DaNoob: Pokemon Sun&Moon - a Vicarious Review

DaNoob reaches for new heights of noobiness as they attempt to review a game they've never played, best not to take them seriously, this is just what too much YouTube looks like...

I've never played a Pokemon game, but it looks like something I'd be into, although not so much I'd go out and buy a New 3D Lite 2DS XLi (and to think I was confused by PSVita not being PSP2?). The latest instalment has been greatly received by fans and critics, now I've watched some YouTube let's plays ... which obviously means I know better!

Nintendo have wheeled out another remake of a game that was great 20 years ago... only this time they've actually listened to fans and made some improvements, why it took this long I have no idea, other games have nailed some of these elements for years.

I mean how long does a game have to be around before characters have actual voices? I'm no expert on the 3DS (noob) but surely it's powerful enough to at least allow voices for the main story? Talking about the power of the machine, I've seen YouTubers refer to the awesome graphics and detailed environments... but all I can see is rough and blocky and nothing like a game from 2016, I've seen retro 8bit titles look sharper.  How does a 20 year old franchise expect to keep with the times and  only jump to 3D graphics 2 years ago!?









Apparently fans have been waiting for an ability to ride pokemon to travel round the ingame region, your pokemon that you can ride, they wont be battling alongside you, these ride pokemon are basically pokemon shaped vehicles!
so why has it taken so long? Seems like a no-brainer to me, and if there's one thing I know it's no brainers. Also I lose any hype for this new feature when I find out it's not







Having access to a feature called Exp Share early on also sounds like big deal... so we've had 20 years of this not being standard and no one thought it might be a good idea? Perhaps it wasn't such a common feature  way back but then most games allowed you to play with a party of several characters, not one at a time.Which means I'm still baffled by why team battles seem like such a breakthrough... this isn't something new people!

In place of any real innovations it's also good to have a new gimmick. The new Z-moves seem familiar.... they're activated by an odd dance that makes Dragon Ball Z's Fusion Dance look completely sane and sensible. This is then followed by a powerful aura from DBZ surrounding the pokemon and an over the top attack animation that ranges from great orbs of DBZ style energy to mountain destroying DBZ style punches. I'm starting to wonder of "Z-moves" got there name because adding the "DB" would have resulted in copyright issues. Does the (equivalent of a) letter "Z" have some significance in Japan?






Still perplexed I watch YouTubers being amazed by tweaks to battle that let you see what status effects your pokemon have... maybe the devs missed RPG design 101... although they are learning, the game can now show you which moves will be effective/super effective after you've fought a particular pokemon once which as there are now 18 types with multiple strengths and weaknesses is a welcome but overdue addition..

After battles there's a chance to interact with your team of tiny monsters, ok fine this is a good idea  for a series built on training monsters, a chance to do some actual training, or not quite. I'm not sure how it affects the game at all, from a company that also published NintenDogs I expected more.

It seems Pokemon is slowly being dragged into the modern era but still with some old school quirks (no autosave? On a handheld? Seriously?) and seemingly held back by it's hardware, a game with this many framerate drops would normally be crucified by critics, why has there never been a console release of a main-line Pokemon game? I'm not hating the games, they seem at least decent, at no way worse than any other RPG, and everyone seems to have an absolute blast playing it! I just can't get my head around the popularity,

I've come to the conclusion that Pokemon is the Batman of RPGs.

Why is it so good?

Because it's Pokemon!

Telltale: Inconsequential Consequences

If you've never played one of Telltale's episodic stories I recommend you do it now before you read any further, I'm about to look behind the curtain....

I've touched on this in previous blogs but I feel like I need to look deeper and explain myself. You may know that Telltale make story driven games that are tailored by player choice, the choices you make affect how the story plays out. The first time you see that on screen you're hit by a wave of responsibility and fear of the unknown... how badly will things go if you make the wrong choice? That first playthrough is pure magic, with every decision requiring tense consideration. If you've played through a few series though, you start to see what many of telltale's detractors eagerly point out; your choice doesn't matter. Bear with me, what this actually means is that generally no matter which choice you make, or even if you fail to make any choice, the story still runs the same course and you'll arrive at a near identical conclusion.It's almost unavoidable given any follow up series will need to start with players in a similar situation regardless of how they ended previously.

This can mean that some people feel the choices are hollow and ultimately pointless, I can't agree, I think the choices matter even more, it's the consequences that become irrelevant. If the outcome is more or less the same each time it's odd that people give it so much importance. The reason these games are so enjoyable and refreshing is the choice itself.

It's difficult to give examples without running into spoilers, but imagine a situation where you are given a choice of taking someone's life... you can either step up or leave it to someone else in your party, either way this person will end up dead and the story will continue from there, but you have to ask yourself, do you want this responsibility? do you agree with this act? If you go ahead with it will it change your existing relationships, will your group be thankful or think you a monster? Is this experience going to haunt your character or even you as a player? You already know what's going to happen, does that in any way make the choice easier? It may do if you are think purely in terms of gameplay mechanics but if you can stay invested in the story this is where the true magic happens.

There's some less dramatic, less spoilery examples. At one point in The Walking Dead Season 2 you decorate a Christmas tree, a rare opportunity in a post apocalyptic world. When asked by a terrified and less battle hardened tween to place an angel tree topper ornament on the tree you have a choice. Agree or go with your own preference, a star... I feel like I know what the "right" choice would be, you should be making friends and comforting this girl, teaching her how to survive... but damnit I was also a ten year old girl living through hell and I wanted a star on that tree! For those few seconds that was the most important thing... as far as I know this had absolutely zero impact on the story but even reflecting back it was a fun and engaging decision. In that same episode you have to choose a a table of friends to sit with and it somehow becomes one of the hardest decisions of the series, it might not change the plot but you can guarantee someone will be acting mopey or disappointed in the future.



Half the fun is finding out how far you would go, and looking at how and why you made a particular choice, occasionally the games will make you pay for that choice, even if it is just a scowl and a sarcastic comment from a fellow adventurer.





It remains to be seen if Telltale stick to the formula for The Walking Dead Season 3 (at time of writing only the first two episodes are available), or if they'll design decisions to have more impact on the plot and be less predictable but its going to be one heck of a ride finding out. You might also want to check out Life is strange, a game that can be described as the same genre but it brings back some of the magic of unpredictability as the developers and writers run on their own formula and add their own twists and mechanics.

Niche Plays: Life is Strange

My love for Telltale Games is no secret (see elsewhere on this blog) but a new contender has entered the arena of tailored story based games.

Life is Strange takes the same fundamental gameplay as the Telltales series', it even follows the usual 5 episode format and presents you with ethically grey decisions popularised by The Walking Dead. Only, this new take on the genre is like a breath of fresh air, a completely new game engine, an individual art style, a realistic setting and a completely fresh original  IP rather than a licensed property. Developers DONTNOD even bring some of the time manipulation shenanigans from their previous game, "Remember Me". Starting the game displays a familiar message for anyone that has played one of the Telltale series, "the game will adapt to your choices" etc. only this time your decisions are said to have consequences in the past, present and future. It takes a while to get your head round this concept, but it adds more weight to each decision. Later episodes even have a Steins;Gate flavour, but make of that what you will.
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A different developer along with the unknowns of the time manipulation meant I had no idea what was going to happen or to what degree my choices would matter, whereas Telltale have fallen into a bit of a pattern (more on that elsewhere). The extra gameplay mechanics are pretty creative but the game also takes inspiration the roots of Telltale themselves, having a number of sections reminiscent of classic Point and Click games that seem to have been phased out of Telltale's own adventures.

Life is Strange also has a beautiful soundtrack, it's one area that Telltale are always improving on too. The music may be a bit mellow and emotional for me to listen to by itself but it's a great audio backdrop to the events in game.

It's hard not to constantly compare this series to the ones created by Telltale, but it can be enjoyed purely on its own merits. It will appeal to people that appreciate the slow-burn, story driven games even if you've never had dreams of being a girl at college. DONTNOD have done a great job at their first game in this genre and even made some nice innovations, I'd like to see what else they can do with another series but they seem to introduce some innovative ideas to a genre and then move on. Remember Me had memory manipulation puzzles and a unique combo system, Life is Strange is a new take on Telltale's formula and their next game Vampyr (pronounced with suitable gravitas) is an action RPG where your choice to feed on people can have wide consequences.

The Characters of Telltale: Part 1 - Ladies First

My experience of Telltale's episodic game series goes back to the first season of The Walking Dead (TWD). If you've never played a Telltale game I recommend starting with that one. I'm mostly focusing on female characters this time round, as this blog was spawned from a previous one discussing Minecraft Story Mode.  

If you've never played a Telltale game I recommend starting with TWD Season 1. You play as Lee, again another well developed character and not a stereotypical hero-type. You're tasked with looking after Clem (short for Clementine), a little girl who is only 8 years old when we meet her. Clem is one of the strongest most likeable female characters I can think of. She's vulnerable but brave and when it comes to the second season she's the hardened survivor that know's what's what... If only people listened to her a little more often. Having seen what Clem came through in Season 1 though, you realise that Telltale have managed to craft her
into a believable, adorable bad-ass. Season 3 of TWD is due to start before the end of this year, we'll get to rejoin a considerably older Clem for at least part of it and I cant wait. This is the reason I can't look at Christmassy Citrus without tearing up just a little...

Telltale have also handled characters from TWD books, dedicating an entire miniseries to Michonne. Zombie hacking apocalypse survivors may not be the best role models but they make for some great characters , rounded by strengths and weaknesses like any human. I’ve not long found the time (and courage) to play this one. I already heard that it tackles themes such as parenthood and within the Walking Dead Universe that never ends well. Michonne is as kick ass as always but at the same time she is vulnerable and trying to come to terms with the great trauma(s) she has faced. My version seems to have played out as a rather erratic Michonne, sometimes selfish and defensive, other times righteous and heroic. She’s much more impulsive and easily affected by what people say, I don’t know whether this is a reflection of her mental state or my own whilst playing! Either way, I’m still enjoying this kind of organic character development.

Before Minecraft Story Mode (MCSM) came along, Telltale had mostly handled dark and serious properties, apart from their take on Gearbox’s Borderlands franchise. There’s still life and death and a bunch of Mad Max type shenanigans, plus face-pizza, but Tales From The Borderlands (TFTB) has much more humour. It’s almost the grown up version of MCSM, but instead of picking your gender you get two main protagonists. I could probably dedicate an entire blog to the game or to Reese, the male lead. I really enjoyed and recommend this one, the issue that people have about big decisions being inconsequential is mostly irrelevant as you can play the whole game for a laugh, even picking options purely for comedy value. Anyways on to Fiona, the lady’s got style for one and an awesome voice actor for another but she’s another great example of a female lead in a video game that has an actual character. She’s survived the world of Pandora with her friend/sister as a con-artist double act. Fiona thinks fast and can talk her way out of anything... mostly. She’d make a great leader for the group and the series is as much her story as it is Reese’s. Fiona starts off focused on survival and looking out for herself but she brings a certain street smarts and maturity to the group. Fiona still has a lot of issues to overcome (trusting others and letting them trust her, plus new responsibilities) and you can see her develop as a character over the course of the 5 episodes, again she’s one of those fully developed 3-dimensional characters that allegedly don’t exist in video games.

You might not be so familiar with the next franchise, The Wolf Among Us is based on the Fable comics. I’ve not read them yet but the game series has a certain film noir feel to it, set in a world where fairy tale characters secretly live alongside humans. There’s not so much a female lead in this one but I feel like Snow White deserves a mention in this article, without sounding patronising she’s self sufficient and independent with a deep sense of duty, how many times have you seen a princess that doesn't                                                                                     need rescuing?

That brings us to the final series that I want to cover, Game of Thrones. GoT is no stranger to strong resourceful female characters. This time around you have Elissa Forrester, mother to several of the characters you play and full of advice, she knows what shes talking about, but for better or worse I played the game pretty much ignoring everything she said. You meet women in other families that practically run their House from the background including the indomitable Cersei. Having to match words and wits with her is an experience I won't forget. Later you also meet accomplished warrior/brawler, Beshka and have a brush with the Mother of Dragons herself. Some of the most pressured sections of the game involve the political machinations in King‘s Landing and this is left to Mira Forrester, she may not be doing any fighting but can potentially have a big impact on her family’s fortunes... she has more to lose than anyone and still risks it all for her family (depending on how you play the game).

You could be reading this article and wondering why it seems Telltale hate men...I don't get that myself but the world (and particulalrly the internet) is made up of a whole range of people. In fact my writing may seem a little biased but in truth Telltale has developed some strong male characters too. They may not all be conventional, they may not all be strong leader types but they have their strengths. Themes of fatherhood in TWD, brotherhood and friendship in TFTB, redemption in Wolf Among Us; all still "manly" qualities but without relying on bald heads, muscles and gruff voices. I could write a whole article on Telltale‘s male characters, one on my favourite characters and maybe another on the strongest or most interesting but I’ll save that for another day, it just happens that inspiration for this topic hit me first.

Somehow it's always the semi-naked DoA “babes“ and ridiculously armoured female rogues that make the news or the memes, yet videogames can do strong characterisation, sometimes they even represent female characters better than most Hollywood movies.

Prompto: Horrible Photos We All Take

I've really enjoyed Prompto taking photographs on my journey through Final Fantasy 15. It's a great way to keep record of some great moments, but Prompto isn't always the expert photographer he makes himself out to be. 

Sometimes he takes terrible photos just like any of us. Below are a few examples from my time with the game, do you have any funny photo moments? Feel free to describe them in the comments or email them to Mulukh@nicheonline.co.uk

Overexposed

Relying On All The Wrong Filters

Thinking We Are Arty

I took this for a reason but I can't remember what it was...


Who is that guy?

Is that your thumb/pocket/handbag/belly button?


Did you take the lens cover off?


Expert Framing

Bad Timing

Look Who's Back

Backs again

I think I'm in this one

Or this one?

Selphie Selfie Time



#SquadGoals

Forever out of context

Final Fantasy XV is property of Square Enix, images captured through PS4 Share feature.

Final Fantasy XV: Review Follow-Up

Niche: Treat Your Geek Issue 15 is out now and includes our Final Fantasy special. You may have read our Final Fantasy XV review. After 10 years of development I had a lot to say about the game so here's a few extra thoughts that didn't make it into the review.

Remake

The Final Fantasy VII remake is still in development and I can see it picking up a lot of cues from FFXV, I'm imagining a playable version of FF7: Advent Children! I'd be ok with that, I'd expect more control over your party and can you imagine the work needed to create the entire world in one map? I'm not sure how this would fit with the episodic release schedule, but it would give Square Enix time to work on the much more open later stages of the game.

Photo Time

One standout feature of this new roadtrip sub-genre that FFXV has created: Prompto and his camera. He basically takes automatic screenshots for you and lets you review them each time you camp or rest. You can then save these to the album as a record of your journey; your first hunt, that girl you like, that time you accidentally set fire to a bunch of giraffe like creatures... He can take some memorable, beautiful and epic photo's but he's also a master of terrible photos we all take... although usually by accident (see the related blog post for examples!). It's important to save the best ones so you can flick back through them and remember your journey. You can also use the console's screenshot feature to save any other amusing shots but you can only save 150 ingame.

The Infamous Chapter 13

No story spoilers but this is the section that a few players are unhappy with, the game has become more linear, cut off from the open world, for the last few chapters and then hits you with a stealth section, swaps up the combat and replaces rolling hills with grey corridor- attempting and failing at survival horror in the process. You might find the story skips and jumps a little here but the details are there if you look for them, it might mean finding radios and newspapers hidden in the environment or it might mean watching the tie in movie and anime. Either way there are plans to patch in more story to this chapter. Oh and if you have enough ethers you can cut out some of the frustration of trying to stealth your way through and just destroy everything. The darker tone is important but it does drag out a little more than I'd have liked, the ending chapters make up for it with plenty of atmosphere,  impressive graphics and some pulse racing battles so hang in there.

The Regalia

It’s shiny that you can customise the regalia but I’m reluctant to spend my hard-earned on cosmetics when other items  are rather expensive, saying that I’ve probably spent more on ingredients and fishing gear than I have on weapons so it’s completely your choice.

Honourable Mention

Final Fantasy playing to it's strengths, anti-hero dragoon by the name of Highwind. Aranea was my favourite supporting character.

Niche Plays: Stories: Path of Destinies

OK this was one of December's PS Plus games, did you grab it? I have to admit I wrote it off as another generic sidescroller with animal characters, but wait, after finishing Final Fantasy XV I found I had a bit of time to spare on another game. I'd heard it was another game where your choices affect the story and I'm a sucker for those, so I gave it a go.

Turns out I was completely wrong about this game, it's not a platformer, those aren't cutesy animals and this is far from generic.

Easiest way to explain this is it's a mix of Zelda, Diablo, the Batman Arkham games, classic Choose Your Own Adventure novels and a touch of Brian Jacques "Redwall" novels,  with a smart art style and a sense of humour to rival Tim Schafer/DoubleFine... it also reminds me of Terry Pratchett or Spike Milligan in places and some story elements have been described as Lovecraftian! The fact that I just compared a game called "Stories" about a magical book to several actual literary works just adds to the                                                                                             charm of this game.

The writing team have also taken inspiration from a whole range of geeky sources, from Star Wars to Marvel, and so much more. You can see this passion for pop culture in the titles of most the game's trophies, numerous one-liners and even a strangely familiar church in one of the first chapters.







I took my first playthrough pretty slow but once you reach the end you get a sense of the many paths through the game... so begins the addictive quest for the True Ending! Each run through is only 5 chapters so shouldn't take more than an hour or two but you have a chance of discovering new information that affects your choices and even if you revisit old areas you might see new paths or new enemies, particularly as you can upgrade your sword to open various elemental doors. You can also learn new skills to help keep the combat fresh, with a new tier only unlocking once you discover a "truth" of the story.

When I started writing I still had a way to go to unlock the true/good ending but I puzzled together the right combination of choices... although there's around 20 alternative paths I could have ended up on.

Thanks to a bug I did get stuck in the landscape once but it wasn't too frustrating to restart that section. I could see the combat and repeated maps getting old if this was a bigger game but it does enough to keep you hooked long enough to get to the end and there's always the question of "what if...?" to answer if you want to unlock every path. These are pretty minor niggles and Stories is still a fantastic game from a small developer (Spearhead Games), I have to wonder what a game with this creativity and charm would be like with a blockbuster budget and hundreds of people working on it.

Another hidden gem of the PS Plus subscription (and also available on Steam). I recommend you try it out and see if it wins you over like it did me!