30 Days of Video Games - BONUS: Why Do You Play Games Pg. 142

[SIXTH-RATE SOMA]

Are there any theories as to what the hell happened to Sakamoto after Fusion? At least with MGS4 Kojima hinted very very heavily that he wanted no involvement in it, and that he was tired with the series. Was there similar stuff going on with Sakamoto? 

 

It just seems so odd to me that the guy who made Super Metroid, one of the best games I've ever played, turned around and seemed to completely miss the point of the game he made.

 

I think it was just a bit of pressure to make an epic, honestly. Other M, from what I understand, was basically intended to be an epilogue to Fusion before it ballooned into the mountain of crap it is today.* Given that Sakamoto, to his credit, generally tries to stay away from the writer's seat, I'd hazard a guess that it was either someone at Nintendo or someone with Team Ninja or D-Rockets who was pushing for a bigger, more sweeping game and Sakamoto crumbled with the pressure to write something grand enough to match. That's not to say he has no responsibility for the garbage script, but I don't think it was his first choice.

 

I kind of imagine it's something like getting an engineer to write you a Shakespeare play. Unless they've been hiding a very opportune hobby from you all this time, you'll probably not end up with Hamlet.

 

*This, coincidentally, makes Other M a sort of bizarro Lord of the Rings. Food for thought, I guess.

[Goldenlink64]

Just going to point out that that "uncomfortable mess" was required if you wanted to play any game that wasn't designed with the N64 as the lead platform without compromising the controls (you were boned for almost any racing game "serious" enough to have a manual transmission option, for example). Which by the time the Saturn died basically had become "all of them that Nintendo themselves didn't make."

 

Which is also probably a reason why most games designed around the PSX controller stopped coming out on the N64 at all.

I'm curious on which game(s) you're particularly referring to that does this because I've played through a considerable chunk of the N64's library and I've never had to simultaneously use all 3 handles of the controller at the same time.

 

Also...

 

Steve Burnside from Resident Evil: Code Veronica. Steve Burnside is an insufferable dipshit and the reason bullying exists. He basically spends the whole game whining and having an awful haircut. You pretty much know you'll hate him the moment he opens his fucking mouth and starts assaulting your ears, and he is mostly a nuisance. He does help you at certain points but much of the time he gets in your way. He almost kills Claire the first time he sees her and almost destroys their chance for escape when operating one of the machines. He's an annoying shoehorned sort-of love interest character that has a brief character arc involving his deadbeat father that amounts to exactly nothing. The best thing Steve ever did was get turned into a monster and die. 

 

He was so bad I mentioned him as one of the disappointing factors when talking about Code Veronica.

Yeeeeeeah I'm not gonna lie, Steve was horribly obnoxious in Code Veronica. I'm gonna pitch in and say, maybe give Darkside Chronicles a try someday though, they gave him a good voice actor and he's actually a really likable character this time around. 

[Zavok the SpinningSilver]

OH BOY do I have some rage to release tonight.

 

DAY 25 - Least Favourite Character

Patroklos. This. THIS ABOMINATION  of a character who doesn't deserve to be Sophitia's son. I mean, how could someone so kind hearted give birth to such a hellspawn?! He’s a disgrace to the idea of a hero, and almost as far from being a ‘holy warrior’ as you can get.

Now why does he irk me so much? Why does he draw so much ire from me when his quest is presumably noble? I mean, all he wants to do is be an virtuous warrior like his mother and rescue his sister from the clutches of the evil malfested. He wants so desperately to be a paragon of truth and especially justice. Now I may not yet have a college degree, but I’m smart enough to know that a poor and starving person is not automatically a monster. I know that taking the lives of innocents for no fucking reason other than the fact that you say so is not the path of a hero.

Even moreso, a person having pale skin does NOT mean that they are the descendant of a blood sucking count! For fuck sake man, if you’re gonna take on the role of a hero, then DO IT RIGHT!

A hero is supposed to think with a level head. And even if they do just rush into battle or fly by the seat of their pants, they at least know what the fuck they’re fighting for. Patroklos here may know that he’s fighting the malfested, but he’s also supposed to be protecting people a la the ‘holy warrior’ route. He is meant to be justice for the guilty and a helper to the innocent. Call me crazy here, but slaughtering dozens of people just because they look funny doesn’t seem like helping the innocent.

And this prick has the audacity, the nerve  to call himself justice?!

 

 

Everytime I see this little bastard on screen I just want to smack him upside the head. To me, his only saving grace is the fact that he’s voiced by Yuri Lowenthal. I love this guys voice work on him to death, even if I hate every last fucking word that comes from his mouth.

What a holy warrior folks. Surely his mother would be very proud to see what her son had become if she could.

 

[Tornado]

Are there any theories as to what the hell happened to Sakamoto after Fusion?

 

He was given complete creative control of the direction of the franchise that had to that point been a collaborative effort (and literally half of the time had nothing to do with him at all).

 

 

I don't think him going out of his way to claim responsibility (and claim justification) for practically all of the creative decisions and the game being what it ended up being is a coincidence any more than how the quality of the Star Wars films was directly proportional to the similarly well-documented practice of how much people were willing to stand up to George Lucas to tell him to knock that shit off.

[JayRaR]

Least Favorite Character

 

Tidus

 

 

This guy. This fucking guy. Much has been said about this asinine excuse for a protagonist so I'll just pour my thoughts on him for this post. He is just unlikeable, with no redeeming qualities at all. He's obnoxious, rude, careless, selfish, and such a total dimwit. He just does what he pleases and most of the time his actions bear no consequences and they are quite literally the right thing to do. Whenever an important cutscene shows up, he just finds some way to ruin it and just dumb the story down due to his incessant whining and his childish attitude. He just shats on a religious holy ground and whaddayaknow, he's right! I think at one point Tidus was spying on Yuna and literally rolled into her room when Yuna opens the door. He doesn't get lectured for it and scores points with Yuna at the end. The fuq? He is one of the main reasons why I quit playing FFX...he is just that intolerable to me.

 

Runner Up

 

Fi

 

I have no idea why I neglected to mention her in my post for Most Disappointing Game, I guess there were just so many expectations being crushed that I completely forgot about her. Anyway like with Tidus, Fi is such a terrible character and companion that she alone is a main reason why I dread trying out Hero Mode. The fact that you can't skip cutscenes or just flat out skip dialogue altogether really convinced me never to replay the game again if I had to deal with this annoying emotionless spirit. I could not have imagined a much worse and annoying companion than Navi, but I have been wrong in the worst way possible. Like what some people have said, she has a robotic and boring personality and tends to state the obvious as well as drill into your brain on information that has already been said a few seconds ago. Never has a character tested my patience than Fi, and I'm glad she had the fate she was destined to have in the end of the game. Her last words of how she enjoyed her time with Link and yadda yadda just came out of nowhere that had no buildup to it. I just felt like in the entire game, Fi doesn't really give a shit about you and care about you fulfilling the Goddess' plan or whatever. I REALLY hope a companion like her never pops up again in future LoZ games.

[kalion]

 

Day 25: Least Favorite Character

Moe (Ace Attorney: Justice For All)

 

I touched on this a little before in a previous post, so this shouldn't be a shock to anyone. This definitely should come as no surprise to you, Moe, you piece of shit. Nix pretty much covered Moe's and the case's background, so I'm just gonna talk about how much I despise this guy. He is just the worst. Literally no way around it. He refuses to cooperate with you in order to find the Ringmaster's murderer, and he's just plain unfunny. When you have to cross examine him and ask him to state where he's from, he starts to butcher the Fresh Prince theme song. Don't ruin Fresh Prince with your bullshit, Moe. I wish Moe was the killer, solely for the fact that he would be executed. Fuck you, Moe. Fuck you.

 

 

I liked Moe for the references he made at least...I had to stop playing and stare at my DS when he made that Fresh Prince joke.

[Jimbo]

Day 25: Least Favorite Character

 

Hmm. This is pretty difficult. I can't really say there are any characters that I particularly hate.

 

 

...

 

oh, wait. yes there is.

 

 

Ramkhamhaeng- Civilization V.

 

In Civilization, leaders have preset traits, each being assigned a number 1 to 9 (then varying by +/- 1 or 2 in every game, so personalities aren't always the same). Normally, leaders will play in a certain way; warmongers like Attila, Shaka or Montezuma will go for a domination victory, while peaceful leaders such as Pedro, Sejong or Kamehameha will try for victory in another fashion.

 

And then there's this fucker, Ramkhamhaeng of Siam. Most of his traits are preset at either 5 or 6. Most of his traits are between 3 and 8, which is a pretty big difference in-game. He can either be one of the peaceful AIs, or the most aggressive asshole in the game. He tends to be one of the most deceptive leaders, and loves to make a lot of choices that infuriate the user and other AI leaders. Settle on your borders? Yep. Denounce other leaders with no good reason? All the time. Just look at that smile. That smug bastard. You can tell there's something up his sleeve the moment you see him.

 

 

He'll come to you asking for copper or some shit, and you'll be like "Sure. You seem like a cool guy. I'll give you some copper."

 

You trade back and forth with him, thinking that he's a pretty cool guy. Suddenly you see a few of his troops outside your borders. But it's okay, he won't declare war. He asked for a Declaration of Friendship, so there's no way he would attack...

 

 

You've fallen into his trap. And there's no way to escape.

[Celestia]

Day 25: Least Fav Character

 

This is a tough one actually...but I finally thought of one.

 

 

Tabuu

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

 

He's really generic.

 

So generic that's almost all I can think to say.

 

Master Hand? Pretty interesting idea, clearly a representation of Smash's "toys come to life" theme and all that. But Tabuu? What's he even supposed to represent? A wiki page suggests that he could be an analogy for someone growing up and throwing away childish things (the video game characters), which I guess I can see, but...still, Tabuu himself is just kind of boring. Random ultra powerful being out of nowhere. Eh.

[Jeffhog]

DOUBLE-TAKE? MORE LIKE A QUINVIGINTUPLE-TAKE

~ ...oh my god, you actually were serious. ~

 

Day 25/30: Least Favourite Character

Character Chosen: The entirety of Team Flare
Appearance: Pokémon X and Pokémon Y (Nintendo 3DS, 2013)

"Listen up! We're the fashionable team whose very name makes people tremble in fear: Team Flare!"

~The First Grunt, in the Glittering Cave

. . .

No, I'm pretty sure that's trembling in stifled laughter there because, holy fuck, with that getup, you can't be serious.

God damn, even Team Galactic looked a whole lot less stupid than these guys. At least their uniform was appropriate, and at least they had the right attitude for the job -- not being so annoying about shoving something irrelevant down your throat.

Pokémon, in Gens 1 and 2, had Team Rocket. They're pretty basic and straightforward as far as bad guys go, and, in their simplicity, they did it right. Shady organization who rely on stealing and exploiting Pokémon for profit, dangerous looking criminals who you wouldn't want to be caught dead in an alley with, BAMF Giovanni as Rocket's head honcho with the public disguise as Viridian City Gym Leader. Basically, the mafia. Awesome.

Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald introduced Teams Magma and Aqua. Their main goal was to expand the land and raise the oceans respectively by taking control of Hoenn myths Groudon and Kyogre, with these guys setting the standard of token criminal organization going after Legendary Pokémon to accomplish their mission. Their uniforms were well designed and themed, and the bosses, Maxie and Archie, were pretty cool guys, all the more so in the Adventures manga.

Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum brought us Team Galactic. They looked like they came straight out of a scifi B-movie and look kinda sorta ridiculous, but the grunts, from what I recall, get straight to the point and don't tend to beat around the bush with stupid nonsense. Like the previously mentioned baddies, their uniforms at least fit with the aspirations of their boss, Cyrus, who sought the powers of Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina to create a new universe. Time, space, and antimatter would be at his disposal, his building blocks for a world of his own creation. Galactic indeed.

The Black and White games pit the heroes against Team Plasma, and the writers really went to town on developing these guys. These guys tackled the issue of Pokémon Liberation, acting as chivalrous knights for a just cause (only on the surface), their headquarters were a freakin' castle, and their leader, N, was a King in their eyes. Their mission, however, was taken too far once they started abducting and forcefully liberating other people's Pokémon, Pokémon who didn't want to leave their trainers, and N, nice as he is, was but a plaything of his adoptive father, who used Team Plasma as a front for his own selfish desires. The sequels then split this organization into two -- one group, the New Plasma, remain loyal to N in hopes of changing their ways, and atone for their crimes by helping people reunite with their lost companions while perpetuating messages of peace and harmony; the other group, the Old Plasma, follow Ghetsis and sought to use Kyurem's power to cripple and subjugate Unova. This conflict made for an interesting tale in Black 2 and White 2, as you get to see just how the criminal organization you curbstomped in the previous game has changed over time (a reminder of Gold and Silver in Gen 2, where you get to see how Rocket has managed without Giovanni and how they hope for him to return).

What these guys all had going for them was substance.

Team Flare in Gen 6, however... oh good god, they didn't have any. Their designs are an overall eyesore, and don't really come off as threatening at all. Constant comments about how stylish and fancy they are just plain irk me in the long run, but they're so fucking in-your-face about it that you just can't wait to wipe the floor with their leader, Lysandre, and get this shit over and done with. It stopped being cute the first time around. I don't fucking care about your clothes, I don't fucking care about them if I got them dirty in a battle, I really cannot force myself to give a shit. So please, please, please shut the hell up and save me the extra headache in dealing with you guys.

Flare's members were plainly, and uglily, generic -- they look and feel like token baddies because, let's be honest, they're just there to be there. Also, they were pretty blatantly hypocritical in their intent to "save Kalos" (for themselves, mind you, by engulfing the entire region in a massive explosion), and I'm gonna quote TVTropes here because they put it better than I could. Referring to the Broken Aesop trope (be warned: spoilers)...

 

• An example where it happens to the villain. Lysandre wanted to wipe out everyone but Team Flare because people were ruining the world through their selfish greed. Yet everywhere the player goes, there are people who give you all kinds of useful items for free, and you'll be hard-pressed to find anyone that can be considered greedy. Indeed, the only people who come across as selfish are Team Flare and Lysandre himself, meaning if anyone is ruining the world, it's them. Then again, the villain in question is clearly stark raving mad.
• What your rival says to you on Victory Road about Team Flare and everyone's actions doesn't make a lick of sense. While the idea of both sides having a voice to speak out and meeting half-way is nice and all, it falls apart by the fact that both sides already gave their voices and yet it's Team Flare who refused to compromise when everyone else offered the opportunity to work together and form a truce. You can't really say that your actions in stopping Team Flare were "wrong" when they're about to use a Weapon of Mass Destruction to wipe out both people and Pokémon at that very moment and there was no other option available. Made worse is that Lysandre still refused to compromise even after everyone offered a chance of co-operation and understanding, and he instead chooses to use the Ultimate Weapon on everyone in the area. Overall, it was not a lack of understanding, but Team Flare's arrogance that brought their end upon themselves.

"But Vizard! Wasn't Team Plasma just the same in saying one thing and doing the other? Why aren't you mad at those guys? Stop having an opinion I don't like! Ugh, you're ruining everything, you stupid Genfiver! Go back to 2011, we don't like your type around these parts!"

Because, in Black and White, this is actually a plot point. Team Plasma, yeah, they are against Pokémon training and abuse, yet they gratuitously capture and abuse Pokémon themselves -- all of Plasma but N. The fact that their supposed King seems to be the only one who lives to Plasma's publicly perpetuated agenda, and the only one who seems to actually care about it, hints that there is something else going on at Plasma that we have yet to know about. That contrast made the whole Broken Aesop trope work here. It made sense as you went along!

In X and Y... there's no excuse for this, only adding all the more to Team Flare's overall blandness. Just... no.

Rocket? Yay!
Magma/Aqua? Yay!
Galactic? Pretty good.
Plasma? YAY!
Flare? ...uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh.

Plain. Fucking. Annoying. Go back to your shitty café in Lumiose City and stay there.




mention "style" one more time in my presence and i swear to god i'm going to tear off that horrendous outfit of yours before promptly fucking up your digestive system by shoving your clothes right down your throat and out of your asshole do you understand me

[Mania Pipe]

Day 25: Least Favorite Character:

 

.......

 

Oh, I know the perfect person who derserves to be put here...

 

James Vega (Mass Effect 3):

 

This fucking guy... It's been a a long time since I played Mass Effect 3 so most of the guy is a bit fuzzy with my memory, but if there's anything I remembered from the game that pissed me off besides the ending and other shit, it was James Vega. I can't tell you how much I couldn't stand this asshole when playing through Mass Effect 3. I mean, when we got to Mars as our next mission after escaping Earth; the first thing... the first fucking thing that came out of his mouth already made me want to throw him out of the nearest airlock. Afterwards, I tried to be nice to this guy with the Paragon skills and give him a chance, but it just wouldn't happen... eveything this guy said to me was nothing but trash talk and insults. This meathead jershey-shore-looking douchey motherfucker really got on my skin and I literally removed him from my party for the rest of the game. I don't know if that was a good idea or not, but I don't care, anything else is better than have to deal with this guy. I would rather have a another Krogan on the team instead of him. Fuck James Vega.

[Phantomime]

It's 2:00 AM at the time I start writing this

 

Why the fuck do I always wait so late before I write these fucking things

 

Least Favorite Character: Pokey/Porky Minch (Earthbound)

 

 

Wow, hey, this wasn't a question I expected to be so difficult. Who'd have thought it'd be this hard to think of someone I hate? I'd be happy to write another post about Fi, but I did that last year. I guess I could talk about the Deadly Six, but they're only boring, I'm trying to not mention Sonic games that much, and I guess if I really, really, really, really tried I could probably come up with a more boring character.

 

So hey, have an annoying, murderous, megalomaniac douchebag. 

 

Alright, for those unfamiliar with Earthbound, Pokey Minch lives next door to Ness, His whole introduction in the beginning of the game is just him being a whiny little ass. He harasses you periodically throughout the game, gaining influence through Giygas and generally just being a harmless but annoying jerk, until your final showdown with him as Giygas's right hand man. (Though he's arguably more in control at this point than his boss).

 

Everything about him kinda pisses me off, from the way he talks to his literally everything else.

 

That said, he was intentionally designed to be hated though, so he's not a bad character in the way that, say, Fi is.

 

 

I'd also like to talk about his appearance in Mother 3, but if I started with that I'd go pretty off topic from the idea of why he's annoying.

[Goldenlink64]

Day 25: Least Favorite Character

 

Master, I am detecting that Faron Woods has been overflooded which you can clearly see right in front of you.

 

Master, there's 76% chance that the thing you saw in a cutscene actually just happened

 

Master, your batteries are low but you can't ignore this notification so I'm going to be as loud and obnoxious as possible

 

Master, there's a 90% chance that I'm possibly wasting your time.

 

Master, there's 89% chance that somebody has already made this joke in this SSMB topic and there is a 17% chance that you might've liked their posts. Would you like to use the Dowsing Feature to locate their posts and make sure?

 

Hey what's that yo-

 

 

Whew, that felt good... Now if only I could actually do that in the game itself too.

 

Now I'm a very understanding guy and I can sympathize with some of the most "unlikable" characters in any media. I sympathized with poor boy Shinji Ikari and liked him more than most people would. I ended up rooted for Black☆Star and Naruto despite how obnoxious might've came off as. I thought Tidus and Steve Burnside was alright characters (though I can totally understand why people don't like them, especially Veronica's Steve). All these characters I could totally see where they were all coming from and find a reason to like them (or to an extent at least), but there's absolutely nothing redeemable from Fi.

 

Honestly, Fi is the first time where I actually ROOTED for the character leaving in the very end. I've never loathed a single character's presence this much in any story. Story-wise, she's just there to help you advance the plot with zero personality, gameplay-wise however, she's actually a hindrance. She'll stop you in the middle of gameplay with unskippable dialogue and... I just.. HER CHARACTER IS SO BAD SHE ACTUALLY HINDERS THE GAMEPLAY, NINTENDO WHAT THE THE ACTUAL HELL?!

 

I hope Fi never returns, and if she does, she'd do well as a skin replacement for the Sandbag from Super Smash Bros. It'll give me an excuse to train harder... yes that's right... "train".

 

...

 

Actually no, scratch that. That would be unfair to poor SandBag...

 

 

Don't worry buddy, I won't replace you... <3

 

Dishonorable Mentions go to Ezio from Assassin's Creed 2: I spent 20 hours on this entire game and this guy hasn't expressed a single emotion. I'm about to start a new file just so I can watch his parents die again so I can see him emote for once, if he even does for that matter, I can't even remember at this point. I can't stand this guy, I don't know if I'll even finish this game because of him now.

 

Previously on Day 24:

Next time on Day 26:

[DemonShad716]

Day 25: Least Favorite Character

 

This one was a toughy as I don't have much to say about a least favorite character other than being annoying or an ass in game. Going with Black Doom and 343 Guilty Spark though.

Black Doom was just annoying throughout the whole game, even as his floating squid...eye...thing. He's evil, and careless. He simply doesn't care much for Shadow even though he was created from his DNA and pretty much uses him as a pawn to do the things he wants done and take over the planet. As a boss, he just teleports everywhere which is just irritating as it is.

 

I hated 343 Guilty Spark after he killed one of the best NPCs in the Halo franchise: Sergeant Avery Johnson. This floating orb just flat out betrays Master Chief and flips out over his precious Halo ring being fired early, even after he helps out since his debut. He was starting to become a good guy until then. Now all he's good for is being a Forge camera.

[Soniman]

I can't think of any in recent memory other then Fi.

 

Fi was an anomaly in how.....bad she was? People give Navi so much shit for saying a one phrase once in awhile and they STILL do, I dont get it because Fi is basically what everyone hated about Fi times a billion, and yet people will probably still be bitching about Navi years from now when Fi falls to the wayside. Everything you do in the game is monitored by her, she's always interrupting the game with her commentary (her very slow commentary), that beeping, that lack of personality just...ugh what a pain in the ass this character was.

 

And there was the ending of Skyward Sword which tries to play up how Fi was supposedly this emotional character that grew a bond with Link over time, but NO, she's not. She's the exact same emotionless robot as she was when the game began. Still incredibly dull, monotone, and souless. Fi wouldnt be so bad if she was a NPC or something, but she's the companion character and she was just a load the entire way through.

[BakingBluePotatoe]

Day 25: "You got over 9000 hate points with this character" Least Favorite Character



The motherfucking Cacodemons in Doom and Doom II. Just... look at those things, they're hideous. And to this day, they still scare the hell out of me. Uhg. *shudder* Hell, for a really long time, the sound of crossing over some bridges remind me of the sounds Cacodemons make. Yeah, sounds silly, I know. =(

 

Yeah, I'd hate to run into a demonic hellspawn that looked like those ugly bastards.

[The Deleter]

Day 25: Least Favorite Character

 

 

 

 

Chip from Sonic Unleashed

 

While I might not dislike him to the point that I hate him, I still think he's a cringeworthy and entirely pointless character for the most part. He's like taking Cream the Rabbit, make her even less useful by not allowing her to fight, make her somehow related to the plot because she's another half of a lore that was barely touched upon and isn't even worth bringing up, give her an even more annoying sense of "innocence", and making her a flying dog-fairy boy-god. As if he would matter in the grand scheme of things.

 

Yes, yes, friendship and everything, but we already had dozens of friends that could have followed him through this. It would have been better if they had stuck with not one, but all of the characters, reaffirming their friendships with him and actually giving me someone to care about that won't be kicked off the series in one game. I just... don't see a point in this character, and personally find him to be an incredibly lame comedy sidekick.

 

Day 25: Complete

[Lucky]

Day 25: Least Favorite Character

 

Not a fan of escort characters at the best of times and there was a few I could have mentioned, but this is one of the few that just wrecked an entire game.

 

 

Don't like any of the baby characters at the best of times as they feel quite pointless and like a waste of character slots in games such as Mario Kart, but Baby Mario was an annoying little shit and just ruined Yoshi's Island for me. If you manage to keep him on your back it's not quite so bad I guess, but then he falls off and... well... that's when you're subjected to the most annoying sound effect in anything ever while he floats off in a bubble and makes everything awkward for you. And it just drove me absolutely crazy the entire time I was playing the game.

 

Thanks for giving me another reason to never have babies, Nintendo.

[Kaabiitorori]

Day 25: Least Favourite Character

Bubsy The (Motherfucking) Bobcat

The platform genre was an extremely popular choice for many developers during the 80s and especially the 90s; hundreds of platform games were spawned for every character and franchise, whether it was an existing license or a brand new one. The popularity and success of Mario and Sonic brought an opportunity for developers to take a shot a create the next mascot; there have been a fair amount of great and not so great characters, but Bubsy The Bobcat is the most infamous one to me.

The guys at Accolade probably saw the recent popularity (at the time) of Sonic The Hedgehog and thought 'Why not create our next Sonic?'. And this is where the character fails really hard: his whole portrayal. Bubsy tries too hard on being cool and with attitude, and what we get is an annoying and obnoxious guy who delivers cheesy lines full of puns... REALLY bad ones, by the way. His most famous line, 'What could possibly go wrong?'... I swear, it's a line that always struck me. There I was back in the mid 90s when I first picked this game and popped it in my Mega Drive, and after pressing Start I heard this line for the first time ever; at first I thought the same thing, I said 'Oh yeah, this game looks promising and cool, I bet it'll be great to play!'... and what I get is a game full of bullshit level design, awkward controls and a character who's generic as hell and tries to be a Sonic wannabe with his speed and 'tude. Tell me if that phrase didn't scream maximum trolling at its finest or not, 'cause that's exactly what it feels to me even to this day! >.<

And that's another thing too! Gameplay wise Bubsy is an utterly unreliable character to play as due to his unnecessary speed that screams 'HEY LOOK, I'MMA FASTER THAN SANIC!!' and his irregular and awkward as heck control. This doesn't solve the fact you can die with pretty much anything in one hit, whether it's by an enemy or by anything on the level which, by the way, will ensure you some bullshit moments to remember.

All in all, I totally loathe this character for his obnoxious, annoying and generic portrayal, as well as the overall experience of the game itself. While Bubsy 2 did few fair improvements on the gameplay (yet not enough to guarantee a masterpiece of a game), his transition to the 3D world with Bubsy 3D killed the character for good with one of the worst platforming experiences you could find at the time and his worst portrayal ever.

(Posted from my iPhone. I'll have to make any edits in the formatting plus the introduction after my return from Manchester!)

[Sami]

Day 26 - Favorite Console Generation

Sixth Generation

Sonic Adventure.
Jak and Daxter.
Halo.
Smash Bros. Melee.
Shenmue.
ICO.
Jet Set Radio Future.
Mario Kart Double Dash.

The list goes on and on because what a time to be a gamer, man.

The sixth generation holds a special place for me because it was the real turning point for 3D games, in my opinion. I have a massive amount of respect for all the developers and console manufacturers of the Fifth Generation because of the astounding amount of creativity and innovation of the time, but many games from that period haven't aged very gracefully. It was a time of experimentation - both with flaws and triumphs. It wasn't until the Dreamcast and Sonic Adventure really kicked things off in 1999 that we got games that were leaps and bounds larger in scope and complexity than what came before.

Many of the greatest games I've ever played came out during this time, because developers and publishers were so much more willing to take risks at the time. Persona 3 and 4? PS2. ICO and Shadow of the Colossus? PS2. Metal Gear Solid 2? PS2 and Xbox. MGS3? PS2. Kingdom Hearts? PS2. Spider-Man 2? All three. Viewtiful Joe 1 and 2? GC and PS2. Star Wars Battlefront? All three dammit man I can't hold all of these great games

It's pretty obvious I had a PS2 as a kid, lol. But even then, I was super jealous of my cousins and friends for what they had too. I remember sneaking over to my friend's house to play Halo co-op. Got in trouble for it too, but it was worth it. I remember being blown away by dual-wielding in Halo 2. I remember all the hours and hours and hours of Mario Kart Double Dash with my cousins, with a side helping of Sonic Adventure 2 Battle multiplayer matches.

If I were to recommend any console today over all others, I'd probably go PS3. ... Mainly because all the really major best PS2 games got ported and upgraded. If ports don't count though, PS2 is the way to go.

The PS2 is still my favorite console, but I love its generation for housing an array of really great competitors - great hardware and great software came from all sides this time. No Wiimotes, Kinects, or Moves. No Wonderbooks. No tablet controllers, or DRM threats. No DLC scams. No bullshit. I love every single one of these machines and all the classics they provided.

Gen 6 was the best.

[Radiant Hero Ike]

 

Day 25 - Least Favorite Character

 

Ah...hm...you know, there are few characters in video games I feel any genuine bile for. Even the ones I happen not to like in one game can be written quite well in another, or perhaps become decent in my eyes once character development ensues. With that in mind...I want to go with this really, really pretentious (and also really, really predictable) answer, but first, I'm going to look through my game collection to see if there's anything better I can think of.

 

...

 

...

 

OH, okay! Perfect!

 

AXL - MEGA MAN X

 

Kill it. Kill it now.

 

Okay, so, maybe this still falls into the "became okay later on" category, but even though Mega Man X8 made him significantly less terrible, I still can't say I really liked him. Axl is basically a whiny, obnoxious-as-all kid with some of the most loathsome voice acting I've heard in all of my years. Just listen to this garbage and tell me it doesn't make you cringe. Also, that was the best video I could find to demonstrate just how horrifyingly unlistenable the voice acting is. Most of the cutscenes of Mega Man X7 have been uploaded in Japanese. Yeah, I wonder why?

 

To add insult to injury, Axl is actually meant as the replacement protagonist for Mega Man X himself, who decided in X7 that he was too much of a wuss to fight anymore. Yeah, wait, what's the game called again? Oh yeah, Mega Man X. And who is that taking the center stage on the box? Mega Man Fracking X. I buy a Mega Man X game expecting to play as Mega Man X (or Zero), not Generic Whiny Boisterous Bishonen #12732173892173981739. AND YEAH, SURE, Zero's still in the game, but he's hardly even playable because the level design hates him and wants him to die. They want you to play as Axl. They want you to love Axl as much as possible. The entire story is all about Axl, it's all AXL AXL AXL.

 

This game is not about Mega Man X or Zero, this game is all about the stupid breakout character that no one likes. And why? Why do people think somehow that replacing the protagonists we're used to with whiny kids with not a single likable trait to their name is going to make things fresh or interesting? It's like they completely misunderstood why people were getting tired of Mega Man X in the first place. It was because the series was going downhill fast, not because the characters were getting stale. And it's not like Mega Man X7 did anything to curb the "going downhill" thing, either - gameplay-wise, it was an almost Sonic 06ian abomination to all that is good and just in this world.

 

Let's just say Axl didn't help.

 

(WHY DO MY POSTS KEEP GETTING DOUBLE-SPACED >8C)

 

He was actually pretty good in Mega Man X8. His voice got a lot better, anyway. But yeah, X7 was ridiculously bad.

 

 

I'll just say a character which comes to mind instantly, since I oddly can't think of a character specifically outside of the obvious choices within the Sonic franchise, lawl.

lo

Look at this ugly ass Pokemon. Trubbish, introduced in generation five, is probably one of the most horrifically designed Pokemon and concepts to ever but farted out of the designer's brain. A fucking living garbage bag with rubbish being used as its limbs does not only go against the idea that Pokemon are creatures and animals that are alive, but is also pretty disgusting as an idea. And once he evolves? Oh no, he doesn't clean up his act. They just increase the amount of rubbish so that it explodes and overflows into a garbage monster that's even worse to look at. LOOKING AT HIM MAKES ME MAD RRRRGGHHH

 

Trubbish is cute in Pokémon XY though. D:

I have another character I hate that I thought I'd share.

Hrgh.

HRGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I hate this guy so flipping much. He's a total jerk to like, everyone. He's 10 and has the voice of a grown ma-- well actually, I guess that part doesn't bug me. Anyway, he hates Ash, which bugs me a bit too (say what you will about Ash not being the best, but the show would end if he won the Pokémon League). But the worst part about him?

He releases Pokémon he deems too weak.

Oh my God. How could he. HOW COULD HEEEEEEEEEEEE. Granted, some Pokémon he released ended up being Ash's, but he shouldn't have released them in the first place. Not only that, but he NEVER congratulates his Pokémon on doing a good job. He only says they're pathetic (which is his favorite word). Well, until the end of the series, anyway, where he becomes nicer and respects Ash. But, before that happened, he's an unlikable jerk. I liked his purple hair though... Anyway yeah, I still kind of don't like him, even after the Sinnoh League.

EDIT: OH SHOOT THE NEW DAY HAS STARTED CRUD

 

Day 26: Favorite Gaming Generation

Um, favorite gaming generation... I'll go with Gen 6. I was introduced to the Dreamcast when I was about 3, and beat Sonic Adventure when I was 3 as well. It also had my favorite game of all time, Fur Fighters. I wasn't introduced to the GameCube until much later. I was 8? I think... Anyway, I had no clue what anything Nintendo was. I got Melee, and the only characters I recognized were Pokémon and the Mario characters (I got Mario Party 7 before Melee). After that I got Wind Waker, my first and favorite Zelda game. And it went from there. I never had a PS2, unfortunately, and I rarely played the Xbox. I had Sonic Heroes on it, but that's my least favorite Sonic game besides Colors, and I got Shadow, but at the time I didn't like it (I love it now). And I wasn't very good at Shenmue either. But Dreamcast and GameCube, best systems ever, and that was my favorite generation.

[Solkia]

Sixth generation of consoles is very dear to me.

 

I lost a lot of my friends growing up. All it was was me, my gaming buddy, and my Gamecube on a 12" tv through coax.

 

I love the Gamecube. It's the last Nintendo console I truly respected and the biggest part of years as a gamer.

 

Cel Damage, Ultimate Muscle Legends vs New Generation, DBZ Budokai, Clash of Ninja 2, Custom Robo, Star Fox Assault, Bloody Roar Primal Fury, SIMS Bustin' Out, Donkey Konga, Smash Bros, Melee, Sonic Riders, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Bomberman Jetters, Smashing Drive, SSX TRICKY GODDAMN I LOVE YOU, SSX On Tour, Mario Party 5, Soul Calibur II, I played a shit ton of games and remember all the times I had with them.

[Shane]

Generation IV is my favourite console generation. Donkey Kong Countries, Sonics, Mega Mans, Marios, Yoshi's Island, Square RPGs... It was a fantastic time to be a gamer. It was the pinnacle of 2D gaming. It was the beginning of console wars. It was the time home games reached arcade quality.

 

I love Super Nintendo, and to a lesser extent, SEGA Genesis. My best gaming memories are on Super Nintendo.

[KrazyBean]

Day 26: Favourite Console Generation

6th Generation

 

Yeah, I agree with Discoid (and a lot of others it looks like) on this one. The main reason why it's my favourite gen was because it was all about making great games and not just finding ways to make the most money. No DRM, no DLC BS, no arguing about resolution and frame rates, no silly gimmicks, no Season Passes, just good gaming. It was a simpler time and it was great.

 

The main console I had was the PS2 in the 6th generation. I remember playing Sonic Heroes on in and loving the crap out of it, and I even 100% the game as well. Sonic Riders was also another Sonic game which I played a lot of. The PS2 also had the best Dragon Ball Z games and I still love Budokai 3 and Tenkaichi 3 till this day. I didn't own any other consoles but I did play the crap out of Super Mario Sunshine at a friends house. It's the black sheep of the Mario franchise but I flippin' loved that game. Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner was also another game which stood out to me in the 6th generation. I didn't play that game myself but I did watch my bro play it A LOT and that game was just awesome. If a ZoE 3 was ever made I'll definitely buy my own copy. I also remember a game called Legend of Kay. That was a great game too, but I wouldn't be surprised if none of you have heard of it though. Spider-Man 2 and Ultimate Spider-Man were also phenomenal games and are the best Spider-Man games by far IMO.

 

Good times. Unfortunately I didn't play games from franchises like Kingdom Hearts, Ratchet and Clank, Jak and Daxter, ICO/Shadow of the Colossus because I didn't have access to the internet at the time and I had no idea of their existence, but luckily the PS3 is doing wonders in helping me catch up on such classics.

[Spin Attaxx]

Oh god, um, I guess seventh gen? That was around the time I really got into games and played things like Super Mario Gamaxy, Super Smash Bros. and Metroid Prime Trilogy. I also have my 360 with The Orange Box and Minecraft on it, so I play that a lot. Also, ndie games and Steam kicked off around this time and considering that's pretty much what I wanna do with my life (make games I have complete control and authority over)  I'm thankful that it did.

[Covskin]

There are only two generations where I've sampled more than one console, so the choice for me is either sixth generation or seventh.

 

PS2 and GC versus PS3 and Wii (and DS? I get confused as to where handhelds fit).

 

This is actually a lot tricker than I thought. I remember last time, there was a "Favourite Console" question and I said PS2, so you'd think that was an advantage. I've spent a lot more time with my PS3 since...and it has been good.

 

As much as I love my PS2, my Gamecube did end up somewhat underutilized. The Wii, horrendous shovelware aside, I personally had a more varied games library, not to mention backwards compatibility! Not to mention, Mario Kart Wii was my first proper foray into online gaming, something which I continued with the PS3. And then, of course, Playstation Plus.

 

Yes, there's been a lot of bullshit in the seventh generation (reliance on patches, on-disc DLC etc), but purely for games, there's have been some real stunners.

 

It is close, but I think I'll say Seventh Generation.