What a year of fantastic games 2010 has been! From platformers to shooters to puzzle games, there were plenty of games to go around for all tastes and types of gamers. 2010 saw remakes of classics (Pokemon Heart Gold/Soul Silver; Goldeneye, NBA Jam), fresh installments of long-ignored franchises (Starcraft 2, Sin & Punishment 2, Golden Sun), great new games from series that come around every year (Call of Duty), more of the great franchises that fans know and love (Super Mario Galaxy 2), and callbacks retro games with fantastic face lifts (Donkey Kong Country Returns, Cave Story).
Here's to a phenomenal 2010, and here's hoping to an equally fantastic 2011!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Starting Back up Again
Wes and I posted our latest Nintenshow last night, and I think it's our best yet. Due to the limited amount of games and new this month, I thought we may be in for a short show. To fill the remaining time, we figured we play a lot of music. But Pokemon dominated most of the show, and we filled our allotted time without issue. I kept the music there anyway, so you're in a for a really enjoyable hour and ten minutes.
In the show, we also reveal our next team for Gold and Silver. Take a listen to find out who it is or wait for a couple of days and I'll post the opening details. I'm starting to pay more attention to the natures of Pokemon. It's a feature of the series that I am not a fan of. A monster's nature gives it a 10% bonus in a particular stat and a 10% reduction in another. The problem is, Pokemon species grow differently, some with higher attack, defense, etc. A defensive Pokemon with a nature that reduces defense but raises special attack is ludicrous. The nature becomes detrimental to the monster's natural stat growth. The bonus in special attack with be so minute that it will not make a difference, and the defense stat will suffer. In order to obtain the most accurate stat growth for any particular Pokemon, I've bred this team with neutral natures.
We'll actually have games to review in January. Lost in Shadow for the Wii is out on the 4th and the DS port of Plants vs Zombies is out on the 18th. I'll be handling the review for Lost in Shadow and possibly Plants vs Zombies as well. Wes is working on his itouch review of Plants vs Zombies now, so a fresh opinion on the DS version may be necessary.
In the show, we also reveal our next team for Gold and Silver. Take a listen to find out who it is or wait for a couple of days and I'll post the opening details. I'm starting to pay more attention to the natures of Pokemon. It's a feature of the series that I am not a fan of. A monster's nature gives it a 10% bonus in a particular stat and a 10% reduction in another. The problem is, Pokemon species grow differently, some with higher attack, defense, etc. A defensive Pokemon with a nature that reduces defense but raises special attack is ludicrous. The nature becomes detrimental to the monster's natural stat growth. The bonus in special attack with be so minute that it will not make a difference, and the defense stat will suffer. In order to obtain the most accurate stat growth for any particular Pokemon, I've bred this team with neutral natures.
We'll actually have games to review in January. Lost in Shadow for the Wii is out on the 4th and the DS port of Plants vs Zombies is out on the 18th. I'll be handling the review for Lost in Shadow and possibly Plants vs Zombies as well. Wes is working on his itouch review of Plants vs Zombies now, so a fresh opinion on the DS version may be necessary.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Change of Plans
I'll be blogging about the next Pokemon team starting soon. Tonight I'll be hatching some eggs to get them ready for trade. Instead of the team I mentioned in a previous post, we're postponing in favor of an Ash Ketchum team - Blubasaur, Squirtle, Charmander, Pikachu, Pidgey and Caterpie. I think this one will be a lot of fun and not feel like as much of a chore as our first two.
Wes got to use an all-Eevee team while I caught up on some other DS games. I've used that one before, so we can scratch it off our list now. There's a full article on the site, but long story short: it's awesome.
New Nintenshow in a couple of days. I'm having a hard time coming up with topics to discuss because of the dry month that December was. We'll come up with something fresh and interesting to ramble about. It may end up being a short show. Or we'll find a lot a great music to play.
Wes got to use an all-Eevee team while I caught up on some other DS games. I've used that one before, so we can scratch it off our list now. There's a full article on the site, but long story short: it's awesome.
New Nintenshow in a couple of days. I'm having a hard time coming up with topics to discuss because of the dry month that December was. We'll come up with something fresh and interesting to ramble about. It may end up being a short show. Or we'll find a lot a great music to play.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Update Time
The posts have been few and far between this month, and I apologize for that. Wes is working his way through Soul Silver with an original Eevee team (plus Leafeon). I have never used a Leafeon myself, but I did some grinding with one in Pearl version last night to see how they grow. The short answer: pretty well. Like most Grass types, they only learn Grass moves, and like most Eevee's, their moveset isn't fantastic. But their awesome stats make up for their shortcomings.
The shiny Raikou, Suicune and Entei available next year have me pretty excited, especially since they unlock a pokemon in Black and White later in the year. I love shiny pokemon and am pretty stoked to increase my collection.
2011 seems to be a pretty dry year for the Wii, but the few remaining DS games and the 3DS will carry the year for Nintendo fans and will probably steal a lot of the spotlight from the PS3, which looks to have a great year as well. But there's always Zelda to look forward to. And who knows? Maybe Nintendo will wow us again at E3. Survive till June.
The shiny Raikou, Suicune and Entei available next year have me pretty excited, especially since they unlock a pokemon in Black and White later in the year. I love shiny pokemon and am pretty stoked to increase my collection.
2011 seems to be a pretty dry year for the Wii, but the few remaining DS games and the 3DS will carry the year for Nintendo fans and will probably steal a lot of the spotlight from the PS3, which looks to have a great year as well. But there's always Zelda to look forward to. And who knows? Maybe Nintendo will wow us again at E3. Survive till June.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Red Sox pick up Gonzalez, sign Crawford and Cliff Lee is off Philly instead of New York. It's a Christmas Miracle.
Golden Sun continues to impress greatly. The psynergy puzzles have such fantastic variety. Every new town or mountain or forest has something new puzzles to solve, which gives every new area a uniqueness that is absent for many RPG's (Final Fantasy/Dragon Quest). I've collected a ton of Djinns and I believe I have all the playable characters in my party, but the game has had such incredibly depth so far that I don't think I'm close to the end yet. I don't want the game to end either.
Most of the 8 characters have unique skills that make them more than mere carbon copies of each other with different elemental magic. I guess if there is something to improve upon, it's the individual skills of each character. They got it right with Sveta. Her "beast mode" skill gives her a lot more personality than any other character. More unique skills in battle across the board would take this game from fantastic to unbelievable.
The level design of Golden Sun (yup, still going) is masterful. The puzzles are challenging, but rewarding. You'll want to search every path for hidden treasures and Djinns. No levels are obtusely lengthy, which gives the game superb pacing. It's easy to sink 2 or 3 hours into the game without even realizing it.
But I'm shelving Golden Sun until tomorrow. Today is a Donkey Kong Country Returns day. But first, I think I'll finish off Kirby's Epic Yarn. And I have 2 Feature Articles that I'm posting on the site tonight.
Golden Sun continues to impress greatly. The psynergy puzzles have such fantastic variety. Every new town or mountain or forest has something new puzzles to solve, which gives every new area a uniqueness that is absent for many RPG's (Final Fantasy/Dragon Quest). I've collected a ton of Djinns and I believe I have all the playable characters in my party, but the game has had such incredibly depth so far that I don't think I'm close to the end yet. I don't want the game to end either.
Most of the 8 characters have unique skills that make them more than mere carbon copies of each other with different elemental magic. I guess if there is something to improve upon, it's the individual skills of each character. They got it right with Sveta. Her "beast mode" skill gives her a lot more personality than any other character. More unique skills in battle across the board would take this game from fantastic to unbelievable.
The level design of Golden Sun (yup, still going) is masterful. The puzzles are challenging, but rewarding. You'll want to search every path for hidden treasures and Djinns. No levels are obtusely lengthy, which gives the game superb pacing. It's easy to sink 2 or 3 hours into the game without even realizing it.
But I'm shelving Golden Sun until tomorrow. Today is a Donkey Kong Country Returns day. But first, I think I'll finish off Kirby's Epic Yarn. And I have 2 Feature Articles that I'm posting on the site tonight.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Triple Post
Back again to say that Wes is not playing Soul Silver with an all-Eevee team. I have used this team already, so we'll be discussing it on our next Nintenshow, as well as the team we just used. This will keep him occupied while I blaze a trail through Golden Sun: Dark Dawn.
Look for our final thoughts on the team we just used later today. I'm also working on a little feature about sidekicks in gaming, so that should be a fun read as well.
There are no games in December that I plan on buying, but we'll keep the content coming with some cool features, podcasts and a look back on DKC 2 and 3 and Golden Sun 2.
Golden Sun is great so far. I don't think I missed an Earth Djinn though. It's a little frustrating since it may be in a spot I cannot yet backtrack to. I may break down and look it up just to easy my troubled mind.
I'm surprised that they actually utilized a party system in this game, since the one "bench" character I have right now is almost a carbon copy of another character. Maybe his individual usefulness will reveal itself soon. It is nice that I can swap out members mid-battle.
More on Golden Sun within the next few days.
Look for our final thoughts on the team we just used later today. I'm also working on a little feature about sidekicks in gaming, so that should be a fun read as well.
There are no games in December that I plan on buying, but we'll keep the content coming with some cool features, podcasts and a look back on DKC 2 and 3 and Golden Sun 2.
Golden Sun is great so far. I don't think I missed an Earth Djinn though. It's a little frustrating since it may be in a spot I cannot yet backtrack to. I may break down and look it up just to easy my troubled mind.
I'm surprised that they actually utilized a party system in this game, since the one "bench" character I have right now is almost a carbon copy of another character. Maybe his individual usefulness will reveal itself soon. It is nice that I can swap out members mid-battle.
More on Golden Sun within the next few days.
Gotta Train 'Em All Part 2 - Elite 4
Double post!
The MVP for the Elite 4 was (by a wide margin) Stantler. I was shocked as well.
Electrode took out Will's first Xatu, and Stantler handled the rest of his team. I'm sure other pokemon could have helped out, but his Sp Atk was so high that riding him out and preserving the rest of the team became priority.
I did not use Stantler vs Koga. Fearow beat Ariados pretty convincingly. Dugtrio almost had Forretress, but he used Explosion at the last minute. (This was the only time I used Dugtrio.) Quagsire's newly found usefulness with Earthquake and Waterfall took out Muk and Venomoth. I knew he'd try to just raise his evasiveness with Crobat, so I beat him with Electrode's Shock Wave.
Fearow took the Player of the Match honors by eliminating Bruno's Hitmontop, Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee. Meganium finally showed up by defeating Onix and Machamp.
Karen was a total bitch. He Umbreon was nearly unkillable, but thankfully she withdrew it when I baited her with Meganium. Her Houndoom was an easy target for Quagsire. Fearow killed Vileplume quickly. Gengar messed me up pretty badly, but Electrode finally got the better of him. Electrode also beat Murkrow. And then it came down to Meganium vs Umbreon. It took forever, but Meganium eventually got him.
Lance was an even bigger asshole than Karen. Electrode beat Gyarados. Child's play. I had to use Stantlers' Hypnosis/Calm Mind strategy and tons of hyper potions to best his 3 Dragonites. It also took several resets. Once I was through those 3, Quagsire eliminated Charizard and Aerodactyl.
I almost didn't think I would make it with this team, but once again strategy beat out brute force. Well, strategy and a little luck with Hypnosis.
The MVP for the Elite 4 was (by a wide margin) Stantler. I was shocked as well.
Electrode took out Will's first Xatu, and Stantler handled the rest of his team. I'm sure other pokemon could have helped out, but his Sp Atk was so high that riding him out and preserving the rest of the team became priority.
I did not use Stantler vs Koga. Fearow beat Ariados pretty convincingly. Dugtrio almost had Forretress, but he used Explosion at the last minute. (This was the only time I used Dugtrio.) Quagsire's newly found usefulness with Earthquake and Waterfall took out Muk and Venomoth. I knew he'd try to just raise his evasiveness with Crobat, so I beat him with Electrode's Shock Wave.
Fearow took the Player of the Match honors by eliminating Bruno's Hitmontop, Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee. Meganium finally showed up by defeating Onix and Machamp.
Karen was a total bitch. He Umbreon was nearly unkillable, but thankfully she withdrew it when I baited her with Meganium. Her Houndoom was an easy target for Quagsire. Fearow killed Vileplume quickly. Gengar messed me up pretty badly, but Electrode finally got the better of him. Electrode also beat Murkrow. And then it came down to Meganium vs Umbreon. It took forever, but Meganium eventually got him.
Lance was an even bigger asshole than Karen. Electrode beat Gyarados. Child's play. I had to use Stantlers' Hypnosis/Calm Mind strategy and tons of hyper potions to best his 3 Dragonites. It also took several resets. Once I was through those 3, Quagsire eliminated Charizard and Aerodactyl.
I almost didn't think I would make it with this team, but once again strategy beat out brute force. Well, strategy and a little luck with Hypnosis.
Gotta Train 'Em All Part 2 - Gym 8
I've been slacking off quite a bit updating the blog, but this Spanish final has been kicking my ass. It's all over now, so regular updates will resume.
Just a few notes about the final stages with this team:
Stantler learned Zen Headbutt at lv 38. The battle vs Clair was arduous, but I did finally overcome. Electrode took out Gyarados, Quagsire managed to edge out a Dragonair, and Stantler took out both Kindra and her second Dragonair. His Hypnosis/Calm Mind combo has paid great dividends.
One quick side note about the Dragon's Den: using Dig to escape forfeits picking up the Dragon Breath TM from Clair. Not a huge loss with this team since on one can learn it, but it is a very good move. Be careful not to miss out on it if you are using a Dragon pokemon.
Dugtrio learned Slash at lv 40 and Earthquake at 45. Finally some moves for this guy. Electrode learned Magnet Rise at lv 40, which makes him immune to ground moves for a few turns. Meganium learned Body Slam at lv 46, which is his first non-Grass type move in a while.
Just a few notes about the final stages with this team:
Stantler learned Zen Headbutt at lv 38. The battle vs Clair was arduous, but I did finally overcome. Electrode took out Gyarados, Quagsire managed to edge out a Dragonair, and Stantler took out both Kindra and her second Dragonair. His Hypnosis/Calm Mind combo has paid great dividends.
One quick side note about the Dragon's Den: using Dig to escape forfeits picking up the Dragon Breath TM from Clair. Not a huge loss with this team since on one can learn it, but it is a very good move. Be careful not to miss out on it if you are using a Dragon pokemon.
Dugtrio learned Slash at lv 40 and Earthquake at 45. Finally some moves for this guy. Electrode learned Magnet Rise at lv 40, which makes him immune to ground moves for a few turns. Meganium learned Body Slam at lv 46, which is his first non-Grass type move in a while.
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