(no subject)
I had a really good rant against ego-fueled, grandstanding musicians, but I forgot it during the car ride to the library. Probably for the best, I tl;dr enough as-is.
In other news, Pokemon SoulSilver is the most badass thing I've played in a long time.
Yeah, it's pretty much the original Silver Version with updated graphics and all those shiny next-gen Pokemans from Pearl/Diamond/Platinum, but my god, the nostalgia I get from this game is mind-blowing. It looks and plays like a whole new game, but it feels so deliciously old-school Silver that I never want to put it down.
All the minor NPCs are exactly the same. You fight the same people, and they say the exact same lines as before. Buildings are in roughly the same locations, barring all the new additions like the Pokethelon Building, and everything works just like it should. Sure, some things feel sort of hit-and-miss in the sense that once you hit it, you're not going to miss it, such as the Dress-Up Shop, which lets you put cute accessories on your Pokemon's sprite and have it's picture taken with them on. More irritating than fun, in that most of the accessories won't fit properly on most Pokemon sprites, rendering them useless. The only really fun thing about the new shop is that you can dress your character up in a Team Rocket uniform and pose like a badass with your current lineup while your picture is taken.
The Pokethelon is failtastic in it's own ways, but it accomplishes something good in that the events are pretty fun when you need a break from catchin' 'em all (especially now that 'all' is roughly 500 different Pokemon spread over three regions). It also provides a new use for Apricorns, the acorn substitute that you can hollow out and turn into Pokeballs. You can also get a special Apricorn Blender to make your collected Apricorns into juices for yourself or your Pokemon to drink. I haven't played with that feature much, so I'm not sure what effects it really has outside of Pokethelon events, if any, but I like knowing the choice to throw acorns in a blender is there when I want it.
Contests also seem to be back in a big way, though I haven't played far enough in the game to participate in them yet. All Pokemon have a designated screen for their Ribbons in their Summary, though, and since I loved the Contests back in Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald, I'm anxious to see how SoulSilver pulls them off this time around. Judging by the Berry Tags, either Pokeblocks are now called Poffins, or Poffins are something totally unrelated and Pokeblocks are made with something other than Berries now. Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing all this remake has to offer, as Pokemon Silver Version was- and still is- my absolute favorite in the entire Pokemon series.
Geez, I still tl;dr'd. Whatever. I wanted to gush about this game for two days anyway.