- 2008-11-04 01:27:56 /bedtime
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Re: Wark dark da dark
2008-03-11 08:50:22
"describe how awesome Brawl is in dizzying detail so that I may live vicariously through you."
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Brawl is everything great about melee, but with shinier graphics and more filler.
It has a giant boatload of new stages (most of which have moving backgrounds that you can't even appreciate because you're focused on fighting) even for the obscure characters like the Ice Climbers (whose stage is a subliminal message about global warming: you start on top of an iceberg that melts and the chunk you're on slides down until it splashes into the ocean, and it's just about to sink entirely, all but the top half gets consumed in water that if you stay in too long a giant mutant fish thing will come by and eat you, when it magically flies back on top of the mountain it slipped off of) and Pit (whose stage is in "the Heavens" where giant stone platforms are supported by nothing but clouds and divine superpower).
The new characters are impressive and interesting for a while (but I'm already dedicated to Metaknight). Everything moves slower than in melee, so my jump timings are all off. Final smashes make things interesting. I find it better to abuse someone who is tunnel visioned on getting the smash ball (a mystical roaming floating ball that takes several hits to "break" before you earn the right to unleash a supermove) and then get it myself once the stage is clear.
The single player "adventure mode" is frustrating (possibly because my roommates started it on Very Hard difficulty, fourth out of five difficulties and one below "Intense") but we play Co-Op so it's bearable. We figured out halfway through that you pretty much NEED to use their "stickers", collectible powerups that you apply to individual characters that can't be reused once applied (like real stickers! damn things never stick the same twice, even if you manage to tear it off clean and not leave gooey white paper behind that doesn't come off after an hour of scraping with your fingernails) but they're a pain. I'm sure some people have "fun" optimizing them (their power is proportional to their size, and you only have a limited amount of space on which to put them) but I just pick a few big ones and continue playing. All of it is rewarding though as the cutscenes make me feel like a little kid, in awe at my beloved heroes, saving the day in such a stylish manner.
Online isn't as bad as everyone seems to say it is. I've only had momentary (half-second) lag and that is usually limited to once a game. I've never been dropped from one. Instead, I usually can't find enough people for a full brawl. I suppose that will change once people stop trying to unlock stuff, or wear their friends out, or whatever gets them in a mood for an online match.
Spectator mode is surprisingly fun. You bet useless in-game currency that you occur way too much of anyway. All you know is what character the player picks, no win/loss record, no ratios based on other bets, just bet on a character. It's fun rooting someone on, and I can now legitimately say I know what it feels like to be addicted to gambling. I have spectated more matches that I have played online.
Stadium events are there when you get really bored. Target test is a race against the clock with a bonus puzzle element as you try to figure out the fastest way to "break the targets!!!". Home run contest got a little easier with the added shield that keeps sandbag on the platform (you can break the shield with repeated attacks, but why would you want to do that?) and is therefore easier to get longer distances. It took me about 10 minutes to go through and get over 1200 ft with every character, first try, to unlock that challenge.
That reminds me, there's challenges like: "Score over 30,000 ft. cumulative in the Home-Run Contest" which unlock more CRAP, but they put all of these challenges in little glass cubby holes on a giant wall. Who WOULDN'T want to break every pane to get the useless treasure inside, if only to see a nice, clean, spotless wall at the end of the day. You can break the glass panes with hammers you acquire from who-knows-where but I'd rather just do the challenge. You can't see through all the glass though, just the ones horizontally adjacent to the panes you've already broken, and when you do that, those (one or) two give you a clue as to what you have to do to break that pane.
I find it needless to give a detailed review of the character's abilities since I'm sure everyone's experiences will differ based on their playing style. I will however give a short rundown of notable characteristics.
Pit doesn't appear to have any real weaknesses, and can fly around shooting stuff, reflecting projectiles, and smash attacking or multi-hitting (different from "combo-ing" in that Brawl likes to have this mechanic where a character can score multiple "hits" on someone with certain moves without sending them flying. it sure looks cool, but makes zero sense on the physics side of things) to his heart's content.
Wario moves oddly, the best I can do is compare him to Mr. Game & Watch. There's little animation to hit attacks, which makes him altogether unpredictable.
Zero Suit Samus I haven't gotten a lot of playtime with, but (from what I can tell) is exactly what you'd think. A faster character that will focus more on hand-to-hand now that her only weapon is a whip (which actually has an impressive range).
Ike is a beast. He's got quite the wind up, but has range AND power in his massive sword attacks.
Pokemon Trainer has the ability to switch through the three original starters (well, Ivysaur and Charizard are the evolved forms) and has no real notable characteristics other than that. Oh, this one time I was about to final smash someone with Metaknight but they recalled their pokemon just before I executed the attack, effectively dodging it. It was heartbreaking.
Diddy Kong doesn't understand the laws of man, and takes full advantage of barrel technology. He's a welcome addition to the cast.
Meta Knight is the biggest "multi-hitter" (see above) of the game. His sword attacks do more damage than launching... which is fine by me. (I used to main Mario, which had the same problem)
Snake has a lot of unconventional attacks. They aren't really intuitive. He does a lot of throwing weapons around, but that up-b makes air melee attacks really easy. He's definitely someone who will take time to master.
Lucas is pretty much a Ness clone.
Slow King Dedede is sloooow but his hammer will make you feel really stupid for walking into his attacks, because it will launch you. Far.
Olimar can rack up the damage quickly by throwing pikmin. Quite often you'll hear "I'm already above 100%?!" and then you KNOW it's already over. He's not easy to play with though and requires patience, planning, and your full attention. Get your pikmin killed and yourself launched in the air and you're a sitting duck.
Sonic, R.O.B. and Lucario? Haven't unlocked them yet.
All of the old characters play the same. No, really.
Well, that's all you're going to get. I haven't played that much really. I'm psyched about editing since Gateway deadline is the end of the month, and JACON deadline is in late April. Expect a "beta this plz" in a couple of weeks. -
2007-11-27 11:08:55
Oh yeah... I actually have school in an hour...
Its weird how 7 days off can make you fall out of habits like that.
Finals start in a couple of weeks. Are we really almost done?
I started my very first AMV during last year's winter break. You'd think in a whole year I'd have made more than 4 (released 3)... Oh well. So I spent a couple hours of just about every day for almost two months making the last one what it was. I wonder what I'll get done this winter break? (other than a gateway track ^_^;;) -
Lying in bed I found something to write about.
2007-10-11 03:27:07
I often amuse myself with my analogies... maybe you'll find it funny too?
This one goes out to all my the homophobes out there.
For me, watching two guys kiss (anime or no) is kinda like watching someone lick the floor.
Its probably not sanitary.
Its not something I'd wanna do. (no, not even to "just try it")
It sends shivers down my spine just thinking about doing something like that myself.
So then why, I ask you, is watching two girls kiss, fucking HAWT!? -
2007-07-24 17:39:10
Some fight some bleed...
*yawn*
I got premiere back! Pro 2.0... shiny. I wonder whats different? This looks newer than the one I was working with.
I'll send my laptop off to Dell for repair (basically: "gimmie a new hard drive, fools!") once I know my champloo project is up and running on my desktop. Hell, I might even FINISH it finish it soon? Who knows?
JOURNAL: meleechampion (Bubby )
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