The actual first impressions: Pokemon Omega Ruby and Pokemon Alpha Sapphire

Yeah, this has probably been a long time coming but i wanted to finish off the Transformers Marathon before i delved into these, and seeing as I've been promising this one for longer then the others: my thoughts on Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, the remakes of Generation III.

Fans have been wanting these remakes since the release of Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver and for a good reason. Contrary to the belief of Generation I fans, not everyone started with Pokemon Red and Blue, in fact the second major wave of fans was in Generation III, people around my age were starting to play the games for the first time. For myself, while the first game I ever played was Yellow on my cousin's Game boy (it might have been a GB Colour but i don't remember off the top of my head) when I was 5, but the first game I ever owned was Emerald version for the Game Boy Advance (GBA Wide is still the best, regardless of its lack of back light) on my 10th birthday, so yes, I started my "Pokemon journey" when I turned 10 years old. The other major reason for fans wanting the remakes is that all the regions would be either directly connected to, or need a extra step to sync it to, the Pokemon Bank. At the moment, to transfer a Pokemon from Ruby/ Sapphire or Emerald into X and Y, you would need to transfer it to a Generation IV game (Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, Heart Gold or Soul Silver), then to a Generation V game (Black, White, Black 2 or White 2) and then to the Pokemon bank to send it to X and Y. I don't know about others, but i personally hate the Gen IV-V mini game so the less I have to do that pain, the better.

I'll run through the list of what we know based on the trailers and Corocoro leaks we've gotten up till now (8th of July as of writing this, no i don't keep a large backlog at the moment...)

The Graphics and Aesthetics: Its obvious that this is running off of X and Y's engine, and seeing as this was most likely being developed at the same time as X and Y, I'm not surprised. From the screenshots that we have (thank you Serebii), it looks like the only major changes to the world is more detail in the X and Y assets, which isn't a bad thing, I liked the way X and Y looked

The character redesigns: The character designs... I'm still getting used to as a whole. I don't outright hate them, a lot of them look great. I love how Team Aqua looks now (Archie in particular looks great, but he reminds me of Riku's D-mode from Kingdom Hearts I and Chain of Memories, though that could just be me). The other members of Team Aqua look great and feel more like Pirates then they ever did in R/S/E. Team Magma on the other hand, I'm not as sold on. The grunts look fine, and Maxie has been growing on me, my issue is Courtney and Tabitha. Courtney looks like she was a Team Flare reject now whereas before, she looked like a bad ass (though that might because of how she was portrayed in the Adventures Manga, where she was a bad ass...). Tabitha on the other hand "GO ON A F&(@%^* DIET YOU FAT ASS!!! Another character that looked awesome in R/S/E, now looks like he was in Mcdonalds for 3 days and ate nothing but cheeseburgers, why?

Steven Stone: he hasn't changed (in terms of design), it is believed that he will serve as the way for the player to use Mega Evolution in the game, which I like the idea of as it fits his personality and love of stones.

Brendan and May: More characters that have been growing on me since their reveal. They look nice and admittedly, its probably my nostalgia for their Emerald designs that are holding me back from loving these new designs. They're more tamed then the redesigns Blue/Green/Leaf and Kris got in Fire Red/ Leaf green and Heart Gold/ Soul Silver respectively so i am grateful about that.

The New Mega forms and Primal Forms: (all of these are based on their abilities and design, I'm not including stats)

• Mega Sceptile: I love how Mega Sceptile looks in this and the loss of its tail leaves during battle is a nice touch. I'm not a fan of it having Lightning rod as its ability but that's because i don't see it being used often in battles (personal opinion, don't hate me for it)
• Mega Swampert: First: "Do you even lift bro?" (I couldn't help myself...). Design wise, slowly growing on me, its not the worst Mega form I've seen but it also isn't the best. As for its ability, I DON'T SEE HOW A BULKY THING LIKE MEGA SWAMPERT COULD MOVE FAST, REGARDLESS OF WHERE HE IS AND THE WEATHER (its Swift Swim)
• Mega Diancie: I'm not making a opinion yet about Diancie as i haven't used its regular form so I don't know how this improves it.
• Mega Sableye: "I wonder how long it will be until Link comes to get that Rupee" (...I'll stop now...). Design wise, it looks good when comparing it to Sableye's original design and one thing i would personally like to see with it is that the gem its holding and the eye gem colours change depending on which game your playing. Red in Omega Ruby and Blue in Alpha Sapphire. I do like the fact that it has Magic Bounce, which means that Mega Sableye could make for a viable lead pokemon if your opponent loves using Hazards.
• Primal forms: At this point in time, I get the feeling that its a redundant form of Mega Evolution and that Mega Aerodactal will get reclassified as Primal Aerodactal.
• Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre: Both of them look great, I love the way they look. My big problem with these two is Primal Groudon's typing: Ground/ Fire which means that it has a 4x weakness to water, so unless Groudon gets a massive buff to its defensive stats, then Groudon won't be winning to Kyogre any time soon...

As for the new map: I love it, but i was never going to hate it. I love that the sea routes between Mossdeap, Sootopolis, Ever grande and Pasifilog look great and looks like it will have more exploration in it then the originals (less empty).

That's it for now, my impressions on all the information we have so far on Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. I might do another if we get another substantial info dump before release but otherwise, wait for a review (as I will be getting a copy of the game, preferably at launch). The next impression latter this week: Hyrule Warriors.

Transformers Marathon: After 30 years, how is this franchise still alive and popular?

I have one last part of the Transformers Marathon. It’s not a review this time (though I’ll need a break from those as I said in my Transformers: Prime review), it’s a editorial. One of the things that crossed my mind as I’ve been going through the franchise is this, “How has the series survived this long and is still going strong?” There were series of the franchise that I didn’t look at in this marathon, I barely scratched the surface when it comes to the games and I haven’t even looked at its other mediums including the comics and the toys themselves, and even with those, the question still stands, how did the Transformers survive the test of time?

It would be too easy for me to say that the fan base kept it alive, and as such I won’t mention it until the end of this piece. There are other elements that kept this tale alive, one of which I mentioned in my first review for this marathon. One of the reasons I think that it survived is its overall simple plot. The classic Good vs. Evil stories have been around since the creation of the story. However, as time has gone on, the classic plot has developed, very few stories nowadays have that clear distinction of good and evil, the line has been blurred as there is always another side to the story, it’s a reflection of the world today. There’s no longer a clear villain in society as everyone could have dark intentions and it’s actually because of that, the classic tales of good and evil have kept alive. People want to believe that it’s just black and white, that there’s always a clear villain, so they cling to the stories that have that clear distinction. It’s a reason why the Harry Potter books became so successful (not the only reason, just a reason) and why they would likely survive the test of time and why some reinterpretations of older stories won’t. At the same time though, the story has to have differences to the concept and the way the Transformers franchise has done this is by moral choices, the reason why the plots of the episodes are more complicated then what they seem. Do you sacrifice a world, a civilisation, a race of sentient creatures just to save yours?  Do you protect creatures you’ve never met, that are probably afraid of you and will kill you just to protect themselves and risk the safety of your own race, or do you destroy them so that your race can thrive?  When is something going too far? These and other questions kids wouldn’t pay attention to when they first see the show, its something for the parents to see and the kids to notice when they are older and can understand the concepts and the consequences of the actions. The story that has always been a part of the Transformers Lore (not including Rescue Bots...) is a story that will be told in some form for years to come, because it’s a story that everyone will hear somehow. It’s a story that will never be dated due to human nature.

Every story needs its characters and while I might not agree with the decisions made with some of them, the personalities of each of the characters are distinct and memorable, even if sometimes they were poorly written. You remember Gears, Ironhide, Wheeljack, Bumblebee, Perceptor, Cyclonus, Demolisher, Override and many more. You even remember the Human characters: Spike, Rad, Alexis, Kicker and Coby, and I’m only mentioning the humans from the seasons I’ve reviewed here. And its actually for that reason why I hate the direction the Bay films are going. While I will openly admit that I like the first one (see review for why people wouldn’t like it) but from Revenge of the Fallen onwards, this includes what I’ve heard of Age of Extinction, the characters are turning into more emotional versions of the character in a M. Night Shyamalan film, bland and boring to watch.

The cartoons have always been a promotion for the toys, and the toys have helped in the popularity of the show and the franchise as a whole. The Transformers toys have been, and always will be, the fusion of a puzzle and a action figure. As time’s gone on, the toys have developed, become more complicated, harder to transform but does more in both vehicle and robot mode while still maintaining the core design of the character (some more obvious then others). I could show you 3 different versions of the Optimus Prime figure and you would be able to tell that they were all Optimus Prime because they always keep the core features of the original (they always have a red truck transformation, the head design is always the same and when the trailer is included, the trailer always has a transformation of its own (this isn’t including his Beast wars design but some of these also apply to Optimus Primal)) Megatron would be harder to distinguish but all of his designs have been offensive (a gun, to a cannon, a tank, a fighterplane, a batmobile esque car along with a plane ect), Starscream has always been some sort of fighter plane, Red Alert and Ratchet have always been ambulances as just a few other examples but over time, they’ve become more complicated. It would take less time for anyone to transform Optimus’s Generation 1 design then it would to transform his Evasion mode from the new Age of Extinction line of toys, even though they’re the same truck. As a result, kids still love playing with the toys and they watch the show to add to the experience, to use their imagination to make new stories for the characters.

The Michael bay films might be making more money in a week then most people will ever see in their lives, but its the cartoons and the toys that will keep Transformers going. It’s the Generation 1’s, the Unicron trilogies’, the Animated’s and the Prime’s that will keep the franchise alive long after the movies have finished. On top of that, it’s the fans that have grown up with the franchise since Generation 1 exposing their kids to the newer seasons and playing with their kids’s Transformers toys that keeps the name alive. It’s the lessons it teaches with characters that you want to be. It’s been 40 years, and let’s hope it lives for 40 more, or until all are one.

Transformers Marathon: My Top 10 Best Transformers Moments

Yes, the second last post for the marathon is a top 10... don't judge me...

The rules for this is simple. All of these are strictly my opinion and all the entries can be found in a series (I will specify which one) and scenes I've found online

10: The death of Optimus Prime (Transformers Armada): Yeah, Optimus dies in Armada, turned into dust because of the combined power of the Star Sabre, Skyboom Shield and Requiem Blaster. This is one of the few times in Armada that you see just how far Optimus is willing to go to protect the humans. So why is it so low? The episode after this event (Episode 40: Remorse) is one of the weakest episodes in the season in my opinion and because it revolves around this event that Optimus's death is so low.

9. The many personalities of Starscream (Transformers Animated): I haven't seen Animated, I've yet to sit through the pilot of it, the reason being is because it looks like its trying as hard as possible to replicate Generation 1 (but I'll leave this point until I do a review and can actually formulate a opinion). So why is there a scene from animated here? Because I genuinely find it hilarious. I don't know the context of it but Starscream has made a number of clones of himself that have a specific point in his personality including his cowardice, his tendency for lying, his ego, the suck up side (as in fuelling others egos)... and his feminine side... For those who don't know, Starscream was originally portrayed as a woman in the French version of Generation 1 and that clone was a homage to it.

8: The battle of Mission City (Transformers 2007): Hate Michael bay all you want, I give credic where credit is due and he does know how to make a good action scene (not including Egypt's filler and Chicargo's boredom) and the Mission city fight from the first Michael bay film is a good example of it. The fight was well paced, the changing of perspectives between Optimus, Sam,  Mikaela, and Lennox works well and the camera work looks great. The fight between the Autobots and Demolisher along with the fight between Optimus and Megatron look great.

7: The Powerlink of Arcee, Chromia and Elita One (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen special features): Ok, this one might be classified as cheating as it was cut from the movie. Its on the DVD special features so to me, it counts. During development, Arcee, Chromia and Elita One were planned to have a Powerlink and use it while "fighting" Sideways. That part of the scene was never finished but what was shown off looks great...

6: The creation of Galvatron, Cyclonus and the Sweeps (Transformers the Movie): Yes, the scene is trippy, yes this can cause seizures, but dam it this is awesome. I can't really explain why its good, its a scene where you have to see it for yourself to know what its like (if you haven't already)

5: The appearances of the Dinobots (Transformers Generation 1): The Transformers, while it had more animation errors then I could keep track of, did have some great scenes and episodes with this one being one of them. S.O.S Dinobot is the reason why so many fans freaked out when Grimlock was in the trailer for Age of Extinction and is a must watch from Generation 1.

4: The races for the Planet Cup (Transformers Cybertron): For all the race fans, Velocitron is the place for you. A planet that is built for racing as it has more race tracks then any country on earth combined and tripled. Now imagine these tracks, take the best ones of them and put them in a planet wide grand prix for the strongest trophy in the universe and you have the Planet cup in a nutshell. While it cut between Earth and Jungle planet a lot during the episodes the planet cup was using, the tracks were great and that final race was amazing. Can someone please make a game where you race in the planet cup and one the tracks of Velocitron?

3: The battle of Autobot City (Transformers the movie): Hands down, one of the best fights in the 80's cartoon era second only to that of the Unicron fight near the end of the movie. Like the Dinobots, I can't describe what its like, just go watch it.

2: The appearances of Unicron and Primus (Transformers the movie and Transformers Armada (Unicron), Transformers Cybertron (Primus)): The gods of Transformers, the two Transformers that turn into PLANETS (Primus transforming into Cybertron), one of them EATS OTHER PLANETS!!! While I would include Transformers Prime for Unicron as I know he appears, I haven't seen all of Prime yet and I haven't seen a appearance of him outside of the movie "Predacons Rising". You really do have to see these two to believe me when I say these two are awesome.

1: Savage Claw mode vs Dark Claw mode (Transformers Cybertron): Optimus's Savage Claw mode in Cybertron is powerful (which is what happens when you give a robot that can transform into a flying Fire truck a beefy arm made of a robot lion and have the claws ready to fight with. So how do you make this better? You clone the lion, give it to Megatron and make the two fight each other using those Powerlinks. It was a moral boost for Leobreaker (the Autobot Lion) and the fight itself was amazing. A multi episode fight and with all the other battles happening at the same time. Go watch Cybertron episodes 33-36 to see not only that fight, but others as well (and that's not even all of that part, the entire arc is great (which to me is episodes 27-40, the prequel to Gigantion)

This might as well have been a gush fest but these are genuinely my favourite moments from what I've seen of the Transformers franchise. Before I close out though, I am going to say that I'll be slowing down the production of reviews now because I will be starting back at University for semester 2 and I won't have as much time as I did in June to pump out reviews and impressions. I will be getting to the Impressions I promised after the next post which will be the conclusion to the Transformers Marathon, how I think it has survived for as long as it has. While the Impressions are being done, I'll try and get 2 a week done but then afterwards I'll be returning to 1 maybe 2 posts a week (something a bit more manageable). I do have some reviews planned including a return to game reviews in the form of Sonic Unleashed for the PS3 and X-Box 360 along with a game I just started so it'll be a while before a review is made, the fan game for the standard computer operating systems (Windows, Mac ect), Pokémon Zeta version and Pokémon Omnicron version. I'm always open to review suggestions so feel free to make a suggestion, it could be anything and will get it done as soon as I can. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day/night, Next week, How did the Transformers survive 40 years?

Transformers Marathon: Transformers: Dark of the Moon. And this is why I stopped watching Transformers until recently

There are only a few things in this world I loath, despise, downright hate with a passion, and the movie that is being reviewed today is number 1 on that list. It takes a lot for something to make it onto this list, High School musical for example: thanks to my sister's love for it at one point, I can't stand the films, and they haven't made this list. Toy Time Galaxy's Purple coin challenge in Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2, they're brutal and I chewed through more lives then I'd like to admit, and its not on the list. Nor is Sonic '06 and Call of Duty, to those who know me personally, that alone should give you a indication of just how much it takes for something to make it onto this list. Not because its a awful movie, not because it has boring action scenes, not because its recycling the same plot from the last two films but because of how much this destroyed peoples views on the franchise. People have gone on record saying that this killed their childhoods if the last one didn't do it first.

Transformers Marathon: Transformers Revenge of the fallen. First Str wait, didn't we already see this two years ago?

Now we can do Revenge of the Fallen. The first Bay film was a commercial success and the cast (according to the bonus features of the DVD release) was willing to do a second movie. Even though the writer’s strikes, bay was still able to produce this... uh... “gem” of a movie??? Time to review Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen.

Transformers Marathon: Transformers (2007).First Contact

And now to the movies most fans would rather forget. The Michael Bay films, the purpose of this marathon. While the Bay films did bring in a new crowd of Transformers fans, they did lose a lot of the older fans who have been following the series since the beginning. As to what I think of them? It depends on the movie in question. Without wasting any more time, let’s start this miniseries of reviews with Transformers (2007).

 

Transformers Marathon: Transformers: Cybertron. Why? Because "OUR WORLDS ARE IN DANGER" and we must protect them "Till all are one"

Now to a personal favourite of mine, while Armada might have been my first season of Transformers and this my last because they weren’t shown on Free to air TV here, Transformers Cybertron will always have a place in my heart. But does it still hold up when I look at it as a reviewer? This is my review of Transformers Cybertron. 

The Individual impressions that will be coming

So with E3 finished for 2014, I'm going to be covering some of the individual games shown off that I thought looked interesting. I won't be including games that I already done impressions on (Smash 4 and Arkham Knight) and these will be posted after the Transformers Marathon.

The titles include...
Pokémon Omega Ruby/ Alpha Sapphire, Hyrule Warriors, Splatoon, Fable Legends, Project Spark, Sonic Boom, Yoshi's Woolly World, Code Name S.T.E.A.M, Far Cry 4 ( as I don't think the impressions I have don't during the conferences do it justice), Mario Party 10 and Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham. I am willing to provide in depth opinions on requests if anyone would like me to but otherwise these will be the games I cover.

Transformers Maraton: Transformers Energon. Let's mine with Transformers

After the Unicron saga of Transformers Armada, the people at Hasbro, combined with the writers of the show believed that there was more that could be done in this continuity. It’s because of this reason, Transformers Energon is this review. Do note that it’s recommended that you see the finale of Transformers: Armada as this review will contain spoilers.

E3 2014: Ubisoft... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Ubisoft

1.       Far Cry 4: I don’t personally care about Far cry. It looks to be the same as prior instalments

2.       Aisha Tyler: It sounds like she has been given more freedom when it comes to hosting the show and while they are funny in comparison to previous years, to me, the jokes aren’t funny, with a few exceptions. The background image on the screen looks like a lazy desktop background.

3.       Just Dance 2015: More Just Dace... next?

4.       Tom Clancy: The Division: See Microsoft press conference

5.       The Crew: Could you tell us more about the game that you haven’t previously announced?

6.       Assassin’s Creed: Unity: See X-Bone’s conference (this is becoming a pattern...)

7.       Shape Up: Its Ubisoft’s attempt at Wii Fit and it does look interesting, will I play it, probably not. But its the best game so far in this conference because I haven’t seen it before

8.       Valiant Hearts: The Great War: the game looks great (using the same engine as Rayman Legends and Child of Light), the trailer was great, but no gameplay...

9.       Tom Clancy: Rainbow Six Siege: I’m not going to make a opinion on a game that’s in alpha where we only saw a multiplayer game

This was boring to be honest. Most of the games shown were already shown off or unveiled and the new games were just bleak. I’m going to be spilling into next week for individual impressions on games and what I can find of the show floor. I will also be continuing the Transformers Marathon with Transformers: Energon so until then...