BlankShell

Darkside's doable if you have some S-Def raises (Vexen B comes in very handy here) but he has one super move where he debuffs you, so there's an element of luck involved (if you don't have a Def Boost or Second Chance, you're screwed). Also, pulled 7 times for Cloud EX, and got nada. Some good stuff overall, (guilted Dark Riku ayyy) but don't be like me. Don't waste your jewels. Please.

If he's anything under 15 pull mercy, I am ready. If not... ugh. No mercy no pull, etc.

The Wrong Trousers, definitely. The others all have their moments in absurdity, but that one is just so quintessentially... British. All wonderful, though.

If you have any of the "element" dodge commands (Fire Cartwheel, Thunder Roll, whatever) equip the standard version instead. The regular versions have invincibility frames that the damage ones don't. Good luck with the Vanitas one though. It's best to find one particular move that triggers the thumbstick spin and just do that over and over again. I always have a hard time with that one too =P.

I would say probably, although maybe special Nobodies instead since we didn't get too many of them. BBS had special Unversed, after all, so it seems fair for Nobodies to get a shot. You basically have to kill one before it notices you (that spawns two more, which spawns three more, cycles back to one, etc). If it spots you, it summons a bunch more and they all overwhelm you with near-unavoidable potshots. You can actually encounter them pretty early (I forget when, exactly, but about halfway through the game?) which can be frustrating if you don't know what to do.

The gym leaders having an improved role was nice, yeah. But I just wasn't invested in N as a rival. He'd pop in, spout of some grandiose speech about saving the environment and the pokemanz, and then leave. I didn't feel any sympathy for him when he turned out to be a puppet because it seemed pretty obvious from the start. I liked Team Plasma just being pirates =P.

I've been calling inFamous 3 for years. It's not going to be anything big; a flash of lightning at the end of Sony's presentation, the roman numeral III with Cole's silhouette. Crowd goes wild, etc. Are they still doing anything with Sly? I know Sanzaru said they weren't doing anything anymore, but it's been a while since we heard movie news, so I figured they'd want to tie them in somehow.

Probably Sony, in terms of presentations. In retrospect, they offer a lot of interesting futures, but are less so on the short term. But I honestly prefer that, because it keeps their release cycles entertaining and varied. That said, if there's no inFamous 3 (/4, whatever) announcement, I'm legit going to riot.

I'd actually probably have to give it to B2/W2, because it's such a monumental improvement over the first ones. Black and White were overly morose, preachy, and introduced a lot of blah mechanics and a boring region (not to mention some of the worst Pokemon designs). But Black 2/White 2 rectified almost all of that by making the plot lighter and more engaging, ditched some of the fluffy game design, and made the region actually interesting to explore. But given the radical departure, I sometimes have trouble considering B2/W2 as a third version, so runner up is Platinum for feeling the most "complete" compared to its originals.

Very true; I was thinking that X/Y had been announced in December (since B2/W2 were in October) but now I see that was January, so that's more likely. Winter, at any rate.

Financially inconsistent, maybe (this is definitely motivated by a desire for more sales =P) but they had all the tools available. They were afraid of the Switch's possible failure (which, given the Wii U's flop, was warranted!). But from a game design perspective, they've long since maxed out what the 3DS can do. At this point it just looks sloppy. And a port would not only have been reasonable, it could have been a system seller. It's just all so backwards looking, and that's disappointing.

Oh, for sure; the fact that these release dates are so soon implies there probably won't be anything until after E3, which is a bummer! I'd imagine another Pokemon Direct in December.

It should be the successor to both, which circles back to "why, Nintendo, why?". Cornering the handheld market made them complacent. At SOME POINT there's going to be a Pokemon mainline game for the Switch; they had an opportunity to do it here (Game Freak HAS the HD models of everything, so it's doable) but instead they chose to make a quick re-hash. I guess I can't be disappointed that there's something rather than nothing, but as is usual, there's a lot of squandered potential. Oh well. Next year.

I mean... there's no way Nintendo doesn't have a say in what gets developed. They're not the ones doing the day to day coding, sure, but they call the overall shots, especially in regards to system availability. Right, B2/W2 were also pushing things in terms of system capabilities, but that's actually the only example; everything else took an appropriate bow after the console generation finished (and since all 3DS's can play DS games, there's some allowable crossover anyway). Until now. Now it's becoming habit for Nintendo to release things on their old handhelds because they want to milk every cent.

Nintendo is the only one that controls publishing of Pokemon games, so the distinction is pretty moot. It's not like Game Freak can hold Nintendo hostage. But the thing is we DO have a Pokemon game coming for the Switch. And it's a port. It's just not the port people really want. I get the B2/W2 comparison (which is the only thing that gives me hope, since those were miles better than the original games), but given the quickness of the release date and that the engine they're using is so obviously dated, it's just a money-grab, which disappoints me.

It's a bit disingenuous to say fans "got what they want". Nobody who said they wanted a remake of Sun/Moon was expecting it to be for the 3DS based on those various reports we got last year. And yeah, it takes time to develop these games, but... they have Tournament for the Switch, so they've obviously got people working on it. US/UM are likely a stopgap, but since that's what S/M were, it's frustrating.

My biggest issue is that it likely means we won't get any more news at E3 beyond expounding on these titles. They won't announce a Gen 4 remake (especially if it's for the Switch) because it would just cut into US/UM sales. So now we have to wait for after that to find out anything.

I don't usually get let down by game releases, but US/UM was a bummer. I can only assume the close release dates for everything mean they're working on Gen 4 Switch remakes for next year.

Look, all I wanted was a mainline game on the Switch. I wanted a reason to GET a Switch. I didn't want a barely rehashed game on an engine that is clearly past its sell-by date.

Ugh... 3DS only. Nintendo, I try to like you. I really try. But you just make it so... difficult. Oh well, there's always hope for Gen 4 remakes on the Switch at E3. But I probably won't waste my time on these.

Literally the only good news out of that Direct. I'm stoked for this.

I read that this morning. Made me very sad, but 96 was a long and wonderful life. Would that we could all reach that.

I'm thinking Stars, or whatever it will be for the Switch. Finally need a reason to get one of those things anyway.

Waiting for them EX medals, man. Cloud EX gonna mess stuff up.

Anything with cookie dough in it. I used to not like it for some reason, but lately that's been my jam.