Post your searing hot takes

I have a take that’s sure to piss people off

DPP Jirachi is overrated, it’s top 5 at best.

It lacks the raw power and speed to be a strong offensive threat, and defensively it has solid resists, decent bulk and great utility but is reliant on wish/protect for consistent healing and also has some pretty nasty weaknesses such as fire and ground. I will admit, it boasts a very diverse movepool and that is one of it’s best traits imo, but it does suffer pretty badly from 4MSS and you can deal with it without too much difficulty after finding it’s set.

Also, fuck no I’m not relying on serene grace hax, don’t ever use this as an argument for Jirachi being #1
 
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Rescue Team DX is still a far inferior remake than BDSP, and PMD fans that are snobbish about thinking the main series is better quality wise are being a bit weird considering that

Also it's the most mediocre high-profile Pokemon release OST, even if it is a spinoff it is generally to the quality of the main series (if not higher) and RTDX's OST is DOGSHIT

Random remixers in 2011 were doing much higher effort versions of these tracks lmfao, most of them are worse than the DS versions! Maybe better than the GBA because the GBA has a terrible compression, but that's it!
 
I have a take that’s sure to piss people off

DPP Jirachi is overrated, it’s top 5 at best.

It lacks the raw power and speed to be a strong offensive threat, and defensively it has solid resists, decent bulk and great utility but is reliant on wish/protect for consistent healing and also has some pretty nasty weaknesses such as fire and ground. I will admit, it boasts a very diverse movepool and that is one of it’s best traits imo, but it does suffer pretty badly from 4MSS and you can deal with it without too much difficulty after finding it’s set.

Also, fuck no I’m not relying on serene grace hax, don’t ever use this as an argument for Jirachi being #1
sg hax is the reason it's banworthy lmfao. just because you use a more fair set doesn't void the fact that serene grace is the part of jirachi that's annoying and overpowered
 
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The general lack of kick drum presence on the first 3 Metallica albums is worse than the fact there’s basically no bass on …And Justice For All

On a similar note, the lack of bass on AJFA doesn’t matter considering the powerful rhythm guitar tone on the album
 
RPG fans give slower-paced beginnings too much flack and gamers need to learn to be patient

Character development and engrossing spectacle can't really happen when you speedrun a save the world narrative. I wish Pokemon Sun and Moon got more attention because people just seem to dismiss it simply because it dares to focus on its fun cast
 
RPG fans give slower-paced beginnings too much flack and gamers need to learn to be patient

Character development and engrossing spectacle can't really happen when you speedrun a save the world narrative. I wish Pokemon Sun and Moon got more attention because people just seem to dismiss it simply because it dares to focus on its fun cast
Yes… but sometimes it’s more about showing not telling… give me a story that I can understand almost immediately as I play it and THEN explain what’s important, not have to study deep lore before I can play it. Sun and Moon were great but a lot of that came from *after* the bore of the extensive tutorial.

In the case of USUM: have the scene with Lillie, game start. Meet Hau, interact with Hau for a bit, get starter. Go meet the Kahuna. He sends you to school. A little bit of dialogue. Do the school quest. Beat the teacher. Kahuna *goes* to the school so you don’t have to backtrack. We don’t need the opening festival. Have Koko meet the player at the school. Get the Z-Band, then MOVE. ON.

The way USUM does it in comparison to how I plainly summarized it is everything I said but add hours of dialogue that didn’t have to be there. Bad first impressions for one of my favorite games of all time
 
Yes… but sometimes it’s more about showing not telling… give me a story that I can understand almost immediately as I play it and THEN explain what’s important, not have to study deep lore before I can play it. Sun and Moon were great but a lot of that came from *after* the bore of the extensive tutorial.

In the case of USUM: have the scene with Lillie, game start. Meet Hau, interact with Hau for a bit, get starter. Go meet the Kahuna. He sends you to school. A little bit of dialogue. Do the school quest. Beat the teacher. Kahuna *goes* to the school so you don’t have to backtrack. We don’t need the opening festival. Have Koko meet the player at the school. Get the Z-Band, then MOVE. ON.

The way USUM does it in comparison to how I plainly summarized it is everything I said but add hours of dialogue that didn’t have to be there. Bad first impressions for one of my favorite games of all time
USUM is utterly amazing in every area but story. That game is seriously difficult, I just wish you could indeed replay it faster (I agree a skip cutscene function would have been nice in SM and USUM) because the boss fights are so good
 
Yes… but sometimes it’s more about showing not telling… give me a story that I can understand almost immediately as I play it and THEN explain what’s important, not have to study deep lore before I can play it. Sun and Moon were great but a lot of that came from *after* the bore of the extensive tutorial.

In the case of USUM: have the scene with Lillie, game start. Meet Hau, interact with Hau for a bit, get starter. Go meet the Kahuna. He sends you to school. A little bit of dialogue. Do the school quest. Beat the teacher. Kahuna *goes* to the school so you don’t have to backtrack. We don’t need the opening festival. Have Koko meet the player at the school. Get the Z-Band, then MOVE. ON.

The way USUM does it in comparison to how I plainly summarized it is everything I said but add hours of dialogue that didn’t have to be there. Bad first impressions for one of my favorite games of all time
Tons of dialogue is based. I hope they add more dialogue
 
sorry just to be clear since this hasn't got as many likes as i expected the joke is i am implying the one-liner i quoted is too long to read which is funny as it is very short and not at all difficult to read unlike this long though technically grammatically valid sentence i am now typing. aaaaand send.
IMG_1406.jpeg

thank you, time traveller. the joke has been received.

but yes i wish RPG games could just be “less story driven” in the sense that you shouldnt have to sit through hours of dialogue without it being engaging and just have fun gameplay. pokemon is the first and probably only “RPG” that i played and immediately somewhat understood. ive tried persona but it too can be very complicated.

…edit; i lied. miitopia. i lovveeee miitopia.
 
sometimes i write a take so bad i need to take a step back and rethink what i said. fortunately i am a man capable of change and growth while apparently others are not.

also this is more about rom hacks but i feel like radical red's balancing is really weird. there's a pretty noticeable difficulty spike around sabrina's gym and the elite 4 acts as a second huge spike. sabrina gets a pass because silph co should give you a warning like "dude you gotta drop the technician kricketune that can't carry you any further. you gotta actually play the game now." but there's nothing of the sort for the elite four. the game just sends you a message like "the next 6 fights will beat your ass glhf lol!" and does absolutely nothing to prepare you for the bs that's about to happen.
 
sometimes i write a take so bad i need to take a step back and rethink what i said. fortunately i am a man capable of change and growth while apparently others are not.

also this is more about rom hacks but i feel like radical red's balancing is really weird. there's a pretty noticeable difficulty spike around sabrina's gym and the elite 4 acts as a second huge spike. sabrina gets a pass because silph co should give you a warning like "dude you gotta drop the technician kricketune that can't carry you any further. you gotta actually play the game now." but there's nothing of the sort for the elite four. the game just sends you a message like "the next 6 fights will beat your ass glhf lol!" and does absolutely nothing to prepare you for the bs that's about to happen.
I don't see this, IMO the game peaks difficulty at Misty and then drops off for the rest of the game, just simply because you get so many more options

Then again, my main RadRed experience is nuzlocking 3.2, so I don't know if that's representative as a casual playthrough of it
 
no video game company should think you got a right to charge players an extra 30-40$ just for game clothes (that you can sift thru in seperate optional downloads to see if you'd wanna download) and digital art you'll see just playing the game more lol.... like bruh how long you think ima harp on a digital art book? especially having to look at it on my tv via ps5/xbox/switch/etc? lol

NOW IF YOU GAVE THE OPTION TO MAIL ONE, maybe we talking sumn lol.
 
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I don't see this, IMO the game peaks difficulty at Misty and then drops off for the rest of the game, just simply because you get so many more options

Then again, my main RadRed experience is nuzlocking 3.2, so I don't know if that's representative as a casual playthrough of it
they made sabrina's fight trick room psyspam

sure its thematically appropriate but god i fucking hate this archetype. and she has like 3 trick room setters for some reason so you can't keep it down. somewhere down the line i figured i'd just ohko the trick room setters and leave indeedee in since it cant do shit

they also gave the misty rematch palafin for some reason
 
Ive lived life around a lot of breed of dogs between the few i had as a kid or lived around in relationships to the friends i spent time growing up around.... and I must say Basset Hounds to me are easily the most affectionate and "human" in their own odd ways.... (some may say "Clingy") and truth is they can be, but they're the most gorgeous souls of any dog i've dealt with. even in lazy days where its shitty out and even hes lazy doesnt even care to play he'll just come into my room, yank out some laundry out my basket and curl up in the corner of my room with it as i play my game lol. ultimate homies.

my sister named ours after her nickname for our dad and theirs times he sits on his hip resting on his right front paw EXACTLY like how my dad use to rest watching wrestling with us haha, side/hip rest on the couch, right arm propping ya up lol and ofc we in turn say "Dad found a conduit to get into the new home" (cus he passed as we moved between homes).
 
I don't really get why people think Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando / Locked & Loaded's story is underwhelming.

Yeah, it lacks a central villain like Drek in the original or Dr. Nefarious in UYA, but idk, that never really bothered me too much. The first third is you stopping the Thief, the second act is about realizing WHY that Experiment was important to rescue (because it's vicious), and the third act is about stopping it from being distributed to the galaxy. Yes, 1 and 3 have better villains by being present throughout the entire game, but I genuinely like that 2 tried something different and embraced the wacky comedic side of the series more. And the Thug Leader voiced by Steve Blum means all is forgiven, peak comedy (yeah the final fight is kinda bad, but Tankbot Glove master race trivializes it).

Dr. Nefarious is insanely overused in this series. Write him out already, He's had more than enough time in the limelight.

Can't get into the Future games, I think they have an extremely uninteresting aesthetic that either cranks bloom up to 1,247% or are just gross and murky with dull colors, the original games were vibrant and beautiful like even 2002 looks great today
 
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artichocks aren't bad by any means but it makes no sense that they are served so regularly and have so many (alleged) fans

Like, it's pretty flavorless by itself. I don't get the appeal. Why do so many restaurants offer them?
 
I was re-listening to Shiny from Moana by chance. I've come to the unfortunate conclusion that, lyrically and narratively (not in delivery or animation), it's not great. I don't really have a big-picture takeaway on why, so I'll just play script doctor and go section by section where I have issues. I'll also highlight some sections I think are especially good.

Did your granny say, "Listen to your heart"?
"Be who you are on the inside"?
Why is Tamatoa referencing a conversation he has no way of knowing about? This isn't a leading question – if there is some specific value to breaking in-universe logic to reference specific material, I'm fine with that, I'm not anal. However, I don't get the value. If the song is going to be "screw heart and authenticity, be sparkly", why not talk about these ideas generally? It feels like the song is cutting corners to squeeze in a call-back where it doesn't belong. Alternatively, it thinks the audience is so media illiterate that, unless they explicitly reference a specific prior conversation, they'll have no way to understand Shiny is intentionally saying the opposite of Moana's "be who you really are" arc.

I need three words to tear her argument apart
Your granny lied
...what? I was just so confused when I re-heard this. This retort has all the elegance and wit of "no you." Like, what is the film trying to say by including it? That, beneath all the paint, being shallow is just the banality of saying "nah" to important stuff? Maybe? I think it's an interesting read, anyway. But I feel like I'm stretching too hard and giving the film too much credit.

Fish are dumb, dumb, dumb
They chase anything that glitters
Beginners
Oh, and here they come, come, come
To the brightest thing that glitters
Mm, fish dinners
I like this part because of how it squares up with Tamatoa getting duped by the fake heart of Te Fiti, showing that he's not as above it all as he thinks he is.

I just love free food (Free food)
And you look like seafood (Seafood)
Narrative issue this time, not lyrical. Why write Tamatoa as so willing to just eat Moana? From an in-universe potential, he loves to talk about himself so much, so why would he so quickly get rid of someone he can talk about himself to forever? He could even enlist her to collect more shinies for him. From an external writing perspective, they have potential for great chemistry, and you can play their relationship off of Maui's relationship with humans for thematic development.

Well, well, well
Little Maui's having trouble with his look
You little semi-demi-mini-god
Ouch, what a terrible performance, get the hook, get it?
You don't swing it like you used to, man
...
Send your armies, but they'll never be enough
My shell's too tough, Maui-man
You could try, try, try
But you can't expect a demigod
To beat a decapod (Look it up)

Narrative again, not lyrical. (Semi-demi-mini-god goes so hard, as does Look it up.) This confidence contrasts greatly with his initial fear upon seeing Maui. In-universe, I totally get why Tamatoa would react this way. Shallowness can definitely create reactions of initial pant-soiling when faced with a threat, but mean confidence when faced with a non-threat. Out-of-universe, though, I think this about-face just makes Tamatoa more prickish and unlikable. I'd respect him more if he was confident from the start on seeing Maui, and then had his confidence temporarily vindicated by Maui's hook failure.

Yet I have to give you credit for my start
And your tattoos on the outside
For just like you I made myself a work of art
I'll never hide, I can't

I'm too shiny!
I think this verges on a pretty interesting parallel between Maui and Tamatoa. If you squint, both are more interested in presenting themself a certain way than being developed and good people, at least before Maui's character development (see e.g. "You're Welcome".) I like that potentiality, but I think it's execution is flawed. I don't think the characters are actually parallels. Tamatoa seemingly has no ego issues - he stays alone instead of putting himself in front of people to impress him, and he'd rather eat Moana than use her as a tool to massage his ego (see above). Therefore, I don't think this "we're not so different" jab at Maui really sticks. At the end of a day, it's just a coincidence that they both decorate their body to achieve their goals. These goals are different and don't address the same psychological needs. I guess you can say they're both shallow goals, but I don't think that read convinces me, and that Tamatoa's goal is a lot more shallow.

Now it's time for me to take apart
Your aching heart

Far from the ones who abandoned you
Chasing the love of these humans who made you feel wanted
You tried to be tough
But your armor's just not hard enough
Fantastic execution of the narrative beat. The Strong-Weak-Weak-Strong syllable stress pattern, and the music and animation, of the critical part really seals it in for me. Love it.

My last gripe makes more sense in context of this quote by Lin-Manuel Miranda about the song.
We really wanted to write the “anti-lesson” of the movie—if Moana’s journey is finding out what that voice inside her says and who she is, Tamatoa comes in and goes, “Doesn’t matter! Who cares! It’s about how you look!” He’s from the deepest, darkest part of the sea. Your armor is important, the glitter that attracts prey is important. So who cares who you are on the inside? You gotta be shiny, homie!
While the song advances the plot, it doesn't really develop a non-flat character or have a lot messaging to communicate, so I'm kind of left wishing it had more to say. Some deeper and more meaningful effort to convince Moana/Maui to abandon their self-development could've been it.
 
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"being older" isn't a right to play righteous just as much as "being young" isnt a right to play dumb. im talking all of voting/opinion/influence age lol.

I been the young stifled one and that always made me listen to every damn thing so i knew what i liked and how to stand on it, understand theirs (maybe even understand and adopt certain aspects- which aids in debating blind (total dive in fuck the other side) folks btw admitting you agree with them on one or two things - the few things that actually makes some sense lol). (this is a dem/repub/indie comment here haha)
but the gaslighting all sides be doing playing the young side vs old side is tired.
im not a political soul AT ALL but this is what has got me thru every season of that, and i already know itll be like this going forward lol


especially if you expect respect on both sides. you need to establish your voice, backbone and beliefs and stand on em, don't wait for someone else to stroll around like "HEY! I HAPPEN TO HAVE THE SAME EXACT THINGS I WANNA SEE FOR THAT WORLD AS THAT RANDO ONLINE I NEVER MET" lmo
 
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meeting famous people is absolutely awful, even more so when you're a fan of them

it's confusing that this person, who previously only existed on your screen or in your headphones, is standing before you in the flesh, and making small talk or deeper discussions is awkward, borderline impossible

like if I see an actor or musician I know before me, I don't approach them anymore, I don't even look in their direction. It's just too weird
 
meeting famous people is absolutely awful, even more so when you're a fan of them

it's confusing that this person, who previously only existed on your screen or in your headphones, is standing before you in the flesh, and making small talk or deeper discussions is awkward, borderline impossible

like if I see an actor or musician I know before me, I don't approach them anymore, I don't even look in their direction. It's just too weird
I don't have this problem because no famous person has ever gone to the place where I live. It's really that easy!
 
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