Happy calendar new year. It seems the human race is still safe for now. I was a bit excited to think up about the different armageddon scenarios, and reading others' predictions. Let's see... a big meteor that will shatter earth into pieces sounds okay, since it doesn't seem to be long-suffering experience. Zombie apocalypse is super cool, except it will be terrorizing as hell. I mean... I'm not going to be the Rick Grimes-type in a zombie apocalypse. I'd probably be one of the first to die... or turn into a zombie... and then get re-killed after turning into one. Sad :(
There was also the possibility of huge solar flares destroying our entire electrical grids... so we will be back to the stone age. OMG. No games, no phones, no aircon, no electricity, no nothing. I'll take the zombie scenario, thank you.
But alas we are all here (and so are our gadgets), and I am grateful. So we should all tell our family and loved ones that we love them, and give them a hug or a kiss or whatever, because everything could evaporate in an instant.
I celebrated Christmas 2012 with my family. We don't really celebrate it per se, but we aren't so closed-minded to just pass up the opportunity to be merry and eat a lot. My mother made a point to give everyone in the family a present, so much so that... she bought a t-shirt for my brother-in-law at the airport right before boarding (we flew back on xmas day)... bought a perfume for my sister also last minute at the airport... and she took my travel face care set that I just bought for use, and gift-wrapped all of them and passed them to us during the "gift-giving". Well... I guess she at least made the effort to gift-wrap mine.. no wait... it was only half-wrapped because she ran out of wrapping papers. Oh well.
And then it was a lot of eating and chillaxing at home until the New Year, at the eve of which we went to eat, nothing extravagant, but also went to karaoke, including with my 3.5 year old nephew who is a mic-hogger. Seriously. He sang Adele's Someone Like You, Maroon 5's Move Like Jagger, Baa Baa Black Sheep, some other songs, and of course.. danced the Gangnam Style! I was annoyed by his attitude... but he is so cute singing and dancing that my annoyance didn't really last.
A new 'family' thing we had was... buying Bubble Tea. Like seriously, almost every time after dinner (and yes, we have dinner at the same shopping mall a lot because it is the nearest and it is not worth going anywhere else), we will all get Bubble Tea. It is kind of fun, waiting in line... waiting for the drink to finish together, and then going home and finishing it together.
So a weird and random thing was that I registered for Mensa's test early last year, but have skipped it like 2-3 times because I got lazy to do it. But I finally decided to just take the test in December so they will stop spamming me. I had no idea what I was doing, or what was right or what was wrong. The questions were all shape/logic questions... so you can't really be sure of anything, really. But anyway, that was over, and last week I got the letter of result. It was a pass, I suppose, so I technically qualify for Mensa. Yay, so I have established I am smart. Haha, although without any achievements, any amount of genius doesn't mean anything.
I am considering joining it. The annual fee doesn't seem extravagant. What I really want is... the opportunity to meet people. Yes I might be a loner, and I like my own company at most times. But I also don't know the first thing about where and how to meet people (ahh... the pain of being a Mensa-level genius). Go to a bar? Ermm... it's expensive and smelly and expensive and blah blah. And what am I, a Hollywood movie? Sports place... well since I call it sports place clearly I don't belong there. Musicals, concerts and museums? Too old. Game spots? Too young. Hahaha. Online? Ermm... a bit creepy.
My Beloved
Children of Rabbits
About Me
- The Lost Angel
- A simple girl who has yet to find my place and purpose in life. Supremely crazy of games and Pokemon.
Friday, January 11, 2013
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Open Letter to Nintendo/Game Freak - Ideas on how to jazz up Pokemon battle system with dodging and enduring
Dear Nintendo/Game Freak
Thank you for bringing us the joy that is Pokemon. I have loved it ever since it came out (well, maybe shortly after) and have never stopped.
It began with the games at first - Red and Blue, and then I saw the first movie, and I was enchanted by the battles I see in the anime, where most of the time, anything can happen. And then I started watching the anime, and was again enthralled by how the battles happen in the anime.
I still loved the games, and have played each generation at least once (mostly twice). I even bought 2 NDS's so that I can trade with myself. How sad is that.
Each and every game has maintained the stuff that we all love - choose a starter, sometimes ditching it midway, catch other pokemon, battle, beat the gyms, beat the bad guys, beat elite four, explore, explore, explore. Somehow, the small kid in me wishes that the battles were more exciting - in a way similar to the anime. After 40+ hours of grinding and EV training, it does get to you that the battles are incredulously monotonous and predictable (unless you are in competitive battling... which is a heck of a tough challenge in itself, but mostly because other players are so very strong).
With that, I have some suggestions on how to make the battles more interesting. Now, I haven't got all the mechanics and details, but I think there is some good stuff in there which I'd like to share.
In a nutshell, there are 5 new components: Move clash, evade/dodge, endure, counterattack (covered withing evade and endure), and movement properties.
So first of all, the battle screen will now look like this (ignore the Battle screen word):
1. Move Clash
So first, when you attack, now moves clash against each other (much like in the anime). So there will be instances where one move totally overpowers the other and the user does not get any damage whatsoever. So imagine Pokemon A battling against Pokemon B, using moves x and y respectively. There will be 3 scenarios:
- Exhibited power of move x (calculated by whatever mechanism the game has using the Pokemon stats and original power of move - so special moves with special attack stats, STAB, critical hits, etc) is 1.5 times (the 1.5 is of course just my own arbitrary number - it can be whatever GF decides it will be... random even) than the exhibited power of move y. (In short, x > 1.5y). In this case, A gets no damage, and B receives damage x - y and also take into account B's defense/special defense stats.
- Exhibited power of move y > 1.5 times exhibited power of move x. Just reverse the above.
- Anywhere in between - both gets normal damage, same as usual.
I bet the battles will be fairly longer - possibly will make grinding a lot more difficult... but how fun will that be, right?
2. Evade/dodge (plus Counterattack)
Now, in the anime, pokemon very frequently dodges the opponent's attacks. Why not bring that into the game?
Generally, the idea is, it is like gambling, so when a Pokemon uses evade, there is a random chance of success. This success rate depends on:
- Pokemon's speed stat. The higher the speed, obviously the better the change of successfully dodging an attack. You can't really expect something like Tsubotsubo to always evade, do you? (No worries, look at next section).
- Type of move opponent uses - obviously if the opponent uses something like Fury Swipes which has like 70% accuracy, you get more chance of dodging. Conversely, if the opponent uses always hit moves like Aerial Ace... that's too bad for you.
- Move movement properties (section 4)
- If the pokemon has used Agility, smokescreen, double team, etc (moves that either increases own agility, evasiveness, or reduces opponents' accuracy).
If the evade is successful, the pokemon counterattacks with a move selected when the player opts for the evade option. The power of the counterattack move will be lower than the original (maybe 50-75% - the idea is when you are evading, you won't be able to utilize full power to attack back). Accuracy of move remains.
If the evade fails, the pokemon receives more damage than the original (120-150% or halve the corresponding defense stat. The idea is when you are evading, you do let your guard down).
If both pokemon selects evade and a counterattacking move, the faster pokemon will attack first, then the other pokemon dodges and counterattacks, and the faster pokemon will evade.
Obviously this might lead to a battle of 2 fast pokemons being endless because they keep dodging. So I thought of something like 'Stamina' - which is same for all Pokemon and limited per battle, so a pokemon can't dodge all the time. Introducing a separate stat can be a pain, and probably it's easier to just limit evade to 3-5 per pokemon per battle. The idea is, the Pokemon will get tired "running around" all the time.
Maybe in addition, the more evade you use during the battle, the less likelihood of success or something along that line, just to keep things interesting. Same with endure.
3. Endure (plus Counterattack)
The inspiration for this is all those large and slow Pokemon who bide their time and enduring all those attacks before unleashing a powerful hit. For example, Dodaitoise in DPP.
I think this will be good if you are facing a fast opponent... and like almost dying.
So, the idea is, a successful endure will leave the Pokemon with 1 HP before unleashing a hit that will always hit (unless it is a OHKO), deals 120-150% of original damage (again, arbitrary number, but in general, higher because the enduring Pokemon is able to focus its energy to counterattack), and has a 50% (arbitrary) chance of landing a critical hit (the idea is the pokemon can focus its energy to attack the opponent's weakness - more if the pokemon has used critical hit-inducing moves previously).
Chance of success increases if the Pokemon is bulky and/or slower. But maybe in general it is about 50-75%.
If both pokemon endure... maybe the turn will fail, or both will just attack normally using their selected counterattack moves. In both evade and endure, counterattacking moves must be attack moves.
Just think about those times when you are facing a speedy Gabrias and you know its next hit will kill you... this will make things really interesting.
4. Movement properties
To inject more fun into evading and enduring, attack moves are further divided into three sub-types: stationary, natural movement, and fast moving. This refers to the state of movement of the pokemon when unleashing the move.
To illustrate, stationary moves will be like... water gun... hydro pump... psychic... thunder shock, vine whip etc where usually the pokemon will stay in place and use the move.
Natural moves will be like those that require the pokemon to move, but not overly so... so for example like a lot of the fighting moves, pound, double slap, lick or whatever that doesn't belong to stationary and fast moving.
Fast moving ones will be those that require the pokemon to move at high speed, so for example, aqua jet, gyro ball, quick attack, nitro charge, you get the picture.
Basically if a pokemon evades and counterattacks with a fast moving move, the chance of evasion is increased - because it will use that move during evasion and adds to the speed of movement. If uses other types of moves, same effect, just no extra success rate. Likewise, if a pokemon endures and counterattacks with stationary moves, it will focus better, giving it greater chance of critical hit and/or landing more damage. No such effects with other types of moves (they can still be used, just won't be as powerful, perhaps?).
-----
So... that's the gist of it, I think. It's pretty comprehensive, although it's still pretty raw. For instance, I haven't really thought about how to incorporate that into double battles... like maybe evade can be done twice but counterattack just to one pokemon... same with endure.
I think it will make Pokemon battles all the more interesting. I hope a lot of people like this idea so it will motivate GF and Nintendo to incorporate this into the game we all love.
Thank you for bringing us the joy that is Pokemon. I have loved it ever since it came out (well, maybe shortly after) and have never stopped.
It began with the games at first - Red and Blue, and then I saw the first movie, and I was enchanted by the battles I see in the anime, where most of the time, anything can happen. And then I started watching the anime, and was again enthralled by how the battles happen in the anime.
I still loved the games, and have played each generation at least once (mostly twice). I even bought 2 NDS's so that I can trade with myself. How sad is that.
Each and every game has maintained the stuff that we all love - choose a starter, sometimes ditching it midway, catch other pokemon, battle, beat the gyms, beat the bad guys, beat elite four, explore, explore, explore. Somehow, the small kid in me wishes that the battles were more exciting - in a way similar to the anime. After 40+ hours of grinding and EV training, it does get to you that the battles are incredulously monotonous and predictable (unless you are in competitive battling... which is a heck of a tough challenge in itself, but mostly because other players are so very strong).
With that, I have some suggestions on how to make the battles more interesting. Now, I haven't got all the mechanics and details, but I think there is some good stuff in there which I'd like to share.
In a nutshell, there are 5 new components: Move clash, evade/dodge, endure, counterattack (covered withing evade and endure), and movement properties.
So first of all, the battle screen will now look like this (ignore the Battle screen word):
So first, when you attack, now moves clash against each other (much like in the anime). So there will be instances where one move totally overpowers the other and the user does not get any damage whatsoever. So imagine Pokemon A battling against Pokemon B, using moves x and y respectively. There will be 3 scenarios:
- Exhibited power of move x (calculated by whatever mechanism the game has using the Pokemon stats and original power of move - so special moves with special attack stats, STAB, critical hits, etc) is 1.5 times (the 1.5 is of course just my own arbitrary number - it can be whatever GF decides it will be... random even) than the exhibited power of move y. (In short, x > 1.5y). In this case, A gets no damage, and B receives damage x - y and also take into account B's defense/special defense stats.
- Exhibited power of move y > 1.5 times exhibited power of move x. Just reverse the above.
- Anywhere in between - both gets normal damage, same as usual.
I bet the battles will be fairly longer - possibly will make grinding a lot more difficult... but how fun will that be, right?
2. Evade/dodge (plus Counterattack)
Now, in the anime, pokemon very frequently dodges the opponent's attacks. Why not bring that into the game?
Generally, the idea is, it is like gambling, so when a Pokemon uses evade, there is a random chance of success. This success rate depends on:
- Pokemon's speed stat. The higher the speed, obviously the better the change of successfully dodging an attack. You can't really expect something like Tsubotsubo to always evade, do you? (No worries, look at next section).
- Type of move opponent uses - obviously if the opponent uses something like Fury Swipes which has like 70% accuracy, you get more chance of dodging. Conversely, if the opponent uses always hit moves like Aerial Ace... that's too bad for you.
- Move movement properties (section 4)
- If the pokemon has used Agility, smokescreen, double team, etc (moves that either increases own agility, evasiveness, or reduces opponents' accuracy).
If the evade is successful, the pokemon counterattacks with a move selected when the player opts for the evade option. The power of the counterattack move will be lower than the original (maybe 50-75% - the idea is when you are evading, you won't be able to utilize full power to attack back). Accuracy of move remains.
If the evade fails, the pokemon receives more damage than the original (120-150% or halve the corresponding defense stat. The idea is when you are evading, you do let your guard down).
If both pokemon selects evade and a counterattacking move, the faster pokemon will attack first, then the other pokemon dodges and counterattacks, and the faster pokemon will evade.
Obviously this might lead to a battle of 2 fast pokemons being endless because they keep dodging. So I thought of something like 'Stamina' - which is same for all Pokemon and limited per battle, so a pokemon can't dodge all the time. Introducing a separate stat can be a pain, and probably it's easier to just limit evade to 3-5 per pokemon per battle. The idea is, the Pokemon will get tired "running around" all the time.
Maybe in addition, the more evade you use during the battle, the less likelihood of success or something along that line, just to keep things interesting. Same with endure.
3. Endure (plus Counterattack)
The inspiration for this is all those large and slow Pokemon who bide their time and enduring all those attacks before unleashing a powerful hit. For example, Dodaitoise in DPP.
I think this will be good if you are facing a fast opponent... and like almost dying.
So, the idea is, a successful endure will leave the Pokemon with 1 HP before unleashing a hit that will always hit (unless it is a OHKO), deals 120-150% of original damage (again, arbitrary number, but in general, higher because the enduring Pokemon is able to focus its energy to counterattack), and has a 50% (arbitrary) chance of landing a critical hit (the idea is the pokemon can focus its energy to attack the opponent's weakness - more if the pokemon has used critical hit-inducing moves previously).
Chance of success increases if the Pokemon is bulky and/or slower. But maybe in general it is about 50-75%.
If both pokemon endure... maybe the turn will fail, or both will just attack normally using their selected counterattack moves. In both evade and endure, counterattacking moves must be attack moves.
Just think about those times when you are facing a speedy Gabrias and you know its next hit will kill you... this will make things really interesting.
4. Movement properties
To inject more fun into evading and enduring, attack moves are further divided into three sub-types: stationary, natural movement, and fast moving. This refers to the state of movement of the pokemon when unleashing the move.
To illustrate, stationary moves will be like... water gun... hydro pump... psychic... thunder shock, vine whip etc where usually the pokemon will stay in place and use the move.
Natural moves will be like those that require the pokemon to move, but not overly so... so for example like a lot of the fighting moves, pound, double slap, lick or whatever that doesn't belong to stationary and fast moving.
Fast moving ones will be those that require the pokemon to move at high speed, so for example, aqua jet, gyro ball, quick attack, nitro charge, you get the picture.
Basically if a pokemon evades and counterattacks with a fast moving move, the chance of evasion is increased - because it will use that move during evasion and adds to the speed of movement. If uses other types of moves, same effect, just no extra success rate. Likewise, if a pokemon endures and counterattacks with stationary moves, it will focus better, giving it greater chance of critical hit and/or landing more damage. No such effects with other types of moves (they can still be used, just won't be as powerful, perhaps?).
-----
So... that's the gist of it, I think. It's pretty comprehensive, although it's still pretty raw. For instance, I haven't really thought about how to incorporate that into double battles... like maybe evade can be done twice but counterattack just to one pokemon... same with endure.
I think it will make Pokemon battles all the more interesting. I hope a lot of people like this idea so it will motivate GF and Nintendo to incorporate this into the game we all love.
Friday, November 16, 2012
Monster game month
I can't believe it has been a frickin two months since my last post. I think I was so de-motivated after my last draft on my China trip went limbo when trying to upload. It was a really long post, and I did it on my trusty Nexus 7. Back then... kind of spanking brand new too.
In October, a few great things happened. I had a fabulous birthday weekend with my family. Like, everyone flew here to celebrate with me. Well the birthday was really an excuse to spend time together, but it was great timing nonetheless, and we went on an eating frenzy. We stayed at hotels - I stayed at Mandarin Oriental (read: staff rate), and on the birthday night, we all had a special (private and spacious) at the buffet in Mandarin Oriental. Can't remember what it's called now... but it's fabulous. Yum. They also prepared a birthday cake... which we couldn't eat during the dinner itself (read: buffet), but my sister and I had it the week after, and it was so good. Good stuff, Mandarin Oriental.
Before that, my father, sister and I actually went on a cruise. It was nice, but my father could have tried to coerce us to spend time with his friends less. He could have. Of course he didn't. But it was by no means bad. Nothing can be worst than my last experience there. And there was a big Japanese tour group... so a bit of eye candy, kind of. But there wasn't anyone in particular who is attractive, really. Bought some clothes for my cutie pie niece. OMG they're so adorable on her.
And then it was the big company channels forum which happened at the end of October, while juggling data stuff. The event was good - managed very well. I got a pretty sucky job, but at least I got to sit down and just manage meetings - a bit like those time management games in fact. Put these people in this room... put those there... just had to do it fast enough so they are not kept waiting long.
The gala dinner was hilarious. I was supposed to sit at a table with people of my citizenship. But after we sat everybody down, I was told to find a table that looks emptier or with less people, and just join that table. So I went, and found a table with like 4 people, and I joined them. Turned out they were mainland Chinese. And only one of them can speak English... barely. To be fair, they were nice enough, but with that amount of gap in communicable language, it didn't go very far. Before dessert, they all left. I didn't know what to do. There wasn't anything covering that in the orientation. Sobs. So I joined some of my colleagues in the end. But anyway, it was a really strange experience. Funny thing was, one of my colleagues who can speak Chinese, ended up sitting at a table with people of my citizenship. LOL.
We had fun afterwards, and took some great pictures together. Some of which I think we are going to print on canvas and hang up on the wall in our... spanking brand new office! Yes, just moved office. I still haven't fully unpacked (and I'm blogging instead hehe).
Anyway, going back on the topic here... November is looking to be a monster game month for me. Nintendo started releasing digital copies of the games on 3DS. To be honest they aren't cheaper than physical copies. But since I have to import them... and the retailer has a pretty high margin... it does make it cheaper for me. Not much benefits for the Japanese. Well I guess they won't have to wait in line to buy games... but they also can't share the games, unless they're willing to lend the 3DS along.
Anywho, my first victim is... doubutsu no mori... aka Animal Crossing! Oh my, how can I resist this? It's a game where you play a very relaxing life-simulation game, where you collect stuff to sell, pay off your housing mortgage, buy furniture and decorate you home, buy clothes, deliver stuff, catch insects, catch fish, dig up fossils, etc etc. It costs like 4,800 yen. T_T
Next I downloaded the demo version of Pokemon fushigi na dungeon (Pokemon Mystery Dungeon), Magnagate something. It's Pokemon. I'm sold. Most likely. Another 4,800 yen. But this hasn't actually come out yet, so I still have time to demotivate myself from buying.
Then I realized my 2GB SD card was absolutely rubbish. So I went to buy a spanking 32GB Sandisk Class 10 SD card. Probably overkill for a 3DS. But I don't care. I was so happy when I checked the 200,000+ blocks that I have left. Transferring the files was a piece of cake, with my spanking brand new card reader. The two is about $50.
Next... Professor Layton vs Ace Attorney!!!! Due end of November. I'm definitely getting this one. No questions there. I think that's about 5,000 yen. KMN.
I dread to even think about the games in December and what my expenses will be like.
Oh I almost forgot, I also downloaded more demos. Rhythm hunter Harmoknight, Dead or Alive Dimensions and Monster Hunter 3G. I'm sold on Rhythm hunter (1,800 yen) - just found out it's from the people who brings us the delight in the form of Pokemon games. Game Freak. No wonder there were some very... familiar... music in there. I doubt I will buy DOAD, but I get to play it 30 times with the demo... why not. Ditto Monster Hunter.
In October, a few great things happened. I had a fabulous birthday weekend with my family. Like, everyone flew here to celebrate with me. Well the birthday was really an excuse to spend time together, but it was great timing nonetheless, and we went on an eating frenzy. We stayed at hotels - I stayed at Mandarin Oriental (read: staff rate), and on the birthday night, we all had a special (private and spacious) at the buffet in Mandarin Oriental. Can't remember what it's called now... but it's fabulous. Yum. They also prepared a birthday cake... which we couldn't eat during the dinner itself (read: buffet), but my sister and I had it the week after, and it was so good. Good stuff, Mandarin Oriental.
Before that, my father, sister and I actually went on a cruise. It was nice, but my father could have tried to coerce us to spend time with his friends less. He could have. Of course he didn't. But it was by no means bad. Nothing can be worst than my last experience there. And there was a big Japanese tour group... so a bit of eye candy, kind of. But there wasn't anyone in particular who is attractive, really. Bought some clothes for my cutie pie niece. OMG they're so adorable on her.
And then it was the big company channels forum which happened at the end of October, while juggling data stuff. The event was good - managed very well. I got a pretty sucky job, but at least I got to sit down and just manage meetings - a bit like those time management games in fact. Put these people in this room... put those there... just had to do it fast enough so they are not kept waiting long.
The gala dinner was hilarious. I was supposed to sit at a table with people of my citizenship. But after we sat everybody down, I was told to find a table that looks emptier or with less people, and just join that table. So I went, and found a table with like 4 people, and I joined them. Turned out they were mainland Chinese. And only one of them can speak English... barely. To be fair, they were nice enough, but with that amount of gap in communicable language, it didn't go very far. Before dessert, they all left. I didn't know what to do. There wasn't anything covering that in the orientation. Sobs. So I joined some of my colleagues in the end. But anyway, it was a really strange experience. Funny thing was, one of my colleagues who can speak Chinese, ended up sitting at a table with people of my citizenship. LOL.
We had fun afterwards, and took some great pictures together. Some of which I think we are going to print on canvas and hang up on the wall in our... spanking brand new office! Yes, just moved office. I still haven't fully unpacked (and I'm blogging instead hehe).
Anyway, going back on the topic here... November is looking to be a monster game month for me. Nintendo started releasing digital copies of the games on 3DS. To be honest they aren't cheaper than physical copies. But since I have to import them... and the retailer has a pretty high margin... it does make it cheaper for me. Not much benefits for the Japanese. Well I guess they won't have to wait in line to buy games... but they also can't share the games, unless they're willing to lend the 3DS along.
Anywho, my first victim is... doubutsu no mori... aka Animal Crossing! Oh my, how can I resist this? It's a game where you play a very relaxing life-simulation game, where you collect stuff to sell, pay off your housing mortgage, buy furniture and decorate you home, buy clothes, deliver stuff, catch insects, catch fish, dig up fossils, etc etc. It costs like 4,800 yen. T_T
Next I downloaded the demo version of Pokemon fushigi na dungeon (Pokemon Mystery Dungeon), Magnagate something. It's Pokemon. I'm sold. Most likely. Another 4,800 yen. But this hasn't actually come out yet, so I still have time to demotivate myself from buying.
Then I realized my 2GB SD card was absolutely rubbish. So I went to buy a spanking 32GB Sandisk Class 10 SD card. Probably overkill for a 3DS. But I don't care. I was so happy when I checked the 200,000+ blocks that I have left. Transferring the files was a piece of cake, with my spanking brand new card reader. The two is about $50.
Next... Professor Layton vs Ace Attorney!!!! Due end of November. I'm definitely getting this one. No questions there. I think that's about 5,000 yen. KMN.
I dread to even think about the games in December and what my expenses will be like.
Oh I almost forgot, I also downloaded more demos. Rhythm hunter Harmoknight, Dead or Alive Dimensions and Monster Hunter 3G. I'm sold on Rhythm hunter (1,800 yen) - just found out it's from the people who brings us the delight in the form of Pokemon games. Game Freak. No wonder there were some very... familiar... music in there. I doubt I will buy DOAD, but I get to play it 30 times with the demo... why not. Ditto Monster Hunter.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Zero: shinku no chou
Finally... i succumbed to my desire and bought the game for like a frickin hundred bucks... and i fedexed it too... need... to kill... ghosts...
At first glance, the game looks not very impressive, not much of an upgrade from akai chou, but then i figured i must have been comparing it to the graphics of tsukihami no kamen, which is natural to do but maybe not quite fair. The game still looks good (and creepy), so it is not a big deal or anything.
Anyway just got the game last night because the fedex guy was nice enough to come to my office to deliver. Yay fedex!! I work quite nearby but it was still a nice gesture. So i started playing... in my room.. without the lights on of course (how else do you play fatal fame/zero?).
I started off by trying the obake yashiki. Which is.. ermm... abit random. Probably fun if i play with another peron and scare the hell out of them. Otherwise... nah....
Then the real deal...
Wow.
I have played akai chou before of course (in english, so that much less creepy), but the whole thing just exudes creepiness. The graphics - for sure - everything was done in such great detail... and everything is creepy T_T and you can see just barely which makes the ghosts that appear much more menacing. The voices and the effects are wonderful too hehe.
I've only played for 1.5 hours or so, so I'm still in the beginning of chapter 2 (yes I'm slow). But I was so confident with my tsukihami no kamen playing that I immediately chose the Normal mode instead of Easy. The gameplay is a bit harder (maybe Tsukihami was too easy... and my camera became too powerful) - especially you have to wait for the camera to freakin' recharge if you change films!!! OMG so annoying, but I guess that adds to the suspense... and to be honest, more realistic. At least the game got rid of the blue and red stones systems and instead adopted the Points system which is much easier (there are still blue and red stones, but you get points instead if you find them). I also don't quite understand why I get attacked sometimes without the Fatal Frame radar flashing. Maybe it was two ghosts... not sure.
But anyway, so fun! I'll continue my ventures into the depths of 皆神村 tonight~
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
N2 合格！！
I passed I passed I passed I passed!!
I still can't believe it. I thought I was a goner for sure... because of the totally strange vocabulary.
Breakdown of my score...
Reading... 38/60 (whoops! It was quite hard though)
Language knowledge... 45/60 (WTH, higher than reading! Seriously didn't expect this. Vocabulary was B and Grammar was A... at least that was expected. So I guess all those nights learning new Kanji helped... or not... seeing as none or very little of those actually appeared...)
Listening... 60/60 (hehe what can I say?)
Anyway phew...
N1 is next. But I seriously doubt I can remotely pass by December. I might just take it so I will be motivated to start studying.
But for now...
Banzai!
I still can't believe it. I thought I was a goner for sure... because of the totally strange vocabulary.
Breakdown of my score...
Reading... 38/60 (whoops! It was quite hard though)
Language knowledge... 45/60 (WTH, higher than reading! Seriously didn't expect this. Vocabulary was B and Grammar was A... at least that was expected. So I guess all those nights learning new Kanji helped... or not... seeing as none or very little of those actually appeared...)
Listening... 60/60 (hehe what can I say?)
Anyway phew...
N1 is next. But I seriously doubt I can remotely pass by December. I might just take it so I will be motivated to start studying.
But for now...
Banzai!
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Pokemon dream - rare peacock pokemon
I have many dreams involving Pokemon. No, not the one you see in your sleep. DREAM dream.
I want to someday sing the theme song to a Pokemon movie. Yes, the movie is ideal because it is more epic and meaningful if you don't hear it a hundred times after each episode. And let's face it, the movie theme songs are often better quality - though I'm not saying the TV version is not likable.
I want to create a powerful Pokemon team and compete in a Pokemon tournament and finish well. I'm building towards that, obviously, with my Black 2 team. But I know they are not yet good enough because in the Wi-Fi battles there are so many powerful players. Sometimes I feel a bit annoyed that these people use the likes of Entei and my worst nightmare, Latias and Latios.Then again, now I use a fairly powerful Landorus, so I guess I can't really complain. (No more Landorus, as I have ditched it for Kairyuu because it turns out to be quite crap (the Pokedex 3D Pro is quite misleading with the stats here, it turns out! All that work to get it to bloody level 75 *sobs*!)... although now I'm thinking to ditch that for Gabrias - both have double weakness to Ice, so they're pretty crap... but Gabrias is a lot faster. Or maybe something that annoys the hell out of other people, just because it seems my team is too unbalanced. My other guys... Metagross and Erlade... they're perfect *LOVE*).
Anyway, backtrack to my first point... I had a dream. It was almost like watching a full Pokemon episode - rather enjoyable, I must say. It's got a proper story too, quite touching, but I've forgotten most of it now. It's got a title even, "XXX (the Pokemon name which I can't recall), super lucky!" narrated in... Bel's voice.
The main part is of course this peacock Pokemon, which is, in my dream, part flying and part steel. Especially the tail is very steel-y hehe. I can imagine it having attack like Aerial Ace, Iron tail, fury attack, slash, etc. It also has female and male differences, where the male is of course more flashy. The one I dreamt about was the female version, which was also very beautiful, and her relationship with Satoshi.
Basically I think Satoshi saved this peacock, which is quite a rare pokemon, and they start to form a bond. And the peacock join Satoshi's group for a while. Then Bel comes along, and with her penchant for cute Pokemon, she wants to get the peacock. But Iris also wanted her, so they ended up fighting for the right to get her. (I have to say... this sounds very possible!)
Then something happened, and then the scene switched to a train ride - supposedly quite a violent one, because the train is known for making trainers fall and drop their stuff. In the end, Satoshi has dropped all of his Pokeballs and there were a few of these pokeballs on the train floor. Then the peacock pokemon picked up one that is actually empty. Then she looked at Satoshi with adoring eyes... and then pressed to button herself... and ended up inside. But as it turns out, the empty ball belonged to Bel... so technically she became Bel's. And then Satoshi, who didn't really feel the need to "get" her... suddenly felt a stabbing in his heart.
Anyway, Bel saw how the peacock was adoring Satoshi, even as she went inside the ball mistakenly. So she ended up giving the pokemon to Satoshi because she said the peacock would be a lot happier with him anyway. And in the end... happy end!
Seriously I can see this applying to Meloetta. I doubt Meloetta will be caught. Shame - she's so pretty. I wish Satoshi would get better Pokemon. Ditch that stupid, annoying Mijumaru, oh my god. Ditch the boring bird. The rest is probably okay. Get Meloetta. What a waste if not.
I want to someday sing the theme song to a Pokemon movie. Yes, the movie is ideal because it is more epic and meaningful if you don't hear it a hundred times after each episode. And let's face it, the movie theme songs are often better quality - though I'm not saying the TV version is not likable.
I want to create a powerful Pokemon team and compete in a Pokemon tournament and finish well. I'm building towards that, obviously, with my Black 2 team. But I know they are not yet good enough because in the Wi-Fi battles there are so many powerful players. Sometimes I feel a bit annoyed that these people use the likes of Entei and my worst nightmare, Latias and Latios.
Anyway, backtrack to my first point... I had a dream. It was almost like watching a full Pokemon episode - rather enjoyable, I must say. It's got a proper story too, quite touching, but I've forgotten most of it now. It's got a title even, "XXX (the Pokemon name which I can't recall), super lucky!" narrated in... Bel's voice.
The main part is of course this peacock Pokemon, which is, in my dream, part flying and part steel. Especially the tail is very steel-y hehe. I can imagine it having attack like Aerial Ace, Iron tail, fury attack, slash, etc. It also has female and male differences, where the male is of course more flashy. The one I dreamt about was the female version, which was also very beautiful, and her relationship with Satoshi.
Basically I think Satoshi saved this peacock, which is quite a rare pokemon, and they start to form a bond. And the peacock join Satoshi's group for a while. Then Bel comes along, and with her penchant for cute Pokemon, she wants to get the peacock. But Iris also wanted her, so they ended up fighting for the right to get her. (I have to say... this sounds very possible!)
Then something happened, and then the scene switched to a train ride - supposedly quite a violent one, because the train is known for making trainers fall and drop their stuff. In the end, Satoshi has dropped all of his Pokeballs and there were a few of these pokeballs on the train floor. Then the peacock pokemon picked up one that is actually empty. Then she looked at Satoshi with adoring eyes... and then pressed to button herself... and ended up inside. But as it turns out, the empty ball belonged to Bel... so technically she became Bel's. And then Satoshi, who didn't really feel the need to "get" her... suddenly felt a stabbing in his heart.
Anyway, Bel saw how the peacock was adoring Satoshi, even as she went inside the ball mistakenly. So she ended up giving the pokemon to Satoshi because she said the peacock would be a lot happier with him anyway. And in the end... happy end!
Seriously I can see this applying to Meloetta. I doubt Meloetta will be caught. Shame - she's so pretty. I wish Satoshi would get better Pokemon. Ditch that stupid, annoying Mijumaru, oh my god. Ditch the boring bird. The rest is probably okay. Get Meloetta. What a waste if not.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Dream of nostalgia
I had a dream last night... it wasn't a great dream or anything - more bizarre, actually.
It was about this person I used to be head over heels infatuated with, in choir. It wasn't anything serious, but the person sure was cute (probably still is!).
I guess what was memorable for me from the dream was the feeling that I had, when this person I liked asked me out. I can't really remember why now. But it was really sweet at first. Yes, at first. By the end it ended up so confusing, with me sitting with my family members (huh?), thinking about taking taxi, and if I remember correctly, ending up watching what was most likely Pokemon. I don't really remember what happened to the fella. Probably got drunk because there were a lot of familiar people (in the fictional world!).
I suppose a part of me misses that feeling - that heart-thumping when the person you like asks you out, that pondering over your hair and dress before the big date, that nervousness when you step inside the car. Not that all of the above actually happened to me before =P Just saying.
It was about this person I used to be head over heels infatuated with, in choir. It wasn't anything serious, but the person sure was cute (probably still is!).
I guess what was memorable for me from the dream was the feeling that I had, when this person I liked asked me out. I can't really remember why now. But it was really sweet at first. Yes, at first. By the end it ended up so confusing, with me sitting with my family members (huh?), thinking about taking taxi, and if I remember correctly, ending up watching what was most likely Pokemon. I don't really remember what happened to the fella. Probably got drunk because there were a lot of familiar people (in the fictional world!).
I suppose a part of me misses that feeling - that heart-thumping when the person you like asks you out, that pondering over your hair and dress before the big date, that nervousness when you step inside the car. Not that all of the above actually happened to me before =P Just saying.
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