Text And Screencap Only Nuzlocke?…Yeah, This IS Happening lol

So, you’re probably wondering where that Let’s Play of Pokémon FireRed that I was planning to do for the 20th Anniversary of the franchise is. Well, I kinda hit a snag in that, while I could film it, the audio had a lag issue, as seen here:

Now, I’ve thought about cancelling the project, but I REALLY don’t wanna do that. Instead, I went with an option I hadn’t considered until just the other day: A text recap of the playthrough right here, covering different sections of it at a time, with screenshots accompanying the text. That way, people can still follow along with me. And hey, Nintendo once released a book like that as a sort of novelization of the original games, so why can’t I do so for free? And, because it’s later than I planned, to make it up to people, I’ve decided to do something that I once told myself I’d never do. This will not just be a playthrough of FireRed, but a Nuzlocke Challenge. For those unaware, here are the rules:

• Any Pokémon that faints is considered DEAD, and must be released or put in the Pokémon Storage System permanently. This is kinda why I haven’t done this, because I get anxious and emotionally attached enough by watching/reading other people’s Nuzlockes, so I worry I might have a small panic attack doing it myself. lol
• I can only catch the first Pokémon encountered in each area, and none else. If the first Pokémon encountered faints or flees, there’re no second chances. I do, however, plan to use the Species/Dupes Clause, adjusting the first encounter rule to prevent me from having to catch multiples of the same Pokémon for the sake of variety should I so choose. This means that I can keep fighting Pokémon in the area until one is encountered that I haven’t caught yet, which then immediately counts as the first encounter. Also, this ruling doesn’t include Route 1 prior to receiving the Pokédex and Poké Balls, since you can’t catch anything without those anyway.
• I have to nickname all of my Pokémon. This is for the sake of forming stronger emotional bonds. Y’know, so that if they die, the bigger the knife in my heart will be. lol Okay, really, it’s to further encourage me to do whatever it takes to not lose anyone.
• A black out/white out is considered to be “game over”, from which there is no continuing, even if there are Pokémon left in the PC. I also cannot reset and/or reload the game when things go wrong. That said, I think I’m gonna exclude the initial Rival battle. In my experience, the first Rival battle in games is very much luck based.
• When battling a Gym Leader, I can only use the same number of Pokémon as they have. This is one I actually use anyway, so not as big a deal, although now I have to be doubly careful not to let anyone’s HP drop to 0.
• My Starter Pokémon will be based on my Trainer ID number. If the last number is 1-3, I have to start with Bulbasaur. 4-6 is Charmander, 7-9 is Squirtle, and 0 is my choice… … …God, I hope it isn’t 4-6, or this could wind up being a REALLY short LP. lol

Anyway, I plan to get started right away, so keep an eye out. If you’ve got any advice for me, being that this is my first Nuzlocke, leave it in the comments below. Ja né!

My Plan For The Pokémon 20th Anniversary – Jyger Plays FireRed

So, a while back, I asked people what they thought I should do for the 20th anniversary of Pokémon, I got a lot of suggestions on here and on social media, and after a bit of deliberation, I’ve decided that I’m going to do a Let’s Play of Pokémon FireRed. Specifically, the patched version that N. Harmonik brought to my attention that introduces the physical/special split and apparently also unlocks the National Dex right away. As for my plans for the fanfic, if I have time this year to do it after everything else I’m currently doing, then yes, I’ll try to get it done.

For now, though, regarding said LP, I have already begun a test playthrough of the game on my own time. While I’m doing that, though, I’d once again like some feedback from you, the audience. Specifically, I would like to know which Pokémon you would like to see me choose as my starter, and if you have an idea for a nickname for it. Now, I’m gonna go out on a limb and assume that everyone reading this knows about the Kanto Starter Pokémon, but if you need a quick refresher on what they can do in this particular version of the game, here’s a quick rundown of each one. Keep in mind, this is before Hidden Abilities and the Fairy-type were discovered, and several different kinds of attacks existed.

Bulbasaur, the Seed Pokémon

Bulbasaur is probably my favourite of the Kanto starters, and is the one I chose the first time I ever played Pokémon Red. As such, it’s the sentimental pick for me. As a Grass/Poison-type, Bulbasaur is strong against Rock, Ground, and Water-type Pokémon, is resistant to Electric, Grass, Water, and Fighting-type attacks, and cannot be inflicted with poison, so it works well against several of the Gym Leaders in Kanto. However, it is weak to Flying, Fire, Psychic, and Ice-type attacks, and will do little damage to those types of Pokémon with Grass-type attacks, as well as Bug, Dragon, Steel, Poison, or Grass-types. Stat wise, Bulbasaur is pretty well-rounded, but specializes mostly in Special Attack and Special Defense. Its Ability is Overgrow, which increases the power of Grass-type moves when it has 1/3 or less of its HP left, evolves into Ivysaur at Level 16, and into Venusaur at Level 32, making it the easiest of the Kanto starters to get to its fully evolved form. Bulbasaur also learns status infliction moves like Sleep Powder, which can put opponents to sleep, but has low accuracy. However, it can also learn Sweet Scent, which lowers the opponent’s evasion and make up for that poor accuracy. Its most powerful attack, though, is Solar Beam, a blast of solar energy that’s heated over 3700°C, but requires time to charge depending on the weather.

Charmander, the Lizard Pokémon

Charmander is likely the more famous of the Kanto starters, mostly due to the exposure it and its fully evolved form have gotten over the years. As a Fire-type, Charmander is strong against Grass, Ice, Steel, and Bug-type Pokémon, will take reduced damage from those types of attacks, as well as Fire-type attacks, and cannot be inflicted with burn. However, it is weak to Ground, Rock, and Water-type attacks, and its Fire-type attacks won’t do much against Rock, Fire, Water, or Dragon-types. Stat wise, Charmander specializes in Speed and its offensive stats, while its defenses are a bit lacking. Its Ability is Blaze, which makes Fire-type moves more powerful when it has 1/3 or less of its HP left, evolves into Charmeleon at Level 16, and Charizard at Level 36. Upon evolving into Charizard, it becomes a Fire/Flying-type (despite its draconic appearance), gaining immunity from Ground-type attacks, resistance to Fighting-types, and increased resistance and damage-dealing capability to Bug and Grass-types, but will lose its resistance to Ice-type attacks, take even more damage from Rock-type attacks, and gain a new weakness to Electric-type attacks. To combat its numerous weaknesses, however, the Charmander line can learn a number of different types of moves, like Metal Claw, Brick Break, Dig, and Dragon Claw. Charmander’s greatest attack, however, is Flamethrower. As a Charizard, Flamethrower can apparently melt boulders according to the Pokédex, meaning it must burn at a heat of over 1200°C. As such, it’s less powerful than Solar Beam, but doesn’t require charge time and is fairly accurate, so it’s ultimately the more reliable attack in comparison.

Squirtle, the Tiny Turtle Pokémon

Squirtle is more often than not the crowd favourite of most Pokémon fans when it comes to the Kanto starters, and its fully evolved form once outlasted Venusaur and Charizard in a Death Battle. As a Water-type, Squirtle is strong against Rock, Ground, and Fire-type Pokémon, is resistant to Steel, Water, Fire, and Ice-type attacks, making it a great choice against the first two Gym Leaders in Kanto. However, it is weak to Grass and Electric-type attacks, and will do reduced damage to them and to Dragon-types, so the next two Gym Leaders afterward will be tricky. Stat wise, Squirtle focuses primarily on both Physical Defense and Special Defense, but is a bit slow, as you would likely expect a turtle would be. Its Ability is Torrent, which ups the damage for Water-type moves when it has 1/3 or less of its HP left. It evolves into Wartortle at Level 16, and Blastoise at Level 36. Squirtle can also learn Rapid Spin, which can remove the effects of moves like Leech Seed, Fire Spin, or Spikes, and can learn a number of different defensive moves like Withdraw and Protect. However, none of that compares to the Squirtle line’s ultimate attack, Hydro Pump. As a Blastoise, Hydro Pump is fired from the twin cannons hidden in its shell, which gives it the destructive power of approximately 90,000 PSI. However, while Hydro Pump does the same amount of damage as Solar Beam without the need to charge up, there IS a trade-off: It’s a bit inaccurate, which could leave Squirtle wide open for attack, so use at your own risk.

And that’s all there is to cover for the three in this game. Lemme know what you guys think I should do, and hopefully, I will see you all back here next month for the start of my Let’s Play of Pokémon FireRed. Ja né!

20th Anniversary Pokémon Projects Questionnaire (FEEDBACK HEAVILY REQUESTED)

So, there’re a couple of projects I’m considering doing for the 20th Anniversary of Pokémon this year. One of them is a Let’s Play (no commentary included, sorry), which unfortunately can’t go on YouTube due to Nintendo’s issues with their content on there, but I will be posting to Facebook instead. With that said, I WAS decided on which one I’d play, but now I’m a little indecisive, so I’d like it if you could give me some feedback. The only thing I know for sure is that I want it to be a game that takes place in the Kanto Region, so either Red, Blue, Yellow, FireRed, or LeafGreen. So, I’d like for you guys reading to let me know in the comments which you’d prefer to see me play. Conversely, however, if there is an existing rom hack of a Pokémon game that takes place in Kanto and utilizes the physical/special split introduced in Generation IV, please let me know, because I’ve long since contended that that’s the way the game should’ve been meant to play from the beginning.

The other thing I’m considering doing is a fanfic. And yeah, I know my track record with fanfiction and leaving stuff unfinished, but I would really like to at least give it a shot. However, with this one, I’d like to instead have it set in my own region, with my own protagonists, and my own Regional Pokédex. Now, for the most part, I think I’d like the Pokémon present to reflect the original games’ roster, but I’m gonna want to toss in some more, take a few away, and ultimately leave myself with about 200. As such, I’d like to know if there are any Pokémon you’d want to see in this story, which ones from the Kanto Dex are worth keeping, and which ones aren’t. With that said, here’s a list of Pokémon that, should I end up doing this project, would NEED to be in.

• Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, Venusaur, Mega Venusaur, Charmander, Charmeleon, Charizard, Mega Charizard (both versions), Squirtle, Wartortle, Blastoise, Mega Blastoise, Cleffa, Clefairy, Clefable, Poliwag, Poliwhirl, Poliwrath, Eevee and all of its evolutions, Wooper, Quagsire, Sneasel, Weavile, Emolga, Sawk, Tyrunt, Tyrantrum

Anyway, PLEASE give me your thoughts on these projects, give your responses to my questions, and also lemme know which one you might prefer to see over the other in case I only have time to do one this year. Ja né!

Chuggaaconroy’s Best Team of 6 Pokémon

…Yup, I’m doing this again. lol Since Emile’s newest Let’s Play, Pokémon Platinum, has started today, I thought I’d look back at his previous Pokémon LPs to determine, if it were possible to get six of his older Pokémon onto a single team, who would I consider to be the best choices for it? Keep in mind, this team is accounting for various strengths, weaknesses, past showings, and is generally judged based on today’s competitive scene, meaning it takes stuff like the current type chart into account. So, with all that said, let’s start off with the very first Pokémon we saw him obtain.

#1 – Bulbapedia the Venusaur

While not Chuggaaconroy’s favourite Pokémon, Bulbapedia is likely one of his most trusted team-mates. As his starter and the Big Good for Pokémon FireRed, Bulbapedia won battles against Brock, Misty, and Lt. Surge SOLO, specializes in Special Attack and Special Defense, and is believed to be very smart, given his namesake. lol Bulbapedia’s final movepool consisted of Razor Leaf, Strength, Sleep Powder, and Frenzy Plant, making him the bane of most Water, Rock, and Ground-type Pokémon. He’s also resistant to Fairy, Grass, Electric, Fighting, and Water-type attacks, but is weak to Fire, Flying, Ice, and Psychic-attacks. However, as of Pokémon X & Y, the Grass/Poison-type Seed Pokémon has been granted the power of Mega Evolution. As Mega Venusaur, Bulbapedia would gain Thick Fat, lowering his overall weakness to Fire and Ice-type attacks, and giving both his physical and special stats a considerable increase.

#2 – Odairu the Feraligatr

The Starter and Big Good of Emile’s playthrough of Pokémon Crystal, Odairu is a pure Water-type with a lot of bite to him. His Ice Punch managed to freeze not one but TWO of the Johto League Champion Lance’s Dragonite before the third one outsped him, he can use Surf to race across rapids, Slash to cut opponents’ health down to size, and Earthquake to deal with those pesky Electric-types. Odairu’s best overall asset is his Attack stat, which he could presumably take further advantage of in later games by learning Aqua Tail, and also possesses a decent physical defense. Overall, he’s a menace to Fire, Rock, and Ground-type Pokémon, and can resist Fire, Water, Steel, and Ice-type attacks. However, he is weak to Electric and Grass-type attacks, and although he can get around those with Ice Punch and Earthquake, his Speed leaves something to be desired, and since many Electric-type Pokémon are much faster than him, it’s best to keep him off the field when they arrive.

#3 – Moegami the Blaziken

The Starter Pokémon and Big Good from Chuggaaconroy’s Pokémon Emerald Let’s Play, Moegami’s namesake is the God of Fire in Ōkami, another game that he’s done an LP of. A Fire/Fighting-type, and the first Fire-type Emile obtained in the LPs that wasn’t of the Arcanine line, Moegami is a mixed attacker, though his Attack is a bit better than his Special Attack. Taking advantage of this, Emile taught him Overheat, which does incredible damage at the cost of decreasing the Special Attack stat with each blow, and focused on the physical stat for the rest of his attacks: Earthquake, Sky Uppercut, and Rock Tomb. Blaziken can be an absolute MONSTER against Normal, Bug, Grass, Steel, Ice, and Dark-type Pokémon, and can resist Bug, Steel, Fire, Ice, Dark, and Grass-type attacks, though he is weak to Flying, Ground, Water, and Psychic-type attacks. His biggest issue, though, is his frailty, as both his Defense and Special Defense are a bit on the low side, and his Speed doesn’t clock in as being that high. To combat this, though, Moegami could conceivably Mega Evolve into Mega Blaziken, which would not only give a small increase to his Speed and massive ones to his offensive stats, but would give him Speed Boost, which further increases his Speed every turn that he remains on the field.

#4 – Walnut the Forretress

The Big Gal of the Pokémon Colosseum playthrough, Walnut JUST BARELY edged out Methane the Weezing to make it as the physical wall of this team. This is due to her slightly more impressive Defense stat, her immunity to Poison-type attacks, her resistances to Normal, Bug, Grass, Psychic, Steel, Ice, and Fairy-type attacks, and the ability known as Sturdy, which prevents her from being knocked out in a single attack. In addition to all of that, and the moves Explosion and Toxic, which she shares with Methane, Walnut can lay Spikes, harming opponents as they enter the field of battle, and can use Protect, furthering her already impressive defensive capabilities. Her only real weakness is to Fire-type attacks, though her Speed is also absolutely abysmal. Regardless, she was a vital member of Emile’s team in Colosseum, and could easily be one again if called upon.

#5: Voltaire the Jolteon

The Starter Pokémon and The Hero from Emile’s Let’s Play of Pokémon XD, Voltaire is the first and only Electric-type Pokémon that he’s used thus far. Apparently named after a childhood friend, Voltaire’s raw Speed is the highest of any Pokémon Emile has obtained, his Thunder Wave assisted in snagging many Shadow Pokémon, and could further level the playing field with moves such as Bite, Thunderbolt, and “Thunder, Bolt from a God!”. However, as a Jolteon, Voltaire’s physical stats are a bit frail, meaning his Bite lacks a bit of power. Also, he has no other way of protecting himself from Ground-type Pokémon, his biggest adversary. Despite this, he is incredibly effective against Flying and Water-type Pokémon, can resist Steel, and Flying-type attacks, is immune to paralysis, and can absorb electricity with Volt Absorb to recover health.

So, once again, I find myself asking who could fill the final slot on the team. There are, of course, many Pokémon among the remaining 25 used in Emile’s final teams that could fill that spot, such as Vui and Saikou the Espeon, Darmani the Donphan, Tessie the Lapras, Khold the Fearow, Altair the Altaria, and Pandora the Absol. But ultimately, I had to go with the one who best covered the remaining weak-points of the team, and could bring it to the opposition just as hard. And that one Pokémon is…

Slavinator the Zigzagoon

Sorry, couldn’t resist. 😛 No, it’s actually…

#6 – Volvagia the Dragonite

Volvagia is the final member of Chuggaa’s team in Pokémon Crystal, The Chick of said team (due to being the only female present), and the first and only pseudo-Legendary Pokémon used in any of his LPs. Named after the boss of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time’s Fire Temple, she is a sheer powerhouse of both the physical and special variety, and isn’t really lacking in either defensive stat, either. As a Dragonite, she has access to a wide and wealthy movepool, but sticks with the moves Extreme Speed, Dragon Breath, Ice Beam, and Thunder Wave. In later games, she also would be revealed to possess Inner Focus, which would prevent her from flinching, and could learn powerful moves to take advantage of her Flying-type, like Hurricane and Aerial Ace. She can resist Grass, Fire, Water, Bug, and Fighting-type attacks, and is completely resistant to Ground-type attacks. However, she is vulnerable to Dragon, Fairy, Rock, and Ice-type attacks. Though not invincible, as Lance might have once told Trainers, Volvagia is nonetheless a powerful Dragon/Flying-type, and one of the all-around mightiest members of Emile’s roster.

Alright, so let’s tally up their stats, using Azurilland’s Team Builder (not counting resistances or immunities granted by Abilities)…

…And yeah, looking good. No more than two Pokémon on his team share a weakness to any single type, all but three types have resistances from various members (and a couple of outright immunities), and at least four of them are battle-hardened Starters that likely have maxed-out EV training. Soooo…yeah, I think this is likely the best team he could hope to create from his previous teams. Of course, this could change in the future, depending on what his Platinum team ends up looking like.

So, that’s my look at Chuggaaconroy’s best possible team of six Pokémon. Think I missed someone? Lemme know in the comments below, and be sure to check out the Platinum Let’s Play as it continues. Ja né!

Jyger’s Favourite 5 – 5 Favourite Kwing Arkham Knight Let’s Play Moments (WARNING – SPOILERS)

So, as of late, I’ve been watching a lot of kNIGHTWING01, AKA Kwing, and his let’s plays. Specifically, I rather like his LPs of superhero related games with his wife, who is affectionately referred to as Kwife. And, of course, that means I’ve been watching along with his ‘Stealth Guide with Commentary’ of Batman: Arkham Knight, which I fully plan to do a story-only review of soon. In the meantime, though, I thought it’d be fun to list off some of my favourite moments watching along with this LP. So, in no particular order, here are my 5 Favourite Kwing Arkham Knight Let’s Play Moments. And just so you know, obviously, there’s gonna be some spoilers for both the LP and the game in this video.

#1 – “I’VE TAKEN A LIFE!!!” from Part 16, Harbinger of Death

There’s just something I love about how horrified he sounds when this happens. I’m not even 100% sure I know what the hell happened here. Basically, he was taking out some thugs protecting the missile launcher set up on Founders’ Island, and he hits the last one with a Batarang, and for some reason (likely a glitch), the guy fell THROUGH a solid grate and plummeted to the ground below. Apparently, in Batman: Arkham Knight, you either die a hero, or you live long enough to see a glitch make you the villain. XD

#2 – “Is that a roadblock?” from Grinning Fishmonger

This admittedly took me a second viewing to fully get what the hell had happened. During one of the Gunrunner side-quest missions, the fleeing van that Kwing had to chase was suddenly stopped just up the road from where he was. Why? Because he’d earlier parked the Batmobile there, and much to his hilarity, the van could not, for whatever reason, steer around the thing, and just kept backing up and running into it for almost a full minute. Eventually, the chase part timed out and the van occupants declared that they “lost him”, even though the Batmobile was parked RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM, and they steered off to go back to base for Kwing to follow them. This was AMAZING.

#3 – “WHY?!?!?!” from Part 5, An Old Friend Returns

In all fairness to Kwing, based on a lot of videos I’ve seen of people playing this game, the Batmobile is not the easiest thing to control, and can have rather derpish moments. And sometimes, no matter how well planned you can be, accidents just happen. This is a combination of these kinds of moments. Right after escaping the exploding ruins of ACE Chemicals and talking with Alfred and Jim Gordon, Kwing decided to get back in the Batmobile. For some reason, it just proceeded to go drive backwards, right off the edge of the bridge, and splash into the river below. Y’know, Jimbo, I don’t think that THIS is how the Batman died. And somewhere, I’m sure that Harley Quinn was playing Amazing Grace on her kazoo in honour of the Dark Knight, who fell tragically because his car was stupid. LOL

#4 – Kwing Tells It Like It Is About The Batgirl DLC

Okay, technically, I’m cheating with this one, as it alludes specifically to a video he did outside of the LP. However, since he did allude to it throughout the series, mainly as he was playing the Matter of Family DLC, I feel justified in bringing up how he called WB Montreal out for their bullshit yet again. If you aren’t aware, Warner Bros. Games Montreal did both the Matter of Family DLC, and Batman: Arkham Origins, and in both of these, they’ve managed to royally screw up the overarching story of the Arkham games. I’ll leave it up to him to explain in detail exactly what’s wrong with this, but the short version is that Tim Drake’s presence makes no sense in the grand scheme of things and only continues to force a relationship that fans already admitted to hating down their throats. Because, hey, it’s not like DC has done THAT anytime recently, right?

#5 – “He is the-” “OH MY GOD!!!” from Part 7, Miagani Island

So, um… … …there’re a lot of jump scares in this game. This one in particular scared me so bad that a little pee came out, and I think the same can be said for Kwife. Kwing had just found out about another body that had been strung up somewhere in Gotham and was gonna go investigate. So, he grapples up to a rooftop, all the while chatting about the Flashpoint Batman skin he was wearing, when, from outta NOWHERE, fucking Man-Bat pops out and scares the shit outta us! Between its roaring and Kwife’s terrified screams, I had to pause and turn down the volume on my speakers, it was so loud! WTF, Rocksteady?! LOL

Anyway, those are my favourite moments of Kwing’s LP. Make sure to go check it out, like, comment, and subscribe to his stuff, and hopefully he enjoys this little bit of free publicity. lol Ja né, and happy gaming!

Jyger’s Favourite 10?! – 10 Favourite Achievement Hunter Minecraft Moments

Yep, time I talked about this. As I mentioned before, RoosterTeeth’s Achievement Hunter group has done a number of Let’s Plays for various video games. One of the longest running LPs that they’ve been doing is Minecraft, which I’ve been watching quite a bit of…despite not owning the game. I really SHOULD rectify that someday, but in the meantime, here are 10 of my favourite moments from Achievement Hunter’s LPs of Minecraft. Also, if you haven’t watched this LP yet but plan to, you might not wanna read the descriptions and instead check out the episodes listed yourself, because there will be spoilers.

#1 – The Lava Engulfed House from Episode 1

I figured I’d go through these in chronological order. Gavin had been doing some mining, during which Jack kept taking his stuff. Well, eventually, Gavin had had enough, so after finding a lava flow, he decided to fill a bucket with lava, go to the rest of the gang’s house, and pour the lava down on it. For a few seconds, no one noticed, save for Ray, who was new to AH at the time and had to share a screen with Gavin, who alerted the others somewhat calmly “There may or may not be lava engulfing our house right now.” The reactions by the others are HILARIOUS, as they all scramble to divert the lava flow into the river and salvage as much of the house as they could. Of course, Gavin was later dealt some comeuppance for this.

#2 – Plan G from Episode 3

This was given further elaboration on in a recording shown in the form of a flashback at the beginning of Episode 100. Basically, Geoff and Gavin had spent several hours of their Memorial Day weekend constructing a location in Minecraft called Achievement City. It had houses for Jack, Michael, Gavin, Ray, and Geoff, each with their own unique look and feel to them, and a gigantic Achievement Hunter logo. Basically, their home away from home. But in actuality, the whole thing was done for one thirty second prank on Jack, to lull him into a false sense of security and gratitude. In Jack’s house, on the ceiling, was a block of wood that was out of place. Now, of course, anyone seeing that would just think they made a mistake. However, in the attic of the house, just above that block, waiting to be released, was lava. LOTS of lava. However, Jack was a little too quick to react for it to be particularly effective…though this was not the case for what was labelled ‘Plan G’: A button off to the side of Achievement City that Michael decided to press, which activated hundreds, if not thousands, of sticks of TNT that were buried under the Achievement Hunter logo and blew the city sky high. Since then, Achievement City has acted as their base of operations, though both prank triggers are still present for various reasons.

#3 – Thunderdome from Episode 43

Pretty much ALL of this episode, from Geoff trying to coordinate these guys and getting HIGHLY exasperated, to the fights themselves, to what is now referred to as Ghost Ray. Anyone who knows anything about Thunderdome knows how it works: Two men enter, one man leaves. The spin here was, after a round, the winner would open one of several chests that were set up. In each chest was either a weapon, an item, or a block of gold used to erect the Tower of Pimps, the tower of four gold blocks that Gavin originally came up with and was later used to crown the winner of the individual Let’s Plays done in Minecraft. The winner of that round would then re-enter the arena with the next player in rotation, Ryan would lock them in, and the fights would continue until someone erected the complete Tower of Pimps, thus winning the game. The fights themselves range from awesome to hilarious, with various shenanigans coming into play, but something odd happened: During a double elimination that Ray was involved in, a second Ray appeared on the map along with him, which would fly around randomly, phase through solid matter, and cause general mischief. This was termed Ghost Ray, and I honestly have no idea what the hell it was, whether it was a glitch in the game, or a prank someone decided to pull on the others. They say that Ghost Ray continues to haunt the grounds they battled upon that day, and thus, tragically, Ghost Ray never got BEYOND Thunderdome. XD

#4 – Ray No Longer “Cakeless” from Episode 46

Okay, this one requires a little back-story: During an earlier LP, where the gang went through an obstacle course of sorts and they had a cake available that they could take to eat if they needed to recover health, Ray opted not to take it, claiming he was going “cakeless”. Since then, anytime that the guys have been able to taunt him with cake, they’ve done so. However, the ultimate stunt they’ve pulled with this joke happened at the beginning of this episode, where Ray realized that his house had been upgraded to include a large portrait on the back wall. However, in his excitement, he failed to notice the floor panel that had been placed in front of the door that, once stepped on, triggered a device hidden behind the portrait that continuously launched 57,000 cakes out into the room. Once again, Geoff’s pranks continue to cause havoc throughout Achievement City. 😛

#5 – The Clichéd Action Shot from Episode 49

Really, this whole three-parter is great and highly recommended, but there’s two scenes in particular that I remember most of all, so I’m gonna cover them individually. This three-parter was about the gang deciding to take on the Ender Dragon in THE END. However, because THE END is filled with Endermen, and the Ender Dragon is a phenomenally powerful foe, it takes them until halfway to two-thirds of the way into Part 3 to finally get to the point where they’re ready to enter THE END, and the rest is all preparation for the excursion. However, the three-parter really highlights the group’s teamwork skills, as they prepare for this hellish battle that’s ahead of them, taking on various goals, and as seen here, Gavin, Ryan, and Ray geared up in full iron armour and headed to The Nether, which is as far as I can tell the literal interpretation of Hell in Minecraft…or the Dark World from Legend of Zelda, I guess, but we’ll get to that in a bit. lol But yeah, the moment I remember most about this episode is the ending, where the trio find themselves face to face with a Ghast, a giant floating ghost crossed with a jellyfish that spews fireballs. They flee just as the Ghast shoots a fireball at them, leading to Gavin getting an epic shot of an explosion just barely missing Ryan as he runs. It’s the classic action cliffhanger. The only thing missing was that it wasn’t in slow motion…though, I have seen the scene in slow mo, and it’s AWESOME.

#6 – Gavin’s Parents from Episode 51

The second moment that I, and most people, remember from THE END is the incident where Gavin found a pair of Creepers, those self-destructing green monsters, that weren’t attempting to blow him up. Now, Gavin is usually dressed up as a Creeper, so when he saw this, he made the crack that he’d found his parents. He even built them a house with the sign saying ‘Gavin’s Parents’, until finally ‘Dad’ decided to explode. Naturally, everyone had a big laugh at this, as well as Gavin’s having “gone native”, as Ryan put it. And, of course, a moment like that has resulted in TONS of fan art. lol

#7 – Dark Achievement City from Episode 56

Y’know you’ve done something bizarre when Ryan, the Mad King himself, has to do a double take and go “WTF?”. In the middle of this LP, Ryan has to venture into The Nether, when he spots a structure that looks an awful lot like Gavin’s house. Sure enough, he quickly realizes that, not only is he right, but Achievement City has been completely rebuilt in The Nether, leading him to declare “It’s like fucking Link To The Past!” As it turned out, Gavin and Geoff had built what they referred to as ‘Dark Achievement City’ for a future LP. And, much to Ray’s disappointment, his house was still the most pathetic-looking of the bunch. 😛

#8 – #FreeEdgar2013 from Episodes 60 & 61

This one’s actually spread throughout a two-parter, and has connections to a number of other episodes, so I suppose the word ‘moment’ ill-defines it, but whatever. Here’s the back-story: A cow, later named Edgar, had wandered into Kung Fu House, which had been remodeled into a home for Ryan when he joined the LP full time. Edgar was so intent on remaining in the house that every attempt to remove him failed, so instead, Ryan did the only logical thing possible: He dug a hole in the floor and trapped Edgar under a glass roof. Okay, they make it sound a lot worse than it actually is, but I don’t really blame anyone for finding it creepy. Well, a few episodes later, Michael decided to break into Kung Fu House and set Edgar free. However, little did he know, Ryan eventually discovered this, silently lured another cow into the house, and repaired the damage. When everyone realized what had happened and Michael argued that the real Edgar was still free, Ryan had this creepy response: “You don’t understand, EDGAR IS THE ONE IN THE HOLE.”

#9 – The “Weird Animal Burial” from Episode 83

This is kind of a follow-up to what happened with Edgar, but I felt it deserved its own section. During some renovations the group was making on Geoff’s house (the height limit was expanded, so they decided to increase the size of the freaking monolith that was Geoff’s home), Michael took notice of the fact that a cow was trying to get into Kung Fu House. As Ryan wondered why animals were constantly drawn to his place, Michael then saw a sheep that had wandered onto the roof, and that by that point, in his own words, “There is a cow outside your house, there’s a cow inside your house in a hole, there’s a chicken in glass, there’s a pig in a pen, and there’s a fucking sheep on the roof now!”, leading Gavin to actually wonder aloud if they’d built Kung Fu House on an ancient animal burial ground.

#10 – Russian Roulette from Episode 90

Y’know, it’s starting to occur to me that Ryan is kind of a sick fuck. XD In this episode, which is Part II of a two-parter, Ryan is King of Achievement City for the second time and has created a series of tasks to determine the next king, during which he had Kerry appear as a special guest assistant. Really, the whole two-parter is great, and it’s always nice to see people like Kerry and Lindsay show up for various LPs with the gang (it is also revealed that Michael had built a basement apartment for Kerry in his and Lindsay’s house in Minecraft), but in terms of what I think of first when I look back on this, it’s the Russian Roulette game in the chamber hidden under the throne. In Ryan’s own words for how this game works, “You will, one at a time, step into this room onto this red spot, and when you look up, there is a button here that is in this light unit that you will hit, and either this lamp will illuminate or you will be annihilated.” What does he mean by annihilated? Well, I don’t necessarily wanna spoil this particular one, but I will say that the screams of terror and shocked laughter that happen when the first elimination from this round occurs is just hilarious, as well as a bit terrifying.

So, those are my 10 Favourite AH Minecraft Moments. Got one that’s not on here? Leave it in the comments below, and I shall see you next time. Ja né!

Jyger’s Favourite 5 – 5 Favourite Videos From Achievement Hunter Let’s Play Grand Theft Auto V

So, something I’ve been watching a lot of lately is Achievement Hunter. For those that don’t know, Achievement Hunter is a group of people working at RoosterTeeth that play video games, show you how to get various achievements in said games, and produce a lot of Let’s Plays as well. One of the games they play a lot lately is Grand Theft Auto V, where they’ve shown various Things To Do In GTA V, and even come up with their own heists to pull off…with varying levels of success, and a number of dead bodies strewn about. lol But because there’s so many of these videos, I decided I’d take a sec to talk about my 5 favourite videos in the series for the benefit of those that might be looking to start watching them. And while I can’t say that this is spoiler free, I will try to keep them to a minimum.

#1 – Path To Insanity

When you have a group like this one, made up of various gamers that have been shown to be at least a little crazy from time to time, you ultimately find yourself asking a very simple question: Who’s the most insane of the group? In this video, Ryan, Kerry, Gavin, Geoff, Jack, and Ray basically have a competition to see who can max out their mental state, thus proving who is statistically the most insane of the group. Naturally, things pretty much go nuts right from the get-go. The winner is actually determined so quickly that the rest decide to keep going to determine second-most-crazy, which ends up worrying the actual winner over how much faster it took them to reach insane than the others. I think what I find funniest about this is just the idea that, if this was for real, the debriefing of the Los Santos Police Department in the aftermath must’ve been HIGHLY uncomfortable. lol

#2 – Jack’s Heist

What could possibly go wrong in a plan that includes Jack landing a private jet in the middle of the road for Geoff, Michael, Ray, Ryan, and Gavin to make their get-away after their individual robberies?…Actually, surprisingly enough, that was probably the part of the plan that had the least go wrong with it. I love this heist so much, that I actually loosely adapted it for the opening chapter of one of my stories on FictionPress. While I recommend you watch all of the heists, because they’re all amazing, hilarious, and have such train-wreck moments to them, this one is probably my favourite, with the only other major contender being…well, we’ll get to that later.

#3 – Enter The Dragonface

In this video, Kerry is essentially hazed by Michael, Geoff, Ray, Ryan, and Gavin, as they put him through the group’s ‘initiation tests’. The entire video is basically Kerry being put through Hell by these sick, sadistic human beings in a sick, sadistic video game world. Everything from parachute jumping, chasing down muggers (a LOT of ’em, actually, I need to do a count on just how many there were), evading the entire Los Santos Police Department, and a little game they like to call Frogger. Honestly, watching this, I’m filled with both the need to laugh out loud at everything Kerry’s put through and the desire to see him succeed. A very entertaining video to watch through.

#4 – Achievement Knievel

Okay, technically this is a Things To Do, not a Let’s Play, but honestly, I’ve found both to be kind of interchangeable. Besides, you really can’t talk about Achievement Hunter’s GTA V videos without mentioning the one that even Rockstar Games decided to spotlight. In this, Geoff watches on his in-game camera phone as Jack, Michael, Ray, Gavin, and Ryan try to jump a ramp on varying vehicles over 10 buses. Naturally, in true AH fashion, nothing can ever be simple, so at one point, Jack comes up with the brilliant idea of adding a low-flying plane to the mix. What follows is a moment so awesome, it had to be replayed over and over from each person’s perspective. I recommend you watch the whole vid, but if you just wanna see that awesome moment, skip to the 13:00 mark. Also, in case you’ve never seen this before, and have heard Ryan curse himself for saying the words “I’m still in the air”, welcome to the joke. lol

#5 – The Grand Heist

After Geoff, Gavin, Ryan, Michael, Jack, and Ray had all had their own planned heists, the gang decided to pool their creative input together to form The Grand Heist. This has actually been done twice: Once for a live crowd at the RTX convention, and once for the site. Both are frigging hilarious, so I suggest you watch the live version first, and then watch the standard version, since they get a bit further in the latter one, and it’s fun to compare and contrast between the two. And what is it that makes this the only other major contender for my favourite heist of all? Well, because part of the plan involves them making their get-away in a helicopter that has a cable that’s latched onto a tank, which is controlled by Michael. What follows is a spectacle the likes of which Michael Bay would probably jack off to in his spare time. LOL But otherwise, it’s just cool to see a heist that they all planned together, and the standard heist antics and hi-jinks are pretty much turned to 11 at this point.

Anyway, those are my 5 favourite AH GTA V vids. Lemme know what you all think of this list, what some of your other favourites are, and be sure to check in the next time I talk about Achievement Hunter, when I list some of my favourite moments from Let’s Play Minecraft. Ja né!

Azurill Grows a WHAT???

So I was watching Chuggaaconroy’s Let’s Play of Pokémon Emerald last night and pretty much had my sanity warped. By what? Watch and see.

Oh, and a special shout out goes to Linkara in regards to my choice of music during the credits. lol