http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/57310/ Bulbagarden - The original Pokémon Community en Thu, 20 Jun 2013 01:38:31 GMT vBulletin 60 http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/images/styles/XY/misc/rss.jpg http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/57310/ http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/57310/bemoaning-my-bad-luck-pokemon-tcg-online-43616/ Tue, 28 Feb 2012 02:51:19 GMT Boredom has lead to the rather nifty browser-based Pokemon Trading Card Game. Despite the game perhaps being too simply for my tastes, it's a lot of fun and a decent way to pass the time, especially when I'm sweeping aside every challenge single player mode has thrown at me (I'm too chicken to play PvP). Until now, that is.

Success in a card game is as much down to luck as it is logical decision making and planning. Sometimes, you'll draw all the right cards to apply your strategies, while your opponents struggles to muster any form of offence. Other times, you'll get really poor draws and lose badly. The latter has happened to me a little too often recently.

My opponent's deck is quite formidable with its many heavy hitters like Machamp and Lucario, so I will need as much luck as possible to win. During my first attempt, the computer saw fit to give me a hand of Basic Pokemon and no Energy cards. This continued for the next three or four turns. Meanwhile, my opponent already has two Machoke and a Lucario all ready to go to destroy me in a matter of moments.

My only defence against them? A Horsea and two Eevee. None of whom could attack. Brilliant.

In the end, I managed to recover well enough to get down to two prize cards, but eventually I feel to the overwhelming firepower. In certainly didn't help that whenever I needed to flip a heads, I got a tails thus rendering me unable to attack or use certain Trainer cards. Meanwhile, my opponents is, of course, not having the same difficulty.

The second attempt at this went even worse. This time, I was given one Basic, two Stage 2 Pokemon and a ton of Energy cards. And every draw from here was an Energy card. By the time I got some cards I could actually work with, my opponent had already won five Prize Cards.

Well, they say third time is the charm...

EDIT: Third time is indeed the charm, as I just swept my opponent with one Pokemon. Happy days. ]]> VTP-Dawkins93 http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/57310/bemoaning-my-bad-luck-pokemon-tcg-online-43616/ http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/57310/bemoaning-my-bad-luck-pokemon-black-43566/ Mon, 27 Feb 2012 00:49:31 GMT I am at the stage now on Pokemon Black where the only things left for me to are to catch the remaining Pokemon and beat certain trainers. By nature, I am quite lazy and thus tend to go into these difficult battles underleveled and underprepared. But hey, it's more fun that way, right?

When my team of levels in the range of 60-63 fighting these trainers, I need every advantage I can get; status effects, crticial hits, type advantage... One thing I have come to realise though is that Pokemon Black (and White) likes to dish out those advantages... to the opponent, not you.

While I appreciate a good challenge I would also appreciate it if, you know, Cheren's Haxorus did actually get hit by its self-induced confusion and not successfully pull off Outrage in three consecutive turns, hence successfully devastating my team by itself. It would be nice if that random Veteran Trainer with a Gyrados would stop making the only Pokemon I have that has an electric attack flinch every time it did Waterfall. I would really find it useful if Cheren's Simipour didn't land a critical hit on me at the most convenient of times. Oh, and it'd be great if those low-accuracy attacks such as Focus Blast actually live up their billing and missed once in a while.

I did manage to win those battles in the end, but sometimes I do wonder if there is a slight bias somewhere. ]]> VTP-Dawkins93 http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/57310/bemoaning-my-bad-luck-pokemon-black-43566/ http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/57310/game-rants-42068/ Thu, 19 Jan 2012 02:54:09 GMT Perhaps this is not the best place to do so, but I feel the need to talk about some of the games I have played recently. I guess you could call this a quasi-review, but it's more of a rant on some of the aspects I really disliked and there won't be much balance.

The game in question is The Lord of the Rings: War in the North. The latest installment in the immensley successful franchise, this time following the unlikely team, as the game likes to point out at every opportunity, of a Human ranger known as Eradan, a female Elf called Andriel and a Dwarf by the name of Farin as they fight the evil forces - specifically, the armies of Sauron's right hand, Agandaur - in the North of Middle Earth.

It plays exactly the same as The Lord of the Rings: Conquest, only this time there is gore and blood. Since it's a big ole' war, a bit of blood here and there would make sense. I've no problems with the gameplay, really. It's easy to master and it's great fun slaughtering orcs in a myriad of ways including a simple blade, a bow and arrow, magic and, most importantly, explosions. I do love me a good explosion. The levels are of a decent legnth and consist of plenty of fights and usually a boss at the end, be it a Stone Giant or the obligatory Giant Spider.

The storyline is forgettable, and this is where my gripes truly begin. The characters we are following have no background or significance to the plot. Eradan is merely a noteworthy ranger, Andriel a random Elf and Farin a random Dwarf. There's no personal reasons behind undertaking the various life-threatening quests issued to them. It's "just because". That killed a bit of the immersion for me, as I like to be in control of characters I can care about.

My biggest gripe, however, comes from the fact that not only do these people have little significance, they are completely emotionless, too! They are all so stereo-typical. Eradan is just a typical soldier. Andriel is just a typical graceful elf. Farin is just a typical combat-loving dwarf. Nothing about them makes them enjoyable. They're just avatars for mass bloodshed.

It could be that way to allow the gamers to project their own personalities onto the characters, but then, you've already given them names and occupations. May as well give them a personality and some motivations, too.

All in all, a fun game to play and a good time-passer, but lack of immersion is a real let down. ]]> VTP-Dawkins93 http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/57310/game-rants-42068/