Lurker > Suprak the Stud

Also 16 is probably the best way to do it! Not only was that your original size, but it ensure you have a good pool of backups. And plus its just cool from a flavor perspective!
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

Yep I can balance check!

AS LONG as it doesn't ruin anything from the third game. I plan on playing that within the next month so if there are spoilers from game three you need to make sure whatever you plan on sending won't ruin that for me in some way.
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

Corrik posted...

red sox 777 posted...

That is one of the deepest blue districts. The GOP stand to lose nothing by giving up on that district, and avoiding association with Arthur Jones can help them elsewhere. Steve King, by contrast, usually wins his elections.

Whenever you see extremists on the ballot if is because the districts are so slanted that viable candidates don't even waste their time running.

It isn't even in the top 150 most democratic districts according to both 538 and PVI, and out of 20 Illinois districts it is number 10 in terms of democratic lean. The guy they routinely elect, Dan Lipinski, is one of the most conservative democrats in all of congress and Republicans could absolutely be competitive here if they fielded a decent candidate. I have no idea what happened that only a nazi ran.
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

ScareChan posted...

DoomTheGyarados posted...

Anyway Scare's vouch is enough for me. As I said when I made my comments I was not aware that Kanz has been active in the mafia community previously in the last bit.

if it makes you feel better I dayvigged him halfway through day one

and then the next game shot him night 1 >_>

IIRC he was towns good protection that game too >_> AND SCARE MURDERED HIM IMMEDIATELY.
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

I don't think it matters at this point, but Kanz has been in a couple games of mine and he was great to have in. Quality player with good activity, and that can be hard to come by these days! I didn't even know he was banned at one point, but I'd say enough time has passed that it should be reconsidered anyway. And that's without even taking into account his good behavior in all the games he's been in since then!
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

That winds up that entire tier, actually, which is the "amazing fights where I'm really focusing on minor imperfections" tier. The final tier is the top tier, which is all of the very best fights in the entire game. I don't really have even minor issues with these fights, and any complaints I have are so minor it doesn't really matter.

Plop Tier
19. Goopy Le Grande

Listening To Someone Tell You About Their Fantasy Team Tier
18. Hilda Berg
17. The Root Pack

The Pink Starburst Tier
16. Djimmi the Great
15. Cagney Carnation
14. Captain Brineybeard
13. Sally Stageplay

Focusing On Megan Fox's Thumbs Tiers
12. The Devil
11. Wally Warbles
10. Cala Maria
9. Ribby and Croaks
8. King Dice
7. Phantom Express
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

#7: Phantom Express
Difficulty: 7/10
Design: 8/10
Fun Factor: 7/10

This is probably the best example of a multi-enemy boss in the entire game. A lot of the bosses use one boss with many phases, but fights like this actually take you through different enemies. And it works so well thematically here. You have a ghost, a giant skeleton, the train itself, and uh...two circle things? Apparently these are supposed to be pistons on the train, but I absolutely did not see that until looking it up. I was confused why my fight against a haunted train got interrupted by the shape squad showing up, so I suppose if I was going to pick a weak link of this fight, it'd probably be them.

Overall though, I love the design of this fight. I like the SPOOPY HAUNTED theme, and I like how the game really uses the most out of the setup. Each phase of the fight is totally distinct from the next, and by populating the train with multiple enemies to fight, it really lets the game show off some of its creativity without getting too weird. There are phases in some of the lesser fights that don't always make the most sense because they're trying to think of a way for the boss to mutate into something else and they just can't, but that isn't a concern here because they can't just pick out a new type of spooky enemy and keep going. The design is absolutely perfect for one of those old cartoons featuring ghosts or ghouls or what have you, and outside the third phase of the fight all of the enemies here look perfect.

And the fight itself is a lot of fun too. The car moving mechanic is incredibly clever, so much so that I had no idea what was going on my first couple times through. Sure, pumpkins are floating overhead and dropping stuff, but with so much going on on the screen at one time you aren't always paying attention to details like that and my first couple runs I was in a mad panic to try and figure out why the hell my car kept randomly moving. Once you do though, the fight just sort of clicks because now you're not only trying to fight the current phase of the boss, but you need to juggle either shooting down the pumpkin or jumping up and parrying the attack before it moves your car. You absolutely want to control where the car is at, and letting your car move back and fourth is a sure fire way to take some damage, so the extra layer to the fight makes things a lot more interesting than the bosses themselves.

Each phase of the fight is really well designed too, and is wildly different from the phase that came before it. In one phase you'll be shooting down incoming eyeballs, while in the next you're moving your car around to try and get the most hits in on the skeleton head. The best phase of the fight is definitely the last one, where you need to parry part of the train to open up its hit box, and while firing off shots you need to avoid incoming fire, pumpkins trying to move your car, and flaming attacks that come in from the side. It is incredibly hectic, but wonderfully so, and it is one of the most chaotic parts of the entire game.

The only real negative I have here is that this is the easiest boss to cheese your way through once you know what you're doing. The first, second, and third phases all have fairly easy ways to avoid being hit entirely and it isn't until the fourth and final phase that you really need to be paying attention. Use the spread weapon during the first phase, move your car to the right and then stand in between the two cars while shooting diagonally to the left for the second, and move your car to one of the corners and stand on the very edge of the screen during the third. None of these tricks are that hard (I found them out myself without too much experimentation) and it really trivializes the first three phases of the fight. I can't think of another example in this game that has a boss you can cheese this easily, which is sort of a shame because the rest of the fight is really good.
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

I was going to do the next one tonight but it is far too late! I'll try again tomorrow instead.
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

ChaosTonyV4 posted...

red sox 777 posted...

I have an idea for school reform. Beginning in kindergarten, everything will be allocated according to the real world wealth distribution. So in a 30 child class, 1 student will receive half of everything. The next child will get about 15%. The bottom half will share 2%. That means the winner of the class lottery will get 15 cupcakes while the bottom half split 60% of a cupcake.

Sharing will be strictly prohibited as leading to Communism.

Ive got a better idea.

100 kids parachute into a school.

Last one standing gets a Masters Degree of their choice.

Stop it, Ayn Rand's corpse can only get so erect.
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

We have rules about no recordings BUT we never said you couldnt stream mafia.

Also, it doesnt say a golden retriever CANT play basketball.
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

Again, the true tragedy of this topic series is Red Sox thinks hes funny.
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

Corrik posted...

God dammit.

https://twitter.com/joeovies/status/1055850651945783296?s=09

Sadly, he still isnt the most annoying UNC fan Ive run into.
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

Suspect is apparently 56 year old Cesar Mayoc Jr. He has a criminal record, which is why they were able to find him so quickly via DNA evidence he left behind.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2018/oct/26/pipe-bombs-latest-live-news-updates-arrest-florida
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

One man has been arrested in connection with the bombing. It looks like he was driving a mobile Trump shrine.

https://m.imgur.com/a/fSaxqFg

Hard to see in the picture, but there are multiple images of trumps face on the van. Hopefully this will at least shut up the false flag Hillary sent them to herself people.

(It wont)
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

LetsGoEevee133 posted...

My brother was there.

My sister was across the street

(They work across the street)

My mom called me at 4:51 PM while I was at work. I dont know exactly when the shooting occurred.

Thats terrifying. Hope your family is all doing alright.

It was front page news on CNN at least even with all the other stuff going on. I didnt see it on Fox but I didnt really look and Id be shocked if they didnt cover it too.
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

GuessMyUserName posted...

so the ISIS Sticker exists

...

the text of the "ISIS Sticker" says git'r done in in faux-islamic script

Link?
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

Oh yeah, good point about Crono!

So then you have the other 8 plus Ryu and Dante.
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

Of that list, outside of the top group the only two that have never lost a first round match in these contests are Ryu and Dante.
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

I do love this hypothetical scenario where ISIS keeps getting caught because they can't resist decorating all their explosives with pretty stickers and ribbons.
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

https://twitter.com/AP/status/1055085190446505986?s=20

Another attempted terror attack
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

#8: King Dice
Difficulty: 6/10
Design: 8/10
Fun Factor: 7/10

I'm Mr. King Dice
I'm the gamest in the land
I never play nice
I'm the Devil's right hand man

Ok, so I know his song isn't even a part of his fight, but how good is it? I love the general inspiration his deign gets from Cab Calloway, and you can definitely hear hints of Cab while the song is playing. I would just sit at each of the dice houses and wait for the song to be over before moving on, because I was worried if I talked to him it would stop the song. The music in general in the game is great, but this song is far and away the best.

His overall design is great as well, but what really makes him stand out his how unique the fight is. He is sort of a mini-boss medley, with a total of nine different bosses you can fight against. You have to roll a dice to move a certain number of spots, and each specific spot either correlates to a free space of a specific boss. You won't fight King Dice himself until the end, and you'll have to face off against three different mini bosses on your way to him at the very least.

They're clever about how the fights are organized though to keep you from just fighting the same over and over again. Specific spots will grant you one extra bit of health, which may be necessary considering how long this can wind up being. Each of the nine mini bosses are all casino themed in some way, and you'll face off against a cigar, an eight ball, a group of alcohol and a crane machine. Okay, so you usually don't see crane machines that much in a casino, but maybe they have a kid's section here. How nice of them!

It definitely doesn't feel like they're being lazy with the bosses here either, as each one of them has a distinct style or attack pattern you you're not just fighting the same boss with different paint jobs. There's also a fun level of strategy that comes into play later on. Do you go for the extra heard if it is on a more difficult boss? Or do you take the easy fight to ensure you get out with as much health as you come in on? The variety here is great too, and some fights you will need to pilot a plane and match pictures while others will have you quickly hopping over some poker chips you can parry over. This, much more than the Devil, feels like it should be the final boss. It has a bit of everything, and feels like a great culmination of everything that's in the game.

He is definitely more than a sum of his parts though, and while I really love the overall package I'm probably slightly less crazy about the individual bits and pieces. The fight against him is very basic, and each of his little minions really only have a single attack or two they use ad nauseam. Part of this is because they didn't want to make him impossible so the difficulty is turned down a lot on any one specific foe. It is definitely "smartest" to put him together this way so people aren't breaking stuff out of frustration, but because of this there really aren't any WOW phases of the fight.

Still, it is a great fight overall and King Dice might be my favorite character in the game just for his song alone.
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

Corrik posted...

red sox 777 posted...

Corrik posted...

LordoftheMorons posted...

Nobody in Congress had any idea what he was talking about either

He totally made up the tax cut plan

(Also another huge tax cut when deficits are already projected to reach over $1T during full employment is complete insanity, but thats a separate issue)

From what I understand he wants to drop the 22% tax bracket to 12%. But I am not entirely sure.

That would be amazing. Is there a way to do this other than using the nuclear option on the filibuster?

No idea. They had to pass the first through the Ways and Means process. I don't see this idea if it truly exists passing with Dems in their, but it would be a huge blow to dems before the 2020 elections to stop it. And would solidify Trump's position to the middle class. Which may be most of the point on it. Not sure we should actually expect it to happen even if it were to be floated. But, it is an interesting idea even if just a political gambit.

Like, I said it wouldn't really affect me much because with my deduction very little of my income with my household status actually hits into that bracket.

I'd like to see if they did do that that they raised the top brackets more to offset it more and not benefit the higher classes as well as the middle classes.

Dems (including Harris) already have talked about plans for lowering taxes on the middle class, offset by returning tax rates closer to their previous standing on the upper tax brackets.

Which is why I'm really hoping the Dems take the house because I think better tax policy might actually come out of it if republicans are forced to compromise somewhat.
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

Eddv posted...

Because he's a disingenuous troll trying to get a rise out of you.

I think he thinks he's just funny, which is the true tragedy of the situation.
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

Interesting 538 article that is actually relevant to our discussion yesterday:

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/election-update-some-competitive-races-have-little-to-no-polling-thats-a-problem/

Not only are some races really underpolled (and overpolled) but some competitive races have little to no polling and that could prove to be an issue for their model.
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

Attempted terrorist attack at the home of George Soros.

I wonder what could have possibly inspired something like that
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

I definitely got the background being inspired by the old Street Fighter SNES game but yeah I missed some of those too.

Maybe there was a slot machine character in one of the Street Fighther games I havent played
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

Ribby and Croaks kind of made it that high to me specifically because of how much I like the background animations and location of the fight. The fight itself is plenty fun, but without the background I would probably drop it down a couple spots. Stupid reason, I know, because it has zero impact on the gameplay, but it just has this really cool atmosphere to it, like we're some sort of entertainment for the patrons of this bug restaurant/bar/speakeasy/whatever the hell kind of establishment this is.

AND I LIKED IT

I don't know why, but it was something that stuck with me a lot while I was playing the game. I'd be playing a level, a better level, and I'd find myself thinking "gosh this background is kind of plain - remember Ribby and Croaks? Why hasn't there been another like that?"
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

Funny you should mention that Raka...

#9: Ribby and Croaks
Difficulty: 4/10
Design: 8/10
Fun Factor: 7/10

Ribby and Croaks is the fight where the game went from good to great for me, because it happens to be the first fight in the game that really shows off Cuphead at its best. This is still a lot easier than a lot of the fights left to come, but it shows off hints of the challenge to come. The biggest thing is the fight is just fun, and each of the three phases presents some unique attacks and has you pulling off completely different movements to get through them.

A lot of this comes from the third phase, which is really clever (even if it makes no damn sense). You actually need to spin the slot machine to start the attack, and you'll end up getting one of three different attacks depending on your luck. There is a nice variety between the attacks as well, each of which has some pretty fun dodging strategies to implement. The entire fight just has a lot of good movement to it, from allowing the fan form to blow you back to hoping between increasingly fast moving spiked platforms. The first phase is a little basic, but even that has some things you need to take advantage of if you're going for the A+ rank.

The design is great, and I love how you're technically fighting two foes at once, even though they both share the same health pool. It is a really interesting setup, particularly in the second phase, where you can theoretically attack either enemy depending on what your strategy is. It is a fairly unique fight in the game, in that it is the only one where you're facing off against two opponents at one time. There are plenty of fights with groups of people, but those usually are one after the other and the combination here not only just looks cool, but there is a function to it as well as each has specific attacks. I also really like the design of the two frogs, even by themselves. They have this long, spindly arms and legs which gives them a really fluid feeling to their movements, including their idle "bobbing up and down" animation.

This also has to be my favorite background in the entire game. I love all the flies in the background, either cheering on the fight or ignoring it and looking at each other across a table. When I complained about some backgrounds feeling static, this is specifically the level that makes me feel that way. When you see everything going on in the background, it just feels alive and a lot of the other levels in the game are kind of lacking that same atmosphere.

There are a couple of issues with the fight. Like Raka so RUDELY SPOILED for everyone (jeez, so rude), the transition to the third phase is just kind of weird. I overlook the whole "becoming a fan" thing because it sort of fits with the cartoony natures of the game and I've seen similarly things in older cartoons. It at least makes sense that he's moving his arms fast enough that he morphs into a fan. I have no idea where frog + frog = slot machine comes from though, unless this is some reference I'm missing.

That really isn't my main concern though, and the thing holding the fight back is it is just overall too easy. Sure, it is a first island fight so that is to be expected, but I can't really grade on a curve here in terms of which fights I found more enjoyable to play through. I do love the design of the third phase, but the first two can feel a bit barebones in terms of strategy after you have things figured out. The expert fight is much better in this regard and with both frogs attacking simultaneously in phase one it feels like a much more well balanced fight. Still, while it is a really good fight there just happen to be a lot of better ones since they have more going on.
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

HaRRicH posted...

Cala Maria could have been my favorite boss fight until her final phase. Petrifying as a premise was understandable and fine with the eels, but even when getting in closer that final portion of the fight was BS.

Are there any platformer stages you would take over any boss?

I loved the first two phases, yep. The transition from first to second phase was so damn slick, and the first phase itself was so hectic and crazy, I just loved it. Totally agree on that final phase, and wish they didn't bring in the same mechanic because it works so much better in the second phase anyway.

I actually liked the platformer stages as a nice change of pace...but I'm not sure. I think I'd probably rank all of them above the bottom tier but I'm not sure any higher than that.They were fun, but they just don't have the same appeal to me as the boss fights.
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

xp1337 posted...

Suprak the Stud posted...

These aren't "toss ups" to 538. They're lean dem. Based on other factors like fundraising or national polling or this or that, which might be good to put into the mix. But at the same time this is the first time 538 is doing this and actual polls of the race tend to not be as rosy.

You can factor most of that (fundraising, etc.) out by switching to the Lite model if that doesn't sit well with you.

Lite model has 79.1% chance of Democrats taking the House. CA-39, IA-3, and NJ-7 - to use your examples- are all rated Toss-Up in the Lite Model.

Average House gain in Lite is 37 seats (Classic is 40.) And the Solid/Likely/Lean D add-up I mentioned becomes 211 with 23 Toss Ups still on the board.

Update: I think Lite Model only uses District Polling but 538 is a bit unclear. The description on the sidebar that lets you toggle between Lite/Classic/Deluxe says it uses national polling too but looking at the breakdowns of what factors into it (and how much) generic ballot is listed in the "fundamentals" which aren't used in the Lite Model so they should be excluded. Similar thing with 538's CANTOR model.

Here's one 538 lists as lean dem even with lite:

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2018-midterm-election-forecast/house/kentucky/6/#lite

A lot of those polls are partisan polls, which I tend to ignore entirely. The two non partisan polls of the race (both a month old now) have it tied or the republican up 1.

Again, there are other examples where this isn't the case. Polling is really sparse though for a lot of these races, so 538's model can rely on very sparse polling (which can make accurate prediction tough) But I think this will be closer than some people anticipate and nobody should feel complacent, I guess is the point I'm trying to get across.
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

Like, if I was going to be as pessimistic as possible, look at the Florida 26th.

If you go to Wikipedia and rank all their house districts by their Cook Partisan Voting Index, you can actually organize the table from most liberal to conservative districts:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cook_Partisan_Voting_Index

Go through and then find the most democratic districts currently represented by a republican. The first three are all PA, and those three are 100% democratic pickups. These districts were redrawn after a court ordered them to because they were originally gerrymandered for political reasons. The first on the list that isn't completely changed from 2016 is FL-26.

It is D +6 and represented by Carlos Curbelo. Curbelo is the sort of "great concern over this rhetoric kind of Republican", but he's voted with Trump 82% of the time so he isn't really a liberal Republican. And, if you were imaging a democratic wave kind of year, this should be one of the first casualties since he is in the most democratic district to be represented by a republican in the entire country.

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2018-midterm-election-forecast/house/florida/26/

The two polls of the race this month both have him up 1.

Now, there are reasons for that and, sure, just because he wins it wouldn't mean that every republican in a more conservative district is necessarily safe. But it probably isn't a good time to put on your rose colored glasses just yet. Go out and vote. Make sure your friends vote. Don't be complacent. And don't be too surprised if things don't go the way you're expecting.
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

Crossfiyah posted...

Democrats are like 3 toss-up seats being flipped to likely Dem from being outside of the 90% confidence interval of taking the house. Once that happens it would take a truly once-in-a-lifetime polling error to not win it.

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2018-midterm-election-forecast/house/?ex_cid=midterms-header

Some things to note:

1) This is the first time 538 is doing a house forecast model so I would not be too surprised to see them be totally off since there is usually a lot less polling to go on.
2) If you look at some individual races, I do not always agree with where they have something as a "lean dem" instead of a toss up. Here are some examples:

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2018-midterm-election-forecast/house/california/39/

One poll this month has the dem up 2, while two last month had him up 1 or down 8.

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2018-midterm-election-forecast/house/iowa/3/

There are four polls in this race. Two are from democratic strategy groups, one is an e-poll (lol) and the only decent one had the dem up 1.

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2018-midterm-election-forecast/house/new-jersey/7/

Only two polls (a month ago) had dem up 1 or down 5.

These aren't "toss ups" to 538. They're lean dem. Based on other factors like fundraising or national polling or this or that, which might be good to put into the mix. But at the same time this is the first time 538 is doing this and actual polls of the race tend to not be as rosy.

I do expect the Dems to take control of the house, but I think it will be by a slim margin and I wouldn't be totally surprised if they failed. Hopefully I'm wrong!
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

Plus I mean, come on, "Lion" Ted is right there for you.
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

PrinceOfKoopas posted...

Oh hey I wrote this.

:x

https://imgur.com/FidZknJ
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

I did indeed and admittedly don't know much about her outside of a couple of interviews I've seen her do which seemed appealing enough. So yeah I was just curious what the red flags were (I suppose I could've googled, but I am pretty lazy).

(My personal favorite is Duckworth just for the contrast she has to Trump, but she doesn't seem interested in running.)
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

I'm curious what the aversion to Tulsi is, to the people who have it.

What disqualifies her to you, and what candidate do you prefer instead?
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

Which are pretty easy to get to in phase 2 (well easy enough - I still think it is easier to just kill the snakes as they come up and reduce your risk of projectile damage).

Phase 3 is possible, but you can get screwed over by the corridor itself depending on the position of the attack (and where the random barricades are coming). I actually found the easiest way to consistently avoid damage here was to stay super close, quickly dodge the skull attacks, and then just tank and wiggle through the petrification. It works pretty consistently for me towards the end there so long as I didn't get unlucky with a random barricade showing up.
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

#10: Cala Maria
Difficulty: 9/10
Design: 9/10
Fun Factor: 6/10

This is the kind of fight that makes me realize what they were trying to do with plane fights. This is just a brilliant execution of the concept, and it makes almost all of the other plane fights look worse just by comparison. You have her firing off two completely different attacks at once in the first phase, for example sinking three ghosts at you while you're dodging explosive fish mines, and you really need to use all the screen the game gives you to avoid getting hit. And then you have the second phase, where you need to move between killing the snakes and attacking her head and there is a legit strategy to your movement here that can't really be duplicated in the standard levels. This is proof of how good the plane levels can be if they're really trying.

And the design is phenomenal. There's almost too much I like here. The transition from the first phase to the second phase, where electric eels come up, bite her, and awake her snake hair is absolutely incredibly. I love her playful movement and how it kicks up a bit during the second phase. I love all of her sea based attacks and all her different little fish helpers that come out at aid her in battle. I love the way the snakes play the violin for her after your victory. I love everything about this battle. You saw this all over the promotion for this game and for good reason - it is one of the best designed in the entire game.

The only thing holding her back from being a top three boss for me is I think this is the only example in the entire game of what I consider "unfair" difficulty. It's not game breaking or anything like that (although it can be nearly controller breaking when you're going for your final S rank), but it is the one example in the entire game I can think of where you can take damage and it feels cheap.

In her second and third phases, she can petrify you (since she's a medusa and that's sort of what medusas do). The problem is you can't avoid this attack and other enemies will be firing off projectiles at the same time. You need to quickly break free of your stone prison by waggling the sticks back and forth, and if you get hit by something (a projectile or a piece of the environment) you take damage. And while it is totally reasonable to get through this without getting hit three times, it can be quite a bit harder to get through without getting hit once (I JUST WANTED MY FINAL S RANK YOU PAIN IN THE ASS MEDUSA/GORGON).

The second phase has what I'd call "reasonable asshole-ery" where you can reduce your risk by killing the other snakes popping up from the water. You can't completely guarantee you won't get hit, but as long as you're planning things out right you can bring the chance down tremendously. There are other fights like this (the Devil comes to mind with his running imps combined with some poorly planned primary attacks) where there is some RNG and you can get screwed over, but you can optimize your chances by playing well and having a good strategy. I'm okay with this level of dick-etry because I kind of signed up for it. I'm ok with the game occasionally pulling my shirt over my head and drinking my juice box as long as I can reasonably protect myself from this bullying.

The third phase is a different beast, because you can be playing almost perfectly, get petrified at a terrible time, and then wind up getting hit by one of the snake attacks, or a random poorly placed barrier, or just the edges of the corridor. I can't remember how many runs I finished with 2 hearts because of three, but I do remember I had to explain to my wife at 1:30 in the morning why I woke her up by calling a cartoon medusa a son of a bitch too loudly.

She's a fantastic boss, don't get me wrong. She's just a son of a bitch too, I don't care what my sleep deprived wife says.
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

#20: Dante
Difficulty: 1/10
Design: 1/10
Fun Factor: 1/10

wat ever hes just a big dum emo anyways
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

This is a really cool idea and I might start following along because my five year old son just started getting interested in comics and weve been reading some age appropriate ones together.

This however:

This is the third time I'm posting this topic. Some uniquely gifted mod thought that I was going to mail self-printed copies of comics to the readers. I am not. I don't have an industrial strength printer, nor am I spending more money on the ink than it costs to buy comics and send them.

Made me laugh so hard my wife woke up. I wish someone had a plot this convoluted to scam a multi million dollar industry out of like twenty bucks.
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

#11: Wally Warbles
Difficulty: 5/10
Design: 8/10
Fun Factor: 7/10

The best part about Wally is it showed me that not all plane fights were terrible. I was kind of down on plan fights after the first two encounters, but after this one I wasn't sighing each time I ran into a new one. You're still missing out on some of the better aspects of the gameplay when it gets restricted like this, but Wally Warbles and there other plane fights at least adds enough new gameplay ideas that I don't feel like it is such a drastic step down.

My favorite example here is phase 2 with evolves into a bullet hell (feather hell) fight where the entire screen gets flooded with feathers. Its got this sort of old school shmup kind of feel to it, only you're fighting a giant bird in the midst of molting. Its like Ikargura meets an exploding bird, and I swear its less gross than it sounds. Its a nice new change on the gameplay, and its works incredibly well with the plane controls. The final stage of this fight is just as good, and it is the first time in the game you have a boss entirely below you. The now featherless Wally is getting carried and spitting up trash and pills at you, and you'll need to switch to your bombs while you avoid the incoming debris. Each phase really feels unique and there aren't any that feel all that dull.

What I really love about the design is that it feels like a natural progression and each fight logically leads into the next phase. There is huge differences between each phase, and yet it feels like one cohesive encounter. I love how the final phase is two other birds carrying a featherless Wally in on a stretcher, and the attacks during each phase actually fit really well with the actual design. Oh, and the death scene where his helper birds are seasoning his body? That's probably my second favorite victory screen in the game. I really do love the design here and this is one of the fights where it feels like everything was thought out. I would've liked a bit more active background because the scenery here is kind of dull, but beyond that everything is pretty much perfect.

So why only 11? Well, the competition from here on out is pretty damn tough so all it takes is some minor shortcoming at this point. The first phase is kind of unremarkable, and while I like the idea of the third phase it winds up being kind of boring. I also have all the same issues I do with a lot of the other plane fights, even though this one is a much better implementation of the system than the other two I talked about. Still though, you can see where there is still room for improvement. The bullet hell segment is kind of simple in comparison of some things yet to come, and it isn't until the last phase that you really need to stress out about multiple incoming projectiles.

Also, as a final aside RIP poor Wally. I dunno if he actually dies at the end or not, but he is one of only like four bosses that doesn't show up at the final victory screen so that is my OFFICIAL SUPRAK LORE.
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

Sully
Dragonborn
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

They're pretty close, at least. I mostly just like the design of the Root Pack better.

But to me, the carrot phase was the hardest phase out of both bosses (although he still wasn't really tough). Goopy's third phase can't really hit you if you have figured out the dash mechanic.
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

Raka_Putra posted...

Well I'll come clean that I haven't played Cuphead myself so I don't know firsthand how fun the enemies are to battle. :p
But as a theatre fan, I'm really happy she's there and yeah, both the concept and execution are great. And you didn't even mention the JRPG-like spell 'names' she uses in her...I want to say last? Phase.

TheCodeisBosco posted...

"I had just finished off Dr. Kahl's Robot before this, so it felt a bit like beating literal Bruce Lee in a fight before moving on to fight some guy named Bruce Lee who is an accountant from Akron."

Can we get this man a Pulitzer already?

I agree.

Ohhhh. Well, yes, from a design perspective I like her quite a lot.

I didn't even mention the spell names, but that was more because there was so much else about her design I liked better. I'm a sucker for those sort of little touches, and like I said I loved her "husband" running around frantically at the start of the fight and other touches like that. The spells I kind of glossed over because the third phase of the fight is a joke. If you have the invisible dash move, you probably will only see four or so attacks total and the only one you're at a real risk for is the lightning. The meteor is kind of a cool idea because theoretically you need to attack it to get the pink star you can parry off of to get the height to go over the tidal wave. But it is so much easier to ignore it entirely, just wait for the wave, and then dash through it.

But, yeah, those were a nice touch. I also kind of got a Kefka vibe from her during that phase, but I'm not entirely sure if I was supposed to or not.
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

#12: The Devil
Difficulty: 6/10
Design: 6/10
Fun Factor: 6/10

Those numbers weren't intentional, I swear. Ok, so fun factor is probably more of a 5, but it was too tasty an opportunity to pass up.

The Devil suffers a bit from the expectation game. I don't know what I was expecting from the final boss in Cuphead, quite honestly, but I don't think it was this. He is neither the most difficult, nor is there anything special or unique about him really. King Dice gets a big, interesting mini boss gauntlet, but then The Devil is just kind of another boss. He isn't the hardest you fight in the game (there are probably a good half the game I'd put above him in terms of difficulty honestly) and he doesn't really have any unique design choices. He's just another boss in the game. A perfectly good boss, mind you, but not quite the epic conclusion I was hoping for. It's like sitting through the grand finale of the fireworks show, and then like four or five more go off by accident and now you're not sure if things are really over or not.

This is also the very last boss on the list (I think) where I really liked only one phase. That would be the first phase, which is fantastic. You have little goblin demons running at your randomly along the four and The Devil has one of four random attacks he can use at the same time. So you have a bit of the RNG gods to deal with and the whole "multitasking to avoid concurrent attacks" thing I love, and it really does work quite well. The attacks are all different, they can be difficult to dodge until you get some experience with them, and The Devil is just sort of sitting back relaxing the entire time like he has some big epic conclusion planned.

And...he just doesn't. The next three phases are all perfectly fine, but they don't have that "WOW HOW DID I PULL THAT OFF" factor to them after you get passed each one. The second and fourth phases, in particular, are kind of a joke and while I do like how there are a couple of reinforcements along the side of the third phase they're pretty easy to deal with and you can actually kill them to make things even easier. Again, none of this is bad and it works quite well and it is fun enough. But I was just hoping for more from the final boss. I thought, after getting through everything else, that I was really going to tear my hear out. I tentatively tried it late at night to see how much pain I was in for during my next play session, and I wound up beating him within twenty minutes or so. Which, again, FINE. I am a glutton for pain though, and I was expecting more.

The design is perfectly fine as well, although again I vastly prefer everything you see in the first phase to the concluding three phases. "Giant floating head" isn't quite what I was hoping for, although I did kind of love the sobbing Devil at the end to give you a bit of a victory lap. His design is a bit basic when compared to every other boss left on this list, but I actually think he fits quite well in comparison to other cartoony devils at the time so I give him a bit more leeway here.

Again, everything was perfectly enjoyable and I can't quite say that I'm judging him more harshly just because he wasn't the final boss I was hoping for. At the same time though, there are a lot of REALLY GOOD bosses in this game, and I think that on its own The Devil doesn't really stack up with a lot of them.
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

UltimaterializerX posted...

Suprak the Stud posted...

Not reading the entire sentence to own the libs.

Oh, we're only talking the USA? Sure.

https://graphics.suntimes.com/homicides/

There is a difference between "left wing mobs" and murders occurring in liberal cities. Peace was specifically referencing acts of violence inspired by political ideology. The shooting of Steve Scalise would fit that definition, as would the violence at Charlottesville.

Gang members aren't shooting each other out of anger at republicans.
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

I want the citation for the (lie) statement that Alt right or whatever stupid thing you are calling conservatives than the mobs of liberals.

1) I never said anything like that
2) Please watch the video it will help with your sentence structure
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

I shouldn't have to cite that China and the USSR aren't the US, even though they may share some of the same letters. At that point you're just illiterate and you wouldn't be able to read any of my citations anyway so what's the point, you know?

Here's something you might find interesting though Squirtle:

---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

Not reading the entire sentence to own the libs.
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."

TheCodeisBosco posted...

"I had just finished off Dr. Kahl's Robot before this, so it felt a bit like beating literal Bruce Lee in a fight before moving on to fight some guy named Bruce Lee who is an accountant from Akron."

Can we get this man a Pulitzer already?

I tried to submit my Definitive Ranking of Phoenix Wright Cases but I was told that "wasn't literature" and "stop bothering us" and "Maya/Phoenix OTP".

Damn Phoenix/Maya shippers.
---

Moops?
"I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."