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Reposted by Rebekah Valentine

Tom Marks @tomrmarks.bsky.social · 25m

My policy has always been that I would rather take the time to make a better review that doesn't burn out my writers than rush to hit an arbitrary marketing beat a publisher didn't actually give us enough time to meet.

In that context, it's not a hard decision.

Rebekah Valentine @duckvalentine.bsky.social · 3h

i remember crunching to review BotW and the Switch 1 in a week and a half and I was so miserable coming out of that period. Never again. Grateful to @tomrmarks.bsky.social and IGN for being supportive of this, and to @ignunion.bsky.social for the backup in taking back the overtime I did work.

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Rebekah Valentine @duckvalentine.bsky.social · 46m

thinking about the emotional hit in deltarune ch 4 when the first chord of "the place where it rained" played

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Reposted by Rebekah Valentine

IGN @ign.com · 3h

Pokémon Legends: Z-A had a short review period and a strict embargo, so while we're not quite ready to put a final score on it, what we've played so far is already real good.

Our review:

Pokémon Legends: Z-A Review in Progress

bit.ly

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Rebekah Valentine @duckvalentine.bsky.social · 2h

In my defense, one of the shinies I caught I spotted from a long distance (its color is VERY vibrant) and the other one I caught right in the middle of being attacked by an Alpha Pokemon while I was at a low level, so I was panicking a bit.

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Rebekah Valentine @duckvalentine.bsky.social · 2h

I actually just saw another reviewer say the shiny sound is back, so I'm just inattentive I guess :P

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Rebekah Valentine @duckvalentine.bsky.social · 2h

yes*

*unless the thing you liked about them was the turn-based battles, which are gone entirely, or that the world was big and had tons of space to explore. I think Z-A is better for being in a smaller geographical area that's much denser, but you may not agree

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Rebekah Valentine @duckvalentine.bsky.social · 2h

nah

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Rebekah Valentine @duckvalentine.bsky.social · 2h

Awwww. I'll have it with me for the drive this weekend too!

Rebekah Valentine @duckvalentine.bsky.social · 3h

yeah! sorry, my post above was referring to ZA. there's a story-mandated shiny, and then I've caught three others besides.

I'm not 100% on if the sound is there, I haven't heard it if so but I'm not listening for it, but they do sparkle consistently when they appear, which helps spot them!

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Reposted by Rebekah Valentine

Imran Khan @imrankhan.bsky.social · 3h

One fun thing is this is the rare time of year where we're both reviewing different games right next to each other so every like six hours one of us takes off our headphones and goes "So how's your thing going?" and we talk through our thoughts for a few minutes.

Rebekah Valentine @duckvalentine.bsky.social · 3h

guys i have amazing news about the new pokemon game: i think it's pretty good

www.ign.com/articles/pok...

Pokémon Legends: Z-A Review in Progress - IGN

Is Pokémon back, flabay-bee?

www.ign.com

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Rebekah Valentine @duckvalentine.bsky.social · 3h

i adored it and gave it a perfect score and also i did not pick it up again for almost a year. like i physically could not stomach more of it.

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Rebekah Valentine @duckvalentine.bsky.social · 3h

there are a few of these situations in Z-A too, though not quite as bad, I did have to edit a Pokemon I mentioned casually in the review out last minute cuz it was embargoed, despite it being 1) very common 2) very boring 3) a Pokemon we've already confirmed the final evolution of is in the game

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Rebekah Valentine @duckvalentine.bsky.social · 3h

my favorite example of this is that we couldn't say Paras was in Arceus. dude, that little fucker was everywhere, and he would CHASE you. impossible to avoid him getting footage in areas where he spawned, which meant massive zones of the game were just not recordable.

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Rebekah Valentine @duckvalentine.bsky.social · 3h

ugh, yeah. a big problem we have with their restrictions on these recent games is that they ban us from saying certain very common Pokemon are in them, and it's little guys who could wander across the screen in the distance at literally any second

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Rebekah Valentine @duckvalentine.bsky.social · 3h

i've caught three shinies so far (four if you count the story-mandated shiny, similar to the Ponyta sidequest in Arceus)

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Rebekah Valentine @duckvalentine.bsky.social · 3h

(I did not crunch on BotW for IGN, tbc)

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Rebekah Valentine @duckvalentine.bsky.social · 3h

it DOES! i'd argue catching em all is actually sort of more of a secondary sidequest that barely gets talked about????

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Rebekah Valentine @duckvalentine.bsky.social · 3h

I FORGOT I MADE THAT PLAYLIST. yeah I genuinely dug that game! I wish they'd make more art academy!

Rebekah Valentine @duckvalentine.bsky.social · 3h

i remember crunching to review BotW and the Switch 1 in a week and a half and I was so miserable coming out of that period. Never again. Grateful to @tomrmarks.bsky.social and IGN for being supportive of this, and to @ignunion.bsky.social for the backup in taking back the overtime I did work.

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Rebekah Valentine @duckvalentine.bsky.social · 3h

massively seconding this. I played what I consider a LOT of Pokemon since we got code Wednesday night, but I also like, slept eight hours a night, went furniture shopping, cooked dinners, wrote other articles, sipped coffee in the garden, and lived my life. no regrets.

Hayes Madsen @solfleet.bsky.social · 3h

I could have killed myself to get a review done - but I don’t do that anymore. I strive to have a health work-life balance. Plus, I couldn’t have spent so much time lounging at cafes with Haunter and Lucario!

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Rebekah Valentine @duckvalentine.bsky.social · 3h

haven't been able to connect online with folks yet to try it out, but will do so before it's scored!

Rebekah Valentine @duckvalentine.bsky.social · 3h

i'm so happy

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Rebekah Valentine @duckvalentine.bsky.social · 3h

my review still isn't scored, as they only gave us five days to play before embargo (and I spent one of those days writing this review!), and the embargo itself is still pretty restrictive, but i'm hoping to have a score on it next week.

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Rebekah Valentine @duckvalentine.bsky.social · 3h

guys i have amazing news about the new pokemon game: i think it's pretty good

www.ign.com/articles/pok...

Pokémon Legends: Z-A Review in Progress - IGN

Is Pokémon back, flabay-bee?

www.ign.com

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Reposted by Rebekah Valentine

Lucas "Demo Out Now" Immanuel @lucasimmanuel.bsky.social · 23h

Next Fest has begun (or will when steam refreshes) and The Remake of the End of the Greatest RPG of All Time is participating! If you have a chance (and haven't already) throwing our demo a review would help tremendously! store.steampowered.com/app/3143010/...

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