Lord_Brand

This is more a game that I regret purchasing, but Chocobo GP is one of the worst racing games I've ever played. For starters, there's of course the menu screen that you can't change, though that's far from the most egregious offense on my list. The story cutscenes take far too freaking long to play out, and most of the characters are really annoying or otherwise unlikeable. Especially Atla. Seriously, who thought a greedy, lazy, cowardly, manipulative, disrespectful, self-absorbed Moogle with the voice of a 12-year old was a good idea? Trying to replay story missions is a pain thanks to the lack of a very intuitive "Retry" button. If you want to restart the race - say, because you tried and failed yet again to place first on lap 1 - you can only "Go back to story select" or "Quit", which forces you to sit through a bunch more screens to replay the race with the same character/vehicle configuration you were already using. Many of the tracks are far too short, which gives you hardly any time to catch up with your opponents if they get ahead. Even worse is when there are short versions of tracks, which take up space that really should have gone to additional tracks for the sake of variety. The items are horribly imbalanced, with virtually no tiering based on position. Some are borderline useless, like Quake (except when they're being used against you, of course), others are ridiculously overpowered (like the aforementioned Bahamut and warp). Even worse are the character specials, which likewise range from useless (like Claire's invisibility) to infuriating (like Shiva's Diamond Dust). I'm exceptionally disappointed. This looked like Mario Kart 8 just with Final Fantasy characters, but it turned out to be far, far less than that. Team Sonic Racing looks better than this, and I'm not even interested in that one with the vastly superior MK8D and CTRNF available. Worst game we ever bought for Switch. Do not recommend.

I'm gonna say right now that I hate the photorealistic look. That turned me off of modern Final Fantasy, and if the whole game looks like this, it's gonna turn me off of this too. My luck, the Disney worlds we visit will be based on all the live action drek Disney's been churning out for the past decade (and I thought the sequel era was bad...). What drives me nuts about these kinds of situations is the fact that, just when it feels like they hit a sweet spot (in this case, Kingdom Hearts III), they feel the need to go and reinvent the wheel even though I was happy with how the wheel looked and worked before. Feels like they're doing this out of conceit, like they're just trying to show off how photorealistic they can make the graphics look even though no-one asked for that (to my knowledge, anyway). It feels like Square keeps trying to emulate Western developers, which if anything will only make the game less appealing for me (the only Western developers I ever liked have either closed down or lost my respect altogether). I want to be excited for KHIV, but this photorealism trend pisses me off.

Kinda both? If I could rework the game into what I think it should have been, I'd overhaul a good majority of the playable roster and bring in a lot of new characters who actually matter to the story because you recruit them as part of following their story paths. See, how I'd handle the large number of characters is by making it so you only recruit a handful during a given playthrough. The ideal maximum would be around two party members per innate, adding up to 12 by the end of the game. Of course some characters could appear on more than one path, helping keep the number under control. The benefit of this approach is that you don't have to write scenes around every playable character; each character is allowed to have unique dialogue because they're the only character who will speak that dialogue. This in turn allows you to develop that character within the stories where they're relevant while leaving them with a minimal presence in the rest. Furthermore, some characters can become either friend or foe depending on the choices you make. Fargo the pirate for example could join your party if you join his crew in seizing a ship, or you help the ship's crew fight Fargo's pirates, thereby making him your adversary instead. Or you could choose to side with Porre instead of the Acacia Dragoons, prompting a Porre soldier such as Norris to join your party while turning the Dragoons, including Devas like Karsh and Zoah, against you. In general, I'd opt for three choices per story junction. Some if not all of those junctions would involve an event that two of those choices revolve around (like the example with the merchant ship and the pirates) while the third path veers away from the event altogether (the carpenter making a boat). The story events play out with or without your involvement, with three possible outcomes depending on your choice. If environmentalism and race dynamics were supposed to be the focus, then Kato expressed that in rather poor fashion with hypocrites and informed flaws (on the humans' part). I hope one can pardon me if I prefer the plot elements that actually matter and tie in to the game Cross is supposed to be a sequel to. Might have to do with the fact that Trigger was produced by Kazuhiko Aoki and supervised by Yuji Horii. Kato was in charge of Radical Dreamers and Cross, so he was free to twist the story to suit his vision without the Dream Team keeping him in check. Ten years, actually. Termina best shows off the contrast between the two, as the atmosphere is festive in Another World and more reserved and militaristic in Home World due to Porre having conquered the region years ago. Hydra Marsh is also pretty pronounced, as it looks far more polluted and toxic in Another World. And then of course there's Fargo's ship, a pirate vessel in one world and a luxury cruise vessel in the other. That said, I agree that the game could have probably used more visible differences.

Been playing a lot of Overboss lately. It's a spinoff of the Boss Monsters series where you and 1-3 other players take turns drafting tiles and tokens to build up a miniature overworld. Once everyone's map is complete, it's time to tally up points based on terrain bonuses, token bands, and other scoring factors. I absolutely love Overboss' pixel aesthetic, which inspired me to come up with a board game of my own that's basically The Legend of Zelda as a tile-based adventure game.

A lot of the character concepts are garbage. Why do we need Turnip? Why do we need a creepy skeleton clown who, mind you, we spend a good portion of the game assembling? Why is a bratty 9-year old a compelling antagonist? Korcha? Mel? I agree that the game needed more characters who actually mattered to the plot. That's why I would trim a lot of the chaff, push the worthwhile characters left over, and perhaps introduce some new characters who are both more appealing and more important to the story, not to mention fill niches that I felt were missing. I'm not against variety, I just want it done right. I'd say the game is about Considering the shoehorned aesops contribute very little to the plot and in fact detract from it if anything, I'd say you can remove them without doing any damage to the game. The one about fantastic racism in particular is egregious because the kinds of demihumans we see in Cross were nowhere to be seen in Trigger, adding to the feeling of inconsistency. And the majority of the environmentalism comes from blatant hypocrites who go out of their way to commit genocide, whereas at least you were acting to save a life. Considering he also apparently lost his memory according to Trigger DS, it's perfectly possible he wandered as an amnesiac before meeting Serge's mother and was more receptive to relationships. Maybe regaining his memories could have caused him to leave in hopes of protecting his family. That's not what happened in the actual game of course, but it would have made for a better story by giving the protagonist a very direct tie to the previous game's cast, in my opinion. Here's an idea: Replace Skelly with Robo. Give us a sidequest of gathering Robo's scattered parts so he can be rebuilt and join the party. Add in all seven of Trigger's playable characters as optional party members, in fact. Make a sidequest out of saving them like they did for Crono in the original game. And I agree, Cross is so different that it would have fared better as a standalone title. Still would have been a half-good-half-bad game, but at least Trigger wouldn't have been shafted the way it was. Cross going out of its way to give Trigger's cast the middle finger for the sake of drama is just as contemptible as the sociopolitical aesops. Almost like the game knows Trigger fans will hate it and it's choosing to rub that in their faces. "Nya-nya, you bought the game and we have your money, now watch as we unceremoniously kill off those characters you loved!" Being able to save the heroes of the original and recruit them as allies would feel like a faithful evolution of what Trigger itself presented in the form of sidequests that let you save Crono's life and spare Lucca's mom from losing use of her legs. It would make Cross feel respectful to Trigger rather than like it's trying to overwrite it. The first choice is the only one that's close to what I intend. The second locks you into a specific set of characters, and doesn't really change the overall course of the plot. Imagine this scenario: You need a vessel to cross the sea. You have one of three possible paths to choose from: Build a boat - You meet a carpenter and aspiring sailor who wants to build his own boat but needs materials. He joins your party to help find them in the nearby woods. Buy a ship - You recruit Van, who hires a merchant vessel to help you travel the seas. However, the ship is attacked by pirates, forcing you to fight them off. Steal a ship - You join Fargo's crew of pirates intent on raiding a ship going out to sea. You capture the ship's crew and leave them in Guldove, then set sail on your merry, plundering way. Each of these choices takes you down a different path that guides you towards a different set of decisions down the line. Each junction gives you a choice of party members with innates different from what you've recruited so far, in order to ensure the player ends up with representatives of each innate in their party. The choices you make determine the kind of ending you get when you beat the game. Here's an idea: You know how it's possible to recruit either the Home World or Another World version of Poshul? What if that applied to a lot of the other party members like Leena, Van, and Glenn? What if you could actually recruit both versions of a given character, and even have them perform dual techs together? To help set them apart, each character's Home World and Another World versions are visually distinct, like wearing armor or clothing of different colors or styles, or reflecting their varying backgrounds (such as Another Van wearing old, worn clothes and Home Van wearing new, fancy clothes). Maybe Glenn succeeded Dario as one of the Devas in one world and so wears armor more like Dario's instead of his usual brown armor? The innates could be different between the versions as well. Maybe Home Leena is red while her Another counterpart is blue, or Home Glenn is white while his Another counterpart is green. The innates aren't the issue here. The Beebas look like they belong in a swamp. The dwarves are completely out of place. They're dressed like miners and they have a big steam-powered tank - where the heck did they get those materials? Why are they of all characters the voice of environmentalism in the game? The whole thing is just so stupid and infuriating. Were it up to me, the dwarves would be moved to Earth Dragon Isle where they belong and can be reduced to silent mooks like they deserve, and the sociopolitical BS would be dropped like the trash it is. I don't need aesops being shoved in my face when I'm just trying to enjoy an RPG about casting colorful spells and traveling between worlds.

For Yellow, Red, Green, and Blue summons, you can cast a Field element of that color. Black and White for some reason don't get Field elements, so you have to work harder to cast those. I think it's a combination of Kato being a self-absorbed "visionary" who put his sociopolitical messages before quality of story and Squaresoft in general being self-absorbed "visionaries" who put their "presentation" before quality of gameplay. Basically two big egos ruining what could have been a great game. As is, I feel like Chrono Cross is half a good game and half a bad game smashed together. My brother and I have had lengthy conversations about how we'd fix Chrono Cross, or make a better version. A few points in particular came up: Trim a lot of the chaff from the roster. How many people actually want to play the likes of Funguy, NeoFio, and Skelly? They're wastes of space that came at the cost of an actually decent storyline. Cut the whole BS subplot about environmentalism. The damn dwarves do more damage than the humans do in the story, they have no grounds to be lecturing anybody on environmentalism. (What the heck are yellow-innate miners doing in a green-innate swamp, anyway? Did they get kicked off of Earth Dragon Isle because the dragon couldn't stand them either?) Also cut the BS about racism. We see one human mistreat a demihuman in the whole story, and chances are they're just an asshole to people in general. Meanwhile the demihumans throw rocks at your party if a human dares to enter Marbule, the dwarves have already been mentioned, the fairies have the nerve to turn on you after you saved their glittery behinds from the aforementioned dwarves...if anything, the demihumans are bigger racists than the humans in this story. Kid reeks of Bad Fan Character Syndrome. An Aussie accent right out of nowhere, being shoehorned in as the love interest when the hero already has a girlfriend, showing up to talk a big game only to get poisoned and then put into a coma later...she reads like a laundry list of Jimmy's First OC cliches. We have a blue-haired woman of high bearing with a special pendant...and she's not the one with a connection to Schala!? I don't know if Kato or Square thought they were being clever by subverting expectations or whatever, but the alternative really wasn't enough to make up for the obvious missed opportunity here. The endings are major disappointments, to say the least. Even the "best" ending, which is actually the most minimalistic and resolves basically nothing on-screen. Here are some of the changes I've proposed: Have Serge turn out to be the lovechild of Magus and Serge's mother. The blue hair already provides one possible connection, and if Schala has to be involved the way she is, then having Magus' son be involved with helping her would actually be quite fitting. Likewise, have Riddel be the one connected to Schala. Perhaps she's Viper's adopted daughter. Kid if anything should be Crono and Marle's daughter, hidden away from Porre for her safety. If you want to play up romance between her and Serge, make her one of his childhood friends alongside Leena. She can be the "bad girl" to Leena's "good girl", being more rambunctious and tomboyish in contrast to Leena's "proper lady". Include more branching paths in the game. At each of these branches, you get to recruit one of three different party members, each of whom takes the story in a different direction. Each party member you recruit in turn leads you to a new branch in the story where you get to again pick from a pool of three different characters (there could be overlap between different pools to allow some narratives to interweave with one another), up until you have a maximum party of 12 by the end of the game. This allows for each playthrough to be markedly different from the last, and allows for a multitude of different endings that gives the party members some form of closure.

Jotari summed it up pretty well. The Oracle games share the same basic graphic styles and gameplay engines, and little else. They're designed to be sequels to each other that you can play in either order. That said, that degree of difference might just encourage players to buy both versions. So, I'd probably aim for a pair of versions that take place in the same region and have the same core gameplay, but with different focuses.

Ideally, there would be recourse both for players willing to buy both versions and for players content to stick with one while reaching out to those with the other. One thing they could do is tailor the versions towards different kinds of players, so it's not just a matter of what Pokemon appear but also the gameplay itself being adjusted to suit players who will gravitate towards one version or the other. Compare The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages. At the surface level, these seem like the Zelda series' take on the Pokemon concept, but there are far more than just "version differences" setting them apart. Seasons is geared more towards action and pays homage to the original LOZ, while Ages is more focused on puzzles and strategy, with boss fights that require a little more strategy than "hit the boss until it's dead" (though to be fair, Seasons has a few puzzle bosses too, like Dodongo and Digdogger). The two games operate on the same engine, but use it for wildly different purposes. Maybe the same could go for Pokemon? Perhaps one version is more focused on teaching the player metagame-viable strategies while the other is geared towards players who simply want to "catch 'em all"?

What if there was a way to unlock one version's exclusives in the other by connecting them? Say you have Scarlet and your friend has Violet; by connecting your games, you unlock each other's version exclusives, including certain species of Pokemon. The series already allows for a very limited version of this thanks to Pokemon trading. Version A has Thingamabob and Version B has Whatchamacallit, so you catch an extra and trade it for the other. They can expand on this concept to allow for "content sharing". Especially if they start implementing some form of co-op, like Raid Battles in SWSH.

I hope Zelda gets to play a more active role this time, even if she has to spend most of the game separate from Link. If they're gonna damsel her again, maybe make it so we can rescue her long before beating the final boss and get to enjoy her company as a reward? Though I won't deny that having Zelda cooperate with Link remotely is an interesting concept. There's a lot of potential for a survival horror-kind of game with Zelda; she's trapped underground until Link can open a way to the surface, so in the meantime she stealths about in the underground evading Ganoncorpse and finding Ancient terminals that activate things on the surface, allowing Link to proceed. But even better would be if that's just the first half of the game. Once Link finally opens the door to the underground and Zelda's free, so is Ganoncorpse. Then the game transitions to one of Link and Zelda traveling Hyrule and the underground together, cleansing Hyrule of Ganoncorpse's taint one region at a time, until finally they can isolate him at Hyrule Castle and finish the job.

*looks at video* Shiiiiiigeru Miyamoto. That's a first! Looks like the blade might have been decayed, too. Well, that'll explain why we don't get to use it from the beginning, at least not for long. A sidequest to restore it has a lot of exciting potential. Maybe we have to find new Sages who can restore it?

Still, hard to believe it's five years already. In 2023, that will have been as long as the time between Skyward Sword's original release on Wii (2011) and BotW's release (2017). At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if a Switch 2 version is announced down the line.

Six years...wow. It's been that long already. If not for all the crap that happened in 2020, we might've gotten to see BotW2 a couple years ago.

Thanks!

A Pokemon game where your character is a de facto adult is an interesting prospect. The oldest confirmed age we have in the games is 15 in Legends: Arceus, while XY hints that Calem and Serena may be full-grown adults (which, depending on where you live, could be 16 or 18). The Enforcer/Chaos Cult dual antagonist angle is also interesting, something different from both the Aqua/Magma rivalry in RS and the Skull-Aether alliance in SM. Kinda reminds me of my Team Anarchy/Team Authority concept for Pokemon Order and Pokemon Chaos (or maybe Liberty). My intent was something simpler: the Home Realm is the Pokemon world we know where most of the games take place (though I acknowledge that this means Normal-types don't really get a dedicated realm, but to be fair, neither do Ghost-types as their Realm plays a special role as the afterlife). I wasn't intending on there being humans native to the other Realms, though I guess it could be interesting to have either humans or, crazy idea, analogous humanoids that catch and train Pokemon as well. For example, the inhabitants of the Sea Realm are essentially merfolk, while those of the Forest Realm have foliage growing out of their bodies akin to dryads. Alternatively, you could encounter Pokemon able to speak the human tongue, making them NPCs you can interact with similar to humans from the Home Realm. As for the basic plot, I'm deciding whether this would be more like a typical "Version A and Version B" Pokemon game or if it would be something more experimental like Legends: Arceus (I know which one you'd pick, of course). I think I'd want there to be an element of, well, normalcy in the plot to help provide contrast with the dimension-hopping that ensues not long into the story. That said, I don't know if I'd go for the whole Enforcers plotline as that would already make the story feel markedly different (not to mention be a ripe goldmine for some kind of darker and edgier spinoff a la Colosseum). Instead of the usual "beat the Gym Leaders and become a Master" plot, you could be one of the professor's assistants who's helping them investigate and study some strange phenomena that's been happening recently in the region where the game takes place (letting us dive into the good stuff ASAP). During one such investigation, three rifts open - one through which leaves and foliage emerge, one that belches fire, and one that produces bubbles and water. From each, a Pokemon emerges, ready to attack. The Professor produces three Pokemon of their own and asks you and your fellow assistant to each choose one of the three while they will take the third and use them to fend off the attackers. The three Pokemon available are of course Grass, Fire, and Water-type. Based on which Starter you pick, the professor instructs you to fight the attacker weak to your starter. After the battle, the professor notes that hostile Pokemon have been emerging from many of the rifts reported across the region. The professor and their assistants are part of a new defense force formed to discover the cause of these rifts and a way to stop them, as well as deal with any hostile Pokemon that step through. As you travel the region, rifts will occasionally open up, sending wild Pokemon to battle you. You eventually find a large rift through which a huge draconic Pokemon emerges. A strange humanoid being resembling some kind of fairy (or a Fairy-type Pokemon) protects you from the monster and pulls you through a smaller rift to escape into their realm, a fantastical place where Fairy-type Pokemon abound. The fairy-like being tells you that you stand in the Fairy Realm, which is also suffering random rift attacks as your own world is doing, and many others. You're brought to meet the Guardian Pokemon of the Fairy Realm, who explains the situation to you. Ten years ago in your world, a human scientist discovered a strange object that exhibited transdimensional properties. As is the wont of many humans, the scientist was overcome by curiosity and conducted experiments on the object, figuring out how to open artificial rifts by harnessing the object's power. What the scientist did not know is that the object in question was a piece of the Chaos Beast, a formidable creature that the Fairy Realm Guardian, along with many others, broke apart and sealed away long ago. For ages, they kept watch over the pieces of the beast, preventing them from opening rifts in an attempt to reform itself. But, something must have happened to one of the Guardians, that the human scientist was able to get a hold of the Chaos Piece in your world. Tragically, one of the scientist's experiments went awry: a member of their family was pulled into one of the rifts, which closed behind them. The scientist was overcome with grief and desperately tried to find where their loved one had gone, however the company funding their research cut off support, citing that the experiments were too dangerous. In desperation, the scientist turned to a criminal organization that had learned of their experiments and took an interest in the potential of dimensional travel. A bargain was struck; the scientist would develop rift portals for the team to use, and in turn would be aided in searching for their missing child. Lately, more and more rifts and portals have opened, leading the Fairy Guardian to believe that the other Guardians are somehow being incapacitated, possibly by the organization. The Guardians have noted the existence of the defense force of which you are a part, and are interested in forming an alliance in order to restore peace to the Realms. You are then sent to find the Professor and the leader of the defense force to bring to the Fairy Realm so that they may properly organize countermeasures against the Beast. I'll have to leave for work in a bit, so I'll have to stop there for now. I imagine it'd probably be preferable to piece everything together over time rather than have a Guardian spell it out 5-10 hours in, but the way I see it, sooner or later the player's going to run into a Guardian who can explain what's going on more properly, and the sooner the Chaos Beast enters the picture, the sooner the player can begin the dimension-hopping adventure proper. Taking input into account, I can probably write out a more elaborate story that introduces the evil Team and the scientist before the whole Fairy Realm bit later.

That's an interesting idea. Most evil Teams try to use the Legendary for their schemes, but this would be the first time they're hunting the legend with the intent of eliminating it. Only thing is, they're also supposed to be the ones funding the scientist's research, which would indicate an interest in the properties of the chaos portals themselves. On that note, what if the naturally-occurring passages were Rifts while the artificial recreations are Portals? Having the Beast escape through Rifts is an interesting idea. That, or it leads you through the Rifts with the intent of recollecting itself. How about this: maybe the Team seeks the pieces of the Beast, but don't want to reform it outright? They want to use the individual pieces to create portals for their own uses. The Beast is the one manipulating you into gathering its pieces together. You're stuck being played like a chess piece by both the Team and the Beast up until the end. As for what happens once you finally defeat the Chaos Beast, well I imagine players would want to be able to catch the Beast and add it to their team. Hmm...perhaps the Chaos Beast is one Pokemon you have to catch twice? The first time, it joins you automatically, then it leaves your party once it's complete, and you can catch it either in the ensuing showdown with its true form or in a rematch? The idea of creating a 19th Realm for the Chaos Beast itself is a cute idea, and a possible way to catch it/recatch it, but that's provided the Beast wants its own home. Being confined to its own world might feel stifling. Perhaps the Beast is creating rifts precisely because it wants to travel to different places? I'm starting to think a separate Pokemon isn't really needed here; the Chaos Beast seems to be adequate to carry the whole concept by itself, being the cause of all the rifts and indirectly the portals that facilitate the dimension-hopping.

It's not arbitrary, just a matter of applying logic. I just figured they could explain the dominance of a particular type through the absence of types that would SE that type, allowing it to become dominant in that Realm. I'd still intend for there to be a variety of types in each dimension. And truth be told, I'm not a fan of the Bulbasaur line being Grass/Poison. What's poisonous about it? That said, I understand your point about, say, Grass/Flying and Grass/Bug types in the Forest Realm. It'd feel weird if none existed there. I guess they could just adopt the rule that every Pokemon in most of these realms is that realm's type (the one major exception being the Normal/Ordinary/Home Realm)? All Pokemon in the Metal Realm are Steel-type, all Pokemon in the Dragon Realm are Dragon-type, and so on. That way, you can have stuff like Steel/Ground Steelix in the Metal Realm and Grass/Poison Venusaur in the Forest Realm. But if all Pokemon in those realms are that realm's type, then Onix will need to be Steel/Ground as well. Though their typing suggests that Onix and Steelix would do better in the Subterra Realm than either the Lithic or Metal Realms. Really, I think it needs to be a case-by-case basis. I wouldn't expect many Ice-types in the Inferno Realm or Fire-types in the Frost Realm. But I could see Rock-types in the Sky Realm or Water-types in the Lithic Realm, though they'd generally have to be of the Realm's primary type. That's markedly different from interdimensional passageways. I could see someone or something with the ability to "teleport" between realms, though. More on that below. To be honest, I'm not a big fan of Hoopa. Something about that Pokemon just annoys me. Maybe it's the expression, maybe it's the association with one of the worst Pokemon films (or so I've heard it called). I just know I'd rather try to come up with something original for this particular story. I mean hey, if more than one Pokemon can be themed on time (Celebi, Dialga) then more than one Pokemon can be themed on interdimensional travel, right? I get why you want one-way doors between the Realms, that can make exploring them feel more challenging and perilous not to mention maybe open up room for puzzles spanning multiple Realms. It's just a matter of how you execute that. If it's an active, stable portal, it really shouldn't be one-way. Short-term portals can be one-way, but then it's a matter of how they're triggered. I am interested in establishing a distinction between artificial portals like those created by the scientist versus "natural" rifts created by the Chaos Beast. Could be that the Home Realm's piece of the Beast was used to develop the technology in the first place. The crux of the plot would at first revolve around the Team trying to gather its pieces and reassemble them into the original monstrosity. There could be a Zygarde-esque mechanic here where the Chaos Beast reforms piece by piece, becoming more powerful and dangerous. That said, it could certainly appear multiple times to cause trouble, presumably of an escalating scale. Once the Beast is reformed, I imagine then the player is expected to battle it, or to undertake a quest to unite the Guardians (perhaps after freeing them if they've been captured) in order to challenge the Chaos Beast. Not a bad idea. I could see the eighteen types somehow being referenced in its design. You could totally turn that idea into a creature all its own, perhaps something similar to D&D's Beholder. The theme of five is meant to reference 5 being the number of Chaos. As for its form, since it's, well, a chaotic Pokemon, its exact shape changes to match its current type. For example, as a Dragon-type, its form resembles a dragon with wings, legs, and a tail. As a Water-type, it could resemble a fish, starfish, or five-limbed cephalopod. As a Bug-type, it'd resemble a four-legged spider with one limb serving as the abdomen. I picture its body being made of an ethereal substance that suggests its physical form is unstable and ever-shifting. That said, I do want there to be recurring details between its forms, much like there are for Deoxys. Its eyes could be one such consistent detail. As for the Chaos Attack, that in itself changes form. A Fire-type Chaos Attack could resemble Flamethrower while an Electric-type CA could resemble Thunderbolt, as examples. Makes sense that a Pokemon whose form is ever changing would have a signature attack that's always different too, right? Just to play up the Chaos theme further, the power of the move could vary between 30, 60, 90, 120, and 150, which likewise could determine the form of the attack, or at least its intensity. A 30-power CA will look quite weak, on the level of something like Ember or Water Gun, while a 150-power CA is comparable to Blast Burn or Hydro Cannon. With 18 possible types as of now, that adds up to 90 possible different moves in one. As for other moves it could use: Cosmic Power Gravity Guard Swap Hidden Power Magic Room Metronome Nature Power Power Swap Power Trick Psycho Shift Speed Swap Topsy-Turvy Trick Room Wonder Room Various form-specific moves

Balan Wonderworld comes to mind. Once the game's issues came out, my brother and I lost all interest. Mighty No. 9 would belong here...if we hadn't backed the game and gotten a code for the PC version. Never played it.

I'm picturing something more original, like a creature with five eyes, five horns, and maybe five limbs. Though Hoopa would probably make sense in such a story. More on that below. Not without Medicham necessarily, just maybe a variant of Medicham with a different secondary type. There have to be some restrictions in order to help each realm feel as different and distinct as possible. The logic is that a type flourishes in its realm of dominance because there are no Pokemon of SE types to keep it in check. Normal and Ghost being the obvious exceptions here, of course. That was the general intention. My current story is that the portals to different dimensions have opened up because the Chaos legend has been released from its multi-dimensional prison, per the designs of the game's evil Team. That's an interesting idea, but why would there be one-way portals? See, that's where the Guardians come into play. Each Guardian - a legendary Pokemon - is tasked with protecting their realm from forces that threaten it, including the Chaos legend. Long ago, the Chaos Beast threatened the 18 realms, only to be torn into 18 pieces by the Guardians, each of whom hid a piece away in their respective domain. As long as those pieces remain separate, the Chaos Beast is unable to reform and thus cannot directly threaten the safety of the Realms. But, the Beast's parts are able to manifest a portion of its power, creating dimensional rifts between the Realms so that some unsuspecting soul might end up encountering its pieces and reunite them, unleashing it upon the Realms once more. The Guardians themselves are basically masters of their respective types, able to learn almost any move save for certain signature moves (mostly those belonging to other Legendary Pokemon). Though the player can catch them, they have the ability to return to their own dimension at any time, meaning that (in story) the player's "ownership" of them is not permanent. But so long as their home dimensions are safe, they will allow the player to keep them as companions for the time being. The current plan is that the Gym Leaders, or perhaps equivalents known as Specialists, are called in to help stop the chaos unfolding around the region. Their goal is to determine the cause of the rifts and to close them. To that end, they end up cooperating with the Guardians, who seek the same goal. That said, I could see there being sidequests involving the Realms. What about something that raises stats each turn you use a Fighting-type move? Kind of a Dragon Ball Z-influenced power up mechanic? The stats raised can vary based on the move used. Use Mach Punch, and you gain Speed. Use Counter, and you raise Defense. Use Aura Sphere, and you gain Special Attack. Use Karate Chop, and you gain Strength. And so on. I have more story for the whole dimensional rift plot as well. A scientist, perhaps an associate of the region's Pokemon Professor, used to conduct experiments regarding the rifts, and sadly lost a member of their family to such a rift years ago. The scientist has tried to find their lost loved one ever since, but they were discredited and defunded due to the dangerous nature of their experiments, forcing them to turn to the Team to continue their experiments. The Team of course seeks to harness the scientist's research for their own nefarious ends, which inevitably culminates in the Chaos Beast being reformed. As for the Chaos Beast itself, my idea is that each turn it gains a 20% chance to change its form and thus its type, resetting the percentage each time it does so. Thus, it's guaranteed to change within the next five turns after its previous change. It's Chaos Attack move changes type to match it, and has various effects based on which type it currently is.

Oh, you're right. Doy! Though that makes even less sense. Why is Fire specifically resistant to Fairies? Well, both would make sense. But I acknowledge that Ground and Rock already have a lot in common, what with them both being SE against Fire and SE by Grass and Water. Their interactions with Ice and Steel are completely opposite, though, which is a really cool parallel now that I think about it. That's the kind of parallelism I want Grass and Wood to have; they can share certain strengths and weaknesses, but be opposites to each other with certain other interactions. Like, Grass is strong against Rock, but maybe Wood is resisted by it? Grass is SE against Water, but Wood and Water could resist each other (though depending on who you ask, I guess one could argue a case for Wood being weak to Water? Seems kinda silly for a theoretical boat Pokemon to be weak to water, though). What if Rock also became resistant to Dragon? I mean, think about it: the two types Dragon has the most overlap with are Fire and Flying, both of which Rock resists. Steel resists Dragon, so why not Rock? Perhaps we should make a topic for discussing the type chart as is and possible alterations to it?

Could be the new big thing of the game. Interdimensional travel, with special cases for the Spirit, Cyber, and Dream Realms. Shoot, maybe the featured Legendaries are involved with the dimensional travel! Incidentally, I'd tie each of the Gym Leaders to the respective realm of their type. For example, the Electric Gym Leader could be a computer expert, and the Ghost Leader a medium who can channel the spirits of the dead. I like that idea! For the Battle Realm, there could be a sort of "battle aura" around the field that enhances Fighting-type moves. Something between terrain and weather effects conceptually. A "field effect", I guess you could say? Though the poor Normal-types don't get anything equivalent since their realm is the default one. I did mention that realms connected to the Normal Realm are exceptions to the rule; the Spirit Realm is where all people and Pokemon's spirits go upon their passing, which would include Dark-types (this suggests that the Spirit Realm is connected to the other seventeen). Likewise, Ground-types could have representation in the virtual world of the Cyber Realm, and Bug, Ghost, and Dark-types appear in the Dream Realm. Though you know, I just realized: if you catch a Pokemon in the Dream Realm, how the heck do you bring it back with you to the Normal Realm? Does the Pokemon just warp to your side after you catch it in a dream? Does it manifest in the real world? As much as I like Electric and Psychic getting more unique realms, it might be a good idea to make their realms more like the rest, with a physical real world presence, especially if those realms are their native home. That's an interesting case to consider. Steelix would probably be an apex predator on a world ruled by Steel-types. I guess SE types can appear but only on Pokemon who are also of the realm's dominant type? Though the absence of SE types is also supposed to be a contributing factor to particular types becoming dominant in these realms. Perhaps there can be dimensional variants similar to regional variants, with Metal Realm Steelix being pure Steel or Rock/Steel? Metal Realm Onix could also be Rock/Steel. Is...is that last one a Spyro reference? I like the sound of "Dragon Realm" and "Fairy Realm", but if they had to be different, I'd probably choose "Draconic Realm" and "Fae Realm". For Normal, maybe "Home Realm", since the humans would be naming these realms and the Normal Realm is home to them? What if each realm had a legendary that serves as that realm's guardian? In addition, there is a Chaos legendary that's responsible for opening portals between the dimensions. In battle, the Chaos legend changes its type every turn, and its signature attack matches whichever type it currently is. However, there exist items that can be used to force the Chaos legend to remain a particular type (similar to Arceus' Plates). The eighteen realm guardians work together to keep the Chaos legend in check.

You know how some RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons have "planes" that are dominated by a particular elemental force or other concept? What if a future Pokemon game introduced different dimensions or realms for each type, where the laws of reality are altered to suit the type dominant to that realm? For example: Normal - Normal Realm, the default realm in which humans live Fighting - Battle Realm, a warrior's paradise where one can tap into their inner strength and hone their skills Flying - Sky Realm, a vast sea of clouds and floating islands Ground - Subterra Realm, an underground world Rock - Lithic Realm, a land of deserts and mountains populated by beings made of stone Bug - Hive Realm, a world overrun with insects and other bugs Poison - Toxic Realm, a wasteland where the very water and air are poisonous and acidic Ghost - Spirit Realm, where spirits go after their living bodies pass away Steel - Metal Realm, a land where everything is made of metal including most of the inhabitants Fire - Inferno Realm, a fiery, volcanic world Grass - Forest Realm, a lush world filled with plants and wildlife Water - Sea Realm, an underwater world full of marine life Electric - Cyber Realm, a virtual world created by technology Psychic - Dream Realm, a place where minds connect with one another while their bodies rest Ice - Frost Realm, a land of perpetual cold Dragon - Dragon Realm, a world ruled by dragons Dark - Nether Realm, a dark world where survival is the order of the day Fairy - Fairy Realm, a surreal yet fantastic otherworld Some of these realms are directly connected to the Normal Realm (Spirit, Cyber, Dream) where most of the games take place, while others are more akin to alternate realities. Each one does have more than one type in it, but with the exception of the Normal Realm and those directly connected to it, none of the realms have types that are supereffective against their dominant type. For example, the Metal Realm has no Fighting, Ground, or Fire types in it. You might see the odd Water or Electric-type, but Steel-types are far and away the most common. Conversely, these realms also have very few if any Pokemon of types weak to the dominant type; you won't find many Rock, Ice, or Fairy-types in the Metal Realm, for instance, unless they happen to be part-Steel themselves or are another type resistant to Steel. It could be hinted that many of these realms are the actual native home dimensions of many Pokemon species, members of whom found their way into the Normal Realm long ago.

Bug being weak to Electric, I could actually get behind. Bug lamps are a thing, after all. But if that requires Electric getting another weakness to balance it out, how about Rock? And Fairies resisting Bugs isn't even that resonant, either. Same for Fairy resisting Fire. Neither of those makes me go "Ah, that makes sense." They just leave me scratching my head.

I also know that many companies have policies expressly forbidding their employees from looking at fan sites where unsolicited content may be posted (Wizards of the Coast being one example), precisely so they can reasonably claim incidental convergence. Many years ago, SEGA got caught having accidentally included fan art in one of their games and had to remove it to avoid copyright infringement. It was fan art of Sonia from Sonic Underground, which an employee had apparently mistaken for art of Amy Rose. The thing with fanmade content is, neither you nor the company are allowed to use it for financial gain unless both parties agree. The IP owner can issue a C&D to stop you from making fan content, but they in turn can't use anything you create unless you agreed to license it to them or the rights were transferred to them as part of the agreement (see the Ken Penders mess with Archie comics). The company owns the IP, but you own the individual work you created. I'd argue the case with carnivorous plants is moreso the acids they use to digest the insects (ergo Poison) than plant-based matter itself. Power lines are insulated, keeping the birds from being shocked. The birds are not themselves resistant to electricity. So, what was the purpose of Fairy resisting Bug? Not like Bug needed to be nerfed or anything. Not like certain Starters don't end up being favored anyway. :P They could reinforce the cycle by giving the Water-type (in this case, Greninja) a Poison type to beat Delphox's Fairy type, though that would mess with the double trio they had going on before (Fighting > Dark > Psychic > Fighting). I mean, sure, Chesnaught could still have been Fighting, but then its second type wouldn't beat Greninja's. Plus Greninja as a Poison type would no longer be weak to Grass. So, maybe a Water/Steel type would have been a better choice...oh wait, Delphox wouldn't have been weak to that because it's part Fire-type. Well, I guess now I see why Delphox wasn't part Fairy, though they weren't so concerned about the secondary type cycle in Gen IV. Not to mention possible regional variants with the Wood type like SP1M's suggestion of Ducklett and Swanna as Wood/Water "wooden mallards" and "swan boats". I used to think a Pokemon based on tiki torches could be Grass/Fire, but now Wood/Fire seems more apt. Though since Wood is less likely to become a type than Light, we might still see a Grass/Fire tiki for the time being. I'm amazed they didn't do that for Alola, honestly.

Once I have the notoriety to get an interview with them, I just might. Though I'm not really the journalist type. More likely I'd gain the information while collabing with them on a project. Would that necessarily be a bad thing? Now that you mention it, I am intrigued by the thought of what new types they could have added in Gens III, IV, V, VII, and VIII. Light could have been a good one for Sun and Moon since both are luminaries and Necrozma is themed on light as a scientific phenomenon. But honestly, new types are so exciting that it's not something I'd do every generation, in order to make it more exciting when new types do show up (and to keep from there being a mandatory new type or two every generation to avoid complexity creep; see, I care about this stuff too!). I do believe however that if a new type does show up, they should show it off with one of the Starters. Gen II missed a big opportunity to work Dark and Steel into the starter lineup, as did Gen VI with Fairy (why wasn't Delphox Fire/Fairy type instead of Fire/Psychic?). That being said, in whatever generation I'd introduce my types, I'd make sure one of the Starters has it by their third stage. For example, my Wood-type would probably be coupled with the Grass starter, making it a Grass/Wood type (ouch, double Bug and Fire weaknesses). My Beast type, created for my Greece-inspired Theos region, would probably be paired with Grass or Fire. My Light type would probably be paired with the Fire starter. Mage could be any one of them. But the laws of copyright would mean that they aren't allowed to use things I came up with unless they have my permission to do so. On the other hand, they do have ways of gauging player interest; if enough players asked for a Wood-type, no doubt they'd hear those requests and look at implementing such a type. But the difference is that it's a whole vocal community of fans asking for such a thing, as opposed to just one guy. Incidentally, "Earth" was my proposed name for a Rock/Ground composite type. Of course, I haven't forgotten how that idea fared. Funny thing is, certain kinds of steel are in fact rustproof. So I get why Steel isn't weak to Water, per se. Neutral works fine there.