spitblackseekgold:
selaphi:
juushika:
Source.
In a billion years when I get married, feel free to give me something like this because it is the best thing ever created oh god.
so… they got married in the future?
it might be a save-the-date kinda thing?
It will be a gift for an upcoming wedding, according to the creator.
(via myeyescastlow-deactivated201303)
Source.
In a billion years when I get married, feel free to give me something like this because it is the best thing ever created oh god.
Further things what happened while I was not at the computer (because I was busy poring over Boy’s new smart phone):
I’m playing the phone version of ilomilo. It’s beautifully scaled for teeny weeny eyestrain-o-vision—smaller, shorter, more manageable levels, but still plenty of mind-teasing variety and ingenious solutions—and some minor loading delays can’t destroy the impeccable aesthetic: without question it continues to be the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.
But what’s more interesting is how the mindset differs when playing the game alone. On the Xbox, I’m milo and the boy is ilo, two individual characters puzzle solving; on the phone, I switch so easily between the two that I become both, and the character instead is the relationship between them. I’m the sort of person that projects an entire personality onto a five-line SNES character, so take this with a grain of salt—but the different priorities still fascinate me.
Okay, so.
I’m not sure yet where I stand on this “plot” thing in Pokémon Black and White. As I mentioned before, I was quite excited to find out that the central conflict would be around the role of Pokémon in society, but unsurprised to see much of it corrupted by shallow storytelling. I still hold out hope for N.
But even if the game drops the ball, having picked it up in the first place is amazing. It’s not new—I think a lot of Pokémon players, especially as they get older and a little smarter, wonder about the same thing: would a creature want to be trapped in a little ball and trained into a fighter and sent out in an endless slew of battles to get the shit kicked out of them, or worse yet would a creature want to get trapped in a little ball and then stored on a PC … forever? And Pokémon seem to be more than your average, this-world, non-sentient animal: they seem intelligent and emotional, both in the games and in other parts of the franchise.
In the previous generations it was easy to quash that sort of worry with, “Well, it’s just a game.” Because it is, and its underlying premise and mechanics would be less than useless if Pokémon had to be treated as independent, conscious entities. You’re still encouraged to love and groom them, but they’re “just” Pokémon, this capture-train-fight thing is what they do, and that’s it.
But it’s harder to dismiss the issue as just the premise of the game once the game itself starts questioning it.
So even if the plot doesn’t end up doing much (which would be no surprise), even if they do worse than little and try and sweep it all under the rug with an official “well that’s just what Pokémon do!”, the fact that it acknowledged the issue is something. It means that I can’t sweep it under the rug.
When I say that aesthetics matter (yes, this all spun out from that), I don’t mean quite that. In my ideal little fantasy Pokémon world (you have one too, right?), Pokémon really are my friends—I live and work along side them, I cuddle up against them at night. They’re not people, but they’re not just animals either (for all that I love animals, too)—they are remarkable, mysterious, sympathetic, intelligent, alien friends. So when I pick a Pokémon to be on my team, I pick a Pokémon that I would want in my home, napping on my bed. I like them clever, cuddly, mischievous, kind, sweet, and COVERED IN FLUFF you better believe it. I would fight Team Plasma to the death for those Pokémon, because—even if I can’t prove it—I know that we belong together as companions.
But what about the hundred languishing on my PC? What about the HM slave that I pull out just to set to task? Just pixels and bytes, of course; just the premise of the game. But I’ve been having these pangs of guilt, because the game won’t let me dismiss the issue anymore, not like that. I’m sensitive, I know—me and my nervous affair with Eve, me and my faithfulness to Chihiro (and love of Nanako, and beloved pet dogs, and and and): I am prone to making silly emotional connections in “just a game.” But Pokémon has always encouraged just that sort of thing, with its Pokémon walking behind you and happiness points and Silver’s entire story arc—and now it wants to know: do we really believe it?
Well, I decided: Pokemon Black will arrive at my door a few days later than everyone else who buys it on the release date, but who cares! It is a game and a decision and shiny DSi XL, and with this I am finally entering the current generation of handheld gaming (Patapon 2 on the PSP was a step in the direction, but now we’ve finally arrived at the destination).
I decided to go with BW because it is the new big best shiny thing, and because I know I’ll go mad with envy to watch my dash explode with new-game joy while I’m stuck on an older generation, even if that generation is new to me. I’m not wholly content to have just gen 5 until the endgame, in part because there are so many generations that I’ve missed, in part because I’m not sold on many of the gen 5 designs, but I imagine I’ll find plenty Pokémon to love if I give it the chance and above all: there is Snivy. I’ve found myself growing rather attached to Dawn while researching Platinum, so it’s a pity to lose her for now—but just for now: I can play it next. (And in Black I think I’ll play as male.)
I decided on Black mostly for aesthetic reasons: I like me some cutesy country landscapes (if Harvest Moon is any indication) and White’s ethos I think is up my alley, but Black’s look is more to my taste and I wanna explore Black City. White has some version exclusives that I want, but … well maybe this time, I’ll actually find someone to trade with via the magical powers of the internet.
On that note, I desperately want a Bulbasaur.
The angstrant about playing another Harvest Moon game is this:
Popuri is, as we know, one of my waifu to end all waifu: I fell hard for her in the SNES Harvest Moon, nevermind that she had about four lines of dialog; I am fated to woo and marry her again whenever I have the chance because we are Meant To Be. And the good news is that I can, because she reappears in Back to Nature/Boy & Girl (oh how badly I need to decide what to call it).
But the bad news is that that game has a 24-hour clock.
I actually started playing it a few months ago. Boy put it on my PSP when we bought it, and I started it up on a train ride. On my very first day I set out to get acquainted with my town, and Popuri’s family farm was about the second place I found. I was still getting used to walking on an angle (silly isometric view) and had approximately no idea where anything was, and then suddenly my beloved beautiful Popuri was running away in tears and I was trying to follow her up onto the mountain wherever that was and by the time I found it it was three in the morning and I was exhausted and panicking and turned off the game.
I do not know if I can function like this.
Because this is is the thing: in the original Harvest Moon, time stopped at 6pm. Evenings were one long surreal still haze full of watering and weeding; they were the break after a day spent frantically picking tomatoes and corn: no clock, no pressure, a time to be relaxed and productive. How will I be able to get everything done when I can’t spend a real-world hour weeding the entire farm on my first night?
How will I be able to find Popuri if it’s three in the goddamned morning?
Overdramatic, yes: also true. I am honestly frightened of the realistic 24 hour clock, and have been avoiding the game since then. I do not want to mess things up! I do not want to leave my beautiful beloved in the dark and the cold, in tears.
I’m sorta craving some Harvest Moon, though.
Not gonna lie, half the reason I love PC and PC-emulated games is that I can take a billion screenshots.
And Popuri will always have a place in my heart.
Only a little bit of an exaggeration, but still: not too bad. My happiness could have used some improvement, though, I think.
Notes upon the completion of Harvest Moon SNES:
Three years is just about the right length, because the game does grow repetitive at the end. Don’t be afraid to sleep through days in the winter just to speed things up a bit. Do use autumn and winter go into town and visit the mountain—even the smallest bit of variation helps keep things interesting. And I’ll take a while off before playing another Harvest Moon game, so the thing doesn’t get dull.
If playing via an emulator, embrace fast forward functions. Use it to counteract the laggy cow barn (skipping two frames per second was the perfect setting for me) and to speed up runs in and out of town to deliver gifts. The laggy cows almost made me give up on the game—fast forward as a lifesaver.
There are probably a number of clever naming schemes to make cows easily identifiable, but alphabetical worked perfectly for me. (Alma, Bell, Cora, Dove, Ella, Fest, Gail, Hope, Izzy, Jena, Kara, and Love, in case you were curious).
Even without the nostalgia factor (given that I’m new to the series), the Engrish translation and adorable sprites still make this game enduring—to say nothing of its addicting properties. It’s dated, but still a lot of fun.
Ignore all FAQs and walkthroughs save for this one. Most of them are inaccurate; this one is comprehensive, correct, and easy to use.
Hurricanes are a bitch.
The fandom needs more (good) fanart.
Even if you never have any use for the dog except to pick it up and cart it around—yeah, it’s still adorable. Cuteness sells so much.
Aw, Popuri, love, that’s only about the most beautiful thing.
Her affection level was at 997 at the end of the game. I do spoil my wifey.
(Is it bad that half of the ending all I can think is: Jack is so inefficient! How can he expect to make a living like that?)