PokeJournal Week 1

Pssst, I am about to let you in on a little secret; let's call it a shameful skeleton in my closet. I am addicted to Pokemon. Yes, I know this game was designed to be played by school kids at recess, but it's so darn fun that it gets addicting. I don't know whether it's the collection aspect that gets me or the concept of training cute and cuddly little animals to kick the living bejeezus out of each other, but something about this game hooks me.

When I was younger (and by younger I mean, like 20), I fell head over heels for the original Pokemon games (red and blue, I own both) and then again for Silver and Gold. Heck, I even videotaped the cartoon. My friends thought I was nuts. My family stared at me strangely. My ex ignored the situation. But there it was, a complete and utter addiction. An addiction I thought I had mastered.

Fast forward to now. I have totally managed to avoid the GBA versions of the series due to their high price (why are these games so expensive?) and the incredible backlog I have of games to play. However two pieces of the puzzle finally slid into place. Number one, the money thing is no longer relevant thanks to IOGC.net. Number 2, I have successfully managed to clear off my plate of unfinished GBA games. The addiction has begun anew...

Rather than playing through the newer Fire Red and Leaf Green episodes, I have opted to start at the beginning and am currently playing through Sapphire. And I admit, it has me addicted. It is just as fun as I remembered, raising a team that can combat any situation is just enjoyable for some reason.

In any case, I present to you my PokeBlog! From now until I finish the game, I will be presenting weekly journals of how my Pokeprogress (ok, I will stop doing that...) is doing. Without further ado!

PokeJournal Week 1

So far this week I have managed to get back into the basics of Pokemon training. This game is essentially a rock, paper, scissors contest at its roots and creating a team that has attacks that can take on any Pokemon type is essential. I started the game with Torchic, which gave me access to the fire type (and thusly allowed me to burn away all those in my path near the beginning) but soon found myself outmatched by rock types and the such.

When I first approached Rustboro city and had my first chance to earn a badge I knew I was in trouble. What was I to do against the rock type? My strongest Pokemon was Torchic who really didn't stand a chance against Roxanne's rock type. Thankfully, I managed to pick up the Seed Shot TM and teach it to my Seedot. With the Seed Shot skill in place I plowed through Roxanne and even evolved Seedot into Nuzleaf.

Since then I managed to cross over the sea and toast Brawly in Dewford Town for his Knuckle badge thanks to my evolved Dustox, Beautifly, Combusken and Nuzleaf. I am currently on the hunt for new Pokemon inside the cave by Dewford town and looking for some dude named "Steve". I will keep you posted with my progress in one week. In the meantime, here is my current team:

Current Team

Wingull is my current level up project. It has the benefits of being a half flying type and half water type which makes it my current water type of choice. Sadly, it is only at level 9 so it has a little ways to go to become the water type I want it to be. However with its Water Gun attack I expect it to eventually be a powerful member of my team.

Current Job: Level Up

I had high hopes for my Beautifly after it evolved from my Silkoon but sadly, due to its lack of a powerful attack, I have been using it strictly for breaking down enemies for capture and for Flash. If it would learn a more powerful attack than Absorb I could seem some potential for it.

Current Job: Weaken / Flash

Dustox was my first Pokemon to evolve and hence subsequently became one of my powerful, front level fighters due to its sweet Confusion attack. Now that it has learned Gust it is a fairly regular staple to my battle team.

Current Job: Front Line Backup

Combusken is my current arse kicking machine. Anything my other Pokemon can't handle, Combusken takes care of. Currently at level 18, it is ready to destroy anything and everything in its path.

Current Job: Tank

Nuzleaf powered up rather rapidly since toasting Roxanne. He is my second in command of kicking arse and takes care of anything that is weak to grass types. Unfortunately, I am at a point in the game with a relative lack of enemies weak to grass, but I foresee him being my staple grass type in the future, especially when he evolves again.

Current Job: Backup Tank / Grass Expert

I picked up a Taillow just to see what it could do and it turned out to be incredibly powerful. After dusting bug Pokemon after bug Pokemon, Taillow has come in very handy thanks to its incredibly powerful Wing Attack and Peck and its handy Quick Attack. I am looking forward to its inevitable evolution (1 more level to go) which will no doubt cause it to become even more powerful.

Current Job: Heavy Air Support

Comments (0) | Permalink | Lee Babin | 4.14.2005

Wild ARMs - Alter Code F

It seems to be my place of late to point out RPGs that I am truly excited about but that seem to get passed right over in lieu of better marketed, more established franchises. I guess since I have been playing RPGs since long before it was "cool" to, I have a knack for keeping my ear to the ground when it comes to any RPG releases at all.

Back when the original Playstation was released, I picked up two RPGs upon purchase of my shiny new, CD playing beast. Those games were Suikoden and Beyond the Beyond Wild ARMs. Ok, I admit, I did first pick up Beyond the Beyond before instantaneously returning it for Wild ARMs, sue me... Anyway, while Suikoden was a masterful game, for some reason Wild ARMs truly got its hooks in me.

The combination of original atmosphere, amazing music, fascinating story telling and fun, puzzle filled gameplay endeared me like no other game back in that time. Throughout the years I played through both sequels but neither of them brought to me the euphoria I felt when I first played through the first one. I consider it something of a "Suikoden" series, where the longer it runs, the worse it seems to become.

Unlike Suikoden IV which did nothing to renew my interest in the series however, Wild ARMs is set to release a complete remake of the game I first fell in love with. I can't decide whether I am thrilled or frightened senseless. On one hand, this could be the nostalgia trip of all nostalgia trips; rife with great memories. On the other hand, it could be the slaughter of a game I loved so much.

There are a few more aspects to this game that have me scratching my head over how it will turn out. The soundtrack is amazing. They upgraded the music but kept it almost the same. I can't really explain it. It is as though someone made a beer that was a little better than beer. You still love beer, but this new beer is just a little better. While the music might be great however, it seems they are moving everything else over to the new gameplay style introduced in WA3.

I did enjoy WA3, but there were certainly parts that irritated me about it. I distinctly remember the end dungeon being filled to the brim with annoying bosses that could only be beaten by exploiting some of the stupider aspects to that game. On the other hand, I remember the atmosphere being pretty cool.

In any case, I am truly looking forward to this game, for better or for worse. Rather than give you the usual bevy of screenshots that you have probably already seen a hundred times, I figured I would present you with some of the Japanese art work, enjoy!

Comments (3) | Permalink | Lee Babin | 3.30.2005

Media Blowout (Oh My Aching Bandwidth...)

Shadow Hearts - From the New World

So today marks something of a media splurge on my part. So many attractive games have been surfacing lately that I figured I would kind of compile them into one little nice looking template. Of course you shall have to shift through a bit of my long-winded verbiage, but in my opinion these shots are quite worth it.

First up is a game that I am highly anticipating mainly due to its prequel warming my heart. Shadow Hearts - From the New World is shaping up to be one of my most anticipated sequels. Covenant is such an amazingly put together game that I continually find myself gushing over it. Never before has a game enthralled my wife so much as to find us competing for game time.

I truly hope that the series continues with its wacky, yet dark sense of humor while providing some sense of continuity. Covenant is ripe in its wonderful cameos from its prequel's characters and I am looking for more of the same with the sequel.

So far the only real details I can tell from the shots are that the judgement ring will be making a comeback, and the game will be taking place on this side of the ocean this time. I am excited about both of those aspects and can't wait until more details surface...

Pics courtesy of The Magic Box:

Lumines

The North American launch of the PSP has come and gone with quite a bit of hype, though not as much as I certainly expected. I truly do believe that the price has something to do with that; heck it is going for about $400 Canadian around here. I am frequently one to jump on a console launch, especially with a system as sexy as the PSP, but this time around I think I will sit and wait. I won't go into too many details, but needless to say I think Sean put it best anyway...

The only game I am fairly excited about currently on the PSP is the extremely cool looking (and apparently sounding) Lumines. From what I have heard this game basically combines the addicting elements of something like Tetris with the groove stylings of something like Rez. People are apparently feverishly addicted to the game, and I have decided that at some point in time I must jump on the band wagon.

It has been since the original Tetris that a puzzle game has garnered my attention but with its cool sounds and Rez like atmosphere I truly believe that Lumines may be the next puzzle game to hook me in.

Pics courtesy of 1up:

Atelier Iris

NIS truly must enjoy getting kicks out of watching me attempt to pronouce their games. The EBGames' retailer who has to listen to me give it an attempt is no doubt going to give me a funny look. The last time I tried it was when I was picking up my copy of Disgaea and I was half drunk. I couldn't tell whether it was the booze slurring my speech or whether it was simply unpronoucable.

In any case, isn't this game looking cool? I love sprite based animation and AA (for short) looks as though it has colorful, bubbly graphics in spades. Add to that an in depth (hopefully not Phantom Brave in depth) alchemist system and a quirky storyline and you have what could potentially be a sleeper hit.

Due out in May, this perhaps could be my very next purchase. What I am truly excited about is starting to see games like this appear on the PSP. Once they fix some of the hardware problems (dead pixels be gone!), the PSP has the potential to play some PS2 quality games. I would think that sprite heavy games such as this would be a perfect fit, but time will tell...

Pics courtesy of NIS America:

A Final Note

I just wanted to apologize to those who have noticed my site going down and all of the polling systems on 1up.com disappearing. All of it is hosted on one of our servers that has been going through some serious maintenance as of late and may continue to go through a bit of turbulence in the upcoming weeks. Thankfully the turbulence will eventually lead to a rock-solid server setup which will them be far more efficient than our current offering, so please stay patient and my apologies for the inconvenience.

Comments (0) | Permalink | Lee Babin | 3.29.2005

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