Just one more note here before I continue: This isn't to say anyone has, but rather something I should have said last installment. Since I'm providing links to Drakuaza's own videos, please don't just go to them and post negative commentary or thumbs down the video. The hack has more than enough immaturity, so let's keep it at that. Again, this isn't to say anyone has done so or is even thinking of doing so, but I'm not in this to grief anyone. I'm in this to provide commentary. Criticism, if you would.
Now let's get to said commentary.
Drakuaza's next video is... wait, Cervantes!?
Isn't that just, like, some random grunt? Was I actually supposed to care about this guy when I was playing though the game? Was he somehow more vital to the plot than the other grunt?
If so, guess I missed that part.
Drakuaza really seems convinced that this battle is epic, though, as he's again going with the Ominous Latin Chanting. I'll admit it, I kinda like this music. But, I dunno. It just seems like this would be the rough equivalent of running into some random nameless henchman in a Final Fantasy game and busting out the One Winged Angel theme.
On another note... have any of these battle videos Drakuaza's done actually made the game look... hard? I mean, if you're trying to advertise an increased difficulty hack, wouldn't you want to actually show said increased difficulty? Not that I at all understand why someone would actually do an LP of their own hack. A demo would be one thing but Drakuaza is literally showing us pretty much every major battle in the hack... and a random grunt battle.
He doesn't just include the battle though. He includes one of the few bits of plot you actually get in this game, the dialogue with Mr. Fuji. So, hey, if you wanted to see the full dialogue, now's your chance! Complete with dark and forboding music! It's cute how he's actually trying to make this plot sound like something serious, fragmented as it is. He also goes on to explore Fuji's house... set to the exact same music.
Next up, we have the battle with Utsuho. More loud rock but... I think I actually like this one. Not enough to actually go out and try to find the remix myself, but enough that I don't mind sitting here and listening to it.
Not much to say on the video its-WHAT!? Hey! Your Slayah could totally wreck that Suwako, the heck you sending Trish out for!? Switch! SWITCH! Come on, one Leaf Blade from her would end it!
...Eh, whatever. I'll stop being a backseat gamer now. Maybe he just realized he needed to make it seem like this hack is actually hard so it retains its credibility as being "insane".
...Wait, did Utsuho just say "fucking intense"? I know she said "frickin intense" in my version, which I thought was odd but not worth commenting on but... this dialogue seems out of... oh, why am I bothering with that? This hack didn't care about the actual Touhou canon from the start. That still leaves another question though... why was it censored in the final version? I could think of a LOT of things that were far more deserving of being censored.
Actually, if he did censor the dialogue, I probably wouldn't have nearly as much to say about this hack. I don't condone Drakuaza's immaturity, but without it I probably wouldn't be LP'ing this hack.
The video continues after the battle for far longer than it needs to, too. Though that does raise another question at this point: why aren't the Gates to Hell tinted red in my version? That's actually kind of a neat effect. Pretty sure I have the latest version, too, so I'm just confused at this point. Or was that effect just added to the video?
Battle still wasn't anything epic by the way.
Third Link battle now and... Oh, hey, the Bad Apple Flandre animation is back! Just don't use that music again please...
...Insane Productions? Insanity Team 2009? I think someone's ego has been growing a bit.
I don't know what this song is but Drakuaza once again seems to think this is some kind of epic battle. If this is a remix, I don't recognize it. Sounds pretty generic for the most part either way. Not much to say on the battle itself, other than that it's once again not exactly making this hack look hard.
Next video, and at this point the opening doesn't really surprise me. Do these videos really warrant such an opening...? Also, that animation kinda bugs me to begin with. Well, no, not so much the animation as one artist's interpretation of it... but I'm getting entirely off track as usual.
So. Remilia. Remember how that went down? Claimed to be the gym master despite the sign outside clearly saying otherwise? Yeah, Drakuaza decided to make a video of that battle. And I want to say the music is a remix of Septette for a Dead Queen, but I'm not sure I have anything to back it up. I just think it'd make sense. Septette for a Dead Queen is a great song and it's a battle with Remilia, so it'd make sense. I don't want to say the song is bad, but I'm not feeling this one guys.
Still don't get why this guy is going through so much trouble to LP his own hack. Isn't the point of doing a ROM hack so others will play it? Not that I can imagine too many people wanting to play it. I haven't actually played Lunatic but I'd still recommend it over this hack. Moonspeak and all.
Again, not much to say on the battle itself. Nothing to suggest he's cheating or anything and a guy's going to battle how he's going to battle, so not much to say there. I can't even remember how my own battle against Remilia went to make any comparisons. It went. And I won. But that's about all I remember. I do remember wanting' to do a video though, purely as an excuse to listen to Septette for a Dead Queen. I used to think Apparitions Stalk the Night was my favorite theme until I realized I was constantly and unconsciously humming Septette. Go figure.
Incidentally, seems Drakuaza has a dislike for this video and hasn't disabled ratings.
Moving on. We finally get to the star of this hack, or at least the character Drakuaza is propping up as the hack's posterchild, Flandre.
What's this? A battle against Flandre and he's NOT using something dark and edgy for the music? No rock? No latin chanting? Color me surprised. Incidentally, if you want to get a better idea of what that S-Flandre is capable of when you're not using the raw power of a ghost kitten to take it down, you should probably pay attention to this video. Drakuaza actually even employs strategy here to deal with an overpowered opponent, weakening her physical attacks with his own Flandre's Intimidate. This was the reason I kept Remirio around, although I never did actually use him for that purpose.
It's a good strategy, but S-Flandre is so overpowered that he's stll left with almost nothing when the weaker F-Flandre hits the field. He barely pulls off the win. This is actually an interesting battle
Huh. Viewership seems to have spiked on this video. Oh, right. Flandre.
Incidentally, someone also takes notice of the changes to the battle messages. Namely the "Rodin" thing. I still wonder why anyone would feel the need to change these messages. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.
Drakuaza struggles in his next video, too, where he battles the rival. If you're doing videos based on your own hack, and want to advertise said hack's difficulty, then struggling is a good thing. Actually struggling in a battle would also make victory seem more rewarding, assuming the expectations don't seem unfair. I actually enjoyed my battle against Reisen more than any other battle in this hack, personally, because she actually surprised me and felt like a legitimate threat.
Most of this hack, on the other hand, was just boring.
Anyway, music doesn't suck for this battle, and I don't see anything else worth commenting on, so let's move on.
...
Still can't get over that sudden bizarro hair...
Next up we have battles against Cervantes, Shinku, and Suigintou. Apparently Cervantes is supposed to be an admin. Still doesn't seem very important. The other two would fall under the radar as well if they weren't Rozen Maiden characters. Why are they in this again...? Their dialogue is so generic they could just be some random grunt anyway and it wouldn't change anything...
It does remind me that I still haven't actually watched said anime, though, despite the fact that I intended to do so. Several years ago. Should probably get around to that sometime...
The music for the battle with Cervantes... doesn't suck. I kinda like it when it starts to pick up. Still doesn't seem like it fits a battle against him, though, unless I'm still missing something...
I wasn't going to really comment on the music for the Shinku battle... until it got to one part that sounded distinctly U.N.Owen. Is this another U.N.Owen Was Her remix or am I off the mark here? Eh, at least he stopped using that opening. Though I'm left wondering why he uses that for some videos and not others...
Hmm. Music for the Suigintou battle feels kinda fitting for the character.
None of these battles had much else for me to comment on. Though I do find myself starting to think, "Is it at all interesting to watch someone's pokemon battle videos?" I mean, it makes sense to have battle videos as part of any RPG LP but they usually aren't all that interesting to watch. It'd be one thing to see what kind of strategy the player employs, but a lot of these battles just end up straight up beatdowns taking advantage of typing.
At this point I think I'd just like to thank everyone reading/watching my LP. It probably hasn't been that interesting aside from the times I've been able to showcase the hack's immaturity or call it out on not actually being that hard. I do have another LP or two planned, though, and I KNOW they'll give me a LOT more interesting things to talk about. Watching these videos has been strangely self-reflecting though and doing this LP in general has been a learning experience, so when I finally move on to whatever I decide to do next I'll keep what I've done with this LP in mind.
Looking at the rest of Drakuaza's videos, I don't think there'd be much else to say now either. His... "interesting" intro and some of the earlier videos were what I really wanted to comment on, so you know what? Let's get back to the hack itself now.
This hack made me grind like I no other Pokemon or Pokemon-based hack I've ever played. It's pit me up against some incredibly overpowered opponents. It will pit me against more. It's quite possibly the worst attempt at making a difficult Pokemon-based ROM hack that you'll find, or at least that I've seen.
Time to get this hack over and done with.
I wonder which would be more interesting at this point, though? The Grand Masters proving to be a legitimate threat? Or thoroughly smashing through them?
Only one way to find out!
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