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felassanis · 5 years

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Everything I love about Assassin’s Creed

1. Ezio da la la la

2. If you idle for long enough in Odyssey Ikaros comes and lands on Alexios’s/Kassandra’s arm and then alexios/Kassandra will greet him.

3. Edward’s outfit is by far my favourite Assassin robe. It looks so fooking cool.

4. Alkibiades

5. The first mission in Assassin’s Creed III. Finding the temple and it coming alive with all the lights and the humming was so fucking cool and the theatre with Haytham was such a good way to start the game, I loved the environment that went with the theatre and the parkour was really good too, everything was good even though I had no idea why we were there in the first place lol.

6. SHAUN HASTINGS

7. Edward’s tattoos being the only reason why I go whaling in AC:Black flag

8. The dynamic between Jacob and Evie, I’ve always wanted a twin duo in a game and Jacob and Evie Frye were awesome and y’all keep sleeping on them.

9. The different colour schemes in Assassin’s Creed 2 for the different cities gave the locations their own feel and vibe and it differentiated them from each other while also ensuring that the landscapes were utterly gorgeous. For example, Venice had cooler colours, very blue and silver while Florence was warmer, with more orange and brown thrown into the mix. It really gave those maps their own identity and it was great.

10. All of Lineage. all of it, it was flipping fantastic and I know it’s not a game but it was brilliant and the other Assassin’s Creed movie will never top it despite Michael Fasbender being in it.

11. That cutscene in Black Flag where Blackbeard lights his beard on fire, I love that historical accuracy because it was very likely true and it’s so SO bad-fucking-ass

12. Alkibiades

13. How quickly I fell in love with Frederico Auditore despite the fella only having about 5 lines.

14. Also just how quickly I came to love the Auditore family, that was how well written they were, that I fell in love after 30 minutes with them.

15. LEONARDO DA VINCI

16. Desmond Miles’s snark.

17. ‘Hey whatta matta with you altair,’

18. SHAUN HASTINGS

19. How buffy Kassandra is

20. The hookblade was actually amazing in Revelations and I’m in full support that it shouldbe brought back. The noise it made was also oddly satisfying too?

21. The Glyphs in AC2 were spooky and ominous and I refused to do the last mission until I had found all of them and uncovered the Truth. Because that entire side quest was full of anticipation and the creepy vibe the Glyphs gave off and how the footage of Adam and Eve was cut up and glitchy was just really interesting and it peaked with a climax.

22. LEONARDO DA VINCI

23. The golden beads in Alexios’s hair.

24. And Alexios just being an overall gorgeous human being who’s face was chiselled by the gods.

25. The flying machine mission in AC2 while really aggravating if you didn’t do it the first time was also really fun and getting to see Leonardo all giddy and happy made it worth it.

26. I don’t know if it’s just me? but Connor’s hair? like I know for a fact that I like men with long hair but something about his hair and the feather intertwined into it was just really appealing? and while I know why Connor shaved his hair I couldn’t help but screech when he did lmao but that’s because it’s obviously not my tradition and it’s abnormal to me. pfft

27. Revelations is one of the best AC games and I’ll fight anyone on this. It was phenomenal given how it finally concluded Ezio’s story (and remember Ezio was the face of the franchise for years and he was fan favourite and still is so there were some pressure and expectations) and how it also concluded Altair’s story.

28. Altair wasn’t that interesting in the original game but Revelations added depth and layers to his characters and made him way more intriguing. The game also gave this character important significance to the lore and I think that’s the perfect way to honour the guy who started it all. As much as we love Ezio, Altair came before and without him, Assassin’s Creed wouldn’t quite be the way it was today. (although it’s up to you if that’s a bad thing or not lmao)

29. And seeing Ezio old and matured, becoming this wise legend of a man was really cool and getting to play as him in his final journey was both heartbreaking but satisfactory.

30. I have to give a massive applause to Ubisoft for making Leonardo gay as well in Brotherhood prominently. I don’t think it was ever proven historically if he was? but it was rumoured? and yet Ubisoft went and made it canon giving that representation while also having Ezio outright say he’s okay with Leonardo dating men?! Like, in that time period if you were gay you could go to prison and the general view of homosexuality was that of disgust and yet Ezio is just here supporting his best friend? hell yes.

31. ALKIBIADES

32. I have certain feelings with Unity, but I won’t lie that the parkour was spot on in that game.

33. Gideon Emery....just Gideon Emery as Reginald Birch. The character’s a massive prick but god...that voice.

34. Connor mentioning his grandfather Edward as he’s sailing the Aquila.

35. Getting to see the wreck of the Jackdaw in Assassin’s Creed Freedom Cry was gut-wrenching.

36. Finally getting to pet animals in ACIII.

37. Finally getting to feed pigs in a video game ^^

38. SHAUN HASTINGS

39. OKay, I like Shaun because the guy is really entertaining and he’s British like me and I need to see this fucker in future games again...because after Syndicate he just vanishes and we got...Fucking Layla ugh.

40. The Naval combat in Black Flag is unmatched, fighting other ships never felt like a chore and it was fun and thrilling and the rewards felt deserving. And the feeling of taking down your first Man’o War is RIVETING.

41. Rebecca calling the Animus ‘Baby’

42. She’s another character I want to see come back. And she and Shaun better come back and be alive.

43. Lucy being a Templar was a plot twist I never saw coming but I was all for that angst especially when it seemed like they were setting up what I thought was the inevitable Desmond x Lucy romance. But I guessed wrong.

44. Yusuf Tazim being the joy and light of Revelations. fuck you Ubisoft

45. Ezio’s family theme song is the most iconic video game songs ever.

46. The introduction of Alkibiades in Odyssey, what a great way to introduce a character. like seriously, I fell in love with that fucker the moment he started speaking and felt up Kassandra’s arms while being half naked and wasted.

47. Bayek being a breath of fresh air in wonderfully written complex characters whose story was powerful and tragic. He needs a sequel.

48. Assassins Creed Brotherhood’s trailer being iconic.

49. When returning to Florence to retrieve the apple and you bring Ezio back to his old home only to see the ghosts of his entire family waiting for him. I was gobsmacked when that happened and it’s such a beautiful detail.

50. Mary Read/James Kidd being one of the best characters in Black Flag and leader in the ‘did not deserve it’ club. Every minute of her was flipping terrific and her significance in Edward’s story as one of the driving points that turned him into a better man was great.

51. I cried at the end of Black Flag.

52. The little text about Shaun sobbing when you look at the database on Desmond the dog in Syndicate.

53. The lip scar being shared between Desmond, Ezio and Altair was a cool detail.

54. The interchangeable cloaks in ACII.

55. Henry Green was so soft, kind and lovely and I honestly adore him.

56. Cane swords in Syndicate WERE AWESOME

57. NO fall damage in Odyssey. Keep this feature I don’t care how impossible it is for me to survive a jump off of a giant statue of a naked god it’s cool and I want it for every other game about to be released.

58. If you walk through grass in Origins Bayek sticks his hand out like that scene in Gladiator.

59. The scene in ACII Where Ezio uncovers his father’s robes from the chest and holds it up, It’s an incredible scene and the music fits so well with it and if you’ve watched Lineage it’s all the more amazing.

60. Rosa being pretty and terrifying in ACII.

61. The Bleeding effect being that other thing in lore that is SO BLOODY INTRIGUING and I wish it was explored a bit more. Can you actually imagine having the bleeding effect? where you can’t tell the past and the present apart? where you see ghosts from the past and hear voices no one else hears? jesus,..

62. getting answers about Clay/Subject 16. Ever since he left that writing in the wall with his own blood I was hooked on his story and thank god we got answers and a face to the legendary name. I wouldn’t mind more of him though.

63. I’ve always been fascinated with Native Americans and finally getting to explore them a bit more in ACIII proved to be interesting and I hope it was satisfactory representation for Native Americans.

64. finally getting to play in the present day in assassin’s creed brotherhood and 3, like actually getting to run around and explore as Desmond.

(I did a post like this on my old blog and I’ve rewrote them on here but I also got some new things, I just like having a post like this on my blog and I like seeing people who also agree with these brilliant features in this franchise, you can pretty much tell which two games are my favourite lol, Black Flag and 2 will always have a special place in my heart,)

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pokemaniacal · 7 years

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Rowlet, Dartrix and Decidueye

Bloody hell, if I don’t hurry this up they’re going to announce another damn generation before I’m done with this one; we’re already expecting whatever this bull$#!t is supposed to be and I’ve got eighty whole Pokémon to evaluate in the next couple of months, as well as talking about Team Skull and the Aether Foundation, and Hau, and maybe Lillie too, and whoever I decide counts as the Champion, not to mention answering the neverending tide of ridiculous banal questions that keep pouring out of my goddamn inbox (obviously, gentle reader, I’m not talking about any questions you might have submitted, which are of course consistently insightful and thought provoking; it’s all those other bastards that are the problem).

I’M FINE

Let’s talk about Rowlet.

If you pay any attention whatsoever to this blog for any length of time, one of the first things you discover is that I like Grass-types. The Grass-type has been my go-to starter for my first playthrough (and most subsequent playthroughs) of every generation since the first. Rowlet’s fate was bound to mine by destiny long before I ever laid eyes on him. And I’m basically okay with this. Rowlet isn’t really in contention to unseat Bulbasaur and Turtwig as my favourite starter Pokémon, but he’s fine. He’s easy and fun to use in a playthrough, we’ve never had a birdlike Grass-type before, it doesn’t hurt that he’s just objectively adorable, and in abandoning his Flying-type Decidueye becomes the very first Ghost-type starter Pokémon ever, which is neat. Rowlet and Dartrix are clearly barn owls, with the barn owl’s distinctive pale heart-shaped face, whereas Decidueye is maybe more of a hawk owl, although I wouldn’t read too much into that. Comparisons to Hoothoot and Noctowl, who seem to be horned owls, are in order, as one of my usual criteria for evaluating new Pokémon is “is this actually new?” and I think the answer there is… probably??? Part of the problem there is that Hoothoot actually has a much more clearly-defined and interesting “personality” than Noctowl, with his heavily stylised cuckoo-clock aesthetic and metronome-like rocking from side to side (actually though, as long as we’re here, why doesn’t Hoothoot get Metronome? I mean, I get that Metronome was still super-exclusive when Hoothoot was introduced, but they gave it to Snubbull and Chansey as an egg move). Noctowl is kinda just a big owl that does owl things. Rowlet, Dartrix and Decidueye are a bit deeper than that, which I generally tend to think is good. Decidueye’s arrows and archery are an odd touch, but as with Talonflame, you can link birds and arrows conceptually via feathered fletching, so that makes sense. What might not immediately makes sense to some of us is the switch from Flying to Ghost when Dartrix evolves, and this gives me an excuse to begin one of my patented Bull$#!t Lore Digressions™, so let’s learn some more about owls.

Owls are associated with the spirit world in several different and unrelated cultures, and there are some pretty good reasons for this. Owls are night hunters, but more than that, they’re silent hunters – owls’ feathers are softer and smoother-edged than those of other birds, so the flapping of their wings is much more difficult to hear, giving them a ghostly, ethereal quality. Also, like many nocturnal animals, their eyes reflect light and seem to glow in the dark in a disconcertingly eerie manner. Not for nothing are owls omens of death in sub-Saharan Africa, of sickness and bad luck in the native cultures of the American southwest, or of catastrophe in ancient Rome. In ancient Greece, of course – mainly in Athens – owls had a more ambivalent role as the sacred birds of Athena and symbols of wisdom (an association that persists today and gives us Noctowl’s famous intellect and minor psychic abilities). Even there, though, the sinister scops owl was seen as a creature of the underworld, and the owl’s reputation for knowledge subsequently made it the familiar of witches and warlocks in mediaeval Europe. In New Zealand, where I come from, the small brown hawk owl known as the morepork or ruru is believed to be an oracle of the future in Maori culture, its different cries portending either good fortune or disaster. Finally, and perhaps most relevant for us today, on several of the islands of Hawai’i a species of short-eared owl called a pueo is one of the more common shapes known to be taken by ’aumākua, the spirits of a family’s honoured ancestors, who return to serve as guardians and as a link to the spirit world (sharks, lizards and turtles are also common; families must show respect and deference to all animals of a similar form to their ’aumākua). An owl Pokémon thus becomes an intermediary between this world and the next, a sort of warrior-shaman that protects its trainer from spiritual threats using powers of its own that are more than a little dark and sinister (we see a similar theme with Hoothoot in the anime, where he has the unique power to force hidden Ghost-types to reveal themselves with Foresight).

This “mystic guardian” aesthetic is conspicuously undercut by what Rowlet and Dartrix seem to be doing, because they have more of a “dapper gentleman” style in play – consider the Pokédex line that describes Dartrix as “a bit of a dandy” obsessed with keeping his wings groomed, or their leafy bow-ties (in Decidueye, that evolves into something more like a brooch or the clasp of a cloak, which has a more mediaeval-fantasy feel to it). It feels like a very odd fit for the direction that Decidueye moves in. If you had just given me Rowlet and Dartrix, and told me to come up with ideas for a final evolution, I might, after substantial umm-and-ahh-ing, have pitched a kind of James-Bond-esque super-spy-in-a-tuxedo concept. That seems like a more natural continuation, but easily could have turned out looking rather stupid without some very clever way of unifying the design elements (and if there’s anything this blog should teach us, it’s that I’m not quite that clever). The self-important “dandy” aesthetic, after a bit of thought, is oddly reminiscent to me of the vain, professorial Owl from Winnie-the-Pooh, genuinely wise (…relatively speaking) but perhaps just as much concerned with the appearance of wisdom as with wisdom itself, and eager to look the part of the sober, intellectual scholar of the arcane. Decidueye’s own description from the Pokédex tells us that this wise Pokémon is nonetheless easily startled and flustered (try slapping him awake in PokéRefresh and you’ll see what they’re getting at). It’s still incongruous with Decidueye as mystic archer and night hunter, but it is at least giving me a common aesthetic thread to follow through all three evolutionary stages, something that’s quite important for a starter Pokémon to maintain. Which is enough for the purposes of this review, I think.

Stats-wise, Decidueye seems to be built as a mixed attacker, with strong offensive skills, but isn’t very fast. That doesn’t bode particularly well, since he can’t really afford to not max his speed in training, leaving less to split between attack and special attack. There’s a passable physical movepool here, which includes Leaf Blade, Brave Bird, Sucker Punch, U-Turn, and… I guess Steel Wing if, like, you really hate Alolan Ninetales or something? There’s also Decidueye’s signature move, Spirit Shackle, which has several advantages. It’s a reliable Ghost-type physical attack, which a) is a rare sort of attack for anyone to have access to, and b) is something Decidueye clearly needs, c) it traps its target in play with Decidueye (unless the target is a Normal-type or Ghost-type, or has some escape mechanism), limiting your opponent’s options, and d) it fires a spiritual arrow that nails the target’s soul to the ground, which is super badass. This move is easily Decidueye’s biggest edge; you want to use him to set up critical moments where you can switch and your opponent can’t, then pressure their weak points with one of Decidueye’s teammates, or try to Swords Dance while they’re off balance. Leaf Blade and Spirit Shackle are actually a pretty solid combination; neither Grass nor Ghost gets a lot of super-effective hits, but Ghost has strong neutral coverage, so basically you’re resisted by all the Normal/Flying birds and a bunch of Dark dual-types. Sucker Punch is mostly redundant with Spirit Shackle in terms of type coverage, but it’s also Decidueye’s only priority move, and he’s fairly slow and doesn’t have any speed buffs, so at least considering it is sort of obligatory (just remember that it only works on targets preparing a direct attack, so be careful using it against support Pokémon). U-Turn is just generally a good move, because the free switch-out gives you a lot of flexibility in responding to your opponent’s actions (and especially switches), and it covers your ass against Dark-types, whom Decidueye tends to have trouble with. Trapping something with Spirit Shackle and then bouncing out with U-Turn is a decent little combo, if you like that sort of thing. Brave Bird adds a bit more of a sting than Decidueye’s other options, but lacks their utility. Some combination of four of these, or three plus Swords Dance, should probably be the default go-to. Decidueye’s kit lends itself to switching in and out a lot, and he doesn’t really have the speed to try and sweep a significant chunk of an enemy team, so I’d be more inclined to slap a Choice item on him than bank on Swords Dance, but to each their own.

Decidueye’s special attack stat is pretty solid, so in theory you can use that to mix things up a bit. Unfortunately, basically his only worthwhile special attacks are Shadow Ball and Energy Ball/Grass Knot, and if you cut Spirit Shackle for Shadow Ball then you’ve sort of forsaken one of the most compelling reasons to use Decidueye in the first place. That’s not quite the end of the story; you might be gunning specifically for some big chunky physical tank with a Grass weakness like Hippowdon, who gets stung much harder by Grass Knot than by Leaf Blade even with minimal special attack training on Decidueye’s part. Also, most human opponents are going to assume Decidueye is a physical attacker, so if you can grab him a free turn to set up with Nasty Plot (which he also learns), you might just be able to catch someone with their pants down. I’m not sure this is particularly a good plan, and again I’m not encouraged by the fact that he essentially has no third special attack, but the possibility theoretically exists. Decidueye does have a support movepool of sorts, but you can probably find better Pokémon for any conceivable support role he might try to fill. Like, Baton Pass is there as an egg move (via Togetic or Oricorio), and again, Decidueye does get both Swords Dance and Nasty Plot, so he has perfectly sound options for using it, but he just looks so unlike my idea of what a Baton Passer ought to be (poor speed, average defences) that my mind sort of recoils from the notion. Alternatively you could try to ply Roost and Light Screen with some HP training into some kind of weird tanky Decidueye – give up trying to outrun things, since he’s slow anyway, and focus on your defences. Just don’t tell anyone it was my idea.

As well as a signature move, Decidueye has a unique ability; it’s his hidden ability and isn’t currently obtainable, but I think we’ll probably get it eventually, so we ought to talk about it before we finish up. This ability is Long Reach, which lets Decidueye treat his “contact” attacks as ranged instead, bypassing enemy effects like Static, Rough Skin, Beak Blast’s retributive burn, and so on. This… ehhh, I’m not really sure what this is for. I mean, I understand conceptually why Decidueye has this: he’s an archer, so he should be able to make what would normally be close-range attacks from a distance. But that aspect of the design is already expressed by his signature move, and by the fact that he can use ranged special attacks effectively. Most contact effects aren’t that big a deal, most Pokémon that get them have better abilities to choose from, and even when they’re likely to turn up, Decidueye would often prefer Spirit Shackle to Leaf Blade anyway. I think Long Reach would probably give Decidueye an extra edge against… Wigglytuff, Electrode, Parasect, Bewear, Stunfisk, and (lord help us) Delcatty. Being able to one-shot Bewear with Brave Bird after a Swords Dance is not nothing, but I suspect the more general Grass-type damage bonus from Overgrow would probably still be more useful, even once Long Reach becomes available.

So, all in all, this is a decent start to generation VII. Rowlet, Dartrix and Decidueye are nothing amazing; they have a couple of conflicting ideas in their design, and other than Spirit Shackle there’s not a whole lot to be impressed by in their skillset. They’re still interesting, though; as fighters they are at the very least passable, with an interesting niche courtesy of that neat little signature move, and I cannot stress enough that pinning a foe in place by the shadow is a very cool gimmick. I got my cool new Grass-type starter, all is right with the world, and I can now review the rest of the seventh generation joyfully and optimistically, without a hint of malice or discontent in my heart.

…well, I mean, I can try, anyway.

#pokemon #alola #alola pokedex #rowlet #dartrix #decidueye #grasstypes #ghosttypes #flyingtypes #starters

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minhthangcoi9993-blog · 6 years

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Review Game Darksiders 3

With a new Darksiders game comes a new protagonist, and this time around, it’s the whip-wielding mage, Fury. She was introduced in the original Darksiders as one of the franchise’s four horsemen - the anti-heroes of the apocalypse - with a unique spin on that apocalyptic lore. I don’t know what a horseman named ‘Famine’ (as in the actual bible) would be like, but Fury and her remaining brother Strife sound a little more fun.

Aside from her name and very distinct, billowy red hair, the only other thing we’ve known about Fury for a while is that she wields a whip, and it seems like it’s as much a part of her identity as War’s sword, Chaoseater, was to War. There’s mystery surrounding it, though - the whip largely sits at Fury’s side as just a handle, and it seems as though the actual weapon is summoned as some kind of magical ability. Fury controls the strike rate and the length, but the developers at Gunfire Games didn’t want to tread into spoiler territory by telling me exactly how. Darksiders 3 definitely will have RPG elements like upgrades, though, and I’m willing to bet some of those apply to new movesets with the whip, and maybe some secondary weapons, too.

In combat, Fury is significantly faster than War, but slower than Death. The core moveset has her feeling a little like Catwoman in the Batman: Arkham games, with her dodge abilities looking more like graceful cartwheels than aggressive strafes, and there’s a lot of flippy verticality involved in her attacks. It was easy for me to pick up Fury’s combos and the whip itself does feel like it has a sharp impact - it’s not overly floaty, and despite being fast, I still felt like I had to be cautious and particular when faced with multiple enemies.There actually are less enemies on screen than there were in Darksiders 2, since Fury can’t take on as many as Death could at once, and, being a World-of-Warcraft-inspired mage, she is a little squishy. Gunfire Games told me that Darksiders 3 is set to be harder than the previous games in individual combat instances, though not necessarily harder overall. Plenty of aspects of Fury, and the horsemen who came before her, were inspired by MMOs, but this one specifically has combat animations inspired by the Dark Souls series.

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Personality-wise, Fury is confident, driven, and loyal. She’s sent to Earth to track down the studio's take on the Seven Deadly Sins - a menacing bunch of bosses that originally took all four horsemen to take down, before they managed to break free. With Death dealing with the events of Darksiders 2 and War chained up, Fury has to take down all seven of them completely on her own, and she seems eager for the challenge, with one of her driving traits being that she wants the horsemen to be well-respected, and renowned. Unlike War, Fury is fully loyal to the Charred Council - the entity who maintain balance and order in the Darksiders universe. In that, it’s hard to picture her getting along with War and Death successfully enough to accomplish the things that they have (and those two won’t be in Darksiders 3, so we can’t see them interact, unfortunately), so I'm interested to see how her personality ends up fitting in.

One thing I do know, and find oddly interesting, is that Fury’s hair almost acts as a character itself. When she’s idle it naturally flares up around her face, but that intensifies in combat, like a dog with its hackles up. Supposedly - though I didn’t get to see it in action - it changes even more as you unlock her magic abilities, with her hair turning into flames if you use a fire-based magic ability, and so on. It was one of the hardest things for the team to figure out, since it has to be programmed both to respond to physics (like trailing above her if she falls) and to reflect her personality. Long hair in videogames is incredibly hard to get right as it is, and Fury’s is on a whole other level.

It’s also just a cool extension of Fury’s original concept designs, drawn by Joe “Mad” Madureira, who also actually personally re-designed Fury for Darksiders 3. He further developed the original designs and helped the team map out her proportions, though he isn’t working on the full game. Fury’s armor has a whole lot in common with War’s - they share some of the same skulls and designs, and as such, I think they’d look pretty fitting standing next to each other in a family photo, if that ever happens.

Overall, I’m interested in Fury, but not entirely sold on her, and considering everything I’ve seen of Darksiders 3 is still pre-alpha, I feel like that’s a pretty safe place to be. Gunfire Games told IGN, “we hope Fury inspires our fans” and mentioned being excited by the idea of Fury cosplays emerging into the world, which I’m pretty excited to see, too. Darksiders 3 is our IGN First this month, and if you haven't already seen it, check out our video about how on Earth Darksiders survived losing a studio, and a publisher.

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tigerlover16-analysis · 6 years

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Dragon Ball Super: Episodes 9 and 10 Double Review

Okay, so excuse time again. I tried to get around to writing the episode 9 review the other week, but... honestly, i just kept drawing a blank. Like, i knew what I generally wanted to say about the episode, but it was both hard to put into words and in general I really didn't feel like I had much at all to talk about. So, long story short, I decided to do a double feature this week reviewing both episode 9 and 10 in unison. I might do this again if other episodes call for it, but I won't say anything for sure until it comes to that.

I also wanted to have it out earlier this week, but... well, I don't feel like oversharing stuff about my personal life with strangers or casual friends on the internet, but basically... life stinks. It really stinks, and things haven't been going well at all for me lately and it's sucked away most of my motivation to do anything whenever I'm not wrapped up in something.

I'm probably going to be taking a break from this site as a result, so don't except another review this week I'm afraid. I'm going to try not to let this become a recurring thing, but... honestly, I just don't feel up to it right now. I SHOULD have gotten this review done sooner though, I should have done better than letting it stall like this, and I apologize for that.

So, without further ado, let's talk about epiosde 9 first.

So, this episode opens directly where the last episode left off, with Goku using the Dragon Balls to summon Shenron to finally get an answer about the mysterious super saiyan God. After Shenron explains that such a form can be attained via a ritual involving five good hearted saiyans transferring their energy into another saiyan, everyone decides to try it out with Goku in a last effort to combat Lord Beerus. Following an initial failed attempt where the group realizes that they're one saiyan short of pulling off the ritual, we get a convenient revelation that Videl is pregnant with her and Gohan's child, and through pure plot convenience magic Videl is able to channel the unborn baby's energy to complete the ritual. And thus, the episode ends with Goku assending to Godhood.

Yeah, basically this is an entire episode built around a transformation. I'd make a joke about that, but honestly it's not as bad as it sounds. If anything, this episode is probably the most average of the whole arc... and also one of the most scant in terms of content worth talking about.

Writing wise it's mostly just... meh. There's not a lot bad here, but I feel like a lot of the dialogue is a downgrade from the movie. A lot of the jokes aren't as good, the Pilaf Gang get another pointless moment. I like Gohan and everyone's reaction to Videl's pregnancy a little better here, animation aside, though I also have to complain that it comes across a lot more contrived and out of nowhere compared to the movie where we did have a moment setting her pregnancy up at an earlier point.

I could go into detail about things, but... honestly it would really just feel like I'm nitpicking. The writing in of itself is perfectly serviceable for the most part and it's an alright experience to watch, and it's paced decently enough as part of the wider story. As a single episode of a weekly series though the rather slim amount of story content might be a bit frustrating to a lot of people.

Really, there's not a lot to talk about in regards to story content... it's more the technical side of things and the ritual itself that are worth talking about, including the Super Saiyan God form itself.

Now in the movie, the super saiyan God ritual was pretty brief and as far as transformations go, not all that grand or impressive. Here in Super though? I gotta give them credit, they really didn't skimp out on making this feel like the birth of a God.

As the ritual begins to take effect and the other saiyans energy is transferred into Goku (With some nice shiny auras that I really like the look of personally), we get a lot of cool effects work. The sea turning gold and whirlpools forming. Shimmering golden clouds forming in the sky and swirling around to form a circular wall around the cruiser, the weather rapidly cycling between rain and hail. Reality feels like it's warping all over the place, with the sun and moon rapidly flying across the sky as though days are going by in a matter of seconds.

It's ridiculously over the top in a way that feels really cool and grand, and really sells the idea that we're seeing the birth of a God. Goku being enveloped in a glorious red light for a while afterwards is a really nice touch too, it adds a nice little bit of suspense and anticipation.

And topping it off, all of this is accompanied by some of the best music tracks in the whole series, two songs called Compromise and Birth of a God playing one after the other. I can't sell enough how perfectly fitting they are for this scene, the instumentals sound so much like a heavenly choir. In conjunction with the visuals, these tracks imbue this whole sequence with a sense of majesty that I really can't do justice with mere words, if by any chance you haven't watched the show yet i really suggest you watch this scene yourself. It's just such a pleasant experience.

The Super Saiyan God form has been built up for almost the entire arc until now, and I'm happy to say the transformation sequence was worth the wait in this version. While most of the episode I feel was a bit of a step down from the movie in terms of writing, the God ritual itself was VASTLY better in Super and I'll give Toei props for that.

I just really wish the rest of the episode held up in terms of visuals. Because even if the effects work was pretty nice for the most part in the ritual scene during the second half, the art for most of the episode otherwise was... mediocre at best with a few iffy shots, and the movement was pretty limited. There's also this one sequence where Gohan is reacting to Videl's pregnancy announcement I mentioned earlier... his movements as he's jumping are really awkward, as is Mr Satan cutting in to punch him aside. And Videl's lack of reaction as he does this, while kind of unintentionally hilarious, is blatant corner cutting.

I could go on. It's clear most of the animators time and focus was on the ritual, because otherwise this is one of the least interestingly animated episodes of the arc outside of that. The direction is pretty mediocre too.

So, yeah... it's a real mixed bag. Again, I wouldn't say there was anything exceptionally awful about this episode, but it's a very mediocre one on the whole where the good and bad just about balance each other out. I do wish more attention was given to smaller moments like Videl's announcement, but as an episode built around a transformation... it could be a lot better, but it could be worse too. At the very least, it sets us up for the big climactic fight just fine, and that's all it really needed to accomplish, so it's mostly okay.

I guess I should talk about the Super Saiyan God form itself aswell. It's a form that's gotten... rather mixed reactions from fans, being mostly just Goku looking like his regular self, but with red hair and eyes, a slimmer build, and a fiery aura when he powers up. Some people like it for how it fits into Toriyama's tendecy for simplistic transformations for the saiyan characters, while others deride the form for said simplicity making it look rather basic and unimpressive, especially when you compare it to the fan favourite super saiyan 4 transformation (Which, even as someone who notoriously can't stand GT, that's my favourite SSJ form too I'll admit), which had a much more unique and more detailed look to it that stood out from the other forms.

And... yeah, i get people feeling that way... but personally I'm in the former camp. I can't fully describe why, but there's just something oddly charming about the red hair colour that really works on Goku. I always like how Toriyama goes for making characters or transformations that are really powerful and intimidating look unassumingly non-threatening or simplistic, and the God form fits so well into that trend.

And yeah, that aura... we don't see it here, it's something that comes up more in the next few episodes and in the forms future appearances, but the God forms aura is my favourite aura effect in the franchise next to the one for Ultra Instinct (More on that in later reviews). It looks like a living flame burning around Goku's body, and that's an interesting choice that both conveys a sense of power and just looks really cool and adds a bit of mystique to the form.

It may not look like much at first glance and seem a bit too plain for a proclaimed godly transformation, but personally I really enjoy it. It's probably up there as one of my favourite super saiyan forms.

Maybe not everyone is going to appreciate it and I can see why, but I can't complain.

Well okay, I can complain about how the show really skimped out on explaining the lore about the form and it's connection to an ancient super saiyan who started a rebellion against the corrupt saiyan regime. Here Shenron just explains that the instructions on how to transform a saiyan into a super saiyan God were written into something called the Namekian book of legends.

I have no idea why the show glossed over these details. Maybe Toriyama thought he might go into more detail in the story behind it at a later point (Like the upcoming movie, maybe?) so the writer didn't want to go into it too much in this version, but really it just felt like a lazy choice to me.

If you want to know my thoughts on Yamoshi himself and the lore behind the super saiyan god... meh. It's as decent an explanation as any, I guess.

Honestly I have no strong feelings about the whole mythos behind it either way. Maybe you could do an interesting side story about it somewhere.

But anyway, yeah, that's pretty much all I have to say. It's a mediocre episode that doesn't have anything much to offer aside from a pretty decent transformation scene and a serviceable new form, and it mostly just serves to move the plot along and get us all ready to enter the arc's climactic battle. And in that regard it's... somewhat serviceable, though could be a LOT better. But that said, it's not a painful experience if you're binge watching.

I'll give it a C- to be generous, definitely no higher than that.

If it feels like I'm skimping over a lot here and this portion of the review is structured poorly... well, then you see why I held off on talking about this episode. I just had no idea how to put my thoughts into words here and structure it into a review. And I had even more trouble with the next part for episode 10.

Oh yeah, let's talk about episode 10 then. the first episode of the big Goku vs Beerus fight! It's all been leading to this. Dragon Ball's biggest draw for years has been it's epic action and fights, and as the climax of the first arc of the new series, this may very well be one of the most crucial battles in the series to nail. God vs God, the most iconic hero in anime against the most powerful being in the known universe. And how does this great battle start out?!

... It's alright.

Yeah, honestly if the previous episode was sparse for content, then THIS episode definitely has the least amount of content really worth talking about out of the entire arc. Everything about it can basically be summed up as "Eh, it's okay for what it is". We get a few moments of very basic action between Goku and Beerus, punctuated throughout with other characters reactions to the situation and a few exchanges between Goku and Beerus as the former tries to get used to his newfound God powers.

If you were hoping for the first phase of the big fight with a bang... you'll probably be mildly disappointed. It's not bad, don't get me wrong, but it's mostly just serviceable.

The animation is pretty decent, we're still a long way above episode 5 at least, though while the initial scuffle between Goku and Beerus nearing the end of the first half was pretty nice a lot of the coreography does feel basic and a bit stiff in a few places. Though hey, at least the hits feel like they have impact, a lot of the fights in this series feel like they struggle to convey weight to attacks.

I suppose the kamehameha and the water effects look pretty good too (Although I have to ask... why is it in this arc that the kamehameha often looks like Goku firing off a ball of energy rather than a beam? That's not a complaint, it's just an odd choice that only seems to happen a few times early on in Super, and I don't get it).

Overall though, there isn't actually a ton of action here, with the episode featuring a lot of cut away moments with the other characters or Goku and Beerus stopping to banter between hits... so, basically it's a Dragon Ball fight :P

Okay, jokes aside it's not really that bad for a warm up episode. The pacing is a bit slow and the action that is here isn't mind blowing, but the point of the episode was mostly Goku slowly getting a grip on his Godly power and showing he is now capable of holding his own against Beerus (Or at least he's getting there). It's not really meant to be anything mind blowing at this point, that's more the other episodes job. And for the most part nothing really feels pointless here other than maybe the Pilaf Gang scenes, par the course for this arc, though I do find it a bit sweet that Whis was sharing food with them.

The last scene of the episode in particular I really liked where Goku managed to hold Beerus in place to flick him on the forehead and karate chop his neck, like Beerus had done to him in their first fight. Apart from just being really amusing (Especially in the dub), it's a good way to highlight how Goku is now no longer at the mercy of Beerus's seemingly overwhelming power and might actually pose a genuine threat to the destroyer now. It's a good note to end the episode on I feel.

And... that's pretty much it. This really isn't one of those episodes where a lot actually happens, and one's enjoyment of it is probably going to depend largely on how tempered their expectations for this portion of the fight are. Part of me wants to call it out for how scant it is for actual action and story content... but honestly I can think of a number of episodes from DBZ like this, if not more padded with pointless exchanges in some cases, so for this particular franchise it just feels a bit par for the course.

At the very least it serves as a serviceable lead in to a more exciting episode, so while it might not offer much if you're watching the show on a weekly basis, in context of the arc as a whole... it's fine. I would have wanted more from it, but considering Super's production at this point I'm just grateful we didn't see another full on meltdown (No, they waited next arc for that).

I'll give this one a C

I think you can see why I decided to review these episodes together though, they're kind of hard to talk about as episodes unto themselves, particularly episode 10, since they're mostly designed to function in unison with each other, which is something to be expected now and then with serialized shows of this nature.

I apologize for the delay regardless though, and to be honest I'll probably be late with the next one since I think I'll be taking a break from social media for a few days. I feel bad about all of this inconvenience (Though it hardly feels like anyone cares about these reviews anyway), but like I said earlier this isn't a particularly good time for me and I'd rather get my personal life and mental state sorted out so that I can actually feel enthusiastic about this analysis blog again. Everyone have a good day.

#dragon ball super #dbs #dbs reviews #dragon ball super episode 9 #dragon ball super episode 10 #dragon ball super review

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