-As far as Silly RPG Names go, my personal Top 3 are as follows:
In third, Mystakin's constant Butt Names.
In second, the voice of Professor Oak calling his own grandson Dicks:
And an first, WHEN YOU SO KAWAII THE PLANET DIES
-The section where Jeff talks about Punch Club I have under a sub-heard in my notes called "FUCKING BUBBLES" after the Nostalgia Critic gag.
However, I feel like the "Bubbles" thing in these types of games is simply the result of the "Best Thing" being the standard.
Here's some bullshit I came up with. Not Grade-A Star Fox/G-Diffuser Bullshit. But close:
1. Designers need a visual way to show that progress is happening. An object heading toward a meter is a good way to show that things are proceeding upward, while not relying on the player squinting at a progress bar. In the case of Game Dev Tycoon, these bubbles tick up a counter. In Punch Club, they go toward your fighters attributes, showing A. That stat is increasing, B. The activity increase that stat and C. How long that activity will remain effective in increasing that stat.
2. Bubbles are "friendly". Round shapes don't have corners, meaning they're non-threatening. Imagine a triangle or a square denoting your progress. Feels off, doesn't it? To me, at least, squares are too drab and boring to be engaging, and look way too much like a regular-ass loading screen. Triangles can be a little confusing, but might be effective. For example.
-Cloudsong? Head on over to NewGrounds, and make sure you feed your NeoPets, cause we're going oollllldschooool!
-Fray Tormenta was a priest who ran an orphanage for over 23 years, supporting it by participating in lucha libre. His legacy has had a great impact on popular culture, inspiring several movies (including the Jack Black film Nacho Libre, which wasn't terrible) and video game charachters including King from the Tekken series (who is also an orphan raising luchadore) and Greco from Chrono Cross.
Pffft... And John Cena's looking like a straight up chump with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Yeah, you visit kids, but do you RAISE THEM?
SM
-BONUS CARD!
SLAYERS OF DECADENCE EPISODE 8
Speaking of raising ninos and fighting, IT'S SLAYERS OF DECADENCE TIME!
Eagle FightsBro and Water Loki continue to raise their children Literal Goat Daniel Bryan and Not Malcolm Reynolds. The campaign is lead by a Entertained Yet Confused Ryan.
Our god pals do this by referencing City Slickers by having the pampered city boy learn the ways of country folk, thereby gaining their respect, Naruto, by- Fuck it, I know Naruto is the best example (or at least the first one I found via Google), but we're going to say Rocky 4, since while no cliff faces are climbed perse, he still goes up in elevation on a structure than can be called a mountain.
Where were we? Right. We also do this by referencing Rocky IV where a man climbs a mountain and learns to punch Communism in its face, and by referencing every movie where a White Person uses The Art of Dance to make Minorities Believe In Themselves. Only instead of minorities, it's People Who Need A New Job and instead of Dance its Wisdom.
It kinda sucks there's only two player characters, but this is another one of those episodes, where it shows how me and Raymond's characters, and how we play and approach RPGs can differ and yet work together at the same time. So really, it's probably better that there's only two players, especially given the "parenting" subtheme (mother/father, brains/brawn, pragmatic/dramatic, etc.)
Again, shoutouts to insert quest here for doing this and Ryan from Rag-Nerd-Rok for being such a good GM.
For Fucks Sake Talk About It, Because I'd Like The Promotion.
Anyway, this week's jam:
Another GHTV discovery. I'm kind of glad Guitar Hero doesn't make a big deal about their new songs the same way Rock Band and Rocksmith do, so you forget about it for a while, then come back and say "Huh,, didn't know they added this" on top of the fact that the stations keep everything random so it doesn't get repetitive.
The Mowgli's are a real life version of the Portland Cloud Orchestra from Guitar Hero Live: A big alternative/folk group that is involved with many charities, and "San Francisico"'s message carries that to a T. It's peppy, and it makes me happy. I know my musical writing vocabulary is very limited, and it's another jangly alt/folk song, but it made my workday suck less when I had it on repeat, fuck you.
MUSIC UPDATES:
Nothing.
WHAT?
Nope. I've been trying to finish up my Oath Of The Gatewatch Song, but progress has been slow on that. I went 3-3 on the prerelease though, so that's cool.
WAIT, WHAT?
Yeah, I didn't pull any big money cards, but I had a pretty sweet colorless-
WHY?
They're random booster packs. I'm not guaranteed to-
NO I MEAN WHY NO MUSIC?
Reason 1: I'm polishing up Think Geek Is Not Nerdcore
Reason 2:
Punch Club:
I've never played a game that made me love it, then hate it, love it again, hate the ending, and now I want to replay it.
Truth be told, I have a fondness for all the dumb, grindy "simulator" type browser games, and Punch Club is no different in the framework.
Where it makes up for it is the fact that it's more ambitious: the fighting system, while automated, is faily deep and allows you to switch which moves your fighter can use based upon your opponent. The story is suprisingly interesting, and branches depending on what choices you make. It's no Until Dawn, but it's an appreciated extra for a game that I wouldn't expect to make for. It's nothing you haven't seen before: train and fight for reasons, There's even a section where you go to Russia and fight a fighter named Ivangief.
Pop culture references are everywhere, and you'll either find them cute and charming (Jay and Silent Bob outside a convenience store, Jules and Verne from Pulp Fiction in a diner) or obnoxious and overdone (you fight Teenage Mutant Ninja Alligators, convenience store cleck is an Indian Guy named Apu, aforementioned Ivangief, girlfriend character named Adrian, manager named Ding King). All of this makes it feel like the game doesn't have an identity of its own and is screaming PLEASE LOVE ME!.
Would I recommend it? Depends on your tolerance on the grind and if you would plan on replaying it. I wouldn't have paid the full $10, though, at least as my initial playthrough stands. There's other avenues you can take with fighting styles and storylines, but there is a bit you have to put up with for an ending that's unsatisfactory.
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