Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Cactus (Bluesky edition) @manofthecactus.bsky.social · 2d

Overall, extremely solid experience with extremely few hiccups. The mega Pokemon gimmick has been officially redeemed in my eyes and I'm excited to see where they take these game mechanics

8/10 I love you, mega ampharos

Cactus (Bluesky edition) @manofthecactus.bsky.social · 2d

-we gotta make these tutorials shorter guys. They genuinely have been getting longer every single game. I promise you the children are smarter than you think they are

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Cactus (Bluesky edition) @manofthecactus.bsky.social · 2d

-If the next big Pokemon game is going to be a switch 2 exclusive, id like to see game freak try to actually take advantage of the hardware, I don't really prioritize graphics over gameplay but a Pokemon game that looks pretty would be a cool change of pace. Maybe lean into an art style? Idk

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Cactus (Bluesky edition) @manofthecactus.bsky.social · 2d

-If the entire game is going to be based in lumiose city, I'd love for there to be more buildings I could physically enter. In my opinion that's the whole appeal of a city map, the physical buildings that you can enter and explore. Not a deal breaker but would've gone a long way

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Cactus (Bluesky edition) @manofthecactus.bsky.social · 2d

Cons:
-Guys. We have to get voice acting. This is honestly so embarrassing at this point. How do we have animated lip-synced cutscenes with no voice work. It just feels so awkward, and takes away from the stories that are being told. Gen 10, make it happen, please.

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Cactus (Bluesky edition) @manofthecactus.bsky.social · 2d

-I'm not a huge X/Y fan, but I quite enjoyed the expansion on Kalos as a region and all the nods to the games on 3DS. In particular, I loved the part where you go into the ruined Lysandre Labs

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Cactus (Bluesky edition) @manofthecactus.bsky.social · 2d

-Never thought I'd be saying this, but Legends Z-A's platforming is actually pretty well done. The dodge roll + rotoglide make for some really fun jumps, and going across the rooftops felt like a significant highlight

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Cactus (Bluesky edition) @manofthecactus.bsky.social · 2d

-Speaking of megas, this game's pacing with showing off new and existing designs felt very intentional, and is a HUGE improvement over their handling in X/Y (like bro what were they doing)
-Music for the most part was pretty good, nothing spectacular but I was jamming throughout

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Cactus (Bluesky edition) @manofthecactus.bsky.social · 2d

-i did not engage with the system but the fashion in this game seems great. I love seeing pictures online of everyone's outfits
-With a few exceptions, all of the new mega designs in this game were hits. Chandelure, Frosslass, and Excadrill were personal favs of mine (honorable mention for Falinks)

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Cactus (Bluesky edition) @manofthecactus.bsky.social · 2d

Speedy attacks such as u-turn, protect/detect, etc. I still love turn based Pokemon but this was a lovely change of pace
-Modern Pokemon character design is fucking beautiful dude I was frothing at the mouth for most of these characters' designs

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Cactus (Bluesky edition) @manofthecactus.bsky.social · 2d

Quick review on Pokemon Legends Z-A

Pros:
-Real time combat is fun! I honestly thought I wouldn't like it but it adds a ton of depth to battling I never would've thought about, including but not limited to: long range vs close range, hazard moves such as fire spin, hard hitting slow attacks

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Reposted by Cactus (Bluesky edition)

datcravat クラバット🍷 @datcravat.bsky.social · Sep 9

Fanart of Rise Kujikawa from Persona 4. She is in her school uniform looking over her glasses, that she delicately holds with both hands. The art is bright and colourful, and shaded with solid black. The background is yellow, and if you look closely, you can spot pale two-tone illustrations of the rest of the investigation team.

50 1.5K 6.3K

Cactus (Bluesky edition) @manofthecactus.bsky.social · Sep 10

Fell to my knees it's so beautiful

Cactus (Bluesky edition) @manofthecactus.bsky.social · Jul 8

At the end of the day, this game was such a step up from the first, and I could absolutely recommend it to anybody who wants to give it a shot, I think it's worth your time.

9/10. Not absolutely perfect but a great use of my time and money and I really hope there's an Octopath 3 someday (16/16)

Cactus (Bluesky edition) @manofthecactus.bsky.social · Jul 8

I think it's handled slightly better in this game, but MAN we gotta stop putting up walls of lore text to explain the overarching plot at the ending mission. There's a reason they say "show, don't tell". Like, we CAN use foreshadowing to explain this stuff ahead of time man (15/16)

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Cactus (Bluesky edition) @manofthecactus.bsky.social · Jul 8

CONS:
I think the extra measures taken to have the characters interact is great but I feel like more could have been done, what we get really leaves you itching for more and you just don't get that at any point in the game (14/16)

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Cactus (Bluesky edition) @manofthecactus.bsky.social · Jul 8

I think this game is just genuinely much more enjoyable to play through than the first. The characters leave an impression on you, the gameplay is fun and balanced, the world feels three dimensional, the music is awesome, I could definitely replay this one.

(ok we gotta do the bad stuff now)(13/16)

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Cactus (Bluesky edition) @manofthecactus.bsky.social · Jul 8

One of the things I didn't know I needed in this game was variety in the *structure* of stories. Like, some chapters are split into two paths, some don't feature a boss, some are short, some are long. The structure fits the story, rather than the other way around, and it really lent to the immersion

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Cactus (Bluesky edition) @manofthecactus.bsky.social · Jul 8

My biggest criticism of the first game was entirely solved in this game, not only do they directly tell the player that there is more plot after all the initial content is done, they reworked the final boss to still incorporate all 8 characters without catching the player off guard (11/16)

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Cactus (Bluesky edition) @manofthecactus.bsky.social · Jul 8

I really REALLY liked the day/night system. The effects it had on battle, the music, your interactions in cities, allowed not just the characters, but the world to have more dimensions. Nighttime in this game is so aesthetically pleasing in a way that I haven't seen another game match yet (10/16)

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Cactus (Bluesky edition) @manofthecactus.bsky.social · Jul 8

I do still think the game gets a bit grindy towards the end, but it isn't like the first game where I had to spend an 8th of my playtime in one forest fighting the same enemies. The leveling felt a little more balanced this time. (9/16)

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Cactus (Bluesky edition) @manofthecactus.bsky.social · Jul 8

Not much to say about the artstyle because it's mostly the same, but the environment choices feel much more inspired this time around. You still had your desert, but it was a desert ravaged by war, or instead of a forest, it was a jungle island. The places make the artstyle pop even more (8/16)

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Cactus (Bluesky edition) @manofthecactus.bsky.social · Jul 8

I already thought the boost/break system was engaging, but the introduction of latent power, as well as a bunch of reworks to already existing systems and movesets creates a much more balanced experience where you don't feel funneled into one playstyle, and you have many more options (7/16)

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Cactus (Bluesky edition) @manofthecactus.bsky.social · Jul 8

The music in this game is gorgeous, just like the first. I'll get into the night stuff in a bit, but musically, this game has such an awesome mix of epic battle music and relaxing or upbeat environment music. I can't even name a specific highlight because the music was great all over (6/16)

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Cactus (Bluesky edition) @manofthecactus.bsky.social · Jul 8

By giving the characters their own unique duo plotlines, you can still focus on 8 separate stories without them feeling too disconnected from each other. I do wish the plotlines were a bit more involved in the end, but it's certainly better than nothing. (5/16)

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