Clan, and both Mai and Akari give me some backstory about how the Diamond and Pearl Clans have arrived from outside of Hisui. I'm pretty sure this is meant to be a parallel to some event in real life, but I haven't researched enough to know which part of Japan's history this is meant to reference. Again, to establish how early this is in the Pokemon world's timeline, Mai even mentions how her clan doesn't need Pokeballs to domesticate Pokemon -- her partner Munchlax was raised alongside her! Love this. I get such a strong Colosseum/Ranger vibes from this, where we get to see a different but equally valid part of the world of Pokemon.

My Arc Phone also casually beeps, because nothing says 'isekai protagonist' more than god himself calling you to give you a GPS trace on the quest objective. 

Mai also talks about "Almighty Sinnoh", which is identified by her as a great creator deity of sorts that created the land. Presumably this is Arceus, or Dialga (since Mai talks about Sinnoh "steering time") and later on, in modern day, the name of the deity they worshipped became the name of the land? It is so unreal to have actual lore that I'm trying to piece together in a freaking Pokemon game of all things!

I'm supposed to meet Akari and Mai further on in the Fieldlands, specifically at the end of Deertrack Path (gee, I wonder what the Alpha Pokemon I'm going to face? Some sort of deer Pokemon I assume?) but instead I just wander around. Interestingly at this point there's a day-night cycle that happens... and at night, the Drifloon come out to play.

Drifloon! I have a special place in my heart for this mischievous, child-kidnapping balloon monster, and I forgot it's actually tied to the Sinnoh region! Drifloons are another Pokemon species that's pretty aggressive, and I think they're more aggressive than Shinx or Buizel. They will actually launch Confusion (or is that Hypnosis) at my character, all the while teleporing and making boo-boo spooky balloon ghost sounds. It's delightfully charming!

Kricketots also populate this part of the aera -- I was wondering where Sinnoh's early bugs are at! One of the NPC quest-givers actually says the "de-le-le-le-whooop" meme when describing the noises made by Kricketune! I will try my best to raise a Kricketune, though I know they're not the strongest Pokemon out there, and I'm still planning to use a lot of the newer species. [My current party: Rowlet, Shinx, Buizel, Drifloon, Kricketot, Dustox]

I did try to run all the way to the East of Aspiration Hill, where I meet a fieldlands filled with a bunch of Ponyta... before a big fuck-off level 40 Rapidash with glowing red eyes chargs at me, curb-stomps my poor Buizel, and sends me running away. Yep, Alpha Pokemon are scary! I didn't expect Rapidash, good ol' fire-horsey, to be the Lynels of this game, but okay!

Anyway, that's about how far I went in these couple of sessions. I had way too much fun running around, doing side-quests, talking to everyone, trying everything... this gave me a feeling I haven't experienced since... since XY? Man, I guess all of those people saying that Pokemon games are 'samey' do have a point, huh!

Kamen Rider Revice E34 Review: Gifu Rising

Kamen Rider Revice, Episode 34: :The Demon is Calling the Demon

An... interesting episode? I wasn't sure whether to bundle this in a single review with 35, or to talk about it on its own. But turns out it's just enough to what my personal length for an episode review should be, so...

Daiji and George end up trying to assault Akaishi a bit more directly, especially since they realize that he's holding Akemi hostage, while Akaishi himself monologues about how Akemi has a great choice to make since she has been 'graced' with Gifu's presence earlier than most. Akaishi later gives a huge broadcast to the world about how humanity is at the precipice of a big choice. Daiji seems to be the focus for this two-parter, because he's insisting that he can and will save everyone, despite Ikki and the Weekend guys pointing out about how Akemi is a hostage. George also lampshades about how Daiji is channeling Hiromi a little bit, even quoting his whole 'lay down my life' catchphrase.

We cut to an adorable scene of Sakura and Aguilera (or 'Hana', her real name) going on a girl-date while Tamaki and Hikaru are stalking the two of them. Allegedly as bodyguards? Or something? It's just some chaotic fun... and then we also have some chaotic fun of Mama Igarashi biking around while Vice follows him around wearing some human clothes and a huge wig, ostensibly to 'bodyguard' her. 

Vail-the-demon shows up, though and ends up fighting Vice... and Vail starts to mock Vice for not acting 'as a demon should'. Vail is pissed off at Vice when he realizes that he's the demon he met years ago, but then inflicts a massive seed of doubt in Vice's mind about how he should be behaving 'as a demon should', and that Ikki would abandon him because he's a demon. It's... I kind of get where they are going for, and I do really like the voice-acting on Vice's part for this episode and the next, but at least they didn't take it too far? At this point in the story, I really don't feel like Vice is the type of guy who would be doubting Ikki without some serious evidence, or at least something beyond literally a single conversation with Vail. 

(Also, Ikki being Japan's greatest busybody... really doesn't feel like him not to grill Vice about his troubles the first time he hesitates, right?)

There's a bit of an emotional bit where Vice's doubts causes them to fall apart in the middle of a remix, but, again, I really didn't care all too much. It's neat enough drama for a two-parter, I suppose. 

George and the Igarashi siblings make a bit of a trap, trying to use a personal demonstration of a mass-produced driver as a place for the Igarashi siblings to ambush Akaishi. But Akaishi turns out to be one step ahead of them, bringing in a brainwashed Akemi (or, rathe... 'indoctrinated' would be the word here, I suppose). Akaishi begins to monologue and explain a bit more about what he is, talking about how he's a prehistoric king granted immortality by Gifu after a contract, and tasked to make the decision for humanity whether to submit to Gifu or to rise up in defiance. Fenix was invented by this Ra's Al Ghul wannabe, and Akemi seems to have agreed to his viewpoints. It's an interesting backstory, or, well, at least it's different. Akaishi has chosen 'regression' for humanity, saying that humanity could never hope to surpass Gifu,

Akaishi reveals the portal to Gifu's dimension to the good guys and monologues even more about how Gifu is the perfect answer to humanity's continued survival and all that jazz... and Daiji becomes the first one to get enraged because, well, he's been slowly getting more and more hot-tempered throughout this episode. Akaishi Fus Ro Dah's him and we get a surprising amount of prop blood on Daiji's injured neck. 

We then get a whole ton of fights against Vail and a horde of gray Gifterians. Vice gets some doubts from Vail again; Sakura gets to use her new scythe form... and the huge bomb moment was Akemi herself voluntarily saying that she sees no future for humanity, and... and gets zapped by Gifu, who transforms her into a red monster with a giant blade. Cliffhanger! 

I'll be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of Akemi's turn to evil. A good plot twist, sure, but I'd really like to see her react to the truth, at least? I've also spoken about how Vice's crisis of loyalty also seemed a bit forced. Akaishi's backstory, while a bit nonsensical, is pretty much in line with the franchise, though, and I don't really mind it. A pretty neat status-quo change episode, and it feels especially impactful because so many things got a bit shaken up here. 

Random Notes:

• The actors and camera shots do a great job at making Akaishi holding Akemi look absolutely skeevy without implying anything remotely above PG-13. 
• Okay, okay, fine. Hikaru's going to be important, and he's gotten just a couple extra scenes in this episodes and the couple of episodes prior. He's just kind of such a one-note character that I find it really hard to care about him, really. He basically wants a driver of his own so he can protect Sakura. 
• I gloss over it last episode, but... Hana/Aguilera joining Weekend is... kind of random, yeah? Especially since she doesn't really contribute anything at all. I guess the idea is just that she hangs out wherever Sakura hangs out.
• So since Ikki busts out the Thunder Gale form at the end of the episode, was there any reason why he uses Kamakiri when they first fought Vail? Or the terrible Remix form? You'd think he would go straight to Barid Rex or Jack or Thunder Gale the moment regular Kamakiri couldn't work against Vail...

Let's Play Legends Arceus, Part 1: We Isekai

LEGENDS ARCEUS!

Okay, I've actually not paid any attention about this game at all since its release in January 2022, mostly because I didn't have access to my Nintendo Switch and... and for some reason, I thought this was going to be a relatively minor side-game? That, and also the fact that I was kind of... burned by Pokemon Sword/Shield, which kind of felt like the absolute bare minimum of what a Pokemon game should deliver, and that's with the DLC's in tow. The fact that the DLC's are so fucking expensive, so much content is locked behind terrible multiplayer game modes and the lack of a national dex are all kind of just giant pieces of straw that broke the proverbial Numel's back. It got me so kind of bored that I didn't even pay attention to Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, especially when I heard that it's basically a one-to-one remake... that kind of made me kind of lose interest in the franchise for a bit. 

But we're not here bitching about the clearly-rushed Generation VIII, no. We're here to talk about my first couple of hours playing through Pokemon Legends Arceus. 

And... and it's a brand-new story, and I am kind of absolutely charmed even from the very first sequence. Unlike most Pokemon games, we start off with our character floating about in the formless void, dressed in a T-shirt, shorts and sandals, and our mobile phone (probably not an iPhone) fall into the void... and then GOD SHOWS UP! Or, well, Arceus. He talks about the typical stuff we hear in the beginning of a Pokemon game, except he's actually a GOD so all this talk about 'you're about to meet wondrous creatures called Pokemon' actually feel pretty damn ominous and awesome.

I'm literally isekai'd into the Pokemon world. I mean, this isn't the first isekai Pokemon game; Mystery Dungeon exists and I probably should play the remake of that at some point... but damn, I didn't actually expect that! Did I get hit by bus-kun? ...does the Pokemon World even have buses?

And then we wake up in front of the kooky professor Laventon, and... and he's got a funky hat? Apparently labcoats exist in feudal-era Sinnoh. Or, as I already know about the game, 'Hisui'. I absolutely love this very charming tutorial level. It's basically just telling us about the Pokemon world (which I can actually say I'm familiar with!) and the fact that I literally fell out of the sky, wearing weird clothes (Laventon's weird-ass purple beanie is weirder than my t-shirt, surely?) does make it very believable, narrative-wise, that the professor would grill me and that my character would be rather baffled at whatever's going on. 

Also, Rowlet, Cyndaquil and Oshawott! They are adorable. I'm nowhere smart enough to know if the graphics quality is better or on par with Sword/Shield, but the backgrounds are definitely superior! The three cross-generational starters run away and this leads to tutorial of the brand-new mechanic... which is a far superior way to implement the 'throw a ball' mechanic than the terrible way that Let's Go did. I really would've played Let's Go a lot more if they didn't force the ball-throwing mechanic down our throat, or refine it the way this game does... but... deep breaths. I'm not here to bitch so much. 

And I do really like that Laventon gives us a bit of an intro to all three starters before I pick them, giving us a brief description of the Pokemon before I go and do the ball-throwing tutorial. I get 50 Pokeballs in one go, and the Pokeballs in Hisui look... look a bit more rugged. These are Apricorn Pokeballs, I assume, and they are old-fashioned and all because of the time period that my character is running around in.

There's a bit of an interesting thing where Laventon actually emphasizes that all Pokemon can shrink, and the Pokeballs just facilitate that. I suppose I don't think any of the actual media have confirmed that it's the technology behind the Pokeballs that do so, but I've always assumed for the past 20-odd years or so that it's the balls that shrink the Pokemon... blowing my mind, here, Laventon. 

Oh, at some point during this, I also stumble across a glowing item on the ground and... and it's my not-iPhone, transformed to have a custom Arceus casing with his golden ring and stuff! It's called the Arc Phone, and... and as cool as it is, my first thought when I saw it is "man, that'd jab me in the thigh if I put it in my pocket IRL". My second thought is to giggle because Pokemon literally just transformed my phone into a goddamned Digivice.

Also, something that has been vastly improved since Sword/Shield? My character actually emotes now! The Sword/Shield protagonist is so wooden and looks borderline sociopathic because everyone around him actually has a decent amount of expressions... and I absolutely love that my character here can lower his head in confusion and go :O out of shock when he sees the Digivice Phone. 

Professor Laventon talks about his dream to create a Pokedex and document every Pokemon -- something that has been an absolute afterthought in so many other Pokemon games -- and then bring me to Jubilife City. Only, instead of being a metropolis in the 2010's, this is a Feudal-era village that wouldn't look out of place compared next to Genshin Impact's Inazuma or Breath of the Wild's Kakariko Village. 

Again, the overworld is nothing short of gorgeous, the buildings and the camera angles look good, and.... I don't know. It just blows me away so much that this is a Pokemon game.

I just spent so much just... just walking around Jubilife City and talking to every single NPC. I don't know if it's just the new format which feels different compared to a standard Pokemon game or what, but it's just so... so fun, y'know? Just talking to these random NPC's that inform me more about the place? Of course, most of the characters in Jubilife -- including the professor and the guards -- have a symbol that resembles the Galactic insignia, and we're told that the big castle-like building here is founded by the "Galaxy Team", so I'm not sure how that's going to tie in to Team Galactic in D&P. It would be very interesting if this super-friendly kooky professor is actually going to be a villain -- did we ever have a Pokemon professor actually turn out to be a villain? That'd be cool, actually. 

I also love that the wacky steampunk-looking smokestacks in the Galaxy Hall is actually modelled after a Galarian Weezing. That's adorable. There's also a main bridge called Canala Bridge, presumably in reference to Canalave City in D&P? 

All the houses and very-obvious houses are inaccessible to me at first, but talking to the random villagers tell me that... there's some Attack on Titan shit going on here. The people are living peacefully and the music is nice, yes, but they're also living in fear of the Pokemon whose claws and fangs are apparently much more powerful than any weapon they have. I was about to call bullshit on that, but... but spears aren't going to do much good against a feral Aggron or something, huh?

Speaking of Attack on Titan, there's apparently a "Survey Corps" and Laventon belongs to it, and it's kind of clear that the game is edging for me to join this. The quest marker tells me to go to the restaurant called teh Wallflower, but the green-mustachioed Beni is an absolutely rude jackass to me. Also, the female protagonist Akari shows up, being all confused about my presence and talking about how she once got attacked by a Thundershock. We also get to see the leader of... Team Galax? Cyllene? Who is obviously Cyrus's ancestor or something. Cyllene is stern and kind of a douche, talking about how 15-year-olds are good enough to be child labour work for my keep, and, in a very rare usage of the word 'death', actually talks about how I'll be exiled from the village possibly to my death if I fail a test tomorrow. 

(Also, Cyllene stress-eats. A lot. Off-screen. That's kinda funny).

So obviously instead of explaining what the test is likely to be, Professor Laventon and Akari take me eating potato mochi, which I didn't know until today is actually a real thing. Apparently, the huge glowing portal thing on top of Mount maybe-Coronet is a "Space Time Rift". They know space-time rifts exist, apparently, although Akari doesn't believe I'm an isekai protagonist. 

Also, Akari and the soldiers here are clearly super-incompetent, because they have trouble even catching a single pokemon, let alone three. Laventon directs me to my quarters, which is very nice -- I like that I have a 'base' to sleep in! It feels pretty obviously like a house that I can upgrade, and... and I like that. Secret Bases are one of the coolest ideas in Pokemon, and they barely bring back any sort of customization like that. There's the minimal-effort resort-villa thing in either Generation IV or V, but that's honestly just checking off a checklist for furniture to unlock.

And then we cut to a beautifully rendered cutscene of the Hisui wilds with good ol' Bidoof and Bibarel, before a massive lightning bolt tears apart a tree. Okay?

The next bit has me wake up and go meet Cyllene, who tasks me with catching three Pokemon -- Bidoof, Starly and Shinx, basically the 'starter route trio' of Sinnoh. Cyllene is being kind of cold to me, but... but it's fair? I am a random stranger from god (literally!) knows where, and as an unskippable dialogue reminds us, people get seriously fucked up by Pokemon. Now we hear the accounts of a survivor whose partner Pokemon was overwhelmed, yes, and that's a survivor, but you just know that someone out there got mauled by a Luxio and turned into Shinx food. Imagine those cute kitty-cat Shinx faces feasting on poor Yojiro's partner.

Also, we get quests, and quest-markers, and even a pretty cool minimap! It's something that's so... so mundane in RPG games these days, but I don't actually remember the last Pokemon game that had a proper map beyond, like, the world map. I think Colosseum might have had it? It's been a decade since I played me some Colosseum. I also get a bag, although my outfit is still the modern-day T-shirt and pants. I guess I don't get the fancy Hisuian clothes like Akari does until I finish the tutorial. 

Laventon gives us the option to pick our starters, and... I should really be picking Oshawott here since I've played so many Generation II games with Cyndaquil and Rowlet was my starter for two runs of the Alolan region, but... but... I just really like Rowlet, y'know? Cyndaquil's definitely my bro. Oshawott's cool. I don't dislike Oshawott at all. Hisuian Samurott, as I saw him when I did my reviews, is cool. But... but Rowlet's my bro, you know? So yeah. Starter get!

After getting my starter, I kind of get full rein of running around at least a huge chunk of the Team Galaxy base, and as with Sword/Shield, they really do put in a fair amount of effort in making the indoor environments look good. There's Cyllene's office and her giant stacks of paper, poor lady. Laventon's office is filled to the brim with random knicknacks, and we get to see Cyndaquil and Oshawott hanging out in their respective little habitat, and presumably Rowlet would've hung out on that bonsai-looking tree. There's also a... strange... steampunk machine? Does Meiji-era Japan have steampunk machines?

Also, rather interestingly, is that there's an infirmary! Complete with infirmary beds (where poor Yojiro is just unconscious) and a couple of Nurse-Joy-looking people. Apparently, Meiji-era Japan has Snellen's eye charts! It's little details like these that make me giggle. The basement seems to be entirely devoted to what looks like a Pokeball crafting R&D department... again, I absolutely love every part of this. 

...and with that, that's where I'll stop for now! I know it's a bit short and it's just me gushing over the game, and I haven't even gotten to the part where I can play with my Pokemon yet, but I'm genuinely happy to play around in this brand-new game. I know I'm almost half a year late compared to the rest of the world, but hey, here we go with some Pokemon content. I'm just... just basking in this game in general. It's so pretty, the world feels genuinely fresh and different in a way that I don't think I've felt in a while in a Pokemon game. 

Kamen Rider Revice E33 Review: Sakura Scythe

Kamen Rider Revice, Episode 33: Lovekov's Rebellion, Sakura's Resolution

Following after the previous episode, we get the excellent scene of Sakura facing off against Aguilera and declaring that she'll defeat her properly and personally. Aguilera does stomp off on her own, followed by Tamaki, but, again, I absolutely love the fact that Sakura's going to deal with her antagonist on her own. 

Meanwhile, on the Akaishi investigation side of things, despite being lightning-zapped by Akaishi, dr. Akemi's actually still alive and hanging out on the sofa. She's actually cutting through her bindings with a hidden shiv, which is pretty damn cool, while she gets Akaishi to monologue on what he is. Akaishi claims to be an 'ancient being' granted immortality by Gifu in exchange for helping him monitor humanity's evolution.

Akemi then does a pretty badass sofa leap, grabs the oversized revolver on Akaishi's table and straight-up tries to shoot him. Vail shows up, however, and Akaishi asks Gifu to give Vail his power, and Vail fully materializes in the flesh. He sure is a 'remixed' version of Vice's suit, sans the mask. Akaishi also stamps a bunch of random Vistamps -- the Kong and Megalodon at the very least -- which jacks Vail up with even more power.

Tamaki and Aguilera hang out at the Sea World aquarium, and Tamaki tries -- rather unsuccessfully -- to talk Aguilera into trying to consider a life as a human civilian. Again, it's not a whole ton and the focus of this two-parter is still on Sakura, but I really do like that Tamaki's character isn't just entirely forgotten. 

Speaking of Sakura, we get a rather... interesting scene as Sakura, Ikki and Vice discuss the Lovekov situation. We get a rather hilarious sequence as Vice goes into Sakura's mind and finds Lovekov's adorable door. With an adorable 'keep out' scribbled on it next to an equally-adorably-drawn Lovekov scribble. Vice enters Lovekov's adorably pink room and... And I love this sequence, where Lovekov is just headbanging to some giant headphones... and then Vice removes them and turns out Lovekov has a taste for heavy rock! Good snake demon! Lovekov can speak normally in this realm, apparently, and kicks Vice out of the room, citing that "Sakura's no good right now". 

Tamaki takes this point to return to the Happy Spa, and talk to Sakura and Ikki about how he's trying to at least persuade Aguilera to try out stuff that resemble a more normal life, since all that she has known had been the Deadmans cult. A combination of Tamaki's words and Lovekov's little tantrum finally galvanizes Sakura to go off and talk to Aguilera. 

Daiji finally decides to interrogate Director Akaishi, citing that "justice comes before rank"... which... honestly is a conclusion that Daiji should come to like, six or seven episodes ago. Around the time that the Hiromi storyline happens and he discovers that there's a rat in Fenix. But okay, I guess Daiji really needs a friend in trouble before he moves. Daiji barges into Akaishi's room and finds the dazed Akemi, and Akashi is in full psycho-mode where he gloats that he is 'best buds' with Gifu. 

Aguilera and Sakura confront each other and Sakura makes a request... "let's have some fun". It's not apparent at all until later in this episode that Sakura doesn't actually have access to the Libera Driver, and I don't think I missed a scene where they tell us that it's being fixed by Weekend? But Sakura basically gets inspired by Tamaki's earlier talk and brings Aguilera on a date. It's kind of baffling, but ultimately turns into something genuinely heartwarming as Sakura and Aguilera... have a lot of fun, y'know? It's just adorable. 

This is juxtaposed with Vail showing up and attacking Ikki, who refuses to tell Vail where Genta is. It's kind of bizarre that Vail's return as an antagonist is so... so oddly executed where he's kind of a distraction and we keep cutting back and forth between the Vail-vs-Revice fight and Sakura and Aguilera's date. Revice goes into ta couple of his forms, but Vail just creates dark-energy versions of their power-ups to counter Revice's Megalodon, Kong and Eagle forms. But Thunder Gale manages to knock Vail around a bit, before Vail says something ominous about them not having reached the 'heights' and disappearing. 

While all of this is going on as well, Daiji attacks Akaishi... without transforming? And then Akaishi quotes an admittedly cool saying, before blasting Daiji with a fiery red explosion and steelifying his jaw to block Daiji's punch. Akaishi leaves Daiji stunned, before dragging Akemi out of the room. 

All of these don't get any real follow-ups, though, because clearly the main plot is the Sakura/Aguilera one. Interrupting their little ice-cream dessert, that punk Hikaru (see, I remember his name!) shows up with the Libera Driver and we get a great look of irritation on Sakura's face that quickly turns into determination. Sakura and Aguilera fight again, and this time Lovekov is ready to fight. I'm... I'm not sure why Lovekov is happy now. I guess one of Sakura's regrets or doubts is that she didn't try harder to 'reform' Aguilera?

We get a pretty standard fight featuring Jeanne's base and Kujaku form, but then George shows up and lobs a brand-new Vistamp at Sakura, the hashibirokou (shoebill) Vistamp. This one turns Lovekov into a goddamn scythe. We get a pretty cool beatdown, and then we get to see Sakura and Aguilera in their human forms conversing with each other as they clash. Aguilera straight-up says that "I loved you, Sakura"... and Sakura replies with "drop that past tense!" Pretty surprising that they actually acknowledge the pretty heavy romantic subtext from Aguilera towards Sakura, and it all leads to a very satisfying finisher as Sakura uses her scythe to break Aguilera's demon contract form. Sakura tells Aguilera that regardless of whether Aguilera would hate her or not, she had vowed to split her from her demon. 

We do get a brief explanation as to what the shit the shoebill Vistamp is, and apparently Weekend begged George for help in creating a Vistamp for Sakura that can give her demon-separation powers. And I guess George was the one that designed Thunder Gale, so it's not too far-off for George to be able to make that shoebill Vistamp instantly. 

Aguilera cries about how she doesn't have a place to belong, but, of course, she belongs with Sakura, who hugs Aguilera while she cries. Her real name is Hana, apparently! I do like the little extra scene where Ikki and Vice note that Ikki doesn't need to be nosey and butt in, since Sakura clearly have this under control. We get a scene of Aguilera and Sakura in then Happy Spa hot bath together, and then we see that Sakura's recruited Aguilera into Weekend. 

Again, it's... it's a bit messy at times, but I actually really do like this two-parter a fair bit. I feel like the episode could've been a bit more explicit in the Lovekov tantrum side of things, or to focus a bit more on telling us what Sakura's doubts really are. Is it her realizing that she didn't do enough to help Aguilera? Is it her realizing that she needs to do it herself? Is it realizing that she's in love with Aguilera as well? Ultimately, though, a pretty fun episode, and I do enjoy the B-plots in this episode as well. 

Random Notes:

• I get that Fenix being kind of corrupt from the inside has been foreshadowed for a while, and Akaishi is pretty obviously evil even when we first see him (he has very strong Blofeld vibes) but if that's the case, was it necessary, then, for the Deadmans to have the Chameleon Deadman sneak and replace Wakabayashi? Although I guess Akaishi and Olteca aren't exactly communicating fully at that point...
• The scene is cool and all, but there are some rather terrible CGI effects as the bullets fall of Akaishi's skin and we get a rather terrible showcase of Wolverine-style instant-healing. 
• Okay, I admit that I'm not the most up-to-date about the location of these plot devices, but aren't the Kong and Megalodon Vistamps with Ikki? Why does Akaishi have them? Or I guess these just aren't like the Fullbottles or Eyecons or Core Medals, and there might just be  extras lying around?
• I love the little head-knocking motion that Sakura makes after Vice leaves her head. 
• I like Akemi, but I really do wonder why Akaishi doesn't kill her instantly. Does Akaishi need her for something?
• What's the cutest part of their date? I would have to say the bumper car ride. 

One Piece Anime: Wano Arc, Episodes 1011-1015

Even more Wano goodness! Obviously, since I'm more or less caught up, these will be a bit more sporadic. Oh well. It's been a great ride binge-watching these...

...but, god damn, it does mean that we're getting closer and closer to ANIMATED ROOF PIECE.

AND EPISODE 1015 GUYS!

Episode 1011:

• I absolutely love the irony that Jinbe is reflecting about how well-greased the Straw Hat crew is... when he misunderstood the reason why Sanji darted off on his own. 
• I love that in the middle of the comedic trap, Black Maria's minions still had the time to talk about bounties and whether Zoro and Sanji had the higher bounty. 
• It's small and understated, but I really do like that Black Maria's mostly-unnamed minions actually follow a 'theme' of Japanese yokai, just like how Who's Who has minions that all dress in cat costumes, or Sasaki has his armoured division -- it really does lend to the idea that all the Tobi Roppo used to be pirate captains that are now working under Kaido. The way that he's trying to get Kid and Luffy to join under him.
• HEAVEN'S GATE OPENS! You know, it's a shame that it led to some really unfortunate comparisons between Sanji and Zoro, but I did really like these goofy scenes with Sanji in this episode. 
• They obviously extend the gag with Mizerka's gorilla a bit more. 
• Holy shit Zoro cutting Queen's gatling gun, and the brief chibi-Queen that we see as he goes GYWEEAAAA is great. I already like Queen a lot in the manga, but the animations and the voice actor made him even more memorable to me. 
• "I didn't come to this island to play some dumb game! I came here to slice up Kaido, who is said to be the world's strongest!" Yeah, you could definitely forgive Brook for thinking that Zoro has Conqueror's Haki in this scene. 
• I love the little brief shot of Kaido being surrounded by purple smoke -- or rather, his flame clouds. All this episode essentially leads to the huge revelation that Kaido is levitating Onigashima, and hoo boy, what a cool reveal that was!

Episode 1012:

• I do actually really like that Zoro and Brook immediately goes to attack Marco because he set Chopper on fire without any explanation. 
• I absolutely love just how colourful Marco's blue-and-yellow flames are. 
• Ah, yes, all of you random background characters. Keep calling Chopper "tanuki-san". Keep doing that. Build up to that one joke we'll have later on. 
• "As soon as! HURRY AAHP!"
• Poor Apoo. I mean, he absolutely deserves every single beatdown he gets, but getting chomped and ragdolled by an allosaur is probably pretty damn painful. 
• So does every single person who ate a cat Gifter just get enrolled into Who's Who's cat club thing?
• These is the chapter/episode that reveals all the Tobi Roppo's beast modes! I've always had an inordinate amount of love for this chapter. Not sure if I like it being divided up into two episodes, though.
• Franky's voice actor and the animation team have way too much fun overacting. Flexing the 'muscles' of that robot body isn't something I expected, for sure. 
• Okay, Hihimaru's scene being extended isn't something I expected. At least they kind of made it clear that it was just Page One and Ulti losing their tempers instead of this one random monkey suddenly being able to actually hold off two Tobi Roppo members.

Episode 1013:

• I always love Jinbe's line "would you please use the worthier title instead?"
• I'm not familiar enough with the Ace light novel to know if the pirate members of Ace's crew are actually consistent with the characters that were established to be part of the Spade Pirates there. There seem to be a bunch with unique character models for sure. 
• Also, goddamn, Ace, I always forgot that you're actually pretty dang cool. That huge fire tornado he does at the beginning of the fight? Pretty badass! Also that fire bullet rain attack looked pretty cool. And, of course, there's the ever-eternal HIKENNNN! 
• Ace facing off against Yamato for the second time had some really great closeups. Ace yelling at Yamato about "you can't choose your parents!" has some great expressions for sure. 
• I really actually appreciate the parallels being drawn between Ace and Yamato a lot. It's been a while now, but I really do find Ace's character and how he's eternally trying to grow out of the status of being 'the son of Gold Roger' to be a very interesting story. So is the whole 'chain your heart' line. Ace's pretty underappreciated, honestly, because most of the time all I remember about him is his death. 
• And hey, Ace being the mentor of a potential new Straw Hat, if Yamato actually joins the crew? That's pretty cool! 
• Yeah, they extended the hell out of Yamato and Ace beating up Kaido's statue, but actually showing new scenes of Yamato essentially realizing that, yes, she needs to rebel against Kaido and shake off the shackles in her heart? Those are pretty necessary for sure. 
• ...so Ace and Yamato totally boned, right?
• I really love that shot that pans up of Capone, Kid and Law leading to Luffy jumping off from the distance when Ace was doing his monologue. 

Episode 1014:

• They extend the Marco scene by a lot, and... and honestly, it's so much cooler seeing Marco with swords sticking out of him while he nonchalantly activates his fire powers. Man's basically a Logia, isn't he?
• "Why should I be afraid of Kaido?" God damn, Zoro.
• I get that the information suppression on Wano does make it hard for information to get out of the island, but for Izo and Whitebeard to not attack Kaido in retaliation after finding that out? I mean, the manga does give us Marco and Whitebeard explaining about the 'toll' to the people, but honestly, it's not like they're any better under Orochi...
• I forgot that Blackbeard actually has a couple of lines when Whitebeard and Ace was having the discussion about Wano -- and it's a relatively simple contrast in their viewpoints, where Ace thinks about his promise to Tama and Yamato while Blackbeard just sees it as a way to get reputation. 
• All the Ace focus in this episode is nice -- we kind of breeze through it in the manga, but I do like that we get time to let the Ace connection sink in to both Marco, Tama and Momonosuke. Having a giant repeat-flashback on Tama's segment is admittedly kind of annoying, though. 
• Usopp remembers Luffy and Vivi's famous "people die" conversation and contrasts it to Tama and Luffy's conversation... and, interestingly, to Luffy's mental breakdown with Jinbei post-Marineford. Again, the flashbacks are perhaps a bit too much, but I feel like taking the time to contrast it and dissect Luffy's personality is very much needed. 
• Does Prometheus always have to eat flames to transform from his 'cartoon sun' to his 'burning ball of death fire' form? I know Zeus does, and... and I guess it's appropriate for creatures born out of Big Mom's soul to power up by eating. 
• Ah, yes, Queen's brachio-mouth-gatling-gun, and his subsequent extendable-machine-Doctor-Octopus-arms-brachio-neck.
• I still love just how casually Marco just holds back both King and Queen in his way to toss Luffy up to the rooftop. 
• We get an extended scene of the C-tier Minks defending the stairs -- the only ones I know among this group are Shishillian and his two sidekicks. They were totally ready for a last stand before Luffy goes and Gomu Gomu-beatdowns the goons in pretty much one shot. I like that little buildup. 
• It's a bit of an understated scene, but I really do like how that scene does exemplify Luffy's character. He's a dumbass who sometimes forgets people's names, but he remembers very well that Shishillian and the Minks did something great for one of his friends. 
• I actually didn't find the Ace/Yamato stuff anything special when I first read the manga, and it's amazing that this episode and the next one really ended up making Ace feel so much more like a character and making the flashback feel like it's building up to Yamato's big moment.

Episode 1015:

• Chapter 1000!
• The episode that everyone got super-excited over... and... and you know what? The hype is all worth it. Before I get hyped about it... the fact that they changed certain parts of the artstyle in order to symbolize flashbacks, utilizing pastel  colours and shit... the Wano anime has had some really great moments. The beginning of the raid, the Scabbards' Sunnacchi moment, the quartet Togen Totsuka... but this just blows everything out of the water and it's no hyperbole. From an animation standpoint, to the sound mixing, to even stuff like animation transitions and stuff that One Piece really doesn't get to do all that often... I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that this actually eclipses some of the One Piece movies I've watched before. 
• We get some manga-style table-setting 'several years ago' to set up this episode and you just kind of know that visually it's going to be something special. 
• That shot of Yamato going "eeee" when Ace says that he's going to continue telling stories is adorable! Her twiddling her fingers when she's about to ask Ace about her leaving out to sea? That's also fucking adorable. 
• Yeah, the pastel flashback of having Yamato realize that Ace's story about Luffy is exactly what Roger said in Oden's logbook? Complete with this very different almost Ghibli-style animated sequence with little Luffy, Ace and Sabo? It's such a pretty, well-animated sequence that could've felt jarring but it didn't. It just really looks fucking good. An inferior, regular episode would've just had the animation team pluck the relevant scenes from previous episodes... but no. Not only did we get new animation, not only do we get unique shading and Yamato witnessing these scenes, it truly enhances the scene beyond 'hey, let's just recall a moment from the past'. 
• I absolutely love, by the way, how the anime handles the fact that Luffy and Roger says something that's the same but the audience doesn't actually hear it. Having two flashbacks interposed with each other, and then having Ace, Sabo, Oden and Whitebeard juxtaposed against each other...
• Everything about this scene -- from the remake of the Roger/Oden/Whitebeard scene, to Yamato witnessing Luffy run in and being enveloped with an aura of blue colours to contrast Roger's red-yellow palette... I really like it. It really emphasizes that Luffy's going to carve his own destiny instead of just repeating what Roger did. 
• The scenery exploding into flying birds and colours really does visualize 'Yamato had her mind blown' very well, doesn't it?
• I did notice it back when I read 1000, but having an elaborate Ace flashback really does make the whole fact that Ace is all happy about 'a great man' without realizing that Yamato is referring to his hated father extra melancholic. 
• You know, I roll my eyes anytime people use 'Yamato wants to go out to sea' as an excuse for her to join the Straw Hats. After seeing this sequence of flashbacks, though? Someone take her out to the ocean, please!
• That amazing transition of Yamato's hand holding Ace's Vivre Cut, cutting from her happy farewell to Ace straight to the day the card burns down into ashes while news of Ace's death reaches her... that's so good.
• I really do like that the anime extends the scene of Yamato throwing a temper tantrum reacting to Ace's death -- it shows a bit more of what Kaido was doing right after (or is this during?) the Marineford era... Kaido's analysis about how Yamato was holding out hope for Ace to come back does kind of explain why she's a bit more hesitant and unsure of herself when the Onigashima Raid begins, before she meets Luffy.
• Some really great voice-acting with Yamato despairing about how she's 'not free', how she can't leave the island, can't beat her father, and can't save Ace... somebody take this dumb oni princess out to sea
• That's also a very pretty shot when Yamato was despairing, then we get to see Kaido and his goons in the background backlit with red light like part of a concert stage or some shit. And, again, showing Yamato regaining her desire to resist and fight and wait is also done amazingly well. 
• It's a short scene and cuts off after Yamato jumps into the air. It's not a full-on fight or anything, but god damn Yamato bullrushing Kaido looks beautiful as all hell. 
• Speaking of great transitions, the anime shows Law going from the Poneglyph room to the rooftop. Pretty obvious, right? Well it cuts to Law dropping (and switching with) a random stray gear... which transitions to the mass of spare parts that Kid is collecting as he and Killer runs up to the roof. All this set to Yamato quoting Oden about the strong young generation of pirates. 
• I love that as Kid and Killer is about to fight, then Zoro and Law slowly enters, we get this yelling -- I'm not sure if the yelling is just Zoro or part of the soundtrack, but I like it.
• Of course we get a shot of Luffy putting on his hat just before his dynamic entry. 
• It's a simple trick, but I absolutely love that Prometheus ends up giving a lens flare during that shot of Kaido and Big Mom glaring down at the Supernovas. That's so hilarious and stylish. 
• Holy shit the transition of Oden falling into the boiling pot with a grin which immediately dissolves to Luffy's badass walk though. God damn, yo.
• And then the casual explosion of Conqueror's Haki as Luffy takes his pose next to the Supernovas....
• Reanimated beautifully -- and another case where just replaying the old scenes might have been excusable -- is that great shot of the brim of Luffy's hat as he remembers his meeting and the history revolving around Kin'emon and the other Wano characters ever since Dressrosa. It really makes you feel for Kin'emon, and... I know he doesn't die here, and I really actually find that I do like Kin'emon a lot since the anime executed his scenes so well, but... but damn, this would be such a great moment if Kin actually died here, wouldn't it?
• Fuck, though, the animation of Kin'emon spitting out blood was so surprisingly bloody -- something that the recent episodes haven't shied away from, but most of One Piece has been so bloodless in the anime.
• Everyone did a great job, but I actually want to give extra kudos to Kin'emon's voice actor for his absolutely heartbreaking gurgling and crying as he begs Luffy. 
• The purple lightning bolts from Kaido's kanabo really looks good, too. What doesn't look good in this episode, really?
• Holy shit, the way that they showcase Ryu'o here. I didn't even realize what was going on until I realized that we're basically showcasing Luffy's blood vessels or nerves or... well, the flow of Haki in his body, I guess. Absolutely beautiful. 
• The rapid-fire cutaways of the highlights of the Wano saga... the Oden castle, the gravestones, the Ponegylph revelation, "Raizo is safe", Pedro's death, Yasu's death, Momo's moment in the prison, the beginning of the raid, current shots of all the secondary characters fighting in the lower floor... this could have been a scene that is like 'yeah, whatever, we're having a recap', but no. Holy shit, no. Even in the manga it was just a bunch of reprinted panels surrounding Luffy. But the way this is done, with the voice-acting and the brand-new animation, it looks so fucking good.
• Then we cut off at Luffy and Momonosuke's conversation. "You're the leader of this great men, aren't you?" "I want to bring down Kaido!"
• And then we get a great zoom-in to Luffy's absolutely pissed-off face.
• And then we get this amazing reorchestrated version of "We Are", the first One Piece opening. 
• GOMU GOMU NOOOOO
• RED ROC
• God damn, the Wano arc really likes its huge explosive fires. We've got two very great Red Hawks in this arc that I can already think of, but the animation of the Red Roc scene? Again, back when I read this in the manga, it was like... 'cool, a new attack name, an upgraded Red Hawk is pretty cool, it's a Gear Third version of Red Hawk I guess'. But finding it cool and going "OMGWTFHOLYSHITTHATSSOGOOD" are two extremely different emotions. 
• I was confused about there being shots about ice shattering, and I thought it was supposed to be symbolic of Luffy breaking some sort of 'stasis' over Wano or whatever... but no, no, people online pointed out that Luffy's Red Roc was so hot that is glassified the rocks around them.
• "I'm Monkey D. Luffy. I'm the man who will surpass you and become the King of Pirates." hell fucking yeah, you rubber boy. 
• BRB, about to rewatch episode 1015.