Since the bandwagon for this has appeared...

[Future Warrior]

Do you still enjoy Pokemon?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Depends which aspect of the franchise. Despite USUM being a completely lacklustre cashgrab, I still like the gameplay of the games despite the story becoming predictable beyond perhaps Gen 5 and to a minor extent, the end of Sun and Moon's main story. I also like the TCG given the variety of card abilities and it allowing otherwise mediocre Pokemon to find a way to shine.

I have absolutely no love for the anime beyond side projects like Origins, however, with it having been milked beyond even the most long running Shonen anime and made it apparent character development or permanent change will never happen. I don't care for the Pokemon Special/Adventures manga either, though at least respect how it had the common sense to keep changing the main character to excuse it's milking.

 

[Void]

Pokemon you absolutely refuse to use?

 

[Future Warrior]

Depends which aspect of the franchise. Despite USUM being a completely lacklustre cashgrab, I still like the gameplay of the games despite the story becoming predictable beyond perhaps Gen 5 and to a minor extent, the end of Sun and Moon's main story. I also like the TCG given the variety of card abilities and it allowing otherwise mediocre Pokemon to find a way to shine.

I have absolutely no love for the anime beyond side projects like Origins, however, with it having been milked beyond even the most long running Shonen anime and made it apparent character development or permanent change will never happen. I don't care for the Pokemon Special/Adventures manga either, though at least respect how it had the common sense to keep changing the main character to excuse it's milking.

Never got any of the Gen 7 games. Is it worth getting USUM if I liked ORAS?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

[mention]Void[/mention] Mainly bottom tier scrubs with either awful movepools or type combos such as Delibird, Plusle, Minun, Luvdisc, Wormadam, Swanna, Aromatisse and Comfey. Also Regigigas because of Slow Start being useless unless using Skill Swap in a double battle, and that'd mean wasting a slot in your team for cannon fodder.

[mention]Future Warrior[/mention] If you can find it cheap and liked the fact it offered a lot of previous Generations' Legendaries, then perhaps. It's changes in the story are so minimal it can be seen as a cashgrab and a letdown in much the same way B2/W2 were compared to their predecessors and the post-game opportunities being the only drawing point, but I'd say if you want to use some of the new Ultra Beasts (particularly Naganadel) and Necrozma's other forms then by all means go ahead. I'd recommend putting a few mons from ORAS onto your team when the time calls for it just to make slogging through the slow paced story more bearable.

 

[Future Warrior]

I never played SM so the story isn't much of an issue for me. Do you think USUM/SM > ORAS in general?

I was thinking of how I would bring some Pokemon from ORAS to USUM but you'd need Pokebank to do that which requires monthly payment (Which is unfair imo If I were to buy both games).

What do you personally like to do after you play the story? Competitive play? Shiny hunting? Do you still play USUM to this day?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

I never played SM so the story isn't much of an issue for me. Do you think USUM/SM > ORAS in general?

Hard to say. Sun/Moon improved certain aspects such as new, game changing Pokemon and abilities, as well as made achieving rare items indefinitely a lot easier than in ORAS through Poke-Pelago. SM's story is also far better than ORAS', for what it's worth and finding Legendaries of previous Gens is far easier to accomplish than the Mirage Islands in ORAS. However, the loss of O-Powers is fairly disappointing and levelling up Pokemon with Poke-Pelago isn't anywhere near as quick as using the QR trick of having trainers with teams filled with Level 100 Blisseys to inhabit your Secret Bases in ORAS. Also, I'm still annoyed they changed Gengar's ability from Levitate to Cursed Body. Overall, I'd probably give a slight edge to Gen 7 from a gameplay perspective.

I was thinking of how I would bring some Pokemon from ORAS to USUM but you'd need Pokebank to do that which requires monthly payment (Which is unfair imo If I were to buy both games).

Not sure how if there's a difference between the US and UK in terms of payments, but I find the payment pretty minimal, being £4.99 for a whole year of service.

What do you personally like to do after you play the story? Competitive play? Shiny hunting?

Mainly collecting Pokemon and seeing how good certain Pokemon are through new playthroughs.

Do you still play USUM to this day?

Yes. I initially dropped the game when getting to the 2nd Island not long after getting it for Christmas, but decided to return to it earlier this week. Currently just about to do Acerola's trial.

 

[Future Warrior]

Do you think we will see more remakes? Would you want to see one? If so, what would you personally pick?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Do you think we will see more remakes? Would you want to see one? If so, what would you personally pick?

Assuming the Switch becomes the main platform for Gen 8, I imagine we'll see Gen 4 remakes in the forseeable future. Gens 4 and 5 didn't need remakes during Gen 7 and earlier due to the older games' compatibility with the 3DS, which wasn't the case for the remakes of Gens 1-3 with the main consoles of their release. I'd be glad to see Gen 4 as I believe there was a lot of potential to be found in characters such as Cyrus, as well as offering some more side/post-game story for each of the many Legendaries in this generation that weren't given enough shine beyond your encounter (eg. Heatran).
I don't think there's much needed to be changed with Black/White beyond the usual additions of remakes such as non-regional Legendaries and interesting post-game battles. Only new thing I'd like to see is perhaps a new form for Kyurem to show all 3 parts of the original Unova Dragon akin to Ultra Necrozma.

 

[Future Warrior]

Don't you think the fact that nowadays we can capture pretty much all of the previous gen legendary's undermines their existence in a story based on them? Unless they give them a Mega Evolution-esque power like with Groudon and Kyogre.

Though part of me wants to have a remake of Gen 2 just so we can see the Mega Evolved starters that were left out from skipping a generation.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Don't you think the fact that nowadays we can capture pretty much all of the previous gen legendary's pretty much undermines their existence in a story based on them? Unless they give them a Mega Evolution-esque power like with Groudon and Kyogre.

Considering how ridiculously difficult it was to get some of the Mythical Legendaries prior to Gen 6, I'd say it's only natural. You have to also consider the newer fans who like to collect or capture such Pokemon and have their plans foiled just because they haven't played all games since at least Gen 3.

Though part of me wants to have a remake of Gen 2 just so we can see the Mega Evolved starters that were left out from skipping a generation.

That would be nice, though I can't really think of how it'd improve their designs and assuming they stick with the trend of the Champion having a Mega in Gen 6 (or Z-Power in Gen 7), this would also mean Mega Dragonite. Including the Mystery Gift plots from HGSS would be cool as well.

 

[Future Warrior]

I agree with that but I meant having a Gen 4 remake that involves Legendaries like Dialga, Palkia, and Garitina that we were already able to capture in previous titles would lose the uniqueness they initially had in Diamond and Pearl (Not speaking on my behalf since I've never played any Gen 4 games besides some parts of Diamond a couple years back which I never completed nor have I ever captured those legendaries). It works with ORAS cause to my knowledge Groudon and Kyogre appeared way back that had practically no hint of their existence in later games.

 

[GreatSaiyaman123]

Who's the most flat and underdeveloped character: Chaozu or Broly?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

[mention]Future Warrior[/mention] You could already transfer Gen 3 Groudon and Kyogre to Gen 4 and onwards, so I'd say that's only 2 degrees of separation. They could also perhaps make the versions in this game have a permanent upgraded form in much the same manner as 100% Zygarde to set them apart from their transferred counterparts or have their transformation brought out through a new signature move ala Mega Rayquaza.

[mention]GreatSaiyaman123[/mention] Broly since Chaozu at least had some interest to his character at the 22nd TB with his taunting of Kuririn.

 

[Future Warrior]

Do you have a Nintendo Switch?

 

[GreatSaiyaman123]

Thoughts on Man of Steel and Batman v Superman?

 

[ahill1]

Thoughts on Rurouni Kenshin?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Do you have a Nintendo Switch?

No. Won't bother until a new main series Pokemon game is released.

Thoughts on Man of Steel and Batman v Superman?

Man of Steel is quite a controversial film. Although it can be good to bring forth a new take on a character, that's not the case when trying to make Superman dark and brooding. That just causes him to become Batman. The whole point of Superman's character is to be an ideal rather than a flawed character and even if trying to give him flaws, you don't do it in such a stupid way that he had several different options to avoid killing Zod. Also doesn't help that the cast range from bland to absurd, with Lois just being your cliche independent woman turned submissive love interest or Jonathan Kent recommending that innocent people die rather than the world become aware of Kal-El as though the latter has repercussions anywhere near as bad. Not a complete travesty, but still fairly bad as a Superman movie and in overall execution.

3/10

Haven't bothered to see B V S since I'm already aware of how worthless it is with the contrived Martha twist to ruin everything, Lex Luthor being poorly handled, Doomsday showing up out of nowhere with about as much personality as a bulked up Jiren and Wonder Woman having no build up for her introduction.

Thoughts on Rurouni Kenshin?

Made a review of it on Page 19 of this thread and don't have much more to add to it.

 

[Fantastische Hure]

What are your thoughts on Paprika and Grave of the Fire-Flies? Two very different movies, I know.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Whilst I have yet to delve into the rest of Satoshi Kon's work, it's safe to say that Paprika is the weakest of his films other than perhaps Tokyo Godfathers. It has a cool concept in blurring reality and fantasy along with interesting visuals, but it really just has it's concept going for it without exploring the theme in-depth. Most of the main cast act somewhat irrational, not to mention being completely unmemorable for anything but their appearance, and the ending just being an illusion makes it hard to really care about.

5/10

Grave of the Fireflies, on the other hand, is quite a good movie and easily the best Ghibli has to offer. It doesn't shy away from the horror of war, telling it through the often overlooked perspective of the citizen, and showcases it's theme wonderfully by not going for a forced happy ending.It's not exactly a top tier war drama though, seeing as how we already know the fate of the main characters a few minutes into the film and the brother could've perhaps prevented it had he simply returned to his aunt and apologised. Whilst I can accept extensive flashbacks, the Golden Age in Berserk and Vilma's backstory in Battle Angel Alita: Last Order being amongst my favourite events in the medium of manga, that's only when it exists to show us an interesting tale of how the characters got in their position as well as flavour it with many more interesting characters who's fates aren't automatically determined. The two siblings are fleshed out well, as well as their tale being filled with a lot of much needed realism and emotion, but it can still be seen as damaging when their fate was through a means the audience can easily guess due to the context. Nevertheless, it was still one of the best war dramas or films within the medium of anime and one I'd highly recommend to anyone with either an interest in Ghibli or World War II. From what I've heard though, the films "The Breadwinner" and the modern classic "City of God" perform the themes of this film far better.

7/10