#Currantlee talking

[currantlee]

I’m playing FE Engage again and can I just say, I really don’t understand the hate it gets from some folks. Like…

The character animations are so detailed and expressive, and I think they’re actually somewhat customized for every single character! Yeah, you do get repeats, but they didn’t just copy+paste them (which would lead to incredibly awkward animation), they actually tweaked them for every single character model

Can we talk about the character design and THE FASHION? No, I don’t mean the boutique, though it’s a nice addition. I’m glad they discarded the “starting class variation”-approach to FE character design, the flaws of that became very apparent in recent entires, and went with a more character-focused approach instead. On top of that, everyone gets a casual outfit to hang out in too? Awesome!!

The game just looks great in general, no matter if it’s a pre-rendered cutscene, an ingame cutscene or a dialogue cutscene. The CGs are great too! There is clearly so much love put into bringing the concepts they came up with to life, and it sparks joy to see that.

Engage has fun and, well, engaging gameplay that is actually interesting and challenging. The FE gameplay enthusiasts can probably explain better why, so I’ll leave it at that

The story, while not flawless, is fun and a great homage to past Fire Emblem titles. I also like that the worldbuilding is simple (yet effective) because FE has shown an inability to convey more complicated exposition in interesting ways, so I like that Engage doesn’t even try. Yes, it’s flawed, but it’s a step into the right direction IMO.

I could probably go on. Basically, I just really enjoy FE Engage.

[currantlee]

Kairi doesn't need another game as much as she needs her own agenda that doesn't 100% revolve around Sora (it will always have to do with Sora to some degree because he is the protagonist, but it doesn't have to revolve around him entirely). As long as she doesn't get that, she'll remain replacable and any further attempt at a so-called Kairi game is doomed to fail from the start.

You don't believe that? Play Melody of Memory again. That's your failed Kairi game there (even though it takes a step into the right direction IMO). In fact, it was such an epic fail in this department that some people don't even acknowledge it was a Kairi game.

[currantlee]

My Top 5 favorite Pokémon Boss Battle Themes

So, I fell into a pit of my Pokémon nostalgia. Don't look at me, I loved these games as a kid, and I don't enjoy what they have become. That being said, I really hope the Sinnoh remakes - both BDSP and Legends - are good, since Sinnoh was my first region and I'd hate to see it butchered. Plus, they look promising. But I'm not getting my hopes up yet, I'll wait for reviews.

Anyways, one of the things I enjoyed so much about these games is the music. I could probably hum you some of the Sinnoh tunes, or even sing the lyrics I imagined for them (it's obvious that Sinnoh is still my favorite region, isn't it?). Or I could list some of my favorite music tracks from all across the series. So... I did just that to get my hype energy somewhere 😂

So yeah, I hope you enjoy this little list 😊 I tried to explain the stories and memories associated with those musical themes as well as I can for those of you who aren't into Pokémon. That being said - spoilers for Pokémon OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire, Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver and especially the Sinnoh games ahead.

Oh, and if you do know Pokémon - please leave a comment or reblog and tell me what your favorite boss battle theme is, I'd love to know!

Since Pokémon doesn't have an explicified boss definition, here is what I define as boss battles in Pokémon:

Rival Battles

Gym Battles

Elite Four Battles

Champion Battles

Commander Battles

Admin Battles

Legendary / Unique Pokémon Battles

Frontier Brain or similar Battles

With that being said, let's go!

#5: Pokémon UltraSun/UltraMoon: VS Ultra Necrozma

I will admit, I haven't played the game. I heard this battle is actually pretty difficult, but I can't speak for myself on this. Pokémon games have stopped to be enjoyable to me with Sun and Moon, which had an amazing storyline and some great gameplay concepts, but just... Not enjoyable to me. And USUM seemed like cashgrab to me. I will say though, this musical theme has something and might as well be the best legendary battle theme of modern Pokémon for me.

#4: Pokémon OmegaRuby/AlphaSapphire: VS Brendan/May

In Gen3, Game Freak tried out a new approach with the rival character. See, you always have a rival in Pokémon, and up until this point, all rivals were pretty much jerks. What this new approach was? Well... Let's just say they made the rival character the crush of the player character.

Depending on whether you play as Brendan (whom everyone thought to have white hair before ORAS, except Hidenori Kusaka and Satoshi Yamamoto, who make the Pokémon Adventures manga) or as May, the other will be the rival, and let me tell you, the game pushes this ship really hard in my opinion. It's no wonder why the manga chose to write Ruby and Sapphire, Brendan's and May's counterparts respectively, as a romantic couple, who even confess their love for each other - twice.

Their battle theme conveys this perfectly: this isn't two people who hate each other battling, these are two friends, who might like each other more than you like a casual friend, battling to spend time together. Despite that, both of them are determined to not lose.

One of my favorite moments in the entire game is the ending of it. After the credits (during which Brendan and May are riding their bikes home together) have rolled, you arrive at the pond where you and your rival first met, and they will challenge you to a battle once more. It's when you hear this theme, the one you've listened to every time you battled Brendan or May during the game, and it's just an amazing moment in my opinion, one that is accompanied by this soundtrack, following absolute silence.

And yes, I prefer the remake version of this track.

#3: Pokémon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum: VS Cyrus

Since Kingdom Hearts is currently my main fandom and therefore most people following me probably know more about that series than about Pokémon, let me explain who Cyrus is: Cyrus is the Xehanort of Pokémon. And that up there is his battle theme. And safe for the one time they butchered it by turning it into a disco song for USUM, it's absolutely perfect.

I especially like the beginning. It conveys intensity and the dangerous situation you're in. I mean, Cyrus literally wants to destroy the universe to replace it with a new one he will rule as a god. He also regards all emotions as weakness and will openly admit that his grunts are useless and merely tools to him. Honestly, he is the most terrifying antagonist of the entire series to me, mainly because his plan is that of a madman, but he is actually serious about it (and unlike Xehanort doesn't let go of it even after his defeat).

At the same time, the musical theme sounds hopeful - like all will be good. And I mean, all is eventually good. You have your Pokémon with you, and Cynthis (who also has a badass battle theme by the way) helps you out too. Here is a great thing about the Sinnoh plot: Cynthia has been built up as a character you can trust, and her philosophy is the direct contrast to Cyrus'. So when she helps you battle Cyrus and Team Galactic - you know she won't let anything happen to you. Despite how terrifying Cyrus is as a villain, you know you're safe, because you have not only your Pokémon, but her on your side. Oh, and she is the final boss of the game. So in the end, you and your Pokémon overcome not only the villain, but also the person who held your hand the entire time.

Sorry this turned into me gushing about the plot of the Sinnoh games, but I can't help it 😅 On with the show!

#2: Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver: VS Champion/Red

If Cyrus is the Xehanort of Pokémon, then Red is it's Yozora. And while his musical theme is technically not his alone, I definitely associate it with him more than I associate it with Lance.

One of the best things about Red in my opinion is how he is foreshadowed during the entire game. Like, in the first city you visit, an elderly man will tell you about a boy named Red who three years ago saved the neighbouring region Kanto from the evil Team Rocket. Then, you hear nothing about him for a very long time - until Blue Oak mentions him again on Cinnebar Island and you meet his worried mother at Pallet Town.

While Red is technically an optional secret boss, the game makes you want to beat him through the little details it reveals about him. That he is a legend, that he is the true Champion of the Indigo League... To me, his mother worrying about him was always what got me the most.

I have to say, I also got a soft spot for the 8-Bit-version of the theme, it's just not what I grew up with. I admittedly never played GSC. I also like the Gen7 take on the theme, which mixes the original melody with the Alolan vibes.

#1: Pokémon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum: VS Dialga / Palkia

I don't know how, but they managed to make the piano in this theme as epic as a theme for those two Dr Who-deities deserve. It sounds mysterious and it makes you respect what is in front of you, without sounding bombastic like Arceus' theme (which is also freaking amazing, ngl). Not that that is a bad thing, but I feel like the mysterious vibe fits Dialga and Palkia, who are the embodiments of two very abstract concepts. Arceus is simply god, and that's that. But Dialga and Palkia are the embodiments of time and space, two concepts that are far more difficult to grasp than "god".

Dialga also has an amazing battle theme in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky, which definitely deserves an honorable mention here (Palkia's theme in said game is okay, but they definitely got the short end of the stick IMO).

I really hope they're not going to butcher this theme (or Cynthia's. Or Cyrus'. Or any of the Gen4 themes really) in the remakes. But the one thing Pokémon didn't mess up completely for me so far is the soundtrack (except that one time they turned Cyrus' theme into a disco song, which really doesn't fit him at all). So I have faith in that at least.

What's your favorite boss battle theme in Pokémon? Leave me a comment if you like, I'd love to hear about it!

[currantlee]

I don’t play League of Legends anymore, but guys... I’m hyped for this!

I really love what Riot did with the cast here. When this game was initially announced, I feared that everybody would be from Bilgewater and that we would be introduced to a bunch of new characters nobody ever heard of before. Glad to see this didn’t happen! Pyke in particular is a very interesting choice in my opinion (even though he is from Bilgewater, but damn, I did not expect him in this game!).

I’m also very pleased to see that MF seems to take the lead of this entire group. She is absolutely fitting for this role and I’m not going to lie, she is one of my favorite League characters, so I’m really looking forward to seeing her in action. Oh, also, I’m happy they chose to continue the trend of depicting her in her Captain outfit in lore material with this since I really hate her standard skin.

Also, Ahri is in this game, which I am really happy about. I used to play her a lot and I hope some of her gameplay will be adapted for Ruined King. Also, I’m curious on why Yasuo teamed up with her (it seems like that’s the case in the trailer). I have

Also, can we take a minute to appreciate the artstyle of this game? Everybody looks so amazing (in my opinion at least)!

[currantlee]

... and the internet exploded, just as I said it would. But let's be real, that would have happened one way or another, so I'm glad it's the positive way 😊

Seriously though, I have no idea how Sakurai managed this. That man is full of surprises, huh? (Kidding. I knew that much ever since Piranha Plant, which honestly? I thought it was hilariously funny. But I get why people were upset about it)

Anyways, come on. PARTY! YAY!!!

Edit: Can I just say that Nintendo of Europe's Twitter caption for this occasion is the most freaking perfect thing I've ever seen in my life?

[currantlee]

Joss Whedon is overrated.

Alien: Resurrection is not only a prime example for Deus ex Machina (literally!) writing at it's worst, but it also shows pretty much every single problem I have with Joss Whedon's writing, which... No, I won't get into every single one, but I will talk about the literal Deus ex Machina here because lol, this is the most ridiculous one I've seen so far! Apologies for my bad jokes in advance.

To be clear, I do not want to talk about the allegations against Joss Whedon. I do not feel comfortable doing that. But don't worry, I'm going to drag him anyways.

I think Joss Whedon is overrated to be honest. His writing is just... Not that good in my opinion (he isn't the worst writer, but people pretend that he is far better at it than he actually is IMO). The fourth Alien movie might not be a bad movie, but it isn't even a good one either, and that is mostly because of the writing.

But hey. At least the literal Machina looks good, right?

Joss Whedon usually attempts way too much with his writing - which leads to him having to use a Deus ex Machina (in this case, literally!) in order to resolve his plot somehow, and in Alien: Resurrection, this comes off as extraordinarily lazy. Spoilers for the movie under the cut.

Annalee Call (the person played by Winona Rider you saw in the GIF above) turns out to be an android who could have hacked the ship's computer system all the time - which we learn in the last twenty minutes of the movie. No, I'm not kidding, we literally learn this in the last twenty minutes of a 104 minute (111 minutes in the extended version) movie.

This is indeed surprising in a way, but not in a good, satisfying one. It's the kind of surprise that comes out of nowhere, the kind of surprise that was never properly built up upon before it happens.

You don't have any idea that Call might be a synthetic person (and thus, a literal machine) until she is shot, falls into a pool with Xenomorphs in it and appears several minutes later and she is completely fine. Someone actually asks her if she had a bullet-proof vest, and that would have been a more believable explaination in my opinion.

It's almost as if Whedon killed her off, then decided to keep her for whatever reason and then thought he might solve two problems with one "brilliant" writing decision by making her the Deus ex Machina (literally!), and didn't revisit his script at all. But that's pure speculation.

This is not good writing in my opinion.

Deus ex Machina (literally and not literally), as with any trope, can indeed work - but it's either a hit or a miss. This complaint isn't exactly a new thing; Aristoteles already criticized Deus ex Machina over 2,000 years ago, and for a good reason: because it rarely even is a hit, and even if it is, it is rarely satisfying or the best resolve to a plot.

Call's reappearance isn't shocking either, it's annoying. Yes, she is needed for the plot because she is literally the Machina Deus ex relies on, but now that I've established why this trope isn't a good idea, I can say this: everything this accomplished was creating another stupid, false character death.

You know what would have been impactful in my opinion? If Call died for real. She was built up as an important character the entire time. To be honest, she is the only character I emotionally bonded with watching this movie (Ripley doesn't count because she's been in the plot for three movies already). If this had been her final moment, it would have felt immensely impactful.

Finally, the entire thematic about Call being "more human than human"... *sigh* I see what Whedon did there and while I would normally be happy to see a Blade Runner reference anywhere, this doesn't make this mess any better (and this is actually another problem I have with Whedon's writing: whenever he messes up, he tries to cover it up by throwing an easter egg in somewhere).

You know what I find the saddest part about all of this? It's never explored any further than "I was programmed to know better than humans" and "I don't like hacking into computers because my organs feel like they're being liquified" (just saying, but she managed to do a pretty good job with that one and even taunted the... Who was he again? Anyways, this unfunny joke made the scene even worse than it already was IMO).

Which brings me back to what I said right before the cut: the core problem of Joss Whedon's writing is that he tries too much and gives the story too little time to grow and flourish. Instead, he throws in concept after concept, explores none of them and then uses a Deus ex Machina (in this case, literally!) to clean up the mess... I mean, resolve the plot, all while taking his stories completely serious. Because yes, throwing in concept after concept can work, if you don't take your work completely serious, but Joss Whedon doesn't do that.

... And then he uses easter eggs to try and cover that up. He seems to do a lot of covering stuff up, really.

[currantlee]

All I'm going to say about the fanfic that I am going to post on here on Saturday (Friday on Ao3) is that I'm THIS close to turning Kingdom Hearts into an Omegaverse 😆

Oh, and I might try posting it on DeviantArt too, so we'll see how that goes I guess.