Lurker > Inviso

Again, it's not JUST the typing. It's how boring the typing is in conjunction with how useless it is since it's so goddamn slow. I specifically brought a Grapploct with me to fight Piers, who is a Dark-type gym leader, and Grapploct STILL got KOed before the end of the gym battle because he was constantly getting hit with chip damage. That just shouldn't be happening by the late game. Early game, sure, because you don't have the strongest moves. But late game? No, absolutely not.

God I hate Sword/Shield's Pokemon across the board. Even the ones I like for their designs are fuckin' lame to use in-game.

They're slow and generic as fuck in a generation filled with slow, generic Pokemon. And it's especially frustrating because this is one instance where it COULD have been something special and exciting. Instead, nope. Boring, slow octopus design mono-type. It's made worse by the fact that Farfetch'd/Sirfetch'd (which should ALSO not be a mono-type, by the way), still manages to be the far superior Fighting-type in this same generation, which makes Clobbopus/Grapploct even worse by comparison.

Man, NOW we're gonna start picking off my top tier? Seriously, how the heck are Clobbopus and Grapploct still in? They're both exceptionally disappointing, and thank goodness Gen 9 finally gave us 1.5 new Fighting/Water-types to make up for this pointless line.

andylt posted...

who knew the arceus mons were so popular

The Arceus mons are like, the best things to come out of the abysmal selection from Gen 8. That includes regional variants.

Seriously though, how is the Grapploct line still untouched?

Other Mother

At the end of the day, you could say Hans Landa is a Nazi and is doing his job in his capacity as a Nazi. He does some horrific shit, sure. But the Other Mother captures children, convinces them their parents don't love them, and then feasts upon their souls while torturing anyone who tries to help them. She's a legitimate monster.

Kefka
Palom
Agrias
Cait Sith
Quina

Steiner posted...

i think the funniest thing is there being no writeups between 26 and 67

That's exactly it, yeah.

Inviso (26) - The stupid moustache kills this one for me, because otherwise I think this design could be really cute. It's still better than most of the generation though.
Paratroopa1 (67) - I SAID STOP GIVING THEM MUSTACHES! FUCK!

The placement of these two write-ups is hilarious.

Just because it's kinda become the fourth-wheel with three shows ongoing right now, but Challenge USA has been pretty okay. Granted, I thought the same thing last season until the penultimate round, but this season has been decent. Chris Underwood and Michaela Bradshaw have been absolute stars, and there are only one man and one woman I'm hoping lose in the finals at this point.

Inviso (48) - Why does GameFreak keep making slow as fuck Ice-types? They're never going to tank (outside of the new snow rules in Gen IX). This is such a massive step-down compared to Spectrier.

PrinceOfKoopas (63) - Better than Spectrier.

lol

5/30

Paratroopa1 posted...

It has literally never once occurred to me to think about a Pokemon's typing with regards to how much I like it, it's just like, fully irrelevant data to me

A good Pokemon is a good Pokemon, sure. Mono-type or not (literally my favorite Pokemon is a mono-type). But an average or otherwise mediocre Pokemon certainly takes a hit when it comes across as just more of the same, or an inferior version of something else we've seen countless times before.

For me, because I've mentioned it quite often in my write-ups, it's two-fold. With typing, there are certain mono-types and common dual-types that get overused, and this was ESPECIALLY noticeable in Sword/Shield, when the starters were all mono-types for the first time since Johto, on top of a disproportionate number of new mono-types that just felt like eight generations in, they just didn't offer anything new to the franchise, and there was no excitement there. We got ANOTHER mono-Dark early-route, two-stage Pokemon; ANOTHER mono-Electric, early-route Pokemon along with a second mono-Electric Pokemon; TWO early-route, mono-Normal Pokemon; ANOTHER feminine mono-Grass Pokemon; ANOTHER generic fish mono-Water Pokemon; ANOTHER generic mono-Fairy line; the SEVENTH two-stage, mono-Ground Pokemon line; ANOTHER mono-Ice Pokemon (this one stands out because of how underrepresented Ice is in general); both a mono-Ghost line AND a mono-Ghost regional evolution; both a mono-Steel line AND a mono-Steel regional evolution; both a mono-Fighting line AND a mono-Fighting regional evolution. I'm just saying, after eight generations, when you have to make yourself stand out...it just feels lazy.

And as for stats, I know everyone says in-game gameplay is easy, but some Pokemon are just better than others, especially if you just wanna plow through the game at a relatively fast pace. Gen VIII is just a really slow-feeling generation, and on top of the slowness, there don't feel like a lot of heavy-hitters to make up for that (or the biggest heavy-hitters are ESPECIALLY slow). It makes the pacing of the game feel annoying, especially when you still have such a large post-Dexit Pokedex to catch.

Squall
Estinien
Edward
Braska

Pretty good ranking thus far. Eternatus is the only one of my top twenty dead thus far (and admittedly, I ranked it high because, as far as legendaries go in recent years, it looks kinda badass, like this skeletal dragon that looks WAY more intimidating that Giratina did).

Bane_Of_Despair posted...

-volt >>> -vish

It's -zolt

Fang
Fran
Sazh
Gilgamesh

Steiner posted...

so the scientists are stupid because they're british?

That isn't what I meant >_>;;

Zigzagoon posted...

I said this in my writeup, but the stupidest thing about these mons is that they were created by the scientists of the Pokemon world. And they legit thought that that was how they were supposed to be put back together.

Is... any education required to become a scientist in the pokemon world or can you just say "fuck it, I'm a scientist!" and boom, it's done. What fucking idiots would think that the fossils would be put together that way?!

It's supposed to be cute and played off as a joke, but it just makes me think that everyone in the pokemon universe is a complete and utter moron.

While it's anachronistic, I believe that since Galar is meant to be based off of Britain, the fossils from the Galar region are meant to be based off of old British paleontologists mixing and matching fossils from different creatures to unknowingly create a new, false creature.

Terra
Minwu
Beatrix
Baralai

Venat
Red
Mage
Ardyn

https://i.imgur.com/BdpN825.png

Good job sneaking, Edda.

LightningStrikes posted...

Sazh. It seems there has been a reappraisal of Vanille, I can see it. Hope and Snow had potential, not realised by the writing of the game. Fang is a cool design but mostly just there. Lightning is just a terribly cynical example of a company trying to recapture what worked in the past (in this case, Cloud) without actually understanding what it was that made those things good in the first place.

As for Jihl, top tier Nomura design and thats no doubt why she was so central to the marketing - FFXIIIs whole thing was its visuals so of course you put your best looking character designs upfront. The way they handled her in the game though was actually a little insulting? I normally like rugpulls where a story is setting something up only to swerve but her last scene is a swerve into a battle against a profoundly uninteresting character who you fight three times anyway.

I dunno, in a game as colorful as FF13, Jihl looks kinda...she looks like a leftover NPC from FF12.

Mobilezoid posted...

It was a crazy and unexpected run! I honestly would've ranked Vanille one of the least likely to win out of the four girls I split my saves between (she's at least more likely than Quistis, but both Rikku and Dagger feel more naturally strong). I'm amazed and happy that Vanille somehow went all the way. It was good being on a team with you again!

Yeah, I figured Rikku, Garnet and Tifa all had a better chance.

Grimlyn posted...

wait that stat I completely wasn't paying attention to

what the fuck

We have Lulu in II, Celes in III, and it wasn't until Rydia in XV that we got our third female winner.

Grimlyn posted...

50% of the last 6 contests now

50% of all female winners as well >_>

Luis - On a similar note, but kind of the opposite side of the same coin, FFXIV has somewhat split our allegiances from what they once were, but it was so great to have you on Vanille's side at the endgame this time around, finally completing the FFXIII ladies' trifecta.

Kappa/Bubu - Regardless of how long our respective alliances lasted, it's always a pleasure to have trades that you know you can rely upon round after round, and once Emet and Ghido went out, I thank you for jumping onboard with Vanille fulltime and helping make this possible.

VI - Even though we wound up on opposite sides of the fence for this final round, I can't deny that you were an extremely loyal and valuable ally throughout this contest as well. I'm glad that we got to maintain our trade right up until the final three.

Chris - You jumped onboard the Vanille train when Ghido went out and it would have been so easy to side with one of the other four big names from three titans of Final Fantasy popularity. Every vote counted just to get Vanille to the finale, so your support meant the world in achieving this result. And yes, I know I need to get back to playing FFXIV. I will eventually!

Socko/Xuxon - Not only did you two put your support behind Vanille in the finals, but looking back on her four Iron Man snipes, you guys are responsible for three round where Vanille otherwise would've been eliminated. At a time when I didn't think victory was possible, and had to weigh eliminating my favorite character against keeping something more popular in the game, you guys made that choice for me, and she's in the winner's circle now, because of both of you.

Martin - You might not exactly be happy about this, given your finals votes and how close Aerith came to another finals berth, but you were the other sniper that kept Vanille alive at a time when I was especially unsure as to whether to keep her, or keep pushing Zidane for stats. You made the choice for me, and here we are...so thank you.

Paul/Stifled - I don't know what happened to get the Bear Bros on Team Vanille, but I'm of course glad to see your names counted among her saves in the finale. It's a shame that Quina fell so soon into the top twenty, when they otherwise should've gotten the traditional FFIX LCS boost.

Suprak/FFD/Lopen/Andylt/Swordz - I know that I am very opinionated, and I can be very abrasive when our favorites don't necessarily align, as is the case with quite a few characters that you guys like (even in the course of this very contest). But as always, I do apologize for my attitude, and the fact that you still helped join the Vanille train and pushed her over the edge (that's 50 of her votes right there) means so much.

Fiop/Chaeix/Raiden/Turus - Thank you for your late-contest support, even if we weren't necessarily on the same page until those last few rounds. As close as that final three was, every vote counts just as much as every other.

Ulti/Ecks/Guff/BCT - I'm sorry about Aerith falling short at three (or whoever you may have supported before her that fell short going into the endgame), but I thank you all the same for sticking it out and sticking with the contest to go all-in on Vanille as best you could in the finals.

Tex/Snake/Ken - I know you didn't necessarily follow this contest religiously (or perhaps even at all), but showing up to the finals and laying down as many votes as you did was extremely appreciated and really helped secure this victory.

TomNook - Whatever your rationale behind your choices in the past week, more power to you. I appreciate your support and votes in the finals all the same.

Genny - I know your six finals votes were due to NRs, but you also could've easily gone the full 10-6 for Locke if you really wanted to, and thank you for playing the final how you did, for whatever reason you had behind your decision. I can't really downplay past successes, but this is the first time since the Raytan era (where admittedly most of my successes lay) where the win feels amazing beyond just being part of a "movement" (like with Fang/Lightning).

Everyone Else Who May Have Saved Vanille During This Contest, and I Did Not Otherwise Personally Thank - Everyone played a part this year, and every single vote mattered.

And finally, Lefty - We don't always see eye-to-eye, and this contest drives me fucking crazy sometimes, but this result wouldn't have happened if you hadn't run the contest in the first place. Hell, as Komm pointed out the other day, about half your finals now have FFXIII ladies as winners, so you must be doing something right as a host. Thank you for all your time and effort regardless, and hopefully I will be more chill and less annoying next year.

I am still in absolute shock that this happened. I thought Vanille had a chance to win by the final 5, but I thought Locke was an absolute slam dunk of a champion if he got to the end (and I would've been more than okay with him winning as well...this is the best final 2 the Lefty Era has had thus far). First, I've gotta offer a handful of apologies.

Koala, I'm sorry for my complaints in the Discord. It was never anything personal, and if you were to push Tifa into a similar position (heck, I figured Vanille would eventually top out and Tifa would be what I'd have to fall back on), that's a push I would absolutely go for. Maybe not next year because I've gotta show Rikku some love after all this, but in the near future.

Mewtwo, I know you were annoyed at my attitude, particularly the round I tried to leave Vanille to the wolves for Rikku, only for this success to occur...I'm sorry. I genuinely did not think this was possible, especially considering Vanille had four Iron Mans at that point, including one on the very first round of soft boots. But, wow...here we are.

Meanwhile, there's a lot to say to a lot of people here in terms of thanks.

Roba - It took a while--until Eiko and Zidane died--but we finally got on the same page with like...four girls we wanted to push as hard as we could...and unfortunately, three of them got picked off before the top twenty. Still, we picked ourselves up, dusted ourselves off, and committed to pushing Vanille as hard as we possibly could, and this miracle happened as a result. Thank you for all your support this year.

Nanis - Similar deal to Roba; we've always been allies in these contests, and Garnet's always gonna hang around to the mid-late game at least as a result. I know how brutal some of the night rounds were for your sleep schedule, but you sticking it out and even managing to throw single saves down made all the difference this year.

Red - Even though our paths diverged at a certain point, because we just didn't have enough saves to spare to both watch each other's backs the whole time, I'm really glad we got Red and Vanille both to the final four, and you stuck around to push Vanille across the goal line. You've always been a great ally to have in these contests.

Nee - I'm really sorry that Faris and Galuf took the hits so early this year, but I deeply thank you for sticking with the contest and always being there to give Vanille support. The momentum she maintained because of your help is a big part of what made this run possible.

Eddv - I'm sorry that your faves got whittled down so harsh and so fast (much like with Nee, Faris getting soft-booted was a rough round), but I'm really thankfully you jumped onboard the Vanille train after Cecil's elimination, and helped get her over the finish line when it counted.

Karo - Much like with Roba, at a certain point, I think all of our priorities just aligned, and having someone who was solid and could be relied upon to help push Vanille round after round means everything in a contest like this.

Ashethan - Very similar story. I thought Rikku had a championship run in her, but when she fell short, you hopped onboard with Vanille, and we rode that trail all the way to the finals and a victory. Thank you for that.

Doc - I can't believe so long after the Gauntlet Crew seemingly fell apart, you came back and helped power the Vanille express to a victory five years in the making. Your arrival on the scene was absolutely CRITICAL to this victory, so thank you for everything, and you know I've got Rikku's back next year.

Kaelee/MI - Even though I'm not the hugest fan of Aerith, knowing that she's both of your favorite characters made her success over the past three years something I could at least be happy about in a small part. I'm glad for any and all finals votes you threw Vanille's way, and just for being my friends after all these years.

Kate - Five years ago, I pushed Year of XIII to get a great game a much-deserved champion. Our girl made the final seven, but an NR offer cut her short and left Fang in the catbird seat for victory. I know you weren't happy about that at the time, but hopefully it hasn't been too long to celebrate a much-deserved victory once and for all!

This was on day 75:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/5/5/AAC56kAAEy2X.jpg

Though I guess the arrow implies she got bumped off the bottom tier.

Vanille 9

Luke, Kirsten, Reilly, Hisam, Red, Izzy.

Six out of 17, and we just passed the halfway mark of a 100 day season.

Locke

GenesisSaga posted...

But who's the Natalie White?

If I had to select a Natalie White from among the remaining field (assuming that we're making comparisons to the Samoa F6)...

Aerith is Russell Hantz, for obvious reasons.
Ghido is Shambo, for...obvious reasons.
Locke is Brett, the outsider who's a threat to win.
Laguna is Jaison, kinda sickly by the endgame, but proving quite loyal to Russell based on Leon/PJ's posts.
Vanille is Mick, sadly, because she's got frontrunner energy, but isn't going to close the deal.
Which leaves...as a fellow FF7 member who hasn't been brought up as a real threat to win, yet has a solid following...Nanaki "Rataki" White.

Aerith is becoming the Russell Hantz of this contest >_>

GenesisSaga posted...

Same. Don't take the coward's way out. Fight like a real man or a woman or a beast of indeterminate fantasy origin would!

Or woman dressed like a man.

Leonhart4 posted...

Locke or Aerith supporters should absolutely be trying to drag Ghido to the finals with them

Cirie Fields would like a word regarding this strategy.

junk_funk posted...

Aeris

She's long safe.

Ghido

Locke

Underleveled posted...

I don't really think he was emotionless and robotic and literally the second he started to raise his voice Jared hypocritically told him not to yell so yeah I kinda get him feeling the need to take the more diplomatic approach.

I was referring more to his diary rooms than the in-the-moment stuff.

Just watched last night's episode and it kinda exemplified why I dislike Cory. Basically, the entire fight was Jared's fault, he was 100% lying and being an asshole while lying, yet Cory still came across as this condescending douche. Like he's SO smart and he's able to articulate his points SO well that surely no one could ever possibly doubt his loyalty and trustworthiness. Plus, calling out Cirie for having her fingers in a lot of pies...like your ass wasn't specifically trying to play the middle and let everyone else take shots at one another.

swordz9 posted...

Wish all these Selphie saves were a little sooner. Man the top 5 is gonna be the worst Ive ever seen at the rate this contest is going.

You like FF13 and Vanille is still in. How can you like Selphie more than her? >_>

4:42:39

Ghido

Locke

Jakyl25 posted...

Turns out theres another way to make Beetlejuice come besides saying his name three times

*chef's kiss*

Mewtwo59 posted...

I'd hardly say Nick ruined WaW with how much they dragged him in that season (unless you're taking his future actions into account, then I can agree with that)

Not even that. Nick was basically a character who I wasn't excited to see come back, because of how he was in DvG, and then unlike Adam or Ben, who improved upon my initial, negative opinion of their original seasons, he did nothing but join a lame alliance, wind up on the outs, and then at a point in the season where Tony already had Sarah, Ben, and Denise all willingly simping for him, Nick decided "I'm going to become the bottom of the pecking order while still clearing the road to Tony's easy march towards victory."

BlueCrystalTear posted...

This explains a lot. I hope you can find a way to correct your self-loathing.

For me, it depends on the superfan, and how long they last. The ones that are tryhard know-it-alls thirsty for screentime tend to be the most obnoxious. The ones who don't care about pretending to be good TV (or just ARE naturally good TV) and are there to win are the most likable.

How much like his brother is Cory? I watched only two episodes and the one DR of his I remember was a joke about winning America's heart as well as America's heart. The country and the one he's banging.

It's not so much self-loathing as it is just acknowledgement of who I am. As a superfan (and I mean legitimate, not just "I watched all this stuff in the past two years and suddenly consider myself an expert), I am very arrogant in my opinions on Survivor and Big Brother and Amazing Race. I believe myself to be smarter than a lot of people. And as we've seen in this very topic series over the years...that kind of attitude can be extremely obnoxious. Now imagine that personality, projected into a season-long television show. Not only do you have someone who thinks they're the smartest person in the room because they've "studied the game" extensively, but they're also typically the types of people who are socially awkward, and completely miss the social aspect of the game that might allow them to use that assumed intellect to their advantage. That, and a general lack of challenge prowess effectively means that more often than not, you have some obnoxious blowhard Redditor who believes, however unjustly, that he's God's gift to Survivor/Big Brother, and the arrogance is just annoying to watch.

And it also tends to become more annoying, because those same Redditor-style fans look at the nerds on the show and say "That person's like me! That's how I would play if I was on the show!" And then they downplay the worst aspects of the player and tend to whitewash some of the fuck-ups they made. It's like with Nick Wilson in DvG...I HATED him because he was obnoxious and whiny (and I fully acknowledge, just based on my history in ORGs, that I would be fucking whiny myself on the show). But the fans LOVED DvG and they thought Nick was this AMAZING winner, even though I'd argue he helped tank two seasons of the show by his presence. They're not bottom tier, but Nick certainly makes them worse than they could have been.

So we're gonna be at the halfway point in the season this week. These are my current rankings:

1. Cirie Fields (She's Cirie. She's a great social player overall, and she gives great diary rooms.)
2. Felicia Cannon (I love how much wonderful "cranky old lady" energy she brings to the season, and she's got that kind of bitchy attitude you love to see.)
3. Hisam Goueli (Three weeks of him was the perfect amount of time for him to have a glorious rise and fall, while still being a likable villain.)
4. Izzy Gleicher (Her connection with Cirie is obviously beneficial, but her constant paranoia and general hatred of Cameron made for great television.)
5. Blue Kim (I hated her attitude at certain points, but it's kind of looped back around to being ironically hilarious how she wants to be this bad punk bitch, but she's kind of a flop.)
6. Reilly Smedley (She made for a good week two boot, that's for sure. Props for inspiring cultlike devotion to her memory.)
7. America Lopez (I appreciate her playing hard and being a house pariah for seemingly no reason, but I rank her a little lower because she's coming across as one of those "I need to make BIGMOVES kinds of characters.)
8. Matt Klotz (He seems like a mostly nice guy, Andrew Tate quotations aside. I appreciate him not being a complete jackass in a season filled with jackass men.)
9. Jag Bains (He's another nice guy, but he's also kind of a flop, and it's a tiny bit frustrating to see him bumble his way to success.)
10. Bowie Jane Ball (If her edit starts to pick up, she can certainly rise in my rankings. But for the time being, she has largely been a background player thus far.)
11. Mecole Hayes (See what I said about Bowie, but without the inherent exuberance she displays. Mecole is such a weird mystery to me in general.)
12. Kirsten Elwin (It's crazy how so many people say she was robbed, or the season would be better with her around. She wasn't BAD...but she also wasn't GOOD. She just existed and was slightly offputting, resulting in an early boot.)
13. Michael "Red" Utley (I grew to dislike him a little, if only for enabling Cameron instead of completely isolating him like the weirdo he is. Red wasn't TERRIBLE though.)
14. Cory Wurtenberger (I just hate the archetype of the nerdy superfan, because more often than not, they think they're so much smarter than we are, and production gives them all the narration possible to hammer that point home. It's just frustrating. I don't WANT to see someone like me succeed. I would SUCK as a character on Big Brother.)
15. Jared Fields (He's an arrogant brat and hs actually managed to tank a pretty sweet position in the house, because he's just incapable of being consistently nice...particularly towards women. More than that though, he has tanked CIRIE'S game as well, which is no bueno.)
16. Cameron Hardin (The guy's a creeper on the pretty girls in the house, but more than that, he's got massive "main character syndrome". He's the space cowboy, and he goes on the block twice and STILL doesn't realize that maybe there's a REASON why you're being pawned twice. Him winning HoH to take out Izzy and suddenly getting so much undue praise just sours him even more. Also, he's fake as fuck, and desperately trying to be a big character more than anything else. He unironically gives HIMSELF the nickname Space Cowboy...for SOME reason.)
17. Luke Valentine (I don't actively hate him as much as Cory/Jared/Cameron, but I can't justifiably put someone who used the N-word anywhere but last place.)

Yeah, as much as we the viewers see Gus as a villain, in terms of his actions:

He tries to expand a drug business while maintaining the trust of the cartel. This gets his best friend shot and killed.
He seeks revenge against the people who did this to him, which is not unreasonable.
He seeks to further his drug empire, which isn't evil in and of itself.
And he kills, or orders executions freely, but only from a pure practicality standpoint. Gus strikes me as a very business-oriented individual, and as long as you don't fuck around and you just do your job, he can be perfectly content with being nice and kind to you.