Pokemon Omega Ruby

Sean Dibble & Josh Louis

Welcome back to the land of Hoenn, where the Pokémon roam free, the Gym Leaders are tough, and where your starting Pokémonwill stay on your team forever (because they are just that good). Nintendo’s latest installment of the Pokémon series, Pokémon OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire are remakes of the original Ruby and Sapphire from 2002. I got the opportunity to pick up OmegaRuby and play it a bit, and I’m nowhere near the end of the game, but I want to share my thoughts on the game so far.

Gameplay

Gameplay is what you would expect in a Pokémon game. You travel around the wonderful world of Hoenn, which you will come to know and love, battle other trainers with your favorite Pokémon, and catch ‘em all. In OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire you get arguably the best three starters you can get in any game: the wood gecko, Treecko; the blazing-hot Torchic (who you might recognize as the bonus gift in Pokémon X/Y); and the adorable mud fish, Mudkip. I haven’t really played a Pokémon game in between Red (though I did dabble in Y for a bit), and this whole experience was out of this world for me. I couldn’t get over the 3D graphics and all of the new Pokémon, most of whom I didn’t recognize.

This wasn't a bad thing, though. This actually got me addicted to the game within the first few hours. However, one thing that I don’t like about the gameplay is the Experience Share item. All of your Pokémon can gain experience from battling. Granted, you can turn this feature off in the Key Items section of the player’s bag, but I felt like it took away from the game, primarily the way in which one-on-one battles took place (like they did in Red).

Our good friend at SplashAttack.net, J, had some interesting remarks about the Experience Share, though. Apparently, it functions the same way that it did in X and Y. Back in the old days, the Experience Share was a hold item which you could give to a Pokémon who wasn’t participating in battle. This would award it 50 percent of the total experience gained without it actually seeing the battlefield. However, in X and Y, they changed the way that the item worked, awarding 100 percent of the experience gained to any Pokémon who participated in battle, while giving those in your party who didn’t participate 50 percent.

This, in theory, allows your Pokémon to gain much more experience and grow at an incredible rate without much effort. However, J also mentioned that his Pokémon were extraordinarily overleveled for a significant portion of the game (and he only used four of them!). I understand why the item is in the game, but it would have made the game far more challenging if they kept it the way it was as a hold item. I recommend that you play through the game with the Experience Share turned off to get the full gameplay experience (i.e. swearing at your 3DS when something goes wrong instead of OHKOing half of your opposition).

Other fun game mechanics include DexNav encounters, which allow you to see Pokémon hiding in the tall grass on the overworld. What’s more, you can even scan the Pokémon for details about it and then sneak up on it for a surprise encounter. These DexNav encounters feature Pokémon which have hidden abilities not normally found in ordinary gameplay, or with moves normally obtainable only through a lengthy breeding process. I love everything about it, and hope they put the feature in future games. The game flows very well, and before you know it you and your Pokémon have been playing for five hours when you only intended to play for one!

Graphics

Graphically, the game is sound. You simply can’t beat these graphics on a 3DS. Puddles splash when you walk through them, grass bends with the wind, and the tall grass sways as you sneak upon that unsuspecting Pokémon. As you look into the ocean or a pool waiting to catch that Magikarp, you can see your reflection and how handsome you are. The NPCs in 3D look good and you can tell that a lot of development went into building these character designs.

The bread and butter of the graphics, though, is the battling. Again, like I said, I have not played truly since Red version and in that one the Pokémon sprites never moved and were in 2D. The 3D movement of every move you choose to do in the battle is quite breathtaking, and kept me interested and wanting to keep playing.

Unfortunately, through all of its greatness, there are a few things that they took out of X/Y which I would have liked to see make a return. The roller skates for one, I wish they kept in (even if it’s primarily due to the European influence of the game), but this is made up for by the introduction of two bikes: the Mach Bike, which rides at a blistering speed, and the Acro Bike, which allows for wheelies, bunny-hops, and a more technical ride. Perhaps what I miss most about the games is the player customization in X/Y, where you could change everything about your character. Gender, hair, clothing; you name it, you could change it. Though this is a remake and it’s understandable why it wasn’t included, it’s still a disappointment.

Even with a couple of weaknesses, the game is solid and you can enjoy the Pokémon experience to its fullest. The mechanics are solid and much-improved with the separation of Physical/Special attacks (as first seen in Diamond and Pearl several years back). The graphics are top-notch, and the story is compelling and intriguing. What Nintendo has created this time around isn’t just a remake; it’s a work of art.

All in all, I believe this is a game I will be playing for a long time to come, and I hope all of you will do the same. If you want to battle me in the future, just leave a comment on our Facebook page with your 3DS friend code and we can make it happen. I might not be the best battler, but I’m willing to accept challenges. I am also open to trading with you guys, so go out and enjoy the Hoenn region and all it has to offer.

PS: GOTTA CATCH THEM ALL (queue old theme music}

Good:

- Top notch graphics that will leave you breathless

- Greatly improved battle mechanics which streamline gameplay

- Story that will keep you at the edge of your seat

- Amazing starter Pokémon make for a great experience

Bad:

- No character customization

- Experience share leads to overleveled Pokémon, but this is easily remedied by turning it off

Scully Rating: 9.0 out of 10

RWBY Season 2

By: Robert Murphy

Ruby Rose and her team are about to start their second year at Beacon Academy again and boy do they make a mess of things right from the get go. I kid you not the first episode has an insane food fight in it and it destroys the entire meal hall with mustard attacks and turkey fists flying. This goes to show how far RWBY has already come from the start, things are more at peace for the characters this time around as Ruby, Weiss, Yang and Blake now start to unravel many of the secrets bubbling underneath the surface from the first season. There of course is bound to be some insane fights along the way with all four and their friends showing of their skills and weaponry for what lays in store. 

Much of what was done for the first season of RWBY was getting all the viewers comfortable with the characters they are introduced to during the show and making them engaging characters. This is what drove much of the plot for the story and we only saw brief glimpses of what was to come with people like Roman, our cigar smoking and bowler hat wearing bad guy and a mysterious huntress lurking in the shadows too. This time around things start to develop upon these aspects though in a big way, yes there was the epic food fight in the first episode and much goofing around to be had but bad guys start to come out of the wood work like ants all of a sudden in season two. We finally get a face to our evil huntress, Cinder Fall and her henchman, who make their presence known this time around and they start to move their plans into action. There still isn't much in the way of a big picture yet but it is a nice change up to be getting further engrossed into what is to come from hers and Roman's plans with the White Fang and all of Vale. Cinder isn't the only new face to come with a new story though, we're introduced to a General James Ironwood this season and he introduces more of the lore outside of Beacon Academy to the story. Things like there is a military structure to the world and Huntsmen and Huntresses are not the only line of defense, they're just the cooler ones.

The humor level returns to RWBY this time around as well, need I mention the gigantic food fight again? RWBY always has something funny or charming up it sleeves and it comes out much more this time around as the characters have established themselves more and more. Ruby is still as spunky and adorable as she always was but now even Weiss is a more fun loving character to watch as team RWBY has come out of there shell to fight the bad guys. This brings up the shows other greatest strength and that has to be hands down the fight scenes, expertly choreographed and insane, every fight scene has a free flowing motion to it and every kick, punch and bullet fired, leads to another form of attack or maneuver. As we see other characters gain more screen time this season, we gain more insight into who they're and there fighting styles. A one, Prof. Oobleck comes up at the end of season two as the girls Huntsmen troop leader for an end of the year mission and shows how even the most ridiculous character in the show is still a Huntsmen and can kick serious tail if it comes down to it.

One thing that also has changed unfortunately for RWBY though is some of the shows animation quality can still appear to be out of sorts. Many of the more lighter touches for characters in scenes are not handled with enough care such as handshakes or interactions with other characters. One point later on in the season, Roman puts his cane up to a henchman's neck and you can clearly see the cane clip and it doesn't look like it's touching his neck at all. These issues come up in many of the slower scenes and even with characters in the background of scenes throughout the show and it just shows that some of the animation levels are not up to the task still for RWBY. 

In the end though the latest season for RWBY has shown a big desire to move further with it's story. The ball finally starts to get rolling with the introduction of Cinder Fall and her accomplices and it gets me very eager to see what's around the corner, especially with the nice cliff hanger you're left with at the end. The amazing fights also make a big comeback this season as more characters enter the mix and show of their own impressive skills, bad guys and good guys alike. And of course, the text book laughs make a big comeback as well, Ruby and her friends continue to get into mischief and hilarious situations but also some tender moments come up too. My favorite being the big prom event that happens part way through, it's filled with laughs and lighter moments for all the main cast. My criticisms aside, I still love RWBY and cannot wait for the next season to start. 

Good:

- Story starts to unravel much more this time around

- Still has awesome action and humor to it

- Characters feel more adjusted and more relaxed in their roles

Bad:

- There are still animation flaws with the work that pop up and prevent me from complete enjoyment over the show

Scully Rating: 8.2 out of 10  

RWBY

By: Robert Murphy

As some of you may or may not remember, awhile back I posted an update to the site about a new show that I thought looked quite incredible and was being made by my favorite online production and multi community channel Roosterteeth.com and that show was RWBY (Pronounced Ruby). Not too long ago the first season of the show concluded, the show mainly follows four young girls who have all been selected to join the prestigious Beacon Academy which teaches exceptional young men and woman how to be Huntresses and Huntsmen. Once they do so they will be able to fight shadow like creatures that take on various forms and are known as “The Creatures of Grimm” and prior to these events these creatures fought against humanity and sought to destroy it. With the discovery of a magical element known as Dust however, humanity managed to push back the Grimm creatures and restore order and peace.

Ruby and her teammates, Yang, Wise and Blake, form team RWBY and together go to classes at Beacon to become future Huntresses and all of them have amazing abilities and strengths. One thing you should all know about the weapons of RWBY is that they all look like one thing but can be something else entirely, like a giant war hammer having shotgun shell device at the end for high powered impact attacks, weapons go from looking like melee weapons to being high tech pieces of equipment. Ruby for example wields a giant scythe that she can skillfully handle and use but it also doubles as a high powered sniper rifle and she uses the momentum it creates when fired to do some amazing things. Almost all weapons in the world RWBY have this attribute to them or the ability to use the magic of Dust to augment the user’s abilities, the result makes for some crazy and spectacular fights much like the style of Final Fantasy. The action itself was just incredible but the weapons and unique concepts of them made the fights even better, each weapon works almost as a part of the user and their individual fighting style.

RWBY is not all about non stop action though; the show also has a lot of characters, story and development to it. All the character of RWBY have a unique look or style to them, some little quirk to them that makes each character as memorable as the next even if they’re on screen for a moment. Ruby for instance is a fun loving, spunky girl who has a little red riding hood look to her but she isn’t all sweet and innocent once she gets her scythe in hand and flies through the air, cutting down Grimm creatures ten times her size. Then there are other minor characters such as the professors at the school but they have funny attributes such as a massive caffeine high that makes them go speeding across the room in seconds. But if one thing could be said overall is that the story feels like a setup for things to come, there are a few developments that are interesting but nothing substantial. As the show goes on you feel things are developing more and more and that RWBY has much more to come later and this is good, we are left with a great setup for the future with great and engaging characters and I know that I for one am excited for what is about to come from later seasons.

In conclusion, I look forward to what the future brings for RWBY because what we have right now is already something truly addictive and impressive. Each character is as unique as the next and are each engaging in there own way, whether their cocky mannerisms or their incredible fighting skills. Also the unique weapons and abilities shown throughout the series are just simply amazing; they’re sleek and enjoyable just for how over the top they are. Although a portion of what I have seen seems to be a setup for the future of the show, this makes me excited for the next season and I hope it does for you  all too.

Good:

- Over the top fights and action

- The incredibly bizarre and fantastic weapons are something you have to see to believe

- Engaging characters, all with their own style and look to them

Bad:

- Animations a little rough around the edges

- A lot of setup and hinting for the goodies yet to come

Scully Rating: 8.0 out of 10