Dokapon Kingdom RNG

So recently I bought this game I had been interested in for a while called Dokapon Kingdom Connect. Think of it as Mario Party if it were an RPG. You travel throughout the land, fight battles, and take on different professions to save the kingdom and become the King of Dokapon. Now when I say that RNG is vital to this game, I mean it. It seems as though half of everything you do in this game is dependent on how skilled you are at roshambo (rock-paper-scissors). There are even special events that are specially designed just to mess with you at random. There is a random guy who shows up just to take your money and that is it. This game is no joke. My first playthrough was a little rough. I actually ended up rage-quitting because I got so frustrated with the fact that I kept getting killed over and over. I was the highest level at the time too, I just got some seriously bad luck. It didn’t help that my equipment couldn’t keep up though. The biggest problems though were two different things. First off, one of my opponents had a busted shield they got from a rare enemy. So I always had to run from them, and whenever I could be them, they would run away if they were going to lose so I couldn’t get rid of their shield. God, the chasing was so annoying. And there was nothing to show for it. Usually what I saw was this guy.

For the record, it isn’t a good thing to find him. The other thing that really annoyed me was how many times I would move a grand total of one space at a time because I didn’t have any items. The reason I couldn’t just buy more items? Obviously, it was because I moved so slowly! That is also the reason for my out-of-date equipment as well. Even when I tried to find movement items, I would usually end up losing them to theft or bad luck. This was all on the normal difficulty by the way. The worst part is that despite all my bad luck, I wasn’t doing poorly enough to be in last place. Normally that would be a good thing, but in this game, there is a game changer for those stuck in last place to get their revenge and turn the tables. I wanted to do it so bad, but I wasn’t doing poorly enough to warrant it. Another missed opportunity. The final straw was when a boss killed me despite only having 16 HP left. That was the last straw. So, I swore not to play it again, for a week or so. If I’m being totally honest, the game is fun to play. I just got unlucky is all. Not much I can do about that. I will absolutely play it some more in the future, but this time I hope my luck with rolls isn’t as egregious. Seriously, moving slowly is so painful. Especially with low health. Alright, that is enough venting for today. Have a good night and check out this game with some friends if you don’t feel like talking to them ever again.

Shiny Hunting in the Indigo Disk

I finally started playing some of the second DLC after I got back. I have been ignoring most of the storyline as I usually do and have just been having fun exploring. I’ll probably put together my thoughts on the second dLC once I finish things up and actually start caring about the story, but for now I am spending my time collecting any new Pokémon that I can find. Well, that and looking around for shiny Pokémon. I have been casually hunting around the areas since I got here and I have managed to find a few of them. Of course, I have gotten some repeats, but I don’t really mind things too much. Let’s talk about a few of them.

As you can see, they make shiny Slakoth a lot easier to find than before. I have been hunting this pink sloth for a long time just to accidentally stumble into one while aimlessly roaming through the beach area. It feels a bit anti-climatic truthfully, but I wasn’t about to say no to a shiny that I didn’t have. This was the first shiny I found that I didn’t already own as I ran into a repeat before this encounter. It was another Deerling in case you were curious.

I didn’t just find shiny Pokémon that were previously in the base game. I found a couple of other new finds. One of which is this Inkay who I found in the… beach area. Now that I think about it, I found a lot of shiny Pokémon in this area specifically. Huh. Anyway, this was a nice new shiny to find. I just wish it wasn’t such a pain to catch the thing. Goodness, it took at least twenty throws to catch it. It is one of the longest fights to catch a Pokémon I have had in a while. Thankfully the next one isn’t as bad with that.

In case you are wondering, the guy on the left is the shiny Pokémon. I just happened to see it while looking for raid dens. Thankfully the color pops out or I might have missed it in the tall grass. This guy was kinder to me and only took one ball to catch it which I really appreciate. It also is a nice shiny. I really do like the teal color. Anyway, that is my only other shiny Pokémon unique to this DLC, but here’s hoping I find more.

Just wanted to take a little time today to briefly talk about my progress in the DLC. We’re making progress, but I keep getting sidetracked is what it boils down to in the end. Well, see you next time, and hopefully there will be more to report.

Back to the Grind

Happy New Year everyone! I hope that everyone enjoyed the holidays. I know I did. Although it was a bit difficult trying to find a good Wi-Fi connection. It wasn’t until I returned from my trip that I could enjoy playing videogames in earnest again. Surprisingly, what I have been playing the most since I returned is The Binding of Isaac: Repentance. In a questionable monetary decision, I rebought it to play it again from scratch. I have yet to regret the purchase though. I am enjoying just going through some runs again. I haven’t gotten very far into the game yet. Well, I should say this file. I have noticed that I have been playing this a bit differently from before. Obviously, I am missing a few items so my runs don’t get to be super crazy right now. However, I am still having fun even if I’m not breaking my game.

For one thing, I have been using certain items that I have never thought to use before. There is an item called the Breath of Life that is widely considered to be one of the worst angel room items you can get in the game. Now that opinion has not changed for me, but it isn’t as bad as I originally thought. The item allows you the ability to be invincible for a brief moment if you can time it properly. While invincible anything that you come in contact with will be hit with a skybeam. I honestly didn’t know about that last part until recently. Anyway, if you can get used to the timing it can actually be useful for getting in curse rooms without taking damage and beating early-game bosses.

Something else I realized after playing through the game again is that Lazarus is actually really good now. At the time he was buffed, I already had beaten all of the bosses with him on hard mode so I never really used him after that. However, I realized this buff makes him super useful. He is probably one of the best characters to have now because his ability to have an extra life on each floor at the cost of a heart container is very useful for prolonging a run. It’s also great for sacrifice rooms. So, his new versatility definitely increases his overall ranking for me.

To be honest, I just enjoy playing it from the start again. It will take forever to get to Dead God again, but I just want to take my time with it. Not that I have much of a choice since I have to wait a month to get every achievement anyway. So, I will enjoy learning even more new things that I hadn’t known before. Until next time! Have a good night!

I Need to Vent a Bit

On this blog, I have done my fair share of shiny hunting in Pokémon. It is something I started to do as a hobby in the last couple of years and the biggest reason for it was Pokémon Legends Arceus. It was so interesting to find shiny Pokémon while just roaming around and so I started doing it more and more often. I would dabble with it here and there, but until that game, I never spent so much time hunting. Due to the fun I was having I started hunting in other games as well. Unfortunately, I didn’t really have a good setup for Pokémon Shining Pearl at the time and so most of my enthusiasm for hunting in that game dwindled since I couldn’t focus on a specific hunt. Then the event Pokémon arrived. Now Darkrai is my favorite mythical Pokémon of all time. I love its concept, design, lore and it is one of my favorite things in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon 2. Coincidentally during the time this got released, my family decided to go on vacation to Hawaii for a week in April. So I did what any sane person would do. I spend the week at home by myself playing videogames in my spare time hunting for a mythical nightmare Pokémon. Now I do not have an exact number of how many resets I did over the course of about a week and a half because I was too lazy to set up a counter or on the go, but it was a decent amount of resets. Probably close to half odds. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get it before my family came back from vacation. Instead, it was an hour later. I couldn’t believe that my hard work paid off. Take a look. It’s so nice!

I actually did it. My first soft reset hunt was complete. However, there were two event mythicals for the game. With my luck being so good, I figured I would give Shaymin another try. This is where things don’t go so well.

I have been doing this hunt on and off for about a year or so. Generation IX kind of caused things to get pushed aside. However, this is a hunt I have spent a good amount of time on. While Darkrai only took a week, this has been going on for months now. It is unfortunate how unlucky I have been, but that is what happens with RNG sometimes. I am annoyed, but I am still alright for now. Even without a counter I know I am definitely over odds for this hunt, but I have invested too much time to give up now. I have made this one of my main projects for the time being in the hopes that things work out. I can’t be too mad since I have been having good luck in other games, but I still wanted to vent a little bit. That’s all. Have a good night everyone and thanks for reading about my struggles which should in no way be taken seriously.

Oh right, one other thing. This will probably be the last post I make this year as I will be on vacation for the rest of the year. So, see you next year!

Playing Super Mario RPG Remake

Once again, I would like to say that I hate Nintendo for releasing so many games at the end of the year. Especially because it seems like all my free time has been spent playing their games. It would probably help if I didn’t enjoy the games, but I regret to inform you that I greatly enjoy this game. I haven’t finished the game yet. I have unlocked the last area, but I thought it best to explore other areas and backtrack before heading to the final battle. Here are a couple of things I have figured out.

Now this is something I heard about and ended up finding accidentally. I heard that Mario’s strongest equipable weapon required you to go and find a seed and a fertilizer to gain access to it. Now the seed is pretty easy to find, but to get the fertilizer, there is a hidden platform that you need to find to get the fertilizer. It isn’t very easy to find so below I will show you roughly where to go to find it.

There was another secret I found and that was if you buy Fireworks for one of the Moles in Moleville, you can trade them with a mole nearby for a shiny stone. This stone allows you to open a sealed door in Monstro Town. Now, I would say that this game hasn’t offered up a ton of challenges. Sure, there were a couple of times when I got a game over, but those were usually due to my own carelessness and could easily be rectified upon reset. However, everything changed when I opened up that door. Thankfully, I remembered to save beforehand, because I was greeted with this monstrosity.

Yeah, apparently there was a hidden Final Fantasy boss in this game. Who knew? Not me, that’s for sure. Let’s just say that it was not a graceful defeat. That’s why I brought up the shell earlier. I would recommend being very prepared for this fight. Just a friendly reminder. Oh, and speaking of reminders, there is an important spot to fill out your journal. If you go to Booster Pass in the gap where the three green Spinies are, there is a guy who will charge you three frog coins to fill out an entry. It’s a bit expensive but the option is there for you.

There are plenty of other things I want to find, so I will probably keep putting off finishing the story for a little while longer. This game is a lot of fun and I might have to do another playthrough of this game at some point. I might be getting a little ahead of myself. I will let you know if I find anything else interesting. Until next time. Goodbye!

The Top Five Best Items in Mario Party 3

I wanted to discuss the items from Mario Party 3, so here we are with another post. A bunch of new items were added to this game, some of which are very powerful. I wanted to take some time to highlight what I think are the best items in this game. I should note that any items from Mario Party 2 are not going to be included in this list. Maybe one day I will actually sit down and make a tier list of each item, but for right now this will satisfy me. Without further ado, let’s start off with the fifth-best item.

Five. Cellular Shopper

This one was a bit tricky to decide on. The top four were pretty straightforward, but I had trouble deciding on the fifth. With items from the previous game out of the equation, things were a bit trickier, but I eventually came to the conclusion that the best items in this game are the ones that help you maintain some control. For that reason, I have given Cellular Shopper the title of the fifth-best item in Mario Party 3 since it allows you to buy an item from either shop and can allow you to buy something to turn the tables at any time. It is kind of like a future investment. Of course, it only works if you have the coins.

Four. Reverse Mushroom

Boswer Jr. sells a lot of good items at his shop for messing with other players. However, one of his best items has more than just that purpose. The Reverse Mushroom, as its name implies, allows your next roll to send you backward instead of forward and while this is a great way to mess with others, it is also very useful for personal use. Especially because it can allow you to repeat spaces like Boo or the Shop multiple times over. It can even give you an opportunity for a star you have already passed. To sum it up, it is a cheap item that opens up a lot of options when used properly and is very useful on some of the harder maps with fixed pathways since you can use it to bypass those restrictions.

Three. Boo Repellant

This item is self-explanatory. It prevents people from using Boo to steal from you. Anything that works as a deterrent in this game is welcome. It is a great item to have if you are in the lead and want to protect it. It also helps give you time to get back on your feet as people don’t typically want to waste steals on someone who has Boo Repellant unless absolutely necessary. In a game where everyone is stabbing each other in the back, it is good to have at least some form of protection. While it does take up an item slot, having two other slots makes it still worth the purchase. even better if you chance upon it for free.

Two. Wacky Watch

This is one of the special rare items that you can get in this game. This one has a pretty broken ability that allows you to set the Last Five Turns Event to happen on your next turn which can either prolong or shorten the game. You essentially control time with this power and can use it to give yourself more time or take it away from others. While it may not guarantee a victory, it is definitely the best way to prevent an almost certain defeat. Well, aside from Chance Time obviously.

One. Barter Box

This item is the best item in the game because it is the best version of the Plunder Chest. You can choose whoever you want and get all of their stuff while giving them your items. So you can take any powerful items you want from someone to turn the tide at any time. The thing that makes this so powerful is that you cannot protect against it so it can control the tempo of the game. People are less likely to buy items that they know will get stolen immediately and they would only consider having better items if you had them as well. They would want to have the best exchange possible. Or they might just get an item that is too good to pass up and you just take it immediately. There are multiple ways to play with it, but there is no question that the most powerful item in the game is the one that can successfully steal the most valuables in the game.

That’s my list. What do you think? Let me know if you disagree. In the meantime, have a good night and see you next time.

Thoughts on Mario Party 3

Hey, it’s been a while! Sorry for the lack of posts over the past couple of weeks. Life sort of came for me in a big way. Long story short, I got COVID, so writing wasn’t really in the cards. But, I’m all better now so let’s get to it.

Now, I have waited so long for this game to finally be released on the virtual console. I am sure many other Mario Party fans were as excited as I was when it finally dropped. Now this was my first time playing Mario Party 3. As much as I enjoy the series, I haven’t been able to play a majority of the games so I was very excited to try things out. I figured the best way to do this was to play the story mode so I could see all of the game’s maps. Unfortunately, this turned out to be a mistake. For the record, it isn’t as though any of the maps were particularly hard. The problem was that to get through story mode, you needed to do the duel maps. Where do I start with the duel maps? Oh, I got it. I hate the duel maps. I thought that the RNG was bad on the actual maps, but the duel maps are insufferable. The number of times I would attempt to duke it out with my rival, only for them to end up out of my reach and I would end up going in circles for the entire map with nothing to show for it. Those were absolutely painful experiences. And this was with me playing on normal difficulty for story mode. I don’t want to imagine the others.

Other than the duel maps, this is probably one of the best Mario Party games I have ever played. I think that it has some of the best maps in the series and it has some pretty good minigames as well. Unfortunately, any of the ones involving button mashing are regulated to an instant loss for me, so I usually just put down my controller. All in all, it is a lot of fun. Honestly, my favorite part of this game is the items it has. Not only was this the first game to have three item slots, but it also has some of the most broken items in all of Mario Party history. The Reverse Mushroom and both phone items are some of the coolest items in the series. They are kind of broken though if used well so I understand why they never brought them back. Also, while they are pretty rare, the rare items are also pretty cool to use as well. The most broken is of course the Wacky Watch which causes the Last 5 Turn event to happen immediately after you use it. Items are nuts in this game.

So, I am enjoying finally getting to play this game. I don’t really care for the duel maps, but the regular maps are still good old Mario Party fun. One last thing before I go. Waluigi’s Island may be one of the most disgusting maps I have ever seen in this series and it was worth every duel map I had to play to unlock it. That is all and have a good night.

After Mario Wonder (No Good Abbr.)

I’ll cut to the chase. This game is fun. It isn’t like we didn’t see this coming. It is a new 2D Mario game, it would be weird if it wasn’t. For the record, I can only speak on the single-player experience since I haven’t touched the multiplayer aspect. However, I think I can speak for most people when I say that multiplayer settings have never been a strength for these games since New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Currently, I am about halfway through my playthrough of the game. I am playing as my boy Luigi as always because I have always had respect for player 2. For those of you who haven’t played a Mario game before, the plot is pretty straightforward. Bowser is up to no good and everyone goes through different themed worlds in order to stop him. Right now, I am not sure how we will defeat him, but it usually works out alright if I just keep going to the right. Since it has been a while since I played a Mario game, I totally forgot about the life system. Thankfully, I have yet to get a game over. There are three reasons why it is unlikely for you to get a game over. First is that you can purchase lives. Second, you can store an additional power-up for an emergency, and third, you can restart a course at any time, even if you are halfway into a bottomless pit.

Speaking of powerups, there aren’t a ton of powerups in this game. There are only five standard powerups. The three that are new are the Bubble Flower, Elephant Fruit, and Drill Mushroom. The Bubble Flower is useful for both attacking and platforming, the Elephant Fruit is great for squaring up with enemies, and the Drill Mushroom is great for doing some upside-down platforming. The big powerup though is the Wonder Flower which is a powerup with a unique effect in every stage you find it on. There are three things that can potentially happen when you encounter them. Either the stage will undergo a transformation, your character will undergo a transformation, or both will happen at once. It is an interesting way to make each level feel unique. I certainly haven’t gotten tired of playing it. In fact, I almost forgot to write this post because I lost track of time. What can I say? I’m having a good time. Sue me. Anyway, the game is a trip and I’m along for the ride.

Since I aim to fully complete each area, it does take a little while to find everything, but it is very satisfying to manage to acquire every single Wonder Seed. Those are the main Macguffins in case you were curious. Sometimes they can be a bit tricky to find, but they are all pretty manageable. The hardest ones are in the searching levels where you need to find secrets to obtain the Wonder Seed. Those are probably easier with other people though. I wouldn’t know. Single-player for life! Anyway, that’s all I want to say. I’m going to go back to playing some more so everyone have a great night!

Before Mario Wonder (BMW)

So, I may have forgotten something. I know I said that Super Mario Bros. Wonder was the only game I had eyes for that was coming out. I acknowledge that Spider-Man 2 is another game that came out, but I don’t have a PS5 so I should talk about something I actually can play. That being said, let’s bring ourselves to the real topic. There was another game that came out this week. It was Sonic Superstars, which looked as if it could be the true sequel to Sonic 3 and Knuckles. I am aware that Sonic 4 technically does exist, but I don’t care. Having four playable characters for a classic 2D Sonic game with them all having their own super forms seems to be a lot more in line with my personal vision for a 2D Sonic game. Anyway, I haven’t gotten super far into the game. However, it is a good time so far. However, I am painfully aware that my reaction time is so lacking in these games sometimes. This is why I appreciate them including a World Map feature so I can keep on replaying certain levels. It is especially useful for going back to find hidden secrets like the Chaos Emeralds, which are hidden in giant gold rings throughout the stages once again. The new special stage is kind of cool where you swing after the Chaos Emerald before you run out of rings. So far, I have three out of seven.

Now I think that the Chaos emerald powerups are a cool idea. However, I did have one major worry. I didn’t want these powerups to be like the wisps in Sonic Colors. Don’t get me wrong, the wisps were pretty cool and were a fun little gimmick. The problem is that they were very situational. You would only really use them when you needed them and never at any other time. Some levels would even require the use of a certain wisp. Thankfully, it seems that these powerups don’t affect the levels too much and are treated more as extra features for Sonic and the gang. Although I couldn’t help but notice the red gem powerup is a lot like the Burst Wisp from Sonic Colors. However, it works really well so I can let it slide. The other two are more useful for taking care of enemies and accessing secrets. I am curious to see what the others might do. I also can’t wait to see the super forms of the others once I get all seven.

One other thing I want to say. So far, the Sky Temple is my least favorite level since it a very long level and relies a lot on tight platforming. Thankfully, it is only one act and is more manageable because of the powerups. So, I didn’t have to worry about it being Sandopolis. So far, I think the jungle is my favorite area, but we’ll see if that keeps up. The game is actually pretty decent and my first impressions are that it is fun. Am I more excited to play Super Mario Bros. Wonder? Sure I am. However, I’ll definitely beat this game before I start playing it because I’m having a good time so far. Hopefully it stays that way, but only time will tell. Have a good night everyone!