Hm, maybe I'll try reaching out.
Those are cute, too!
FUNNY YOU SAY THAT, because the 'player character' in my fic is literally an adaptation of that specific character from the manga.
(right to left)
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She is an absolute edgelord cunt lol
I find it incredibly refreshing and intriguing, since she's very much presented as an antihero.
So I adapted her to my fic into the game's story/setting (the manga is of course an alternate version of events), gave her my own original backstory, etc etc. They (nonbinary) are a reformed criminal who effectively was forced/coerced into doing the whole 'become a Champion' thing in order to erase past wrongdoings, and in turn boost Paldea's PR by various means. Years after SV's story, they're effectively a mercenary, doing all sorts of odd jobs, running tournaments for some extra cash on the side. Very gray, morally questionable, emotionally immature, preoccupied with keeping up walls and focusing on symbiotic relationships with Pokemon as a replacement for actual human connection.
They're full on Shadow the Hedgehog swearing and killing and all that fffff
But on a sidenote, both she and Nemona get knocked out in the manga -- she once and Nemona twice so far.
I think I've shared a couple of Nemona being knocked out and Asleep here, maybe? Or perhaps I'm thinking of
my Discord...
In fact, Scarlet is lowkey responsible for Nemona getting knocked out, and instead of helping her, she straight up ABANDONS HER, leaving her passed out in the WILD because "not my problem". So that gives you an idea of what kind of character we're talking about lol Don't even get me started on all kinds of other shit she's pulled in the manga, meanwhile gay-as-hell dope idiot Nemona keeps glomming onto her, it's so toxic and t hurts my brain because Nemona in canon is NOT that stupid. So there's been some catharsis in my fic of having an older version of Nemona processing like, "Oh damn Scarlet treating me like GARBAGE and I just took it" and refusing to take it anymore as a young adult.
ANYWAY! I actually have some fanart that shows Scarlet and Nemona in 'low HP' inspired poses, as well as multiple panels from comics that got made depicting Nemona being Confused/Dizzied, put to Sleep, and Knocked Out. So if there's interest for that and I haven't shared it here yet just let me know and I'll look it up.
I've got a BUNCH of art besides for it but I'm hesitant to post that here publicly, especially when it's more general and not exactly on topic when I've already gone off on tangents. So I'll definitely send that to Thief in DM next time I reply, at least. If I haven't already?
I still need to get around to recording some footage of the game, when I do I'll get the base sprites of all the characters so far.
But so far we've got:
Charo/Alesea (Dame Daffodil)
Nemona/Cassiopeia (Pokemon)
Charlotte/Karlach (Castlevania/Baldur's Gate)
Min Min/ ??? (ARMS, and her companion is not drawn yet but is a Mihoyo character, if you follow my Twitter you maybe can guess who)
Marnie/ ??? (Pokemon, she's actually an antagonist here, and her partner is another Pokemon gal, not drawn yet)
Charo/Alesea/Nemona are the only ones with full implementation so far, though Charlotte has a prologue battle so she has some main mechanics including hitstun/KO
It's understandable to see, sadly, but it does make me appreciate it all the more when a game actually makes that extra effort, like Abyssdia.
Yeah, the artist is great at drawing hair, it's one of the reasons I keep coming back.
Exactly, I'm trying to lean into the AU and make changes big and small while still retaining core design elements and character traits. Nemona, for instance, is decidedly dumber in this AU than I actually write her based on canon, and noticeably buffer, but that's the entire idea -- in this universe, her battle obsession was never curbed so she just went all-in on it and became a sort of 'dumb jock' archetype while still retaining core 'feminine' aspects of her character.
I'll definitely send you stuff via DM and anyone who is interested can say so here or via DM and I'll do the same.
They really were and as someone with ZERO nostalgia for them as I skipped them back in the day, my feeling on this has only increased in the last year or so since having done BW2.
Exactly. They're too big and those in power literally do not give a fuck about quality, they just want shit pumped out. And they can get away with it. Same reason we're seeing GTA6 pulling the shit it is, a $100 game carving out in-game content to justify an $80 price, meanwhile literally making NO Physical version available, AND asking for pre-orders before even showing us wtf the gameplay even looks like, a mere few months before supposed release.
Yep, I did research on it because I am that pissed at GameFreak/The Pokemon Company, and it's WILD to me that I literally lookd it up, read an interview that ADMITTED GameFreak is a minority developer on the game, saw the official WEBSITE of the ACTUAL developer confirming they are making it, and yet. When I run a search? Cannot even find that developer's name. Even Wikipedia just gaslights into thinking GameFreak is THE developer. When I know for a fact that's not the case. But that's exactly what they want everyone to think, they have been DESPERATE for YEARS to put out something that is not Pokemon, something they own FULL rights of, and every time they try, it's a relative flop. Because, as it turns out, they're jst not as hot shit as they seem to think they are. They've been coasting on brand IP and handheld expectations for like 15 years now.
They outsource the character designs to professional artists, they cut and cut and cute ideas from their own games because they're too damn rushed, they can't even DESIGN their games in ways that feel modern or thought out, let alone the audio/visual presentation, and don't even get me started on the lack of voice acting.
MOVING ON
And it's SO GOOD! It's a fantastic use of the IP, it's made by a team who actually CARES, and it SHOWS.
NOPE, don't let people gaslight you, ZA is a mediocre game through and through, but it rides on the IP and those dedicated character designs to sell you on it. Swap out the character designs with, say, Digimon, and I guaran-fucking-tee you its Metacritic score would be 15 points lower, it'd have sold 5% of the copies, if even THAT, and nobody would have batted an eye about it.
But it's Pokemon. That's it and that's all.
ZA is not a TERRIBLE game but it's absolutely not what I'd call a GREAT game. It's FINE. It's passable at best and mediocre at worst. It is effectively a GameCube era game in art design and scale and game design, made with modern HD resolution. Which is to say, it IS better than SV as a video game lol But it's like a 6, 6.5 out of 10.
Indeed we shall. I did not buy Scarlet, I did not buy the DLC, I did not buy ZA, absolutely skipped the abysmal looking DLC...
At this point I don't even care about RENTING the next mainline game unless it shows significant improvement.
And despite that honeymoon high, it's much too early to say right now.
I'm actually getting more excited as time goes as I think the characters/world have SO MUCH potential to be reborn, but I don't really care about OoT as a game in the modern era. So we'll see on that one, whether it sells me, gets me to just want to rent, or if it's a pass for me. Could go any direction atm, they've literally shown and told us almost nothing. And yet it's releasing within a few months. Supposedly their big holiday game. Boggling.
See, I atcually adored the Mario RPG remake but that's also because the game has by and large been forgotten and ignored for so damn long, never got a remaster or remake, and it had been like 25 years sice its release when they finally remade it. I do admit I wish it got an actual 'Hard Mode' as there WERE some postgame hard bosses that were NEW, but they were modified re-fights of old bosses. It was SOMETHING.
But also, the Mario RPGs hold a special place for me. So does StarFox 64. So in these cases, I actually am very glad to be getting remakes, even if I'd PREFER just straight up new games that are direct followups to the old ones.
I think this was an opportunity to reboot the series and they SHOULD have leaned into that with stronger footing but I bet Zero's failure spooked them too hard. Still, this looks like a fantastic effort, cannot wait to play it myself. And HOPEFULLY this leads to Velan Studios getting to turn it into a proper series.
The fact that the game supposedly releases in the next 4 months or something and we don't even know it's ART STYLE, not REALLY, speaks to how confident these companies have goten when they feel don't need to show the customer fuck all until the last second. And sadly, they're right in that notion.
SHE DOES
Well, topple is something! And KOs are a thing, as well. Shame there's not anything else. XB1 has Dizzy and XB3 has Sleep and Bind.
At the very least, I'd like to record higher framerate versions (I'm not actually sure if the Switch 2 capture feature will capture any higher RESOLUTION, which is a shame, and for all I know, it may not even capture a higher framerate, but I THINK it can do up to 60?)
Oh, yeah? I could see that. I'm the sort who really doesn't give a fuck about the stars or whatever, that's artificial to me. Like it's nice when it's there but I'm more into the actual character's animation/expression.
In XS3 there's Break status which actually sees the character slumped on her knees, essentially, trying to shake off dizziness. I actually REALLY like KosMos' in that, so remind me to look up my recorded GIFs and post those next time.
It's been SEVEN AND A HALF since the base game, and yeah, over 6 since it ended DLC. I am STARVING for them to just Switch 2 Edition the thing. I don't even need new characters, just give us more single player content, refresh the online ideally (like seriously GET RID of GSP PLEASE). But I sure wouldn't say 'no' to new fighters, OR new stages. I'd personally rather they just add more to Smash Ult than reboot the franchise, and I think that's the much easier call, but it's Nintendo, so you really never know.
I'd also be happy to see the series get reborn in a new style/subgenre. But I'd PREFER they just further refine Smash Ultimate first.
Any takers for this?
Here's the character list so far.