Post your searing hot takes

Adeleine said:
Gen 4 Creation Trio +1 in order of best design to worst:

Giratina-Altered
Arceus
Palkia-Origin = Dialga-Origin
Giratina-Origin
Dialga
Palkia

it'd be a lot to get into every reason but i'll take questions probably
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dialga at the near bottom of this list is a felony, i will not tolerate this slander

that said i wanna hear your reasoning for putting it there, because maybe i can learn a thing or two
 
War Incarnate said:
dialga at the near bottom of this list is a felony, i will not tolerate this slander

that said i wanna hear your reasoning for putting it there, because maybe i can learn a thing or two
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I generally think about good Pokemon designs in two categories. One category, that I generally (not always) consider better, is Pokemon that create depth with compelling interpretations. For me, a Pokemon like Giratina-Altered uses its design to create interesting questions about ideas like rebellion, destruction, and death. Its design is, ironically, bursting with life (in a literal and almost visceral sense) to me. Its neck and rings remind me of a spinal column and vertebral discs, and its clumsy, bulky form reminds me of a caterpillar or bagworm. Instead of normal demons and devils, it isn't something completely different to animal life, but something that was once an animal, maybe. Something that was exposed to outside dangers prematurely and suffered terribly, tearing away at its body until this spine and carcass wings were left. Maybe it's still a caterpillar and hasn't pupated yet because this raw damage stunted its growth. Maybe the damage could be healed.

The other category, that I generally consider weaker, is a Pokemon that executed a specific aesthetic choice very cleanly. Giratina-Origin is a very cool space evil ghost death bone dragon snake guy. But I do not get the same kinds of reads on it as I do about the Altered. Reads is intentional - I think there's other compelling interpretations, too, maybe something about dinosaurs and about something more. And maybe there's a compelling more artistic read on Giratina-O that I haven't found yet.

OK that was more than I expected to say about Pokemon that aren't Dialga.

I don't think Dialga base is a great design because I don't think it succeeds in either of these ends. I don't understand is aesthetically, I just see a fairly generic dragon body shape modified to better fit the Steel typing - given more rigid and defined limbs, given metal protrusions. I don't get how this schema relates to time, or, more broadly, what the point of this (and Dialga's visual choices more broadly) is. For reference, I did check its Bulbapedia origins page, which is like "Maybe a dinosaur idk. And its chest thing is kind of like clock hands." Eh. I also don't see a compelling narrative emerging from Dialga. It's a design echoing ferocity somewhat with its tall, rigid form and steely gaze, but also somewhat restrained. having that sort of Brontosaurus / Brachiosaurus situation of "Yes you are large, but how are you going to hurt me". I don't know what this design has to say about time or what other story it can construct. Maybe I'm missing it, same on the aesthetic front. Or maybe Dialga's design succeeds in some other way besides the two I've mentioned. But I don't see it.
 
yureion said:
(i get it, servers, copyrights, defunct companies, etc) but all games from a systems history (speaking like all nintendo/xbox/ps etc) should be available if nothing else digitally on said systems.
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I think the best way towards preservation is to explicitly allow emulation and piracy for games that are 10+ years old. Same thing should go for movies, shows, and all kinds of other media
 
Adeleine said:
I generally think about good Pokemon designs in two categories. One category, that I generally (not always) consider better, is Pokemon that create depth with compelling interpretations. For me, a Pokemon like Giratina-Altered uses its design to create interesting questions about ideas like rebellion, destruction, and death. Its design is, ironically, bursting with life (in a literal and almost visceral sense) to me. Its neck and rings remind me of a spinal column and vertebral discs, and its clumsy, bulky form reminds me of a caterpillar or bagworm. Instead of normal demons and devils, it isn't something completely different to animal life, but something that was once an animal, maybe. Something that was exposed to outside dangers prematurely and suffered terribly, tearing away at its body until this spine and carcass wings were left. Maybe it's still a caterpillar and hasn't pupated yet because this raw damage stunted its growth. Maybe the damage could be healed.

The other category, that I generally consider weaker, is a Pokemon that executed a specific aesthetic choice very cleanly. Giratina-Origin is a very cool space evil ghost death bone dragon snake guy. But I do not get the same kinds of reads on it as I do about the Altered. Reads is intentional - I think there's other compelling interpretations, too, maybe something about dinosaurs and about something more. And maybe there's a compelling more artistic read on Giratina-O that I haven't found yet.

OK that was more than I expected to say about Pokemon that aren't Dialga.

I don't think Dialga base is a great design because I don't think it succeeds in either of these ends. I don't understand is aesthetically, I just see a fairly generic dragon body shape modified to better fit the Steel typing - given more rigid and defined limbs, given metal protrusions. I don't get how this schema relates to time, or, more broadly, what the point of this (and Dialga's visual choices more broadly) is. For reference, I did check its Bulbapedia origins page, which is like "Maybe a dinosaur idk. And its chest thing is kind of like clock hands." Eh. I also don't see a compelling narrative emerging from Dialga. It's a design echoing ferocity somewhat with its tall, rigid form and steely gaze, but also somewhat restrained. having that sort of Brontosaurus / Brachiosaurus situation of "Yes you are large, but how are you going to hurt me". I don't know what this design has to say about time or what other story it can construct. Maybe I'm missing it, same on the aesthetic front. Or maybe Dialga's design succeeds in some other way besides the two I've mentioned. But I don't see it.
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This now has me thinking that Dialga could have been a lot better with the right palette swap instead of having a fairly similar shiny. Gold-coloured highlights instead of silver could work with both brass as the stereotypical metal for clockwork and cesium as the current definition of the second. Meanwhile, swapping out the diamond for a recognizable variety of quartz like amethyst could reference how piezoelectric crystals are the core of most digital timers.
 
Local Dog said:
I think the best way towards preservation is to explicitly allow emulation and piracy for games that are 10+ years old. Same thing should go for movies, shows, and all kinds of other media
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doing so will of course result in dealing with royalties cus of IP and such, but i do 10000000% agree lol
 
Reviving the roguelike discourse I started months ago: Balatro isn't that good.

These things being what they are, I have to list my credentials to qualify my opinion, so here you go: As of the time of writing, I have a little over 40 hours on Balatro. I've completed the Gold Stake on one deck, the Red Deck, and I have White Stake on every other deck. At this point, I think that my thoughts on it are pretty well solidified.

My experience with Balatro was largely a downward spiral. For the first few hours, I had a ton of fun with the game. It does an excellent job of making it satisfying to play a massive hand with the audiovisual effects it deploys (particularly the fire when your hand beats the blind by itself), and the initial period of finding new Jokers and discovering rudimentary builds is engaging. Unfortunately, as I settled into the game and began playing more, that honeymoon wore off very quickly, and many of the usual roguelike frustrations began to emerge, plus some new ones for good measure:
  • Especially with the lack of any element of mechanical skill, it's very common to lose with not even a theoretical chance of overcoming the poor roll, which I find immensely frustrating.
  • As I map out the contours of the game and develop a deeper understanding of what does and doesn't work, I gain less and less new understanding from each subsequent loss, which compounds the frustration.
  • At higher difficulties, it feels less like my skills are being more greatly tested and more like the game is just asking me to bash my head against the proverbial wall for longer before it'll relent.
  • When I do chance upon a winning setup, most of the run is just iterating on the same process with minor alterations. The game does a good job of making it as enjoyable as possible to perform that iteration, but there really isn't much to it most of the time.
  • There are way too many boss blinds in this game that seem designed to fuck one kind of build in particular. Consequently, almost all of the bosses either have no impact whatsoever or immediately kill the run with no counterplay.
    • A related complaint: Fuck Violet Vessel.
When I finally got the Gold Stake, I just felt relief. I was glad to be done with it. I had been persisting for many hours by that point in the vain hope that, once I had fully reached the end of the journey, my experience would loop back around to being good again. It didn't. It's a shame because this game clearly had a lot of love and attention put into it. The art is excellent, as is the music; and the UI elements that the player can fiddle with are fun. Unfortunately, I just don't find it very fun to play. So it goes.
 
adjectivenoun said:
Reviving the roguelike discourse I started months ago: Balatro isn't that good.

These things being what they are, I have to list my credentials to qualify my opinion, so here you go: As of the time of writing, I have a little over 40 hours on Balatro. I've completed the Gold Stake on one deck, the Red Deck, and I have White Stake on every other deck. At this point, I think that my thoughts on it are pretty well solidified.

My experience with Balatro was largely a downward spiral. For the first few hours, I had a ton of fun with the game. It does an excellent job of making it satisfying to play a massive hand with the audiovisual effects it deploys (particularly the fire when your hand beats the blind by itself), and the initial period of finding new Jokers and discovering rudimentary builds is engaging. Unfortunately, as I settled into the game and began playing more, that honeymoon wore off very quickly, and many of the usual roguelike frustrations began to emerge, plus some new ones for good measure:
  • Especially with the lack of any element of mechanical skill, it's very common to lose with not even a theoretical chance of overcoming the poor roll, which I find immensely frustrating.
  • As I map out the contours of the game and develop a deeper understanding of what does and doesn't work, I gain less and less new understanding from each subsequent loss, which compounds the frustration.
  • At higher difficulties, it feels less like my skills are being more greatly tested and more like the game is just asking me to bash my head against the proverbial wall for longer before it'll relent.
  • When I do chance upon a winning setup, most of the run is just iterating on the same process with minor alterations. The game does a good job of making it as enjoyable as possible to perform that iteration, but there really isn't much to it most of the time.
  • There are way too many boss blinds in this game that seem designed to fuck one kind of build in particular. Consequently, almost all of the bosses either have no impact whatsoever or immediately kill the run with no counterplay.
    • A related complaint: Fuck Violet Vessel.
When I finally got the Gold Stake, I just felt relief. I was glad to be done with it. I had been persisting for many hours by that point in the vain hope that, once I had fully reached the end of the journey, my experience would loop back around to being good again. It didn't. It's a shame because this game clearly had a lot of love and attention put into it. The art is excellent, as is the music; and the UI elements that the player can fiddle with are fun. Unfortunately, I just don't find it very fun to play. So it goes.
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It does make a great background game when I'm on a Discord call with people, though.
 
Yung Dramps said:
Return of the king. Post takes that are unpopular in this thread.
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Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl were awful remakes

I have no words, they didn't even try any new movepool changes or anything, I was hoping more megas like ORAS did or at least Primal Dialga, but nothing changed, they didn't even give Garchomp DD despite being introduced in the generation and being the posterchild pokemon of the champion we beat in the game

People waited for the remakes for a ridiculously long time and we got a copypaste of the same game from the past
 
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DetectiveDaikon said:
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl were awful remakes

I have no words, they didn't even try no new movepool changes or anything, I was hoping more megas like ORAS did or at least Primal Dialga, but nothing changed, they didn't even give Garchomp DD despite being introduced in the generation and being the posterchild pokemon of the champion we beat in the game
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I think you will find that this is actually the popular opinion.
 
DetectiveDaikon said:
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl were awful remakes

I have no words, they didn't even try no new movepool changes or anything, I was hoping more megas like ORAS did or at least Primal Dialga, but nothing changed, they didn't even give Garchomp DD despite being introduced in the generation and being the posterchild pokemon of the champion we beat in the game
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This is the most lukewarm take I have ever seen.
 
I hate The Batman Who Laughs. As a character, he's a one note psychopath who always triumphs thanks to the power of terrible writing. His origin story doesn't even make any sense. He inhales Joker's gas, and that turns him into a fusion of Batman and the Joker. Um...how? Joker wasn't turned evil by poison gas, he was just naturally evil. He kills all his ex sidekicks even though they all know how he fights. The justice league get killed offscreen even though, again, Superman is nearly as smart as Bruce and physically far stronger. His costume also looks fucking stupid - it looks like it was designed by some edgy teenager. I think it was Barry Alan who called him "the Batman who Tries Too Hard."

If you're looking for an evil version of Batman, I think Owlman is a far better character. The Batman who Laughs is the 2nd worst comic book I've ever read. No.1 is Frank Millar's Holy Terror (morbid curiosity), but that's hardly a hot take since it was panned by critics and a massive flop. It almost starred Batman as well, but thankfully that didn't happen.
 
Barry Season 4 was awful

The cinematography and acting was amazing, but it feels like it don't give a fuck about making a concise or interesting story and character arcs. It feels like it just tries very hard to go against the expectations of the viewer, leading to plot threads and character arcs that fall flat. Additionally

Jim Moss being established as a very smart and logical man who makes simple, correct conclusions and somehow completely misunderstanding the scenario that killed his daughter is bullshit. Like it does not make sense, a much dumber character wouldn't have made this conclusion

Season 3 was a weirdly perfect ending, despite leaving like 70-80% of its plot threads open. If you just watch the first 3 seasons, you experience some peak tv, whilst season 4 just sours the entire production
 
The Minecraft movie has a lovely vibrancy to it, but using real people is too discordant. Anyways, my real searing hot take: Rising Star Nadia is one of the best characters in the 3DS era of Pokémon.
(The TV channels in the 3DS games in general are very entertaining. It’s good game design.)
 
Banning Tera or more or so I mean limiting it to just the pokemon Tera'ing to ONLY its natural typing would probably resolve the Tera issue, cause most of the actual complaints I hear on Tera is because of resists/immunities the Pokémon gain when Tera'ng into lets say, idk Fairy or Steel and ppl wanted Megas gone and they stayed the psychological motto was cause ppl knew already what type the mon would be when it mega'd, it would only be the ability/movepool stab that got a mega banned

Not here to stoke a debate just a hot take I think would be logical
 
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