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Dr. Neo Cortex is the main antagonist of the Crash Bandicoot franchise of games - while a bumbling doctor from the character's creation, this trait has been exaggerated more and more to become perhaps his dominant character trait. Cortex was far more sinister in the PSX era of Crash - despite being bumbling, he was still an actual force to be feared. Thus, he serves as the final boss in most Crash games - particurally the first three, in which he is always fought upon a jet platform.
Cortex appears in PSABR in this same jet platform - hovering very slightly over the ground, enough to be able to be hit by most attacks - with the exception of stuff like very low hitting attacks (if Sackboy and Toro are immune to high attacks...), still able to be grabbed and whatnot. He has his feet locked into his platform just as in the first Crash game, and thus, it is part of his character model. Cortex has an extra jump due to this.
Idle Stance
Cortex stands hunched on his platform - occasionally adjusting settings on his blaster while chuckling evily.
Walk
The platform begins moving forward, small flames coming from the bottom, as Cortex becomes more interested in the match.
Run
Cortex hunches forward with maniacal glee as the platform moves at top speed.
Crouch
The platform lands on the ground, with Cortex crouching along with it.
ENTRANCE ANIMATION - THROWBACK
Cortex flies in from the background, stopping himself before he flies into the screen - identical to his intro animation in the Crash 1 boss battle.
TAUNT - FUMING
Cortex clenches his fists at his side, his face turning a bit reddish as smoke blows out of the sides of his head.
TAUNT 2 - EGOTISTICAL
Cortex spins on his platform, remarking "Better luck next time!"
TAUNT 3 - THE CRYSTALS!
Cortex pulls out one of the Power Crystals, magical artifacts in the Crash series, inspecting it before putting it away, chuckling evilly.
WIN POSE - SATISFACTION
Cortex drums his fingers together, chuckling to himself in an evil manner. He faces the screen with an evil expression during the results.
WIN POSE 2 - BLASTER
Cortex throws his blaster into the air, catching it as he comes back on, letting out at triumphant "HA!" as he does so. He holds the blaster James Bond-style during the results.
WIN POSE 3 - HOVER
Cortex zooms up in the air on his platform, it spinning in a circle as Cortex laughs manically upon it.
LOSS POSE - ANGER
Cortex stomps up and down madly on his platform, like a child - as though his plans were foiled by his irritating opponent.
Circle Moves
Circle: Barrier
A bright blue barrier appears around Cortex - just slightly bigger than his default shield. It stays up for a small time, before flickering out. Any foes who come in contact with the barrier act are flung back with no AP gain - an actively good way to stop grab attempts when you're moving forward. More importantly, all projectiles that hit your barrier will be reflected off of it - allowing you a decent way to avoiding their projectiles and manipulating your's.
Side Circle: Mean and Green
Cortex shoots out a green ball of energy - it homing in on the nearest foe and traveling towards them at a decent speed, not stopping until it hits something. This will knock them backwards and leave some AP on the ground where they were, giving Cortex an opportunity to go get it. However, this can be reflected and made to home back in on Cortex by simply using any attack on it, dealing the damage and knockback to him.
In addition, it gains a small buff in speed and AP gain everytime it's reflected. As the projectile gets increasingly more dangerous and starts dealing more knockback, the foe will be more frantic to return it - meaning Cortex can occupy them with other things. You can only have 2 of these onscreen at a time, and there's a bit of lag after firing this to prevent you from chaining them too close together.
Up Circle: KABOOM!
Cortex thrusts a mine upwards above his head, shielding his cranium. This acts very well at sending foes upwards and out of Cortex's face, but causes him to lose a little bit of AP if it hits them thanks to...a mine exploding above his head. He can easily recollect the AP, though, as it lands right next to him.
Down Circle: Mine, MINE!
Cortex carelessly tosses three mines behind himself, disposing of them as though they were banana peels - each mine is spaced out from each other in a decently-sized cluster. They explode in 6 seconds, dealing damage to anyone hit by it (and obviously, this triggers earlier if the mines were stepped on). While the use for this is far more situational than most mine traps due to the way he throws it, this is useful for foes behind you - as Cortex largely wants to be approaching foes at all times, he can turn the ground behind him a bit more dangerous for a little while to even things out in his favor.
Square Moves
Square: Cowardly Slap
Cortex looks away and slaps in front of himself for a quick jab that gives Cortex some small AP and knocks the foe a small distance away. By holding this, Cortex will multiple slaps that each deal even less knockback, but this acts an effective way to defend yourself.
Forward Square: Attack!
Cortex blasts forward a small purple energy ball from his raygun, it moves forward a good distance, flinching foes and producing a veyr minor bit of AP. As he shoots the energy ball, he moves forward - with you able to spam this move to make a rapidfire approach with your energy blasts as you move forward. As it is, this is a very bread-and-butter projectile.
Up Square: Up N' Down
Cortex fires a distinct blue energyball at an upwards angle as he recoils backwards a bit. The energyball moves forward, moving up and down as it does so. This deals a good amount of knockback to anyone it hits but is one of your slowest projectiles. The notable thing about it is how quirky it's movement pattern is - as it can either completely avoid a foe or be the bane of their existence, potentially forcing them to dodge/shield, or simply move out of the way to avoid hitting it.
Down Square: Shocker!
Cortex fires a lightning bolt from his blaster at the ground in front of him. If foes are on the ground in front of you, this forces them upwards into the air.
Triangle Moves
Triangle: Smoke and Fire
Cortex faces the screen as his platform chugs out a small cloud of smoke, it staying where this was used for for 3 seconds. This deals no knockback, but instead causes any characters who step inside the cloud to lose AP by the second without getting knocked back. If you're incompetent enough to have your foes starting chasing you, this will throw them off your back easily. This also acts as a relatively decent aerial maneuver - chugging some smoke to mess up foes in the air. You can only have one smoke cloud onstage.
Forward Triangle: Zigzag
Cortex fires a bright orange ball of energy, which travels forward moving in and out of the background - zigzagging back and forth. This has a surprising function - if foes are rolling in the background, this is able to hit them. This acts as a cheap but powerful way to get back at your foes, but it moves extremely slow, meaning you'll have to force them to follow along with this.
Up Triangle: Birthday Bomb
Cortex lobs a cartoony bomb above himself with wicked glee, letting out a quip as he does so ("This one's from Tiny...", "That one's from Dingodile!", "Ripper Roo, you shouldn't have!" "Pinstripe, how thoughtful!", "Oh dear, two of the same!"). The bomb travels in an arc, moving above Cortex before crashing down to the ground in front of him. The hitbox is a bit more situational than one would like - though the absurd range on this means that you're able to hit enemies attempting to get over you rather easily, allowing you a form of anti-aerial as you lob your primarily ground-based projectiles at foes.
Down Triangle: Panicked Rushdown
Cortex's platform begins chugging out a very small bit of smoke, telegraphing this, before it starts moving straight in the foe's direction, Cortex desperately holding on to it all the while. It moves small distance before stopping, Cortex now able to attack again. As said, this homes straight in on the foe - while the AP gain is quite nice:, this serves far better as an approaching tool. Throwing yourself at them along with any projectiles that might be in their path already can make quite the hazardous situation...
Throws
Cortex grabs the foe, hunching over slightly to do so.
Forward Throw: Launch
Cortex stuffs the foe into an oversized bazooka and shoots them forward - simple enough.
Down Throw: Bring 'em Down
Cortex holds on to the foe and flies upwards, before slamming them down on the ground in front of himself.
Up Throw: Bring 'em Up
Cortex flies upwards before throwing the foe up into the sky.
Super Moves
Level 1 Super: BRIO BEAKER!
Cortex throws one of the green beakers from CTR in front of himself. If it hits a foe before it goes to the ground, they are KOed and the beaker disappears. If the beaker hits the ground, a green pool of slime appears in front of Cortex for a brief moment, killing anyone who steps in it. It only stays for a second but covers a good range.
Level 2 Super: PROJECTILE STREAM!
Cortex shoots out a stream of very fast black projectiles in front of himself. This does not go very far, but can be angled - this is far better up close, though it still has some decent range and can be used to catch retreating foes. You can angle this in any direction during the few seconds he fires the projectiles. The projectiles are obviously instant kills.
Level 3: UKA UKA!
Like most level threes, the screen zooms in towards Cortex before we see Uka Uka pop up behind him, accompanied by lighting. Cortex gets on his knees to plead, before Uka Uka speaks - "FOOL! THE GREAT UKA UKA SHALL BE THE ONE TO WIPE OUT THESE FOOLS!". The screen zooms back out as the Crash Bandicoot 3 Final Boss Theme begins to play. You remain Cortex, attacking normally - while Uka Uka stays on the field to fight. He moves about, ripping boulders from the background to hurl at foes at an extremely fast speed - these instantly killing foes upon hit, much like most other level threes. If he gets close enough to a foe, he will attempt to latch on to them. If not dodged, Uka possesses them and goes on their face like a mask, running around and attacking foes, though still summoning boulders to make the most of the level 3. Uka will even waste that character's super meter if they have a level 1 or 2, with the kill credit for it going to Cortex. Uka will leave someone's face at any time. After some time, Uka leaves the match with a deep laugh.
Voice Responses
When Selected:
"I'm an evil scientist - what do you expect!"
"Ooh, this should be FUN!"
"This time, I shall reign triumphant!"
Prematch:
"Let's start handing out the presents!"
"*evil chuckling*"
Item Pick-Up:
"Oooooohhh....what does this one do?"
"Inferior to my own technology, but nevertheless..."
"This one looks...diabolical!"
"I think we have a winner!"
"How interesting..."
"Let's see what this does!"
Sucessful KO:
"This isn't a game, you know."
"MWAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"...I meant to do that!"
"Pain, destruction, tragedy - how delightful!"
"Let's see you do better than that!"
"You're even dumber than that wretched bandicoot!"
"And do you really think you could ever beat me?"
"Hehehe..."
"I must thank Brio later!" (level 1 exclusive)
"Ooooohhhh, that gun is certainly working." (level 2 exclusive)
"Be glad he was generous with you..." (level 3 exclusive)
Respawn:
"...Can't we talk about this?"
"Can't keep a good evil scientist down!"
"Oh dear, was that supposed to hurt? ...because it did."
"Please me more reasonable next time..."
"Why must you always muck in my mud!?"
"Like the fleas in your fur, I keep coming back!"
"Will this suffering NEVER END?"
____________________
Obviously not a Smash moveset, and therefore not eligible for the Top 50 (unless it is decided to have PSABR movesets be entered into the contest), but should be listed on the Stadium's set list in a header for a PSABR sets. This is a repost from the PSABR forums, and if there is enough interest, I can convert this into a moveset for the Smash engine.
Oh.. ok, you've twisted my leg, we'll have this discussion.
Since the majority of MYM operates on developing concepts, particularly high-concept, it makes sense to explore the systems of analogous games. It allows us to see what else can be done in the genre, and perhaps even bring those things into Smash Brothers.
And the reason it's HERE, is because the thread is moving slowly and I told Dave to post it here.
It's moving slowly because everybody put their eggs in movements, also this is for Smash Brothers movesets not "lol the moves don't matter cus supers" sets.
Okay, okay, this is getting a tad bit ridiculous yes, but Illbleed is getting delayed to the 7th, due to a major error on my part. I apologize for the inconvenience, this should be it. Let's all pray it is.
First impression: this is really, really hard to read. Lots of scrolling back and forth to try to figure things out. Gah.
Now, the set itself. Nothing too fancy here. Scout’s clearly a support character here, using various drinks to buff his allies and getting rid of traps. However, if the situation requires it, he can down a drink and go to work himself. Helps that he’s fairly speedy, so he can get around pretty quickly.
So, the drinks. Generally well-handled. Normally I’d say the drinks have way too long of a cooldown to be particularly efficient, but Capture-the-Flag is different in that it takes a lot longer, making the cooldown less obnoxious. Still, Scout is clearly out of his element in a normal Brawl. For that reason, I’m not a huge fan of this set. It’s not badly done, but I lack much interest in characters that are built for Capture-the-Flag or what-have-you and that thus can't function as well in a normal Brawl.
***
PYRO
Okay, so the spawn mechanic. Probably meant as a tribute to the character, and it works very well for the ambush playstyle you have here, but it seems a wee bit overpowered, especially since it would seem you could use it for recovery purposes and be very difficult to KO.
Beyond that, however, you do a good job of selling Pyro’s ambush capabilities. Spawn at random, set people on fire. Or secretly tunnel onto the enemy side and set them on fire. Another nice thing about those tunnels is that they make a pretty good hidey-hole for when you need to recharge your flamethrower. Not to mention the Up Tilt Smoke or capitalizing on flaming foes via the Forward Smash.
I can’t help but think that the Grabgame is somewhat overpowered. Long-range + setting on fire is okay. Enhancing the already OP spawn mechanic and allowing you to make tunnels while holding someone? Not so much. Granted, they could button-mash out of the latter, but even so, it’s a bit much.
Overall, Pyro’s playstyle is great. I just consider him/her/it whatever as being somewhat overpowered.
***
SOLDIER
Soldier’s got quite a few defensive options, which seems a little odd juxtaposed with his ability to accidentally hurt himself with some of his weapons. Neutral Special and Forward Smash give him a ton of range, with things like Up Smash and Side Special to control how people approach, or use the Down Smash or Forward Aerial to make a foe back off. At the same time, he can also use things like the Dash Attack or Up Smash to approach foes. Says a lot for his versatility.
What I can really appreciate about this set, though, is that it can function equally well in CtF or a normal Brawl. In a normal Brawl, he can camp, or chase a foe around the stage with explosives, waiting for just one slip-up you can exploit. But then in CtF, he can also do things like charging the enemy to give people a chance to slip by… and because Soldier does so much damage, he’s not easily ignored, a good quality for a distraction. Or alternatively, he can go for the flag himself, given his weight and artillery. Or use that Grab Smash (which normally I’d dislike because unstandard input, but this idea’s particularly cool) to wreak havoc on an enemy formation so that your allies can bypass them. Or he can buff allies even further by grabbing them. Soldier’s just a good jack-of-all-trades in general, which I can appreciate a lot. You’re never out of options.
And that’s not even getting into his buffs! It’s actually a pretty clever idea, especially since foes can’t see it and thus have no idea if they’re charging it and what they’re charging if they are. It’s a very good support move, but one that Soldier can definitely take advantage of as well.
I also appreciate that you included a Final Smash, even if I’m not quite sure what exactly it does.
Overall, a very impressive set, and definitely my favorite thus far of the TF2 movement.
***
HEAVY
This is an interesting take on a heavy (hah!) character. Of particular note is the sandwich and the Down Smash, which increase his survivability to insane levels. Not to mention his range, which is unusual on bulky characters. They tend to be more on the close combat side of things. Another note is his customizability via Down Special. Quite unusual for a heavy guy to have this many options. He’s also decent support, able to toss a sandwich to a hurting foe or enhance their traps via the Down Tilt. Also unusual for a bulk character.
Overall, this is a solid set with serious camping capabilities. But for some reason, this set didn’t grab me. It was just… generally uninteresting. Solid, but uninteresting.
Ugh, Special Smashes. Annoying little extra inputs without any justification for their existence, not to mention that you’ve fallen into that all-too-common trap of not actually saying how one triggers a Special Smash. I honestly don’t understand why you used them here.
Okay, griping aside, let’s get into things. The Engineer is a trap character, pure and simple, and he’s very good at it. Nearly every input builds something useful: a turret, a healer, that weird anthill thingie, a teleporter, a metal dispenser so you can build more stuff. For the most part, it’s fairly intuitive which inputs build things, although I question your choice to make the Up Tilt and Neutral Aerial build moves when none of the other tilts and aerials are. But Engineer doesn’t just build things, he also upgrades them, gives them bonuses, speeds up production, and can even harvest them to build something else. It really reminds me of a tower defense game transplanted in CtF Brawl.
I’m also glad to see a Final Smash on this guy, given that those tend to be neglected these days.
Overall, Engineer’s a great team player, is built well, and functions very well in his game mode. Unfortunately, he has a lot of difficulty functioning outside of it, which isn’t very appealing to me. Good job, but I personally didn’t like it that much.
***
MEDIC
While the concept of sawing off body parts and turning them into horrific mutations is interesting, it would be greatly overpowered in a normal Brawl. Looks like we have yet another CtF exclusive moveset here.
Medic is an interesting set, being mainly support given his minions, his ability to make them invincible, the ability to make foes trip up, and even some actual healing (kind of a shocker, given that the Medic’s interests definitely don’t lie in medic-ing). Forward Tilt in particular is fascinating, giving you the ability to steal abilities (and mess up a foe) without having to resort to the much more obvious bonesaw. Assuming you have body parts already, that is. And a Final Smash was included, which is nice.
For some reason, though, beyond the mix-and-match surgery, there’s not much that’s particularly interesting about the set. It just kind of is. So overall, this had good ideas, but was a bit bland once we got past the Down Special (save for the Forward Tilt).
***
SNIPER
Okay, so the first thing I notice is some vagueness in the move descriptions. Mostly with that Neutral Special, which is terribly unclear as to whether you aim and fire with the one input or if you have to press a new input to fire. And then you separate sniping and melee attacks as if it means something significant, but then you don’t elaborate. What you did do well was explain the general uses of the moves as you described them, but that description was sadly missed on the Neutral Special, so I’m still rather confused as to what that’s supposed to do. Not to mention that truly confusing Final Smash. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you included one, but what Final Smash is worth dealing 300% to yourself for? Not to mention that you talk about shooting the spiders, but give no reason as to why you’d want to, given that it’s doing damage to trapped foes. And you forgot to add a duration to boot.
Overall, I did kinda get what you were trying to do with this set: a long-ranged offensive support. It would have been a lot better if I could understand a lot of what’s going on, though.
***
CREEPER
While it works for the character, I can’t help but note that the text here is kinda tough to read. Maybe bump it up a font size?
Okay, so this seems to fit pretty well with the basic concept of the Creeper: sneak around via camouflage and blow people up when they least expect it.
But then things get weird. Humanized Creeper carrying around dynamite… why, exactly? Then again, you seem to be poking fun at your own set throughout, so maybe I should stop taking it so seriously. But then I get to where she hits herself with lightning and that random cat in the Final Smash and… wut. This set is reeeally weird, jokeset or not. I’m honestly not sure what to think of it.
***
THE FLIM-FLAM BROTHERS
Okay, so this is a set I’ve been looking forward to. I love these guys! So with any luck, this will live up to my high expectations. Although I disagree that the Mane Six cheated. Flim and Flam agreed to their help, didn’t they?
Anyway, so let’s take this step-by-step.
First, presentation. The colors match nicely and naming the specials after their own phrases gives the set a nice atmosphere.
Next, the specials. Neutral Special strikes me as odd, character-wise; after all, if they could grow their own trees, what did they need Applejack for? But I suppose it’s forgiveable given that the machine doesn’t work too well without apples to back it up. Up Special works pretty well in conjunction with this, but you fail to mention how many barrels this makes, which is kind of important. Then you can move the machine around with the Side Special and can mess foes up with Down Special. All flows together pretty well. So far, so good.
Tilts next. These, as usual and expected, are mostly the bread and butter of the set, giving you a bunch of ways to hand foes tainted cider. A nice little foundation.
Now the Smashes, which I have to say are a little awkward. SSmash is fine, but smashing via dancing on the DSmash seems odd, and USmash just seems more athletic than they seem to be. That said, they do flow fairly well into the playstyle.
The Aerials seem to be fairly dull, which works; they’re not meant for the air. Two things of note here, however. First is the Bair, which is just hilarious to imagine with the friendly fire. Next is the DAir, which… kinda contradicts something you said earlier. You had previously mentioned that even with quality control off, you can’t knock a foe into the cider. But then you say that you can in the DAir. I’m confused.
Throws… eh, they were kinda there. Nice way to rearrange the barrels, though. Makes me wonder if someone could hit Flam during that time, though, to make him drop the barrel.
Final Smash… wait, there’s no Final Smash. You could have made a bunch of trees spout to really speed up your cider-making. I am disappoint.
Extras: Shiny! That is all.
Overall, I think you did a really good job with these guys. There are a couple of awkward spots, but this is definitely one of the better sets I’ve seen recently.
***
QUEEN CHRYSALIS
Now here’s another set I’ve been looking forward to. What is it about the villains and antagonists that make great sets?
Anyway, first impression is the presentation, which I quite enjoyed. It’s distinct, but not distracting, and it almost feels like I’m seeing this through the holding chrysalises she makes. I also like how you give a quick blurb on the move to give people an idea of how strong it’s meant to be before they get to the details.
Based on the bazillion and three changelings she can summon and her fairly broken Down Special, I’m assuming that this is a 3v1 char. (Also, about that DSpec, there’s pretty much no evidence that Changelings can use the abilities of those they copy unless they had it already. Standards and aerials and whatnot? That’d be okay. But copying the Specials is just not something changelings can do.) Speaking of the minions, you’ve handled them pretty well here; you’re giving commands via inputs, but the inputs still do things as well.
Those chrysalises seem like they’d be a lot more useful storing minions than trapping a foe, given that it gives you reserves that you can pop out if necessary, as well as serving as some very handy spacing. People might get caught in the cocoon if you’re close enough that they can get out and hit you quickly. But with a bunch of changelings in the cocoon? Yeah, they’ll be wanted to jump over it rather than break it, or maybe just stay away altogether lest you release the swarm.
The ability to enthrall the foe is a nice touch, and further emphasizes the 3v1 –ness of the Queen, as does that Down Throw, which can reeeally mess people up, especially if you use the Queen Beam to blast them if they get too close to the portal.
Overall, this was a very Chrysalis-like experience, in spite of the problems with the DSpec and the lack of a Final Smash.
***
EMBER
Okay, seriously, who’s gonna bother playing a character where they have to figure out how to play in time to music that, depending on the situation, may not even be on? I mean, if you could toggle it on and off so that you aren’t constantly sabotaging yourself by attacking, that’d be fine, but you can’t. That is a very big problem with this set, because only people looking for a challenge would pick her up. She’s not accessible to the common player. Furthermore, the general enthrallment and stunning of the love setting makes it pretty much impossible to fight her in 1v1. Just set the guitar on love and only dedicated dodgers can avoid all the stun. And don’t get me started on that Down Throw. Ember is simultaneously over- and underpowered.
In general, there are two things I care about in a set: does it suit the character, and does it suit the players? You suit the character just fine here, but you also make an odd situation in which you frustrate both Ember’s player and her opponents. There really aren’t many people who would play Ember.
***
ARMANTLE
Ahh, the final installment in Ace Trainer JOE! And it’s a new Pokémon to boot, so I don’t have any preconceptions coming into this. So let’s see what you have for us.
…I’m sorry to say that I’m kinda disappointed here. The appealing thing about most of the other Pokémon was their simplicity, except for Porygon-Z who had a cool enough combo that I could forgive the lack of simplicity. But the standing/crawling thing, while making sense, is a little complicated without being particularly interesting.
There’s also other problems, such as Overheat’s general lack of downsides. Sure, you can’t do anything else while doing it, but if you’re camping on the lava, what’s going to stop you, given Overheat’s massive range? That’s not even factoring in whoever you’ve got on Team 2 to help cover you.
There are still good things about Armantle, though. The ability to be scenery while shielding is an interesting concept, one that I doubt will pop up anywhere else given that it really only works in this sort of setting. The presentation is great, giving the feel of an ancient document with untold secrets, with the pictures also adding a bit of reference to some of the moves. Armantle also works pretty well as support with his Side Special, and his Up Special is a very interesting tool that would be really fun to play around with. U-Throw is a nice, intuitive way to combo with the lava.
Those positives help, but I still can’t get past the huge problems with Overheat.
***
SHANG TSUNG
Okay, so kudos on how you handled Hot Escape. It’s a great way to ambush people. In general, I’m rather surprised at Shang’s mobility, with three different methods of teleportation to work with. Body Morph is a handy reference to his ability to morph into opponents, while being balanced by the lesser damage of both movesets. (Might still be a problem on minion-summoning sets, though, given that even if it’s 1% damage on everything they do, it still hurts.) The Jab’s pretty unique as a movable Jab, the flaming skulls were handled pretty well (although the range on the FSmash might be a bit much), and the soul-stealing in the grabgame was handled very well.
Overall, this would be a challenging character to play as, but not completely inaccessible, and the mindgames he plays are very in-character. Well-done!
***
UKA UKA
Okay, so you tear rocks and stage pieces out of the ground, suspend them in midair, and bounce lasers off of them. Pretty simple on paper, pretty fascinating in practice. The tornado seems a bit much, though, although given that Uka seems to be a boss set, this is forgiveable.
But then we get the possession, and we’re just getting too much here. Not to mention the pummel using the foe’s “most useful tilt/aerial”. Well, who decides that? Not to mention the back thrust being hilariously pointless on characters like R.O.B. or Game and Watch. And then you go and add extra inputs for no apparent reason, which I generally loath. That, plus your wordiness that nearly rival’s Kat’s, makes this set very hard to like. A shame, too, given the good foundation you had with the laser-bouncing.
…wait a second, that was the NORMAL set? Seriously? He doesn’t need any more buffing!
***
YUKIKI
I’m beginning to wonder if you’re specifically searching for ice people to use, because this is getting ridiculous. That’s what, five ice people you’ve done since I’ve come to MYM? At least?
Obscuring Yukiki and bomb-presents with a snowstorm and then creating snowballs to… well, snowball into the foe is fairly clever, but honestly, there’s not much to say here. You’ve used so many ice concepts recently that they’re just getting monotonous to read. Heck, the Jab illustrates this perfectly; you’re running out of ideas and have to come up with weird justifications for what ideas you have. In conjunction with your usual verbosity… well, I’m sorry, but this is not a very impressive offering; I ended up doing a lot of skimming because there’s just nothing here to hold my interest.
Just to clear up what may have been a big oversight, womf: overheat and lava do not cause any hitstun, making them like big versions of fox's laser for damage, but not much else, which is why its a big downside that he has to commit to overheat if he presses the input while solo (on team 2 he gas the playable pokemon to cover him), there's nothing short of fear of losing a % lead stopping the for from running in on him.
Just to clear up what may have been a big oversight, womf: overheat and lava do not cause any hitstun, making them like big versions of fox's laser for damage, but not much else, which is why its a big downside that he has to commit to overheat if he presses the input while solo (on team 2 he gas the playable pokemon to cover him), there's nothing short of fear of losing a % lead stopping the for from running in on him.
Probably not, since the move stuns the foe when they hit the tree, assuming the foe bounces off the tree there's plenty of time to just grab them again. And if they don't bounce off due to it stunning, then easy chain throw.
Ugh, Special Smashes. Annoying little extra inputs without any justification for their existence, not to mention that you’ve fallen into that all-too-common trap of not actually saying how one triggers a Special Smash.
Just to interject something here, I believe Special Smashes are always understood to mean that the control stick is tapped in the necessary direction (as when using Smash Attacks) and the Special button is pressed (as in Special Attacks). An example actually already kind of exists in Brawl in the form of Samus's Side Special, which can be "smashed" to remove the missile's homing ability in exchange for speed and power.
And the standing/crawling aspect ties into his role as a wall/damage dealer with how the standards change. Felt it'd be an intuitive method of "changing stance" given his body shape and all. Not sure how you found it more complicated than Z tho, was it how it was written?
Also, any thoughts on the big picture? :D
Edit: kibble, you mean homing/super missiles (they have names (d)). But yeah, special smashes are actually common with most any side b projectile.
I don't have to use the names if I don't want to. (D)
Nevertheless, thank you for bringing that up, because it serves to prove the point further--the moves even have different names, so clearly the Super Missile's move type has to be a Special Smash.
Just to interject something here, I believe Special Smashes are always understood to mean that the control stick is tapped in the necessary direction (as when using Smash Attacks) and the Special button is pressed (as in Special Attacks). An example actually already kind of exists in Brawl in the form of Samus's Side Special, which can be "smashed" to remove the missile's homing ability in exchange for speed and power.
Hmm. That makes it... somewhat less obnoxious. I still don't think it ought to be a completely different move than the normal Special. Samus's Super Missile is different from her Homing Missile, but it's still a missile and still does the same basic thing.
And the standing/crawling aspect ties into his role as a wall/damage dealer with how the standards change. Felt it'd be an intuitive method of "changing stance" given his body shape and all. Not sure how you found it more complicated than Z tho, was it how it was written?
Also, any thoughts on the big picture? :D
Edit: kibble, you mean homing/super missiles (they have names (d)). But yeah, special smashes are actually common with most any side b projectile.
It's not that it was more complicated than Z, it's just that the level of complexity wasn't sufficiently counterbalanced by the level of interest.
Big picture... um, it works? I didn't pay a huge amount of attention to that, since I was under the impression that the Team 2 char did their own thing and that I could exploit it. Beyond that, it basically falls under how you choose your team and overall is just less interesting to me than examining each Pokemon by itself.
Chrysalis isn't a 3v1 moveset. The changelings are justified in that they die in one hit. Just use a wide sweeping attack and they're irrelevant. If they're close enough to hit you, you're close enough to hit them, since they are using your moveset. And you know, you don't HAVE to play to the beat to play Ember. She only gets bonuses from doing it.
Also, never use that ungodly ugly Chiller font again or I'll make your life a living hell, pony boy.
Chrysalis isn't a 3v1 moveset. The changelings are justified in that they die in one hit. Just use a wide sweeping attack and they're irrelevant. If they're close enough to hit you, you're close enough to hit them, since they are using your moveset. And you know, you don't HAVE to play to the beat to play Ember. She only gets bonuses from doing it.
Also, never use that ungodly ugly Chiller font again or I'll make your life a living hell, pony boy.
Re: Chrysalis. Considering you summon an endless amount and they can copy your moveset, I'd say there's a problem there in that if they start hitting you, it'd be insanely difficult to not be juggled by all the Changelings, especially if they can attack at range, given that there aren't a whole lot of "wide, sweeping" ranged attacks.
Re: Ember. You said yourself that if you miss the beat too many times, she starts dealing less damage, pretty much forcing you to try.
Re: Chiller. There's only so many sets that would work for anyway, so okay, whatever, will be used sparingly in the future, if at all. (At least I understand your concern here, though, unlike the whole Comic Sans MS thing.)
[collapse="Nyx Assassin"]I told you in the chat that this was my favorite CTF set posted this contest, but I didn't tell you why. Nyx Assassin is not only a very fresh breath of air due to his unique role as a player (and not being TF2 char), but also avoids abusing the specifics in the game mode unlike a lot of other sets made for CTF (meaning he doesn't look into other camera zones or mess around with the flag). Actual abuse of the game's nature through multiple game cameras is interesting for CTF, much like Soldier's self-damaging. I was quite surprised at just how extreme you got at times, what with the insane damage multiplier on Vendetta (you even edited it from 5X to 7X) in conjunction with the Neutral Special spikes. The former works, though I'm a little stuck with the latter due to partial vagueness on the description: can Nyx Assassin move and attack while the spikes are out? (I'd say yes given the F-Smash's description) Does he become visible when doing so? I understand the move is designed to be a disorientating counter, but pulled off at close range it'd give Nyx Assassin a free shot with his Vendetta (he turns invisible instantly, meaning he can just pull that off and something like the U-tilt without the need to get all stealthy). Nitpick-wise, perhaps it would be a good idea to give Nyx Assassin a bit of lag when he turns invisible, as he is supposed to have trouble fighting off enemies without it and the way he is it's a bit too easy to exit their sights (at the very least however, there will likely be other players and they'll most likely predict where Nyx Assassin is given he can't really fight back without turning visible).
Another part about Nyx Assassin I fancy is how it delves into the consequence of killing in Capture The Flag despite the fact that such is not the main point of the mode. I guess that's not really apart of the main set contents-wise, but writing up a storm helps contribute to a set's charm what with trying to convince people. None the less, kudos on this one for what little motif you had to work with.[/collapse]
Yes, there’s music! Woo-hoo! Very fitting, too, especially with that opening narration… *shudder*.
For once, the overpoweredness works here, as Mistelteinn feels like she’d be an absolutely terrifying boss to face. When her Tilts can KO about as efficiently as most people’s Smashes, it’s easy to see how she holds her own against three people. And Smashes that can KO at 15%? Ack! No wonder the set seems to assume that everyone will be running away from her.
Even with Mistelteinn’s incredible moveset, though, Ijima’s still important, given that you want to be careful where you put the portal. And you’ll be needing to send foes back to Mistelteinn eventually. Not to mention Misty’s DThrow that can potentially equip Ijima to win the game (although I have to say that it’d be a bit jarring to go from such power to support mode). It’s also rather interesting to note that you could actually play Ijima completely normally in normal game modes. That’s not something that many boss sets allow.
In short, this is probably the best boss set I’ve ever read. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go huddle under a pillow for a few hours…
Also, Ijimi, eww. You have very squicky romantic tastes.
***
HEADLESS HORSEMAN
Wow. This is a very impressive offering. Lots of fun stuff to do here with the head. Use it to get a good hit in, get your head back, repeat. Igniting the head? Sure? Throwing out a minion or two to make sure people can’t throw the head off the edge? Yes please. Float it back? Why not? Works even better if you ignite it first.
Funny thing is that there’s actually not a ton to comment on. Your main innovation is the head, and nearly every move works off of that. Nonetheless, it works very well and seems like it’d be pretty fun to play. I’m also impressed that you managed to make good aerials for a guy on a horse; I wouldn’t have known how to begin. The atmosphere’s great too, especially with that song.
So, in short, awesome set, awesome song, just general awesomeness.
***
ROSE LALONDE
Confession: I read the plaintext version before I read the stylized one. I figured that first I’d figure out what was going on, then I’d look at the atmosphere, which is marvelously done, by the by. The stylized version almost reads like an apocalyptic log crossed with a video game guide, advising those who find it on how to survive, and the music choices made it all the spookier. Well-done on atmosphere.
Rose does a lot of stuff with her thread that’s interesting. There’s the obvious, tying foes up, but you can also zipline on it for quick approachs or retreats, use it to block foes off, deflect projectiles, and boost the string's health to keep them around for longer. In most aspects, this is a lot more interesting than the truly dark magics she uses later on, although I did note with interest that she can easily hurt herself with them. Especially the Final Smash; it’s a rare occasion when you actually have to debate whether it’s better to use the Smash Ball yourself or to let a foe have it. The Seer mechanic is also very interesting, pretty much making self-fulfilling prophecies by making it worth it to follow the path you’ve seen.
In short, a fascinating set that’s fun to imagine and has a lot of cool stuff. This is a set to be proud of!
***
GRIMLOCK
Okay, so this is another 3v1 set mostly relying on brute force, although unlike Mistelteinn, you’ve sacrificed doing quite as much damage in exchange for a handy defensive option in the shield. That’s not to say that he doesn’t hit hard, though; while it’s mostly evident in that DAir and most of his throws (I really have no idea why anyone would use the FThrow since the other throws are so darn good) , most of his attacks still hit really hard. Not to mention his ability to destroy platforms with the Up Smash (which is the only good thing about that move IMO; Smashes shouldn’t grab).
Something I’ve noticed is that this is dull reading, but when actually playing him, it does feel like it’d be interesting to play… or at least as interesting as Ike, given that they seem to play similarly (although there are obvious comparisons with R.O.B. as well).
I don’t agree that you have an inferior Final Smash here; given that he has constant superarmor and can activate it with rage mode, it seems to work just fine in spite of not actually being particularly stronger than his normal form.
This is no Garble, but it’s a pretty solid boss set.
***
NYX ASSASSIN
Another pure CtF character? Sigh. Oh well, here we go.
Okay, so invisibility. Okay then, makes sense for a mystical assassin. Not really new, though, not even the massive damage buff from attacking out of it (Thief had something rather similar). Side Special is where things really get interesting; I don’t ever recall having seen an attack that hits the last person you hit, and the ability to drain shields regardless of whether they’re actually shielding is a great idea for an assassin. Similarly, the Up Smash is fascinating, and combos really well with your ability to deal tons damage out of invisibility. The spikes are another interesting factor, essentially being a long-range counter. You don’t see those every day.
I’m concerned about the scarab minions, because you don’t really give us much info regarding what they cancel. Is it everything except tilts? That seems like it’d be the case. I do like how you can use them to trigger traps or be a trap, depending on what you need. Another concern I have is his difficulty in recovering, although to be fair, he is rather overpowered even without a good recovery.
Nyx Assassin does feel a lot like an assassin, sneaking in and killing a foe before they know what’s going on, and the imaginative effects were impressive. I’m not too enthused about his general overpoweredness, though. 7x is a bit much IMO. Based on Kat’s comment, it was apparently 5x initially, which I personally would find much more palatable.
***
LORD VOLDEMORT
I do agree that there ought to be something to compensate for Time or Coin matches here, but nonetheless, you’ve created a rather terrifying 3v1 set in Voldemort. Horcruxes to prolong his life, Killing Curses from above ricocheting off of everything, Inferi swarming the foe and dragging them down into the lake, Fiendfyre all over the place, shadowy tendrils to obstruct the foe, turning foes against each other, flinging them around invisibly, the iconic Dark Mark blowing people up, growing lightning traps, and clouds of smoke to hide all of that from view. Needless to say, that really gives the boss fight a frightening, paralyzing aspect which suits Voldemort perfectly. Fear was always his greatest weapon, after all. Nonetheless, should Voldemort lose his Horcruxes, he becomes far less frightening, giving foes a goal beyond “beat up the boss”, which I also appreciate; bosses who require strategy are a lot more fun to fight.
Normally I’d object to the Smashes not actually doing much smashing, but given Voldemort’s character and the general effectiveness of the Smashes you have, that’s not really a problem. What I do object to is the implication that you could hide Horcruxes on his Final Smash stage and that they’ll stay even after the effect ends; all he has to do is not get the Smash Ball again and he wins by default.
But aside from that balance quibble and the assumption of a stock match, this is a fantastically executed (hah!) set that really feels like a fight against Voldemort. Well-done, Kupa!
Pretty much exactly what it sounds like: all the comments for any given set gathered together in one place. Should be useful for review purposes come voting time. Plus, there'll be a link to the actual set in the image.
So, without further ado...
If you're reading this sentence, I haven't completed this yet.
BUBBLEMAN.EXE By Nicholas1024
[collapse="Katapultar"]I didn't think you'd post the first set in the contest, nor would that character be for one done in the past by a familiar MYMer. Your interaction heavy trait is prevalent here as it always has been, though I'm starting to realize it's not as bad as I thought it was despite the mostly bottlenecked style of KO'ing. There's some decently cool stuff going on (a huge plus in your style given EVERYTHING is a cool thing going on, lol) and reminds me of Burst Man (1st set in MYM8 ironically enough) only there's more versatility going on with the bubbles when you can use them as trap placements, most interestingly your missiles. Also strange is the surprising lack of bubble trapping despite an actual full grab game, which I can't help but think isn't as effective as it could have been without the ability to trap foes in currently existing bubbles. The set is very focused and the playstyle section helps bring it together, being good at what it does attempt enough for me to like it despite the set being for a character who's already had a set. For now I can't bring myself to outright love it -because- it's so inwardly focused, however, but we'll see.
Also, something you might want to note for others is how the bubble rotation affects traps when using it with the Dash Attack instead of suddenly mentioned it in the F-throw, as until then I had no idea what you used it for.[/collapse]
[COLLAPSE="FrozenRoy"]Bubble Boy
Bubbleman.exe is actually a pretty neat set. In a total shocker, Bubbleman.exe uses...bubbles! These little aquatic semi-projectiles start out weak, but can survive most tilts at higher levels, while going from generic projectile to generic platform to a pure solid form.
Adding onto these, though, Bubbleman fills his bubbles with all kinds of surprises: Proximity mines to hit those who do not quickly get away from the bubble, missiles that'll go flying in a direction when the bubble pops and most importantly, foam that hides just what is inside the bubble from the foe. Bubbleman.exe can even dive into the bubble with his down tilt, though that interaction is a tad awkward...
Indeed, while the primary idea is strong, I feel like the execution can falter a little. The Up aerial seems sorta odd, given he can hang on to any bubble: The tier 1 bubbles being so weak and all. Up Smash seems sorta...there-ish, somehow not really meshing well with the rest of the set, even if it does make some sense for stalling purposes, and I would have liked to have seen some more detail on if it has any purpose other than just generic stalling. Not really sold on it workin' well with the Up Special crabs...
I would have also liked to have seen some more direct attack abilities: This guy almost suffers as badly in this department as Luxord, but without the concept that allows it to work. I would have liked to have seen a real Up Smash attack in place of the current U-Smash, maybe an actual up aerial or a throw that deals damage or something. Overall, it's good, but...just that: good.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Junahu"]
Bubbleman.EXE Bubbleman.exe is constantly setting up his bubbles, not because he has a lot to set up, but because every bubble he makes has such a tiny lifespan that he can barely get much use out of one unless he immediately pumps it full of water (in which case it loses its ability to move upwards). So he has the unique dilemma of having to set up in order to buy enough time to set up. I kind of like that approach, and it gives Bubbleman a suitably "inept" feeling, like he's really trying, but barely managing to do anything other than blow bubbles in the foe's face.
Conceptually, there's a good core in this moveset, and the "gimping off the top of the screen" genre is fresh enough for this moveset to make some decent advances in this regard. I did have fun trying to come up with game-breaking scenarios with bubbleman.
But the problem is that I kinda succeeded on that. There are a few points where I feel the moveset is tripping over itself to claim an exciting idea works, only for it to not work due to a contradictory detail hidden somewhere. For example, placing traps and set-ups inside a grab bubble is impossible unless you throw the bubble away first. And the number of set-up moves that require you to be standing on something make it absurdly difficult to put anything in a grab bubble even after you've tossed it.
Having the Jab be the ONLY way Bubbleman can pop a bubble is annoying, but barely acceptable considering he can aim it (But... the Wiimote's D-Pad, and the notches around the Analogue stick, mean that he can only reliably aim in 8 specific directions. Never assume the player has more control than that). However, its frankly baffling when Bubbleman pulls out a harpoon for his Fair.... and places it INSIDE the bubble without popping it.
D-tilt could have (should have) been on Up Special as Bubbleman.exe's recovery. As it stands now, he literally has no recovery whatsoever.
Ironically however, Bubbleman has an infinite stall technique. 1)Create a tier 2 bubble next to a tier 1 bubble. 2)Cling to the tier 1 bubble and let the bubbles float out of enemy range. 3)Pump the tier 2 bubble with water to stop it rising. 4)Jump on. 5)Profit
So, in the interests of fixing my issues in the smallest number of moves, here is what I'd reccommend you change;
When Bubbleman is inside of a bubble let him make the bubble descend/ascend-faster by tilting up or down on the analogue stick (have the bubble pop if Bubbleman makes it descend for a accumulative total of 4 seconds or more)
When Bubbleman latches onto a T1 bubble with Up-air, jumping or pressing up makes the bubble pop, propelling Bubbleman upwards slightly. Pressing left/right has the same effect, popping the bubble, but propelling him horizontally this time.
Move Down Tilt to Up Special and allow its use in midair (don't refresh his recovery if he stands on top of an upgraded bubble)
Make Bubbles pop if they have water inside and someone stands on top of one
[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="emergency"]Bubbleman.exe - Nicholas1024 Well isn't this just a familiar face we've seen before. Unfortunately, my memory fails me and I can only remember a little bit of the past version of Bubbleman. But let's see what you bring to the table!
I've actually played Battle Network 3, one of the few BN games I actually used to play, and I'm quite accustom to how Bubbleman works in the game, and you did a splendid job translating it into a moveset. The Specials really make him up to the way he is, I enjoyed the process of putting his traps into the bubbles and the entire idea of pushing bubbles toward the enemy and the levels of bubbles. The interaction between them is pretty strong. Which makes it fun to think about when planning your next attack while grasping at the utility of your other moves.
The only real thing that seems a bit off to me seems to be like the Neutral Special is kind of obsolete in the initial utility as the Down Special does pretty much on its own. After reading through the set, I feel that the Neutral Special could've had the Foaming mechanism. Where he would focus blow some foam some place, and then still have the added effect of blowing up the bubbles he stood close too. Perhaps even inject some kind of foam into the bubbles which would make the stiffening process have some kind of I dunno, backstory? Hahaha, what the hell am I talking about; that's how I would've processed it through. That's the only real thing that I felt that I could have talked about. My apologies.
It slightly bothers me that your headers have some inconsistent capitalization, sometimes within descriptions too, but that's just me and my presentation talk. I feel that some moves were kind of thrown in with the lack of idea for some moves. But I suppose there is only so much you can do to make throws or tilts interesting, so I commend you for trying your best.
Bubbleman is pretty coherent in terms of strong Specials and some interaction with the entire moveset. Keep it up good sir. Just try and get more of your moves to feel as a whole that ties in with everything in a sense, and you'll be good. ;D[/COLLAPSE]
Both BubbleMan.EXE and FlashMan.EXE on the same page. Are you going to he rounding out the elemental bosses with PlantMan.EXE and FlameMan.EXE? I've toyed with a flameman moveset for a while now.
BubbleMan.EXE I made a set for back in MYM6, which is now closer to the start of Make Your Move than today is. That makes me feel old. You have some good ideas here and I like the concept of gimping off the top, but there are a lot of flaws that need to he addressed too. The tiered levels of bubbles doesn't really seem to add as much to the moveset depth as it simply does to its complexity and doesn't relate much to BubbleMan.EXE character-wise either.
I think what could do the set the most good and improve it were if you condensed most of your bubble interactions together. I think that if all bubbles behaved like tier two bubbles so that they could be stood upon but had the strength of tier one bubbles it would be a lot simpler, and then you could take better advantage of ground moves that are useful from standing on a bubble.
There are also just far too many moves that don't deal damage at all, or exist for a purpose other than damage. Two of the smashes don't even do damage, and are in the input slot they're in not because they are smash-like attacks but because they simply benefit from a charge function. FlashMan.EXE suffers from an even worse variation of this with three smashes that are all variations of one move with direction of the input corresponding to nothing but giggling which one activates, two of which real no damage.
BubbleMan.EXE has too many toys for playing different games with his bubbles when what he really needs is a solid set of moves to help him move the battle further into the air on his stream of bubbles. In some ways the same could be said of FlashMan.EXE but with blindness instead of bubbles. The rushed nature of this set is apparent, random removal of a special from a moveset is really an inexcusable move to use. With random ELEC chips filling up the empty spaces, it doesn't really sell itself at all.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="BKupa666"]BUBBLEMAN.EXE
For what you openly admitted was a simpler set, Bubbleman does introduce a handful of unique annoyances to assist him with his straightforward vertical KOs. In a way, he occupies the air with rising projectiles, enabling him to keep pushing his foe toward the blast zone, as they fall down onto additional bubbles, even after escaping from the surface of an initial one. Bubbleman’s option to spin bubbles with F-Throw or dash attack to keep opponents attacking new portions of bubble brings to mind elements of Luxord, or even Dingodile, occupying them as they continue their ascent.
An additional aspect of the set that seemingly became underplayed as it progressed was Bubbleman’s methods for controlling certain ‘tiers’ of bubbles with others; a larger bubble, for example, may hold back an increasingly large amount of homing smaller ones, eventually releasing a massive barrage of projectiles at foes to pop them upward bit by bit. While these smaller portions of the set are all well and good, Bubbleman also contains a number of odd inputs, as well as filler moves scattered here and there that prop up certain strategies well, but don’t contribute much coherence to the set as a whole (this is especially evident in the throws, IMO). The conceptual tackiness of larger characters standing on bubbles is also arguably humorous, but might turn-off others in the process. This Bubbleman is a strong enough reboot of his previous MYM incarnation, though I suspect it will fade into the background as your later efforts leave it in the dust.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces"]BUBBLEMAN.EXE
The interactions here are great! Naturally for a guy named BubbleMan, everything revolves around those bubbles. And there’s a lot you can do with them as well. You can damage rack a little with tier 1s (best accomplished via the bubble fountain), stick missiles in tier 2 bubbles to make people avoid them, or obstruct everything with the tier 3s, all enhanced by those surprisingly annoying crabs. An interesting zoning game here. And that’s just the specials. You can also make the bubbles slippery, hide inside them and upgrade them, stick mines in them, make them sink by filling them with water, hang from them… need I go on? Heck, you can combine these to really mess the opponents up if you have the time. I also like the Jab: useful to the playstyle in the way MYM likes, while keeping to the simplicity I favor.
The grabgame is a little overpowered; 25% damage to one spot seems a bit excessive, especially since you can stick traps in it and make it bigger and thus harder to hit that one spot with other bubbles or just the Up Throw. Still, I like the basic concept here. In fact, the only things I don’t like about this are the lack of stats (which are important), and a Final Smash (not quite as important, but I like to see them). Still, a great way to start the contest![/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Conren"]Bubbleman.EXE
I like the playstyle here and the various options you have with the bubbles. One suggestion I have is to change around some of the inputs. D-Tilt could be done by double-tapping down on a bubble that Bubbleman is standing on, or rolling into a bubble that's next to Bubbleman. U-Air seems very odd as an attack input, it looks like it should be doable just by jumping into a bubble. As for the grab, I'd suggest making it so that doing N-Spec at point blank range traps the opponent in the bubble. This may leave you needing to fill some imputs with basic attacks, which is not bad. Sometimes a guy just needs to make a quick, simple attack. Particularly since there seems to be a lack of normal moves that actually do damage.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Smash Daddy"]I'm a fan of your sets, so BubbleMan.EXE is right up my alley, especially when it's a trademark playground set. The set really shows off your faults as a moveset maker very apparently at times, though in the end it has a venerable niché it successfully fills out and is able to create enough depth in its small sandbox to make for good fun. Bad first, you have a lot of non-attack moves, and that isn't necessary. There should be a reason for this every time it happens. You also have a knack for over-complicating mechanics, the bubbles being a prime example, as the tiers are mostly pointless. Finally, you have so many concepts vying for attention that you're suffocating more than a few of them, this links in with using actual attacks as it would become far easier to make regular attacks if you weren't trying to flow into half-a-dozen different core focuses. All these nagging issues drag down the quality of the set. While that is a heap of negative feedback, the set does approach an often unacknowledged concept, vertical KOing, and gives an original spin on it, covering the air in bubbles that are open-ended enough that they're a threat from nearly any position. You create a chaotic environment and wait for an opening, similar to playing on a frenetic scrolling stage. If you had buckled down on something like the verticality of the set, with interesting attacks that work around being above or below the foe due to bubble platforms, that alone would've been a vast improvement, but as is, the flow is too thinly spread. It's a good set but could have potentially been great.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="MasterWarlord"]INSTA SMADY SV
Bubbleman is my favorite set posted so far, for actually having some interesting concepts and fully fleshing them out. Even if you still loathe traditional grabs, you still manage to fill out all the inputs for once and there’s nary any filler to be found. Obscuring the bubbles with foam, having more direct control over where they go with brilliant moves like that dash attack, and spinning the bubble around with the throws give this the execution and focus DM’s version lacked – the two sets are more similar than I expected, quite honestly. But where DM wants you to get rid of attacks without hitboxes, he wants you to put in an irrelevant to everything gimping game. Props to you for sticking it out the whole way.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="ForwardArrow"]Bubbleman.EXE
While I'm not a fan of your other sets this contest, Bubbleman is actually quite enjoyable. The core is pretty unique of utilizing bubbles which you can fill with missiles, foam, minions, mines, etc while floating them off the top of the screen. It's pretty versatile and fun with all the ways he can utilize the bubbles, with cool stuff like the jab providing a large risk reward move, the extremely enjoyable grab game which actually has all the inputs despite admittedly being unconventional. It's all good stuff, though I sorta wish there was something that stood out and excited me a bit more... and the aerials feel a fair bit weaker than the rest of the set. Stuff like the redundant dair and the "dodge out of the way" aerial kinda bug me looking at it now.
What actually does bring down the set for me though is the lack of actual attacks. Bubbleman has a very, very small arsenal of moves that are actual capable of fighting the foe at close range, and even some of his long range stuff is hardly effective as actual damage racking. His lack of combat ability really kinda makes me feel like he'd be fairly underpowered and difficult to play, which brings down the set in my eyes. Still, it actually adds something to his characterization, in that Bubbleman really is just a coward and a nuisance, which is played off extraordinarily will in this set. So yeah, while I have my gripes with it, the overall product is quite fun.[/COLLAPSE]
[collapse=Nicholas1024]So, my first comment of the contest... and already more than I did all through last MYM. Whether I'll comment consistently or sporadically remains to be seen. Regardless, on to the set.
First off, as I mentioned in the chat, I rather enjoy the concept behind this. Sure, some might argue that the concept itself forces it into a flowchart, but considering you can get any variation on any move within two inputs, that's hardly a major concern. Going back and forth seamlessly between two styles to combo is something you don't see all that often, and I think this mechanic is the best way to pull it off that I've seen.
Secondly, the moveset itself is fairly good. You've definitely been working on removing generic attacks and giving every individual move its own purpose. There's still some work to be done in this area (for instance, the aerials could probably be compressed quite a bit), and as a result the moveset comes off as disjointed at times. Still, with the various elements you put into the set, you still end up with a reasonably good playstyle.
Thirdly, there's some under detail at points... for instance, in the grab game you mention that if the grab arm takes damage, the opponent will be released from the grab, and the arm might even explode... but there's no mention of how much damage would cause the arm to explode, so it's hard for the reader to get a grasp on the concept. Still, for the most part this set was reasonably easy to understand (probably more so than a few of my own sets, anyway.)
So, in the final analysis, I really enjoyed the concept, and although the execution is alright, I feel that with some proofreading and extra time, this set could have been a lot better. Still, it's hardly bad, and I think it has a good shot at the top 50. So, good job on this, Majora.
[/collapse]
[collapse="Katapultar"]This set definitely marks an improvement for you Majora, as the individual attacks are actually fairly strong on their own - both surprising and impressive (you even got some cool(er) pictures!). I can understand you wanting to get into the feel of the character with the interesting rap combo mechanic, though it sort of feels like you're talking in an entirely different language, and the mechanic doesn't seem 100% relevant to gameplay despite changing the properties of certain moves. Also marking an improvement is how there are stray concepts, but they are there, such as with the U-Smash, Aerial teleportation, the great grab game and surprising use of Squarewave as a secondary character instead of emphasizing on tag team co-ordination like a lot of other sets - Squarewave seems like a bit of a butt monkey given his disposition and treatment with the jab. Your usual under-elaboration on certain bits of information doesn't bother me as much as before either, it more requiring common sense to get through.
The F-tilt's effect does seem a little overpowering when you could just not attack the foe and massively stall with the shades. It does seem on the overpowered side.
It's not so much the role changing of the set that comes at me well (though it's still good and you do know what you're doing based on the playstyle section), but rather the surprising flow in the item manipulation and their uses for positioning - you can use your grab game to catch the many items you can toss around, and furthermore turn Squarewave into an item for that matter! Perhaps there are some parts of the set that could do with some itemification to make them more potentially interesting such as the shades and rocket board, but you do have enough interesting items as it is with the extensively bizarre nature of the series. In any case, it's easy to see you put a lot of effort into this set and for once I really genuinely like it, if oddly for the playstyle grounded up over the specs of character and well-structured specifications of the moves - of the first 3 sets posted, this one is probably my favorite. Excellent job.[/collapse]
[COLLAPSE="FrozenRoy"]Stylin' and Profilin'
Sawtooth and Squarewave is certainly a fun set, but how good is it? Let's find out.
The first thing to discuss is, of course, the Tech-Hop Modus mechanic, as Sawtooth's attacks change based on what other attacks are: A cool concept for sure, especially given how fitting it is with the source material, and allows Sawtooth, as was well put, to be all about options. The battle is a lot like a rap-off in this regard, as you rapid fire off SICK BURNS to keep the opponent off guard.
I think the flow is a bit low at times, though: The smash attacks could especially use a little bit more flow into the game, though as-is, they are fine, if unremarkable. I also feel the Neutral Aerial's location is pretty horrible: Yes, the amount of inputs this could be put on is low, but it's still quite an awkward neutral aerial...really cool actual move, though. Makes me think of the Black Knight and his warp powder...
Lag times are also a bit whack in this set: Remember that a second is almost as long as a Warlock Punch in terms of startup, so it gets a bit absurd with some of these times, you know? Rhythm Rocket is especially hit hard by this, as it desperately needs a slightly less time on the default option: Probably something like 3/4ths of a second, which is roughly Falcon Punch level.
I do quite love the grab, however, with it's multitude of options and cool visual. I also like how despite being a very unconventional "grab", it still essentially has three throws: Ground, Squarewave, Sawtooth. This is where the majority of the moveset's potential and decent flow seems to stem from for me and it is a pretty awesome move.
As a final note, the moveset can be a bit confuzzingly written at times, mostly minor conflictions about Squarewave. Kinda annoying. Overall, though, I do think I enjoyed it more than Bubbleman, though it's no Karkat. Good effort, though.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Junahu"]
Sawtooth & Squarewave So, before even reading the actual moveset, here is problem numero uno; Attack names are not shown in-game (and as far as the moveset is concerned, the names aren't spoken during the attacks either). As cool as a set centered around rhyming is, it falls apart at the fundamental level when the "rhyming" is limited to something that will never be seen or heard in-match. It ends up boiling down to "random moves are related, go figure it out on your own".
And that's a real shame, because the moveset deconstructs a really big element of movesets, predictability. After each move, you can either follow on with a similar input for the Groove boost, or a move that rhymes for the Shade boost. Or you could do neither and trade your boost for sheer unpredictability.
Of course this isn't as smooth or as 'flowing' as simply having moves that work well in sequence, or a set that has its own natural beat. But this moveset's mechanic works wonders to incentivise the player to perform attacks that wouldn't normally be used together. Basically, the system allows players to shove attacks together just because they create a kind of funky rhythm between the two. The Smash attacks (namely any smash attack grooved into forward smash) feel particularly satisfying to string together, just because of the motions involved.
Presentation-wise, I constantly forgot which robot was Sawtooth, and which was Squarewave. It would have been easier on the reader to colour code the names (e.g. Sawtooth, Squarewave).
Dash attack being indefinite sounds ripe for an infinite stall offstage.
Out of all the aerials, the one I didn't like, was the Neutral Aerial. Felt like an input that was there just to explain the items used in the other aerials. Plus it sounded like you could accidentally drop the item using Neutral Air, and render the other aerials useless until you go retrieve it. There are quite enough throwable items in this set already thank-you-very-much
[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="emergency"]Sawtooth and Squarewave - majora_787 Here we have another set of characters I'm familiar with. Ah the great Homestuck comic and it's notoriously toxic fan-base community. But back to the bro bots of Dirk's.
My first impression of the fetch modus implications was actually quite a bit confusing to me at first as I was trying to skin through and see what I could pull from a glance. But now that I've sat down and took the time to read the entire thing. I'm sure to say the idea was actually pretty damn creative. Certainly one can simply think that, "Oh, rows and columns make special effects." I thought it was pretty straight forward until I turned my head and realized that, "Holy hell, you could move down the lines in any fashion you would like." Like, you could start off with a Faygo, Shade Combo - Laying Low, Groove Combo - AR Jack, Groove Combo - Fly Rockets, - Shade Combo, and then Shade Combo - Plant it. And that's simply saying it with the idea of starting with Faygo and going down the lines. I'm sure you could move back up into the same move so like, Faygo, Laying Low, Faygo. Assuming you don't deplete resources like Sawtooth's Rhythm Rockets.
On paper this interaction is pretty sweet, on a more conceptual Smash level, it would be slightly difficult to match up moves and their attack names. I still don't know what half the attacks are called in the original Brawl, though a connection of the technical terms like BAir sucks would be fine. I'm even tempted to say that using an attack would display the name of the move you're using like the RED MILES, as well as some kind of indicator toward what would be granted a bonus. I'm still a bit (tipsy) on the overall implementation, but as a set I'm quite happy to see that I could recognize a lot of it.
Although a lot of the set revolves around the characters, once I feel that there seems to be a kind of tackiness to some of the moves, like I understand they all gravitate with the Groove / Shade combos. But how cool would be if each possible move that Sawtooth and Squarewave could do if each move itself granted itself a greater potential as the string of moves continued? After trying to connect some combination of moves, I'm not sure how well they would flow. The grab seems a bit gimmicky, its actually one of the moves that doesn't really have an interaction with the GrooveShade combo. It kind of deviates and goes on its own by being its own interaction. I'm a bit wary of it. But those two are probably the biggest things sticking out to me. Great work though, it was an enjoyable read.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="BKupa666"]SAWTOOTH AND SQUAREWAVE
The importance of versatility in a moveset can’t be understated, as various playground sets have proven over MYM’s history. Though the characters’ animations are noteworthy here, creating a literal chart they must follow in order to adapt one of two playstyles is absolutely forced, and rather predictable to boot. The characters have the base for -some- degree of projectile gameplay with their aerials, though when the rest of the set seems mainly focused on trying to be unpredictable and flashy, it never really picks up speed. I don’t want to rag on the set too much, considering the clear effort that went into its various playstyle paths, but its befuddling restrictive nature (in addition to its unnecessary bias against robotic foes) holds it back when the characters could bring more to the table than they do here.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces"]SAWTOOTH AND SQUAREWAVE
First, a nitpick: you might want to indicate more clearly which one’s which in the intro, because I was having difficulty figuring out which was which. Similarly, a definition of Faygo would have helped. Just a thought.
Now, as for the actual set: it was kinda confusing, to be honest, with the Grooves and Shades thing. It took me a while to get what you were talking about, and to be honest, while it seems to make sense with the characters, I can’t think of anyone who would actually want to play trying to remember these combos. I also find it odd that Squarewave’s even here; what purpose does he serve, other than being the one throwing random bottles of soda and turning into a cube? He just sits there, only occasionally attacking. Like Kululu from the Keroro Platoon, only less playstyle-relevant.
I did like some of the concepts, like the bottles of Faygo and the grab, but I can’t say I really liked this set very much.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Smash Daddy"]We come to Sawtooth and Squarewave. Sadly, this may be your last set. This is a crying shame, especially because this set shows the author has no lack of talent. It starts off with the ambitious concept of trying to incorporate rap into the game, and it has its fair share of hiccups. As was mentioned in another comment, there's no visual cue, but what could be added is an audio one, and that's fairly obvious and easy. That in mind, it flows in a janky way, moves haphazardly changing form on the fly to create a non-scripted playstyle, one that allows for plenty of deviation and doesn't lack a creative punch either, keeping the foes, on their toes. Most of all I love the wacky, nonsensical flow achieved on top their 'groove' that fits the characters perfectly, alongside the way you can construct your own mini moveset, allowing for player creativity without taking anything away from the characters themselves. Screw Rool and his Vlad, this set is the true movesetting version of a rap-off. The set works well on it own, but that isn't the point and it just being competent at all without the rapping is justified. Despite not knowing the characters due to falling behind on reading the comic, I can identify the series' humour and sensibilities by how the set plays. It could've elevated itself to greater heights if there was this festering genius about the way it specifically flows into certain combos, which in the end is simply coherent, but I'd still say this is a lovely swan song... and I sincrerely hope it isn't one. [/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="ForwardArrow"]Sawtooth
I'm not a huge fan of the modus itself, while I suppose you could argue it gives them "rhythm", it does kind of force the set to function on a flowchart a little bit, which is awkward and detracts from it a bit. That said, the set is fun in parts, utilizing plenty of teleportation shenanigans, stunts, and the ability to just use Squarewave as sort of a portal mini-weapon. The moves here are a lot more creative than your usual, and the set's playstyle, ignoring the comstraints of the modus, is open ended while still having some flow to it. Maybe a bit too open-ended, I feel the overall playstyle here ends up being kinda flimsy... which is annoying when the tech top modus restricts the duo so much. It's an okay set, but you've made better on multiple occasions, though I do think it is a step in the right direction with it's wackier nature.[/COLLAPSE]
Athena is...certainly a set. I think we've got a severe case of Katapultar Writing Syndrome here.
The whole shield thing is quite thick and somewhat hard to understand, I feel, though I got the basics of it by the end. And Athena's base playstyle is actually sorta interesting, what with the shield manipulation and all. At the same time, though, I feel this set is very...flawed. Down Aerial in particular should definitively be a special, though unfortunately Athena lacks room for it. And a fair deal of this stuff seems sorta...there, I guess, and it could do with more simple attacks like the Forward Tilt, I think. The complexities, when added up, don't seem to total more than the sum of their parts. I also don't think that the playstyle is particularly interesting once examined with the Wind and Words of Death in mind, though it's not too bad. The set also somehow seems a bit too good at what it does, though I get the impression that is somewhat intentional, for her to be a bit too strong.
It's a difficult set to comment, but really, I just...didn't like it much. The complexities are a tad unneccesary and distracting, the playstyle doesn't end up too interesting, it's definitely tacky and I don't like the Up Smash at all. While I can see why someone would, it's definitely a high concept set and has a bit of polish, I don't. Oh well. ...As an aside though, she is pretty, and I like the image you chose for the set.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Junahu"]Athena This Moveset makes Shields relevant in a big way, by having them as the fuel that generates spheres and stoned spheres. Obviously you'd prefer to use the foe's shield, but before then you have to use your own, in a risky but satisfying gambit. The interplay between exterior and interior sphere combat is pleasingly solid and even believable most of the time. There are a lot of good, simple attacks that perform very useful roles in Athena's moveset, while symultaneously being satisfying to clobber the foe with. I appreciate that, a lot. In general, the whole thing clings together very well, but without dumbly smushing things together and calling it cohesion.
... hang on...
Instant death alternative KO mechanics; instant 0/10, would not do...
Oh wait, instant win against Ameno. I stand corrected, 10/10. Instant SuperVote.
Oh wait, no Final Smash. -1/10, would point out in a criminal line-up.
I can tell the instant death theme is there to create a creeping sense of tension for the opponent, who can be KO'd in 5 completely different ways, making Athena into a literal goddess of death. But it's a pet peeve of mine to have so many KO mechanics floating around, especially when some of them literally jump out of the most unassuming inputs imaginable.
But yeah, just a stackable, accumulative poison damage would have done the trick for the gas. It would have been a lot more obvious what the threat was, that's for sure (as is, touching the gas kills you 100 seconds later, so the first dozen or so times it happens, they'll have no idea what on earth is randomly killing them). As for instant stone KO, some large knockback value could easily substitute for that. And the out-of-nowhere D-Air hole... should really have been a Special.
Staled Attacks aren't at all a deterrent when the end goal involves neither damage nor knockback, so no, there is no reason not to have Down Special on constantly . Ya gotta figure out some bigger punishment, maybe extra lag or something.
The owls from Upsmash feel bizarre and rather overpowering, especially since the playstyle makes no consideration of their existance. You do know you have owls all over the stage, right?[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="emergency"]Athena - Katapultar And here we are for the last comment of the trio before I start another trio comment set.
I actually arrive at the first moveset I'm not actually familiar with. From a quick overview, I find that Athena is a barrier creating goddess, that entangles the idea of trapping and killing foes by either dropping them into void pits of death or simply destroying them in conjunction with stoning them.
I actually like the concept quite a bit, the versatile ways of putting your opponent into a bubbles or baiting switches into a bubble is pretty nice. I also liked the idea of stoning foes to make them take considerable more damage from moves that would be much easier to dodge normally. I'm not as content with the gas killing idea as I did the stone/barrier killing methods, however, it does add a lot as it's quite a fatal move itself and with other moves its quite annoying to fight against as it will always lead to another attack or at least yourself being more exposed to it over time.
One of the second things I've noticed is that the headers are kind lackluster compared to other sets where it had none of those fancy names for attacks. Capitalization throughout the headers are a bit of a bother for me, but that's of no concern to anyone else. I just like how sets are presented.
The only other thing that leaves me in question is how powerful the entire set is, it's actually quite powerful in all regards, even the slightest weak attack has an endless amount of utility which would make KOing opponents pretty easy. I'm not a big fan of balance, but she is pretty damn strong.
The set seems longer than the usual, but the details really lead toward a more compelling picture. As tempting as it was to give a comment through skimming it, it was less of a chore and more of an adventure. Keep it up.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces"]ATHENA
You really like your wordy sets, don’t you Kat? :D So, Athena, goddess of… Death? Well, Campione! has gone and messed that up. But whatever, that has little to do with the actual set.
This set has some interesting ideas; I especially like the interactions between the Neutral Special spheres and a bunch of other stuff, like the mists of Death, the teleport, the stoning, and the Forward Tilt. Lots of neat ways to play around with that. The Forward Smash, too, was good; I like how it splits even if blocked or out-prioritized, making it much harder to completely avoid. The owls were interesting as well, a good way to throw people off. The main problem I had with this set, though, was its complexity, which made it somewhat hard to follow what you’re supposed to do with Athena. Sure, you kinda get the idea that she’s angling for those extra KO methods, but each individual attack is complex enough that I at least couldn’t keep it all straight. Nonetheless, a very well-crafted set (even if the source material went and messed around with Athena’s domains; what happened to Hades and Thanatos?)[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="BKupa666"]ATHENA
Much to no one's surprise, Kat has cooked up an opening day set to greet us all. Athena's instant KO mechanics are not as incredibly deal-breaking as they may seem conceptually, since it's not an easy process to score said KO. In addition, at times, it seems more as though the lethal gas is a fear-mongering threat, meant to coerce foes into rashly using their shield, opening up opportunities for Athena to capitalize by stoning them. The dynamic set up with the spheres, and how Athena has methods for toying with foes in and outside them is another welcome inclusion. All that said, I'm sure I'm not the first, and won't be the last, to tell you that inputs like U-Throw are not the place to include massive, game-changing snakes, the same applying to the D-Air pits to hell. Though I feel the sphere usage and manipulation flows somewhat between each KO method, I can agree with FRoy that some of the attacks do so in a needlessly complicated manner, D-Smash most specifically. Hopefully my assessment that Athena is a base off of which better sets can be built doesn't come off as broken record drivel, because last contest is living proof that you have the ability to build these sets.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Conren"]Athena
I like this moveset. The down throw is really funny when you think about some of the zanier members of Brawl's cast. It doesn't feel like D-Air should be an instant death move, even flavor-wise. Being a very high knockback move should suffice, and if a character survives, it could just mean that they managed to crawl out of the depths of the underworld. Pit himself has done just that in his career.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Smash Daddy"]Dive-bombing owls. One of the lesser known abilities of Death, in the form of Athena. Also kissing with tongues. It's a tacky set to be sure - I don't know if I agree on the notion that a god of death has to have alternate KO mechanics, that's leaning toward being pretentious. I actually far prefer the absolutism that comes across from use of these ideas, creating a playstyle that has no shades of grey at all, only wanting an emphatic victory and humiliation for opponents. Aside from plain dismissing the set because of the KO mechanics, the question is if these wonky concepts can be reined in for a satisfying playstyle... mostly, I'd say it works, though it could be a far smoother process to get there without the magic syndrome. You have a scythe, one of the best weapons imaginable for a set, but you resort to her using generic magic spells instead, on inputs that are designed to be close-range, or at least simpler moves. It seems very incovenient for her to not use the gigantic weapon in her hands when the time calls for it, the scythe is barely used at all and never in a way that makes it crucial to the playstyle. I'm also tiring of you so casually messing with shields on non-special inputs, when there's not a big reason to be shielding constantly and even if there was, then it becomes opt-in stun, versus - in this set specifically - instant death. That isn't every move summed up, yet the amount of magic-y filler, the general lack of focus and the way the set doesn't approach the character's signature weapon in a logical way makes it difficult for me to really approve.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="ForwardArrow"]Athena
Admittedly, I like that you're trying to come up with a creative use for shields, Athena being able to channel her own to create what is basically a cage and then place the foe inside it. The set really falls flat on it's face execution wise though, the cage is just used as a fairly generic one where you trap the foe inside and destroy them, and here it's in an even worse way than normal, with instant death gas/holes in the floor. It doesn't feel all that bloody broken, but the fact that you just demolish a foe in a cage and they then just die in the cage feels extremely boring in terms of how it'd play out. What makes it worse is that she has a grand total of -4- instant KOs, which feels incredibly silly and redundant, especially when it feels that they would all be pulled off pretty similarly, especially the Dair/Kiss/Gas ones which are all executed the EXACT same way.
What hurts the set even more is it doesn't even really flow. Interactions in the set are awkward and often irrelevant, whilst not really expanding her game at all. There are a fair few mediocre melee moves which do nothing in particular sans teleporting in and out of/breaking open barriers, and just really clunky bizarre stuff like the snake. The writing style here's also really bad, at points I have trouble really understanding what's going on, but from what I'm able to figure out I'm pretty sure it amounts to nothing worthwhile. I prefer it when you're being wackier and actually giving the player stuff to play around with in your sets, as opposed to creating what ultimately amounts to a really boring cage set. Even Ghetsis is better than this, as far as I'm concerned.[/COLLAPSE]
[collapse="Katapultar"]It's clear you have a good grasp on the Cold Enchanter's in-game effect, and use it as a basic ammo mechanic that's fairly creative if a little strange when imagining he hurting himself to gain the crystal's bonuses - it's not too out there however, and you can't just heal it off. The moveset is as simple as it gets in most cases, save for decorating a wall with ice spikes, but simple good - you always have that magical ability to make me want to do a set of similar caliber, though that's probably something to do with how easygoing the set is. Given the set's disposition there isn't too much to say despite the detail that goes into certain moves - the ideas and uses don't have as much impact as Alice, but do show your staying power and new trendy standards to expect from you. It's enjoyable, not devoid of some interesting ideas and I should totally post Madolche Majoleine as my next set to give Cold Enchanter a friend.[/collapse]
[COLLAPSE="Darth Meanie"]Cold One
Ice movesets should seem like they have it made. Between freezing ice and all the other potential abilities to abuse they have a lot more potential than a lot of characters, but they tend to have cold responses, pun intended. The reason is very simple; they all have so many similar abilities that they all look the same, and Cold Sorcerer fits that stereotype unfortunately well.
The base mechanic of icicles as a power source never really seems to fit with what it does to the move. Every move feels like its own little mini-mechanic using icicles in a different way for a different purpose. Sometimes snow, sometimes ice sculptures, sometimes melee buffs. This makes it a pretty generic everything improves mechanic. The way you tried to counteract this was by making it a tactical choice of whether to use it or not, not a bad idea but it ends up making it worse.
This character is pretty underpowered. He's light, he has bad recovery, and his main mechanic requires him to damage himself and make himself slower in order to improve his strength. For every icicle he takes in to himself he needs to get at least five hits usually just to keep even with the damage he does to himself, and with his weight, that's not enough.
Beyond this lose-lose game of his mechanic his own overarching playstyle revolves around stage control in its most simplistic form. Snake is a character with great stage control because he can put a lot of damage where he needs it and controls just the areas he needs to. For this character though they feel like scattered minor hindrances that don't really affect the enemy main plan. They simply don't create anything compelling or threatening enough to affect enemy behavior that much.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces"]COLD ENCHANTER
And you go and start off with possibly one of the most brilliant mechanics ever: the NSpec ice crystals. They boost your attacks, which is good on its own, but then the option to embed them into yourself to keep the buffs around? Marvelous! Nice and double-edged, giving this a bit more character.
And then we get some more cool (pun unintended) stuff. Cold Enchanter being able to dash through his ice walls, his ability to put spikes in said walls with the Bair, the spikes involved with the FSmash when you have crystals (especially since they go up walls), the icy obstacles you can leave lying around, that horrible and yet still funny pun in the USmash. I found a couple of oddities: for example, if the UAir wind hitbox pushes the foe out of range of the snow, what’s the point of the snow? Nonetheless, a great set with some pretty darn impressive interactions!
Also, I find it ironic that this came from you, FrozenRoy. XD[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="BKupa666"]COLD ENCHANTER
I ended up coming away from this set in a rather lukewarm manner. During a read-through, the reader is reminded frequently of Enchanter's mechanic, which is conceptually decent, but refrains from taking off in too much of an interesting fashion. The idea of taking away some of the Cold One's movement capabilities upon embedding crystals in himself offers the player the option of playing as a faster, more defensive Enchanter after setting up with his buffed attacks, or the offensively buffed set-up phase. The Cold One is not without his interactions, specifically with F-Smash's moving hitboxes that can travel over creatable walls. Many of the move descriptions seemed rather similar, due to their buffed nature; one paragraph discussing each move's near uselessness without crystals, and one enlightening readers as to its true use with them. Of course, if the attacks were more than simple buffs, this would be less of an issue. Scattered good ideas fill this overall mediocre set that could branch out into solid centerpieces on their own; indeed, their existence makes this set one worth at least one read-through, in my opinion.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Conren"]Cold Enchanter
You did a great job of giving the player different reasons for choosing who to inbed crystals in. It's almost like choosing your playstyle. I like it. I only have one sugguestion, I think there should be an attack that eats up crystals inbeded in Cold Enchanter for extra power. This can allow Cold Enchanter to shed off crystals and adapt to changing situations.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Junahu"] Cold Enchanter Like Kat's Athena, there's a cool concept running here of sacrificing a little of yourself in order to get your playstyle moving. You can pepper the foe with crystals, or start by sticking a few to yourself. The mechanic offers up multiple ways of going about the business of KOing the foe, and I appreciate the options available to him. The Frost wall is well established within the moveset, with the Cold Enchanter taking advantage of it fairly well (Covering it in spikes. Playing keep away by running through the wall. Snapping the foe up with an aerial as they jump over etc). I still wonder though, if the Cold Enchanter actually has a personality or a story or anything, or if he really is just a card.
Having crystals never melt if they're embedded in the Cold Enchanter seems a little unfair, as it renders him kind of inflexible. You can't for example, use a lot of crystals on yourself early on in order to create a wall to pin the foe against, and then gradually let the crystals on you melt as you manage to land more on the foe. Perhaps you could have him take less damage from the attack, and let the crystals melt 20 seconds later or something. I'd also like to be able to attach crystals to walls, or at the very least his Frost Wall. I also noticed how neither of mid-air ice formations created via tilts have stamina. It feels bizarre having such fragile looking static hitboxes out, and not being able to dispatch them using a smash attack or something[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Smash Daddy"]Cold Enchanter's a good idea, in several different ways. For one, it's nice to see you return to the Yu-Gi-Oh card game series and two, create something entirely unique compared to your sets in general, as well as what you have gone for in the past in terms of card selection. This set is unabashedly straightforward to the point of making LL raise a brow, as you elect to either throw ammo crystals out on the stage or store them in yourself, nerfing your movement speed. Be that as it may, movement speed isn't an especially interesting statistic to nerf, but once you realise how focused around chasing Cold Enchanter is, you see why it's important. It's the textbook high-risk high-reward playstyle, eviscerated in its purest form, which is delightful. The moveset, beyond being functional and not mind-numbing, comes across as simple, distinctive and thematically pleasant, having nice, modern takes on rushdown by dealing with dodging, rolling and shields in ways that are at first found to be somewhat boring, but become exciting in the context of a chase growing more and more desperate. In that sense I like that you chose to make the nerfs permanent to add weight to that decision. As do all of your new sets, it avoids being flashy and is down-to-Earth with how it approaches its playstyle, while having just enough interesting content to maintain my interest, good job Roy.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="MasterWarlord"]ICE ENCHANTER
This is a basic case that some of the other more indie-esque sets in this block have come across (Kammy, Magnemite), IMO, of just generically interacting with a core mechanic too much and assuming it will flow because it is interacting with a mechanic. Cold Enchanter has too ill defined goals for me to really get behind it, as there’s too much that differs between offense with the many more Brawl-esque attacks and the more old fashioned MYM stage construction with the walls and spikes and such. Especially when recovery is yet another option for Cold Enchanter to invest his icicles in, it feels like he has to go all or nothing in a sort of toolbox-ish versatility moveset. It flows much better when played defensively as you decrease the foe’s movement and try to camp, as this also means you can more feasibly actually recover than if you went offensive. The offensive stuff is still there, but it’s just. . .There, floating in space, contributing to my label of this set as more generic Junahu brand versatility that is not versatile.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="ForwardArrow"]
Cold Enchanter
I like how you translate the card's ability into Smash Bros, creating ice spikes to power up Cold Enchanter that he has to plant in a player character. He can hit himself with them to keep them around permanently at the cost of movement speed and some damage, a pretty enjoyable little concept. You play off it decently by restricting the space the foe can go to avoid the projectiles, as well as allowing Cold Enchanter to rush down, and having the wall as something to force the foe to traverse, and then intercept them with juggling. It's pretty neat, but restricting space to land projectiles and the juggling game are the extent of the flow, the overall result being a set that while great conceptually doesn't amount to all that great of one execution wise. Still, what flow there is and the concept are enough for me to say I do like it, just not particularly much.[/COLLAPSE]
[collapse="Katapultar"]Another set from your favorite franchise already? You're certainly working hard. From the looks of it, this guy's potential wasn't very bright (lol), much like his level of competency. It's clear the set was made very quickly when 1/3 of the attacks revolve around blinding, and how Flashman is very parched for some actual attacking moves - that doesn't seem necessary when he has an electric blade in the first place, and hence it'll obviously get pretty awkward trying to land that one move. I don't need to say much more when your main goal and KO methods are a bit out of synch, though to be fair it looks as if this guy would win grand prize for most difficult/impractical implication among his peers when it's hard to do anything decent with light. It would be nice if he had more melee attacks to mix in with his flashiness instead of dedicating most his set to the latter, though that might be giving him a bit too much credit when he seems to be the cowardly type who wins by messing with the foe's controls and taking away their moves. That at least balances out the severe lack of kills moves a little. [/collapse]
[COLLAPSE="FrozenRoy"]FLAAAAASH...AAAAAAAAAAAAH!
Apologies if this comment is short, but well, there is little to discuss and what is discussed already has been.
The set actually has a kinda neat base, as the idea is to blind the foe via your Neutral Special and destroy their moveset via Down Special or just beat on them. I think the biggest failing is that it is a bit too easy to do this: Down Throw is really quite broken for this, as it all but assures that you'll get off a Neutral Special, which means you'll probably get off the Down Special. It might have been a better idea to combine the three smashes into one move somehow, as having all three dedicated to the lamp game leaves Flashman a bit poor on the options and attacks end, given the throws being hypnotism, the specials almost all non-damaging and such. It could have been a good idea to place it on the Forward Special with some way to shuffle through them and had the current Side Special as the Forward Smash, while freeing up two smashes for whatever purpose you want. This would also allow you to transfer the very awkwardly placed Up Aerial onto a more natural Down Smash location.
Finally, there isn't really too much interesting to the set, with the hypnosis being okay but not really playstyle relevant, flow probably pretty average, execution shaky. Can't say I really enjoyed it, though it's not really a hateable set, just sorta...blah. Oh well. You still have Bubbleman, at least, so that's good.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces"]FLASHMAN.EXE
I don’t like Blinding Flash. I’d never use it, because if there’s one thing I hate, it’s restricted visibility (if the Nintendog ends up murdered, you’ll know who did it). If this only did that to the opponent, that’d be fine, but since it messes with everyone… And then you introduce the Up Smash, which does pretty much the same thing on a smaller scale. Why exactly do you need Blinding Flash (or the DSmash for that matter) if you have the USmash? Still, the potential interactions here are interesting. Neon Lights in particular is a clever move, especially in light of the combo with the blind effect. Heck, if I was playing him, I’d probably just spam that a lot with different directions each time to make it harder to dodge. Good luck approaching, even without blind.
I’m torn about Shining Browser Crasher; on one hoof, disabling a Special seems really overpowered, but on the other hoof, 1.5 seconds of charge time. Meh, take or leave it, I guess. The hypno-throws seem a bit overpowered as well, mostly in terms of duration. 7 seconds seems a bit excessive. Also, a Final Smash and a Playstyle section would have been helpful.
Overall, I’m not a fan of this set, but Neon Lights redeems it a little. Still, I suppose this was kinda rushed.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Junahu"] Flashman.EXE I got halfway through the very first attack before noticing a glaring flaw. The concept of blinding ONE foe by whiting out the entire match is disgustingly unfair in matches with more than 2 combatants. Sadly, this concept forms the core of Flashman's playstyle, since it lets him get away with Shining Browser Crasher, his grab-game, and his various traps.
I think, instead, the moveset should have had more of a focus on having the flash only white out areas of the screen (even without anyone actually looking at the flash). Then the playstyle could involve getting enough lamps together to flash away much larger areas of screen real-estate, giving Flashman enough of a hiding place to use his tricks to full effect.
I have to admit there are a few things here that would be fun to try out in an actual match, and I love the side-special with its zoning/spacing utility, but I can't overlook how the core mechanic that the set relies on, spits on 3-4 player matches.
Also, I don't know if having the B-air as the only KO move is a brilliant piece of sarcastic commentry, or simply shortsighted.
[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="BKupa666"]FLASHMAN.EXE
Turning the stage into essentially a blank sheet, permeated only by silhouettes, offers up quite a deal of potential before moves are even introduced to the set. Stuff like obscuring the foe's silhouette or that of the stage to spread confusion and paranoia...anyways, the set flows together at least decently, though its rushed nature is far from hidden. It has most of the basic playstyle elements one would expect to see for Flashman to take advantage of foes: stunners or moves to keep foes from turning around, a large number of blinding moves, traps to hide in the whitened areas, and a few supplemental attacks to force foes into them.
These all fit their purpose to a 'T', of course, but at times come across as various elements from old sets (specifically forcing a foe to run) cobbled together to support the Neutral Special centerpiece. Though there are bright spots throughout the set, such as the multiple mindgaming lightbulbs (no pun intended), Flashman seems mainly centered around occupying the stage with traps, relying on the foe to slip up eventually, rather than proactively trying to direct them into peril, throws aside. I prefer Bubbleman to this by a large margin, but still commend you for releasing this alongside him on opening day. That's something few people can claim to have done, so...well done.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Smash Daddy"]I'm sorry Nick, but FlashMan.EXE is just bad, bordering on worse than that. The idea is satisfying in its coolness but the way it works is ham-fisted. Forget FFAs, it's annoying to imagine in the one-on-one environment it is intended for - the opponent losing all sight of the match is a cruel and strangely easy effect to drop on them, like a frustrating assist trophy or stage hazard given life. I admit I lost my enthusiasm reading the set once I saw the minions and / or traps on standards and smashes, the lack of a playstyle section only makes me more confident in saying this was an extremely rushed moveset. I hope you continue making sets at this pace, you just need to learn the logistics of how they work, then you'd understand why having no defensive attacks (close-range, non-literal counters) is so negative. [/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="ForwardArrow"]Flashman.EXE
There is no way anyone will be surprised when I say I dislike this set, considering the general reception so far. You basically create a system where the foe can't see you and has to run around guessing where the hell Flashman placed his next flasher to keep them perpetually unable to see while Flashman deletes all their moves from safety. The inputs are redundant as hell and frankly all the smaller blinding areas are worthless when you already have little trouble just preventing the foe from seeing anything. Meanwhile, you're scrambling their controls further in the grab game and just make it freakishly hard for the foe to do anything... eugh. I see no reason to try and stack so many mindgames on top of each other like this when one of them alone would probably be enough to incapacitate the foe, and with them all here it's just beyond overkill and ends up extremely flat and boring to imagine. I'll give you credit though, this seems to be the first time you actually have a full grab game that is at all relevant, considering Bubbleman technically doesn't have a pummel. Sadly, that's basically all I have to compliment about it, really.[/COLLAPSE]
[collapse="Katapultar"]I thought this guy was an OC, but then I realized it was far worse than that...joking lol. Anyways, it's fun to see an actual set from you again in the absence of what was essentially one contest, and this character appears as if he was born to have a moveset made by you. This set is similar to Cold Enchanter in how simple it is but while no base concept stands out all the attacks are designed to have their own special uses. I can appreciate the opening statement of characterization at the start of the playstyle in tandem with the fairly unique summons, though based on the fact that you're kinda relying on them it doesn't necessarily leave too much room for uniqueness among the rest of the inputs - this is most obvious in the throws despite generally making sense for all that proning even if the set isn't trying to prone abuse in the first place but rather get enemies off the stage where Garble rocks. Garble at least doesn't seem to dependent on his friends when he has some nice hitboxes, but still gets a huge boost from them being around if a fairly simple one. I can kind of see where you're coming from giving Garble mostly physical attacks over fire-based ones and saving that one lava trap for the fat dragon, though it probably wouldn't have hurt to give Garble some flames for certain underwhelming inputs like the D-Smash given he has a lot of potential with that alone. The main set itself is moderately fun, though I feel it gets a little too focused on certain aspects such as the bullying and summons whenever it's doing so to truly come together in a remarkable way...
Yet on the other hand, over half the set is in fact composed of extras - it's almost as if you're trying to bring back MYM5! It's been too long since a set had situationals, and I remember back in the day when that newcomer posted a set for Zewelious and it had item attacks which you really liked (characters have their Dash Attack replaced with items too). It's great to see your viewpoint at the end of what you were trying to achieve, and really I can relate to that since I did something very similar with my Yutaka set last contest. It massively helps this character feels so fitting to your writing style and personality, and I even felt that way when I didn't know squat about him a week or so ago when you announced him. Regardless of whether he's your best or not, it's a set that earns a soft spot in my books for trying to work outside the bounds of the current MYM, and I'm sure Junahu will love it too when he comments on it.[/collapse]
[COLLAPSE="FrozenRoy"]King of the Hoard
Garble is a quality set, that's for sure.
Let's start with the really good stuff, which is a really nice playstyle, primarly based around shield pressure and a semi-unique stun that doesn't completely destroy the foe's defensive options, just their offensive ones. Garble doesn't have a ton of particularly unique moves, but many of them serve competent and interesting playstyle functions, the back aerial being a favorite of mine in this regard, with it's multiple uses, both simple and advanced, along with functioning as shield pressure, all without delving into being too...special for a non-special.
Garble combines this with a basic minion game whose use allows it to be slightly different, working not on numbers, but rather their abilities to have out multiple hitboxes to cover for Garble's issues, especially the somewhat bad overall ending lag of his attacks. Because they take time to come out, have cooldown and are unique, as in you can only have one out, timing and thougtfulness is required in their usage, turning what could have been a somewhat dull addition into a more thoughtfully complex with a simple approach idea.
Garble's aerial prowess is, of course, large. He is, after all, a dragon that seems to be a pretty fine flyer. His aerial game, while largely simple, is also very effective, especially with the cool Neutral Aerial, which essentially gives him an air jab combined with a pretty cool special air dodge rolled into one. This allows him not only to be competent without his minions, but even fairly good, combining a somewhat keep away and stun ground game with it's strong aerial game. It's fortunately not without his weaknesses though: Garble has trouble hitting anyone who can get above him in the air and even on the ground, his anti-air options are not always the best.
Plus, this set has extras, tons of extras, and generally some pretty fun ones too. Even has a cool final smash. I like that.
Overall, some graceful flow, combined with a decent concept and some excellent execution, along with the presence of some nice extras, puts it at the top for the start of this contest.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Darth Meanie"]Garble
A bully playstyle is a surprisingly underutilized concept and one that this set really runs with. You did an excellent job of using the character's own personality to sell the moves, and even though I've never seen the series I can tell a lot about who he is from this set.
A lot of the credit for that goes to well thought out animations. The dust cloud effect could have been a forced tacky move in other hands, but you made it an attack that fit his bully nature and I suspect may have actually been used in the series.
Some of the other moves seemed to be a little more awkward though, like the extra effect on the forward tilt or extra fireballs from moves that hit lava, but for the most part you avoided too many problems. Maybe it would have been better if him moving into lava created the fireballs rather than some moves but not others.
You did a goof job of balancing between him being competent enough on his own to rigjt but still bring reliant on his gang buddies to win. Good job.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces"]GARBLE
Finally, someone I’m familiar with! :D
This actually feels quite a bit like Garble: perfectly willing to do whatever it takes to win. If he can win on his own, sure, but if not, he’s not above grabbing a friend or two to help chase people down. The interactions with the lava pits are interesting as well, if not always intuitive; how come Garble’s fire breath makes fireballs but his purple cohort’s doesn’t? The Forward Smash makes perfect sense, though, and I personally would probably never use it if I didn’t have a lava pit to land in. The Down Aerial, too, works really well for the same reason. His air superiority makes perfect sense as well, being a dragon and all.
The standards are pretty simple, the way I usually like them; still, I can’t help but appreciate the perfectness of the Down Tilt, because that too is totally Garble. He’ll happily cheat if need be! Then come the Aerials, which once again emphasize how happy Garble is in the air. I can picture a skilled Garble player deliberately staying in the air and lording over the more ground-bound folk.
Garble’s grab is also intriguing: a basic grab normally, but the tail wrestling should they grab each other is an impressive little Easter Egg. The Pummel, on the other hoof, just made me grin picturing him doing that to Ganondorf. XD King of the Hoard is a great Final Smash: heavily competitive and thus totally Garble once more. The Extras are also great: you obviously put a ton of work into this set, and it shows. The Up Taunt in particular made me laugh. :D
This set brims with character and great interactions and is definitely my favorite set so far this contest. I absolutely love this set. :D[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Junahu"]Garble You have a real talent for taking a very simple core, and making it feel both fresh and real. The useage of Garble's friends to give him a gang-up-on-the-pipsqueak mentality works really well in characterising him, as does the various elements of spacing attacks against a lava pool, and kicking dust into the foe's eyes. That you achieve all this in a way that feels conducive to Smash, is my favourite thing about sets like this. You never feel like you have to dress up a move as anything other than what it needs to be, a strength that makes it easy to like your movesets.
Of course, all the extras are just icing on the cake, including actual situationals, and attacks-with-items (could you possibly believe that even the Item Tree, of all movesets, doesn't have such attacks in the moveset). Oh, and a Final Smash too! I was beginning to miss these!
Since you don't seem to mention it, I'm going to assume Garble has only one, terrible, mid-air jump.
Considering all the interactions and strategies that involve the lava pool, I'm not super pleased that the pool is created as a side effect of a summoning move. If it's important, and relative to winning matches, then it should be prominent. Creating the lava pool should feel deliberate instead of accidental. At least that's how I feel about it
I also have to wonder if other Garbles are immune to each other's lava pools. Also, wouldn't this mean they're immune to fire in general? Yeah, I get the reference, but things like that always raise questions y'know?
I'd also like D-air to have a maximum fall range (rather than the current "fall until you die") like other stall-then-falls. This would let Garble, with skill, drag the foe down to the bottom blast zone, then drop them off there without KOing himself.
If his jab has only one frame of startup.. what on earth is the attack animation? Does he actually turn around in that one frame, or does the jab hit behind him, or what? Come on man! Your attack descriptions are usually fantastic, don't fail on a jab of all things.
Btw, I love how the FIRST hitbox in this moveset deals SPIKING knockback [/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="BKupa666"]GARBLE
Man, the effort that clearly went into the set is...touching to a degree, and somewhat inspiring with the end description. It's definitely not every day one sees such excellent extras, or "goodies," and item attacks? That is some retro stuff right there. Anyways, I have to wholeheartedly agree with DM when he mentions how amazingly fun bullying playstyles are in MYM as a whole, whether they are being read or written. Garble maintains an element of simplicity while making great use of the more complex moves he possesses. I quite like the element of timing involved with summoning both dragons, requiring that Garble pushes his foe toward the plummeting tub of lard at the correct moment, keeps his foe busy while his sniper friend soars past behind them, or...both at once, giving him the ability to string together each dragon's hits as they make their appearances.
Though basic in their own, faintly charming right, the lava pools and dust clouds tie into Garble's standards well, often offering him a greater reward should he choose to space his handful of lunging, dragging, pushing moves, potentially even ending in a cool gimp. The originality of (most of) the actual moves isn't fantastic; the intrigue of the set mainly stems from the sheer number of paths the Garble player can take should they experiment with their moves' timing. This might not be everyone's cup of tea, but this easily one of your strongest showings in a while, and is a testament to the potential that can still be found in in-Smash.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Smash Daddy"]It's great to see another HR set and this one has been getting insane praise. Garble's a minion set, having two dragons at his beck and call. What's wrong to me is there's no real flow into the way the minions work, besides the use of their hitboxes... as more range. Your approach is the same as ever, coming up with great looking animations and making a set that is easily imagined in Smash, but considering where Make Your Move has gone recently on the minion playstyle, this one feels positively retro and not in a good way. There's no need to be unsmash, nor does it need to be excessively complex to be good, just look at Manfred Von Karma's use of Captain Falcon clones. The fleeing and building up for your summons is good. Flying back and defending yourself, then turning that momentum on its head to assault the foe is cool. The dragon body type is good fodder and you're fine using that stuff, I simply hoped there'd be more interesting flow to the set, especially given the character has a personality to use. The extras are a nice touch as well as the match-ups, perhaps this set's popularity will help to galvanise a widespread return. Then all shall be well.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="MasterWarlord"]MY LIFE AS A TEENAGE DRAGON
Yeah. I don’t even follow what the playstyle is supposed to be for this one. Is it just supposed to be some really, really, really basic pressuring? There’s the kicking up dirt, the anti-grab grab, and the incompetent minions that have to be shepherded despite lasting an incredibly short amount of time, and there’s not really a whole lot else. What I mean by the minions, is the fact that you have to command them to attack rather than them automatically doing so, which also means they can’t do things like “cover your ending lag” if you have to actively command them. The Fat one has his initial hitbox at least and does not need further babysitting after being commanded the second time, so that’s less awkward, but the purple one doesn’t do anything at all when summoned, then just has to be commanded to attack a single time afterwards to boot. It just feels like a massive chore when Garble has to summon and re-summon them again and again because of their short duration, especially in the purple one's case. This wouldn't be an issue if the set wasn't so offensively based, where having to be interrupted all the time to go do that sort of thing is more painstaking. I would complain less about these numbers, but you’re very firm in your belief on these smaller numbers based off Spadefox’s status effects and your stance on most boss sets.
While complaining about the dragon summons, I also find it very tacky in this otherwise very by the book set meant for literal Brawl implantation that the fat one summons a lava pit under his ass. When we were talking about it before release, I assumed he just made a crater Garble had to fill. Here, it seems like the fat one just shits himself to make the lava. These two dragons very much form the very weak core reminiscent of MYM 7 Sho, and without them the set is very Brawl-esque and difficult to like. There is so much more you could do with them specifically, and I thought that the “King of the Hoard” bit could’ve been used in the actual moveset.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="BladeKnight420"]Garble: From what I understand, the thing people like about this set is the characterization, which is a great angle to come from in moveset making. However, I don’t think this set is all that super in-character (Not saying he’s OOC though), and the mentality seems to be that he has to be a simpler moveset to be in-character. I honestly think that with all of Garble’s games he plays and such, that if things were wackier, he’d be more in-character, considering he doesn’t actually do all that much rough personal fighting. When he’s forced to fight against something on his actual level, he just flees. The buddies feel most underutilized for Garble, though I do really like what you did with the tail wrestling and the kicking up dirt. I don’t really know how you’d do much more to make him fight dirty, but again, those buddies are always there. This isn’t exactly a character difficult enough to “become Warlord’s new nemesis” over.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="ForwardArrow"]
Garble
I'm not entirely sure how sold I am on your use of minions here. I do think it's pretty unique to have them as a way to supplement rushdown, smacking the foe around between them and using them as a way to supplement Garble's own range. On the other hand, they do feel laughably incompetent, and Garble might have to be a bit too careful with them for my liking, considering you know, he's a pressure character. Either way, I'll admit this set has its charms, with attacks serving some multifaceted purposes and the animations and characterization being really slick. The effort that went in is clear, and for that reason I can definitely see why someone would like this set.
I suppose a rushdown playstyle without a concept that gives it much additional depth to it isn't really for me, as I myself didn't really like the set. The moves themselves, while okay, don't really seem to have as much thought given to their implications in the context of the minions and lava pool as I'd like, more just trying to help Garble beat the foe senseless. The flow between moves is a bit lacking on a whole, and no I'm not demanding move interactions, but really I don't get a strong enough sense of cohesion. It's obviously a set you put effort into, and as such I find it respectable, but it's simply not my type. [/COLLAPSE]
[collapse="Katapultar"]Surprisingly enough, I came into this set expecting quite a bit from the nicely polished organization and lengthy lines despite being a one-day set. Funny how that works. The set's somewhat weak in many areas, however, as much as I kind of wish it wasn't (we're talking about a character voiced by Hynden Walch here!). The bubblegum hair is interesting as a passive mechanic on Bubblegum, but is downplayed by making it a simple grab hitbox and nothing much else (naturally, it could have been more elaborate given it's gum). This obviously affects the performance of the rest of the set, which is actually likable in terms of execution despite being a little bland - while you do have the knives, I was expecting more creepiness and scientific breakthroughs of which could have been used as a nice playground, as not too much is done with what you do have like with the giantness. Despite the general negative nature of my comment, I can't help but feel your movesetting is improving a little, becoming more natural and self-proficient - it's just here that the idea was taken in an underwhelming one-dayer, but that can't be helped from the excitement that came from that first day. I do look forward to seeing what you do later on, however.[/collapse]
[COLLAPSE="FrozenRoy"]Where's my baseball card?
Lesse...Princess Bubblegum, eh? Never seen Adventure Time, but it apparantly has a princess with science and presumably at least one episode worth of zombies, so I should check it out.
The set itself, however, is actually really fun. Princess Bubblegum here has a grab hitbox behind her because, well, she has long, sticky hair that drags behind her, sort of obvious, don't you think? Using this as a base, Bubblegum works her sticky web onto the stage, as opponent's have to choose between cutting off her hair to make it easier to be behind her and leaving behind sticky traps or trying to avoid being behind Bubblegum at all, which is certainly troublesome. She can also cut off her own hair to remove the middle man, though this carries the same risk-reward of losing some of your own hair to create the traps, not to mention Bubblegum herself isn't immune to the traps.
But this base is built upon nicely with the addition of other moves, most notably two types of tethers: One is more of a tether recovery, while the other is a stage tether, where she gums her hair to the stage and forces the foe to either hit her extremely hard to hit her out of it or cut off the hair...which in turn, creates the aforementioned hair traps, a nice catch-22. And Bubblegum even brings something new to the good ol' tether recovery, as instead of merely being a normal tether, Bubblegum hangs from the stage, free to swing to and fro via DI or even use some of her own moves to help out, though she can also pull herself up in a more convientional manner if need be...and of course, her hair is still a grab hitbox.
Finally, the science part I mentioned? Not kidding, as Bubblegum will gladly whip out some genius in the form of potions, most notably a growth potion, which can grow the foe to large levels for easier comboing or to make them a larger target for your hair or for you to actually grow your hair large, similiarly making it bigger for the grab hitbox or to give you more to cut off. Did I mention she can also capture a foe in a bubble via her standard grab for added gimping? Yeah, Bubblegum's a great gimper, given the grab hitbix nature of her hair and her aerials, which are pretty chill for it, especially her Back Aerial and Up Aerial.
As some minor complaints, the F-Tilt and D-Tilt should probably have had their inputs switched (Edit: This has now been actually done), and I really wish that Bubblegum had a standard grab game in addition to her bubble: The bubble could be put on pummel or special pummel, while allowing the Princess a full four throw grab game, which would be able to play into the hair game via Back Throw and give her even a few more options, especially a way to launch the foe into the air more reliably with a UThrow or something. Not a complaint, but might I also add I love the way the DSmash interacts with the stage tether? Very nice.
By far, this is my favorite of any set of yours I've read, with the only notable one I still need to read being finishing Dutchman. It's not quite equal to Garble, but in my opinion, it is still leagues above any non-Garble set posted so far, and actually a very pleasant set overall.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Darth Meanie"]Princess Bubblegum
The bubblegum hair mechanic is interesting, but there is a major flaw I noticed looking back on this set. The opponent gets 2 seconds of immunity from getting stuck to her hair after being stuck, which is really necessary to keep her from trapping opponents, but she's practically defenseless for those two seconds. Enemies can easily strike back at her while they are immune to her hair and there is not much she can do.
The grab is a really clever way to gimp, using two different grab hitboxes with different properties to drop them right offstage, and I really like that idea.
There are other elements that don't work so well though. Why does she need a separate down tilt to pick up her own items instead of using the sake system every item does? Being able for her to use her smashes in midair also feels very much like the mind of forced specialness that doesn't make much sense in any context.
Some of the moves feel more like they exist to justify their own existence rather than as a part of her character, and the forward tilt is a good example. It doesn't trip because its what she does but because she has ways of taking advantage of that. But so does every character in some way or another, and having that as really one of her only decent ground attacks makes it a tad too predictable. This feels like nitpicking and it is, but my point is that moves like this really don't contribute to playstyles as much as it might seem.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces"]PRINCESS BUBBLEGUM
Y’know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone who could make the foe giant and benefit from it. That’s certainly a new one on me.
For a character that’s primarily offensive, that Down Special strikes me as a camping tool, slowing foes down, especially with a growth potion involved. In fact, between hanging off the edge with Up Special to buy time to make a Side Special doesn’t strike me as offensive at all. Only after you do the Side Special does it make any sense to take the offensive. So really, I wouldn’t call the Princess offensive so much as an offensive setup character: she can take the offense very well, given the right setup. Throw some hair in strategic locations, set up your speed, then pressure foes into a DSmash or a grab. Although the problem with the offensive here is that you can’t really KO any other way. Your other Smashes either give you more ways to stick the foe to the ground or aids your recovery without really dealing damage like a good Smash should. So this can't even be called an offensive setup char, just a somewhat ineffectual camper.
I realize that this set was done quickly and thus lacks polish, but this could have been done better. You’ve got a decent foundation here, though.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Smash Daddy"]Princess Bubblegum seems to be breaking down from your tropes, though I'm not completely sure. There's an interesting focus in experimenting on your hair and crafting a weapon on-the-fly, giving the set dynamic flow, allowing you some versatility against different opponents, a fitting characterisation. I would have liked this more if there was a focus on the natural elements of the hair changing - best way to describe this is looking at that jab attack, which simply hits any opponents stuck on your bubblegum. Just some simple comboing off the hair would've been nice, and working that into the quick melee attacks could've taken the set to the next level. And I'll throw in a token complaint about the grab game here, sucking up five inputs to give her a creative, but quite boring projectile trap. It stands out because there are many good, imaginative moves that do flow well into the playstyle. The aerials are rushed (though not too bad given they help keep the set grounded in reality), but the specials and smashes are some of your best work in terms of staying relevant and interesting. As a result, it doesn't all come together perfectly, but it's enjoyable enough that the flaws are easily forgiven and is wholly original. [/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="MasterWarlord"]RUSHED FOR 13 OPENING
It’s a decent enough concept, putting your hair down on the stage/abusing it on your back as a constant grab hitbox, and there’s more than enough in it to manipulate it properly – it’s even a fairly interesting concept to boot. The main thing is there isn’t much in terms of specific pay-off in terms of what to do with the hair beyond increased recovery prowess, which doesn’t have much to do with how you actually – fight- the foe. That’s not to say it’s useless, far from it, but the horrible lack of throws and rushed as all hell self-aware aerials really were quite needed to make this moveset make more actual use of the hair and have it interact with the foe, not just itself.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="BKupa666"]PRINCESS BUBBLEGUM
The sticky hair concept is pretty sweet, no pun intended, on paper, as it provides Bubblegum with close-ranged options, not the least of which includes her ability to approach foes backwards to capture them. What surfaces as a slight problem here is that Bubblegum's hair, her most interesting attribute, is an attribute, not a move; this results in her moves that allow her to interact with this centerpiece being a bit dull individually.
Of course, this isn't to say the strategies she does have aren't strong when they're not rushed into the set. Her ledge game explores territory left rather untouched by other characters, and I enjoy how she takes advantage of various attacks, specifically F-Smash, while tethered/anchored to the stage with her hair. Her options for severing hair in different lengths, assembling the scraps as hazards, before growing it back also add depth, though said depth does contribute to the illusion that she focuses more on her hair than her foes...the lack of focus the set gives to enlarging and annihilating a foe is also responsible for this perception. All in all, this is easily a better contest opener than Hook, and offers fewer negative tropes than most, if not all older Davian sets.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="ForwardArrow"]Princess Bubblegum
The premise of the set is pretty unique, an extensive grab hitbox coming off her that she can use to drag players around. You actually play off it in some nifty ways, she can cut her hair to create sticky traps all over the stage, extend it via growth potions, and swing around with it under the stage. While I confess the aerials are pretty generic, they actually do serve their purposes in conjunction with the tether to help her with her under the stage stuff and edgeguarding. Could they have been better? Yeah, but I would disagree with Warlord that they are outright BAD. It flows pretty well, and completely avoids tackiness, perhaps even better than Engineer. Is this a sign you're finally getting over that? Well, the moves you told me you did in Ashens don't strike me as particularly tacky, so yes you seem to be very much on the right track in that regard.
I don't actually like the set though, as bad as I feel saying that as it's a step up for you in a lot of regards with unique and relevant inputs on a large number of moves. Due to the extremely simplistic aerials and the... to be quite honest, bad grab game, and the fact that a lot of moves serve extremely one track purposes and lack any versatality, Bubblegum just ends up lacking much in the way of options or variety in how she plays. Not to mention while the under the stage/edgeguard tether is cool and all, I sort of don't like how she uses it. You mostly just drag the foe attached to your hair down there with no way for them to interact and then gimp. I think if she had some sort of way to make a hole in the stage it would help her a lot, giving her a bit more depth to her getting the foe through... though all the same it's so easy for her to just drag the foe through. I suppose the mechanic is a bit of a dead end conceptually. Still, while I'm not a fan I can respect the set, and it's a very good sign for your future sets if nothing else.[/COLLAPSE]
I think the main thing you need to work on is "number balance". A lot of attacks are measuring their lag times in .5 seconds or greater, but Ike's FSmash is what .5 seconds of lag translates to. Similarly, 10% is average damage in Smash Bros, but Soundwave seems to have really lopsided damage damage with a lot of them doing 5% and the other half doing 13+.
Conceptually, I like how his cassette form is utilized in specific attacks since it's not really something that could be used as a full alternate form. However, I think his minions could have been handled better. I like the idea of adapting to a randomized summon but right now it feels too unreliable to players that might have a preferred summon. Maybe have 2 sets of 3 minions to choose from when you use the move, then it randomly chooses from those 3.
Finally, I would highly suggest not using a single color for an entire moveset, especially that blue. Might I suggest royal blue instead? Giving the move names underlining or bolding would also work wonders.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Darth Meanie"]Soundwave
Welcome to Make Your Move! The main takeaway I get from this set is that it seems like you tried to make it very quickly. There are more than a few typos and some inconsistencies, like his summons all having a chance of being summoned that adds up to far more than 100%.
My biggest recommendation I can give you is not to rush making a moveset. Take your time, read other movesets, and think about what you want him.to feel like in the end. You'll get the feel of what you want your sets to look like in no time.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces"]SOUNDWAVE SUPERIOR
I do have to agree with Hyper here in that your measurements are off. A five-second stun on the Neutral Special? Way too much. Two-second endlag on the Up Special? I don’t see why anyone would want to use that unless they absolutely had to, because that’s leaving you way open for… however much distance Wingthing carries you. Which is another measurement problem: without knowing the distance on some of these things, we have nothing to compare it to.
In terms of the concepts behind the set, Down Special is really the main thing here. Everything else is fairly standard: you’re got a couple of projectiles, a recovery, some basic melee attacks. The grab is mildly interesting as well, but the Down Special is your main unique thing here. An interesting take on randomized minions, although one can’t help but wonder if they can be hurt while they’re out. Similarly, what’s to stop you from just spamming that and causing cassette chaos? Who needs other moves when that 5% chance of a Donkey Kong powered cassette coming out is increased simply by hitting the input a lot? Once again, more elaboration is needed here, which is this set’s main weakness.
I do recommend trying to spice up the specials at least. They’re solid, which is good, but the problem is that MYM doesn’t do solid much these days (much to my chagrin when I first started). In general, the more imaginative the specials are, the better, because that’s what keeps people’s interest. Just a thought from somepony who was once in a similar position.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="BKupa666"]SOUNDWAVE SUPERIOR
As a rule, it's best to not center a character around a move where a strong effect will randomly appear. I would also appreciate a bit more explanation about how Soundwave must play patiently, since him having powerful moves leaves a lot open to the imagination as to what playing with patience actually means. I commend you for being the first newcomer to post a set in the contest, and hope you will continue to hone your movesetting skills in our community.[/QUOTE][/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="ForwardArrow"]Soundwave Superior
It's pretty clear you're just getting the hang of moveset making, so I may as well just give you a few tips. The organization is pretty ugly as of now, large solid blue text is a bit of a pain to read. The default size looks a lot nicer. Aside from that, I'd just put more effort into designing your moves. Flesh out the animation more, give them more unique effects, elaborate a bit more on the details of the move itself. Lastly, this is just personal preference, but I'd like it if you kept random elements to a minimum in a future, though I'm well aware they do exist in Brawl. Charging to various levels is a better way to give the player control over what they create, and I'd prefer to have control over which of those minions I summoned. Either way, keep at it, people tend to improve the more they make sets.[/COLLAPSE]
I get the feeling from this set that you researched him on the MegaMan wiki but didn't actually watch a video of his boss fight. There are some cool tricks with the floating claws, but he never had them away for long and used them solely for his desperation rush attack.
In this set, its played off more as a tactical choice of where and how to use them, which is a bit too methodical for a program as bestial as he. Too much of the set seems to revolve around different ways to move around his claws rather than actually attacking with them. The ideas are cool but they don't feel like BeastMan.EXE to me.
Either way though, I think the set could have been improved if BeastMan.EXE could much more quickly get his claws attached and detached more easily so that he could spend more time attacking rather than moving them back and forth.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces"]BEASTMAN.EXE
Okay, so here’s my question: why bother detaching more than one claw? Your lag becomes horrible on nearly every move if you don’t have at least one claw, and the extra moving hitbox isn’t exactly worth it. The only strategy that makes sense is to detach one claw and carefully maneuver the foe into damage racking combos. Maybe throw the foe off of the claw platform, but then again, why would anypony stick around for that? In fact, anypony with a lick of sense would stay off of said platform (especially since they can be grabbed from there), rendering the effect on claws on the Up Smash fairly useless. Between that and his own fall speed, vertical KOs are gonna be pretty hard to land on a skilled foe, especially since you never addressed what happens when the arms go off the blast zone.
That said, this is a fairly solid set that executes pretty well. Zone the foe into making careless mistakes, or just being too cautious to strike back. Either-or. It’s a surprisingly simple set, but that doesn’t change its effectiveness, which appeals to me. As the above paragraph attests to, my main problem with this one is that the benefits of detaching both arms are lackluster. Still, I do like how a player can change strategies based on what they’re comfortable with: beginners can leave arms on, while more experienced players can mess around with arm positioning. Overall, a good set. Not great, but good.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Smash Daddy"]The Skeleton Head genre has never had an entry as in-smash as BeastMan.EXE, it's a set that is about the subtlety in the execution over dazzling with the ways in which his claws are combined. Not to say there aren't a couple of wonderful ideas hidden, such as the moving platform claw of the up smash, creating a compact stage to fight in out of claws alone and having the more instinctive moveset when you've bared all. BeastMan getting mindless as his set-ups become intricate is a fantastic dynamic considering the generic character. As a player, it's very fun to imagine simply being able to place these claws wherever you like, as it makes the playstyle surprisingly open-ended, though the set never ruins its accessibility. That is where BeastMan sets itself apart from its peers in the genre, as its simplicity makes it all too easy to believe that these claw traps can be slaved over in the middle of an intense match. It's not the most exciting moveset, but delivers fully on its initial promise and fits the hunter archetype, avoiding the derivative nature of other garbage sets in the genre. The up smash sold me on the set not being remotely bland, the aerials are where I realised its true awesomeness.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="ForwardArrow"]BeastMan.EXE
Beast Man's playstyle of separating his limbs has admittedly been done before, and Beast Man does it the most simply, but that doesn't mean there's nothing interesting too it. I very much enjoy the prospect of separating your limbs and using them as platforms and such to force the upwards towards the top blast zone via juggling, that's very fun stuff, and it's not all Beast Man can do, him being fairly versatile whilst still flowing together pretty nicely. Admittedly, as with Cold Enchanter I feel it could all come together better, but there's a lot more too this set than there is Cold Enchanter... I do have a quibble though. The control scheme for the limbs is pretty awkward, given if BeastMan wants to defend himself at close range he often has to move the limbs about. Considering how essential the limbs are as assets to him and how his basic melee attacks do that, it seems like it would get in the way a lot actually playing him. It doesn't ruin the set for me, but it is a bit of an annoyance. Still, I would agree with your assessment that this is your best after Alice.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="BKupa666"]BEASTMAN.EXE
The set’s nature is rather scattered, an approach Rool used to refer to as “sending space junk into orbit then bringing it together with a gravitational pull,” the pull being the playstyle, of course. The claws themselves turning into platforms and walls help differentiate the set from the other members of its ‘disjointed parts’ family. The little implied tactics throughout the set are rather cool, such as placing together two claw walls to cage in a foe, or repeatedly flipping a claw with N-Air and moving it after the foe to juggle them from afar.
Indeed, the various options Beastman has for positioning and recovering his claws add a rather welcome layer of range to the set, despite appearing a bit repetitive at times (particularly when he has multiple options for simply boosting the claw skyward in U-Smash and U-Throw). A nagging problem of mine lies in the clawless attacks, which seem to serve the collective purpose of giving Beastman followup options after placing claws, rather than having more individual functions. Something that does not impact the set in the slightest but is still a minor gripe is the order attacks are shown; it seems as though they were simply listed in the order the moves were brainstormed. Just a tad flustering, is all. Beastman is a happy middle ground between Bubbleman and Flashman (the former being the best ‘man’ of the three), in addition to being a well-crafted simplistic set.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="MasterWarlord"]WORST SUBTITLE EVER
This moveset is somehow a slog to read through just for the fact that you go into explicit detail about the generic “uses” of each move with and without the arms that would apply if they were on a Brawl character rather than their role in Beastman’s specific playstyle. When the moveset’s being generic, it’s also not even mass clawing attacks and kicks – Beastman for whatever reason prefers to headbutt things as his primary clawless method of attack. The interaction with the claws is also paltry, and the way to command them is on very awkward inputs as you jump into the air for no especially good reason to use them. The playstyle in general is very weak, and largely amounts to gimping. If I’m going to throw you any bone, though, the set certainly seems very balanced and viable – how is an entire moveset’s worth of generic as hell Brawl attacks, unarmed and armed, not enough for DM?
[/COLLAPSE]
[collapse="Katapultar"]A very interesting character choice I couldn't help getting into the moment I saw it. Some very good emphasis on the character which instantly stands out from your previous sets, and highlighting all words to do with orange or Larfleeze directly is a first - along with having the attack titles be phrases this guy sounds like he'd say. Creating constructs from dead foes definitely sounds frightening, though I can't help but think even then he's still a bit underpowered for the kind of game mode he's supposed to be used in - heck, it sounds as if fighting him in 1v1 would be more convenient than 3v1! To be fair I'm only judging his stats however, and he does have some good aerial ability like Garble. Not to mention the fact that Larfleeze can take take take take everything from the enemy, their traps, items and whatever: this is one 3v1 boss who sounds as if he'd actually be fun to play with items on. No one person or their objects are safe from Larfleeze.
This came pretty close to being your best set for me, but the bland nature of most the standards sort of takes from what could have been a more frightening atmosphere for such a powerful villain, causing most of the set to just fizzle out after the Specials minus the construct interactions, which are actually pretty decent. And the more I realize that Larfleeze can do, the more I think that he's not that underpowered when how powerful he is generally depends on what he manages to take from the foe - perhaps you were going for that approach for balancing instead of already giving Larfleeze a lot, but...
This is a very interesting to imagine in various situations overall, if perhaps could have been better with a few more interesting attacks and interactions to go with what Larfleeze has...like further protection or empowerment of what's his, perhaps?[/collapse]
[COLLAPSE="Darth Meanie"]Larfleeze
I'm not a fan of movesets that function as 3v1 bosses exclusively, it feels more like an extra to me than a stand-alone moveset, but a fun extra nonetheless. I prefer it as an alternate mode, and as Katapultar points out, his mechanic might in fact be more balanced in one on one fights because he has less to take.
And you really hit the concept of greed off with the mechanic. The risk-reward of keeping opponents to torture longer so you can reap more rewards is a perfect use of greed as a playstyle concept. A player needs to balance the choice of immediate gratification and long-term greed and avoid letting his own greediness destroy him.
At least, that's what the concept is, but in practice it turned out to be mostly damage-racking, and didn't offer him really much as far as options went for how quickly to KO.
He's also pretty weak, he's light, has no method to mitigate combos from opponents and his attacks aren't terribly threatening. 3v1 bosses generally need some way to lockdown opponents or otherwise prevent them from rushing him down so fast that he can't react, and Larfleeze just has a smattering of pretty unimpressive melee attacks. He's a lantern for crying out loud, but he hits like a chump.
I love that he is stronger the more enemies be has though and the trade offs of greed the player has to consider, but they're never developed enough. And honestly, the way the set is now, I think he'd be legitimately playable in 1v1.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="FrozenRoy"]MYM13? IT'S MINE!
Larfleeze is a good start to your contest here WoMF, as it is clearly your best set so far and the first I would really call "good" in any normal caliber, not to sound rude: Azula was kinda bad and Doomsday was improvement. Calvin and Hobbes was...yeah.
Larfleeze starts out with a pretty neat mechanic in his ability to create constructs when the foe dies, with a great little twist that makes it quite cool, which is the fact that the constructs have exactly as much as HP as the foe's % when they died: Because of this, Larfleeze actually wants the foe to last a long time, as it creates a very powerful construct. In particular, it means heavier characters are at a disadvantage, as Larfleeze can beat on them and their large survival will simply allow Larfleeze to create a huge HP construct...and lighter characters are also at a disadvantage, as their being more easily KO'd means it's easier to get out more constructs! Larfleeze loves having it all.
And along with this comes a pretty solid playstyle, which forms primarily in the grabs and specials: Larfleeze's corps and taking a while is a good idea and the wall is especially fun, although it definitely could be developed more, given he's a Lanturn and all. The tilts and aerials are a tad generic in this context, although I do like how he can heal himself or constructs, and I feel like doing more there would be the key to making this set a true contender, especially since as a 3v1 set, Larfleeze is a bit weak early on, though I disagree with DM that it's because a 3v1 set /needs/ to trap at least one person(And he can sort of do this via D-Throw anyway).
Still, the moveset has some solid stuff, but I feel another thing that would really improve this set is discussing the possibilities of how the moves might flow and interact, most notably with the wall: One of my favorite things with this set is to summon Blume on one side and a wall on the other, creating a deadly and hard to escape situation for the foe due to their solidness and Larfleeze's ability to even keep the foe there for a bit via D-Throw, maybe throwing in a Glomulus or two to try and help out. The only way out for the foe is up...where your other KO move, Up Smash, lies. It's pretty neat. The ability to help from the wall or hide behind Blume and heal him is also pretty neat.
Larfleeze is a bit weak, though it is slightly made up by the snowball nature of his constructs: One construct makes it easier to KO other people who are damaged racked which creates more constructs and so on. I also disagree that Larfleeze works as a 1v1 set, mostly because while Larfleeze is a bit weak as a 3v1, Larfleeze is pretty obviously broken as a 1v1 set. Due to his mechanic + The ability to summon Blume + the wall at all.
Some stuff I would suggest: Expanding on move descriptions some, perhaps to describe some uses of the move behind just "quick attack", though don't push it if you can't think of anything, 3v1 bosses can be flashier and thus probably some more oomph from the standards and to keep the centerpiece of the set in mind, as Larfleeze could have one some other interesting things with the constructs: Perhaps a Special Pummel that allowed him to drain stuff other than health from the constructs?
All the same, Larfleeze is good, but only that: good. This still represents a great improvement for you though, WoMf. Keep commenting, making sets, learning, and you'll break through eventually.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Smash Daddy"]Larfleeze starts with huge promise. I loved the characterisation built up by the mechanic and specials, his greed in wanting to control everything in the match, in simple terms, was a fantastic base for the set. I especially loved your approach to these moves, as they seemed distinctively WoMF-ish without any of the negatives - just the little touches like Wario Waft's mechanic altering what minions you summon and walling off segments of the stage to better manage the chaos. However, after the specials the moveset doesn't do anything interesting with what it built up, most inputs being too bland to have a rudimentary link to the playstyle. Individually they are uniform in being an attack in x direction that does x damage and knockback. It's just not interesting, especially when you have room to be super creative in a 3v1, and it's underwhelming after a really great foundation. Let me re-iterate in this comment block, you don't have to be unsmash, there are now more than ever examples of sets that are simple without being boring. If this is not a design choice but a fear of being too flashy or unbalanced, those fears should be abandoned. The balance in the specials was perfectly fine - if you made every move like the specials you'd have made a huge improvement.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="ForwardArrow"]Larfleeze
Everyone's complained to you about Larfleeze having bland moves, which is a fair complaint IMO for a pretty simple reason. They don't have much relevance beyond redundant healing/draining of replicas, if the generic attacks had more of a point I could understand, but here they don't contribute enough to the set for my liking. What's worse is that you DO have random creative moves in here with the Forward Smash and Up Aerial, and with Calvin and Hobbes you were willing to put crazy inputs on stuff like the Smashes. I don't demand Larfleeze has to have some sort of world changing move on every input, but it seems that you're more willing to make interesting moves than you think you are, and a few more branching options to expand how he utilizes the minions on the Smashes or something would have been great.
As for concepts in the specials, I actually am not as big a fan as some people. Larfleeze's ability to make duplicates of foes upon killing them in 3v1 is cool as well as make his own minions which feel a bit more interesting than the ones in Calvin and Hobbes that interact with his healing/draining just as well, and then there's the wall to at least give them a pseudo platform. I'd like it if there was some way to make sure your minions don't just get tricked into a stupid suicide, very possible to do that against Brawl AIs, which makes them a lot less effective. The Down Special also feels, while well characterized, a bit ridiculous to me considering how it's never relevant against characters without those types of moves, and too blatantly spiteful against characters who do have them. Still, the added effects on the standards make it so the set has some actually decent flow, and it capitalizes on 3v1 decently with the snowballing player deaths to build an army. I'm not a fan, but there is some good in here and I'd say it's a step in the right direction for you, Warrior. [/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="BKupa666"]LARFLEEZE
There’s little question that 1 vs. 3 sets have a high bar set for them this contest, after the success multiple bosses had last time. That said, after the initially exciting mechanic, I found Larfleeze underwhelming. Really, until he earns a KO and calls forth a Construct, he plays as close to a textbook summons character as I’ve seen in a good while. He has a Wario fart mechanic applied to a minion move, while using a ton of Brawl attacks, merely with healing or health-siphoning properties tacked on; though this does aid the minions, their addition to random attacks seems very much like forced uniqueness. Racking damage to build the Constructs’ health also seems rather downplayed, as aside from F-Smash and maybe juggling foes on D-Smash, this aspect of his gameplay is largely ignored, seemingly in favor of the entirely reactive option of corrupting enemy traps.
Even once Constructs enter the stage, his gameplay pretty much remains stagnant, just with more focus placed on healing/stealing health from minions without it serving more of a purpose. Though there are glimmers of playstyle and potential buried in Larfleeze, his defensive options mainly just seem dogpiled together in an unsavory mixture. Here’s to hoping he serves as a springboard off of which you can make a superior boss set.[/COLLAPSE]
[collapse="Katapultar"]This is a huge improvement for you, Violenceman, and it's clear to anyone who's seen your previous sets (which are still good on their own). You've clearly taken the advice given to you with the Specials being first up instead of later, and my even the simplest of details overflow - there are times when this comes from certain attack details being repeated in the same move, but I'm still impressed by it. And even if they don't completely flow with the Specials yet (they still but), the standard attacks are look more impressive than ever before and are actually worth some attention. Dancing Dagger is an excellent attack for capitalizing on the backstab mechanic given it's boomerang-style nature: just the boomerang coming back from behind can inflict backstab damage from enemies wanting to protect their backs against you, which will be exposed if they're hit by the returning Dancing Dagger for you take advantage of! The boomerang nature of the Dancing Dagger also works surprisingly well with the invisibility because foes won't know -where- the Dagger will return to if Thief is invisible, and if you catch them off-guard simply backstab them. It's clear that you're very good at stringing together the Special attacks in clever ways. When I think about it too, even some of the stuff like the Smashes and the Aerials simply being ranged attacks work surprisingly well together for chaining together and luring foes into a trap. A different step for you via open-ended characterization compared to the likes of Ico/Yorda and Darkwing Duck, it's great to see you flourishing as of now, and that makes it all the more interesting to see what you'll do next, even though I've said that quite a few times now.[/collapse]
[COLLAPSE="Darth Meanie"]Thief
The thief is definitely a moveset with a lot of heart poured into it and deserved some respect for that. Your move descriptions are long enough to rival Katapultar, and though some of it is redundancy that could be smoothed out, a lot of it is careful care about animations and characterization that is really nice.
The backstab is a worthwhile mechanic, and you get some clever ideas in how to combine it with the invisibility and teleportation that the Thief has at his disposal. Many of his other moves seem to treat it as a bit of an afterthought though, and I think that a little more thought into how his moves flowed together with concepts like the turn around from the jab would make it a lot smoother. As it is, there is a bit of a disconnect between the tilts, the smashes which feel like guild wars 2 abilities out of place in brawl, and the aerials which are so focused on the pistols as opposed to never appearing elsewhere in the set.
The only other major complaint I have though is that blinding powder is far too powerful. 3 seconds of stun is utterly ridiculous; on a projectile as an area of effect blast with a half second duration it is truly broken. Still, a fun moveset though with a lot of care put into its creation.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces"]THE THIEF
This is a pretty darn good set here. It’s bursting with flavor and was clearly made for the character. Not only that, but it’s got some imagination as well.
So, let’s get into it.
First, the Backstab. A simple but effective mechanic for a thief. Makes sense and gives the Thief some good damage racking. Not only that, but every single special gives an opportunity to bring in Backstab: the Neutral dagger can stun a foe, the Side gives you a quick opportunity to strike from behind, the Up can reposition you behind a foe, and the Down’s invisibility for obvious reasons. From there, you already have a very coherent playstyle involving taking the enemy from behind. I especially like the Side Special’s ability to steal items specific to the character; that was a nice touch.
Beyond that, much of what makes me like this set is that your description makes things very easy to visualize the Thief doing them. Sure, the set might be wordier than it actually needs to be, but Kat can attest to the fact that this is not the wordiest set ever made. In my mind, it’s worth it for the visualization.
That said, there are a few problems with this set, mostly in presentation. For example, you mention Caltrops and Needles Traps in the Down Special before we know what they are; in my opinion, it’d have been better if you had just mentioned in each attack that it doesn’t break the cloak. Also, you mention five feet, but since I haven’t the foggiest idea how far that is in Brawl, you may want to use Stage Builder Blocks or Battlefield platforms as reference. Also, that 3-second stun Darth mentioned. Really, though, those are nitpicks; you’ve outdone yourself here, Violenceman.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="FrozenRoy"]Swiper no swiping
The Thief is yet another moveset that I feel falls into the category of good but not truly great, continuing to prove that for some reason I am way more optimistic in MYM13.
Anyway, Thief has a cool little concept, based around simply dealing double damage with attacks by striking from behind. By giving the set a strong central starting point, strong moves can be built around it, a particular favorite of mine being the forward tilt. The Steal move is at tad tacky with it's generation of items, but at least vaguely acceptable, given how otherwise the move would be largely useless and, well, what is a thief without a steal move?
The stun time on the Neutral Special is unfortunately large, as otherwise, the move is extremely cool. For reference on how long the stun is, Warlock Punch takes 72 frames to initial, or roughly 1.1 seconds, so you are stunning the foe for roughly the time it takes to start 2 Warlock Punches plus 3/4ths of another. Similiarly, Up Throw's paralysis is mentioned as lasting several seconds, when judging from what the move sounds like, it should last two seconds at the most. To pile on some further complaints, the use of other thieves in the Down Throw and Up Smash is a tad odd, although I feel it is acceptable here given the Thief's actual character, but it is still odd.
Finally, I highly recommend using different measurements for length, as there is no easy way for somebody to imagine what a foot is in Brawl, nor an easy way to tell in the game itself. Two useful measurements are the "Battlefield platform" and the "Ganondorf". A Battlefield platform refers to the length of, well, a platform on Battlefield, which is easy to remember or look up. Three Battlefield platforms is also roughly the width of Battlefield itself, making it again, easy to imagine the size when described. A Ganondorf almost always refers to Ganondorf's tall height, which is almost exactly the length from the ground to the bottom platforms of Battlefield and easily thought of when imagining Ganondorf. In addition the two, when combined, makes it so that a person who owns Brawl can easily look up the distance just by going into Training Mode as Ganondorf. This will help your future movesetting, because as-is, I have no idea what "five feet" means. I'll mentally just put it at a Battlefield platform.
But enough with the bad things, let's discuss the good! Flowing playstyle, nice, many moves work together in the context of the playstyle and weave a fairly tight cloth, without really being a flowchart or anything, with a few outliers in this regard. I quite enjoy the way Shadowstep works, which makes it sort of interesting among teleportation recoveries, while I also enjoy how the invisibility works, as Thief uses it more to get in a single nice strike or generate some subtle fear in the foe rather than more traditional trap setting uses and the like. One of my favorite things in the moveset is the ability to go into invisibility and use the Forward Tilt w/ backstab for massive damage, as it both sounds like it would look awesome and is effective. If it wasn't obvious, I do quite like the Forward Tilt, with it's properties of getting stronger as the foe gets weaker and it's awesome backstab bonus.
Caltrops and the Needle Trap, while basic traps, are certainly very effective, and them being seen while invisible can even be used as a mindgame. After all, while you know where the Thief was when he set the traps, he might have just jumped away, especially if they were set far away...or perhaps that is just what he wants you to think and he's standing right there, testing your reaction. It's simple, but very Thief-y. I also enjoy the DAir's animation and the grab, by the way.
But to cut a long comment short, it's an awesome moveset, but multiple things bring it down, mostly a fair bit of number related gaffes, some of which severely hurt it's balance. Still, it is certainly a step up from your previous movesets, even Ico/Yorda. Your continued use of extras is also pleasing and the ability to play as the female thief is well enjoyed. On to the next movesets.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Smash Daddy"]Okay, now I see the appeal of your sets, Violenceman. Thief has a great charm to it, with brisk descriptions following flowery specials, which release pressure on the later inputs. The way backstab works essentially lays a blanket over the entire set, giving Thief an interesting psychological effect on matches if nothing else. This concept has been explored before, but it is executed smartly in this set, the whole playstyle shaped around it at its core and Thief has equipped a fair share of tools designed to fit this purpose. So your presentation has a nice brevity to it, though you go off the rails at times, such as in the back air, an odd place for a flashy trap when, by comparison, his smashes are standard fare. These sets also walk a fine line and I wouldn't expect you to have perfected the art of balancing every move between simplicity and simply useless, as some sadly lean more toward the latter. There is one too many generic slash, spacing throw and long-ranged projectile aerial, at spots there is too much focus on damage racking over getting the KO. Nevertheless, these problems don't kill the momentum of a good set. It's impressive the amount of foresight there is in this set when utilising death traps of design like stealing and teleporting, two concepts that have often been abused by veterans as much as newcomers. [/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="ForwardArrow"]The Thief
If nothing else, this is a set that really shows love for the character it's for. The animations are vivid and make it incredibly fun and satisfying to picture this character in combat, and it feels true to the source material, particularly with the quotes above each section. It's all presentation stuff, but it's still makes the set a far more enjoyable read. I also admittedly like the system you set up here, the backstab to deal more damage in conjunction with a boomerang projectile and the ability to go invisible. The invisibility is balanced by thief being required to take a more slow and cautious approach whilst using it, and is neat with the knife which you can direct around without the opponent expecting what direction it'll fly. In those aspects the set is very likable.
While I largely feel the set is better than your former sets due to the better designed individual moves beyond the specials, the flow between moves is still lacking. You have some nice tricks to hit the foes back in there at points, but I don't feel you quite play off the invisibility as much as I'd like. The concept is a bit more done before than the gas in Darkwing or the team mechanic in Ico and Yorda, but you probably wouldn't know that having not read a ton of sets. That's probably the main thing I'd advise to you, just do more set reading, check out what's been posted, to give you an idea of how we want moves to work together. Still, I did think it was an enjoyable read with some solid concepts, and I think you have potential to make something very good, possibly before this contest is out.[/COLLAPSE]
[collapse="Katapultar"]The main prospect of this set is hilarious even without having watched the videos, and it already looks as if the Ameno Effect is settling in on MYM13. I was pretty much laughing the whole time too (easily a top contender for Funniest Moveset). There's naturally a lot of crazy things going on in this set, and it didn't take long for me to realize it wasn't your average Flowy-Warlordian set as a lot of the moves felt independent. It felt a bit like a pseudo-joke-set, but that couldn't be helped when you were dealing with such an abstract subject. Not to say I stopped taking it seriously at all at any time of the set; being able to shift between two fighting zones is quite neato and provides some opportunities for all those toys you're putting on the stage, while the Grab Game further elaborates by letting you put one foe into the shelf. I did kinda lose track of certain things as I went by given how crazy the set is and the different rules to it, but it does try to have a sense of playstyle in the end, even if it's not the most convincing thing when there's a lot going on - undeniably a very fun and memorable experience however, and it was a pleasant surprise to see emphasis on the Final Smash and Extras of which couldn't be fitted into the main set.
It's also interesting to note how hard it was to pick out the Warlordian parts and the Davian parts, as the two styles mesh together pretty well for a good combination. This was also a funny character choice, as I thought the two of you were going to do a cartoon set or something. Maybe we'll get more of this kind of thing in the future?[/collapse]
[COLLAPSE="Darth Meanie"]Ashens
This is something that truly could only be created by the combined efforts of Warlord and David. A truly monumental monstrosity that encompasses almost every vice in Make Your Move in one nauseating package.
We begin by making a 3v1 only stamina boss fight with an incomprehensible control scheme in which you have to move both hands with only one control stick. I hesitate to even call this a moveset as it takes a page from AMENO-SAGIRI and makes it even worse, and takes it for granted that this kind of mutilation of brawl should be readily accepted as just as legitimate as an actual moveset.
Moving on we go through a litany of props with the tackiest effects yet including perhaps the worst one ever attempted to date, a flamethrower which behaves like no fire anywhere else in brawl and kills opponents if they somehow don't guess that they are supposed to crouch or roll the nonsensical six and a half times required to survive. It is a mechanic designed with the playstyle in mind of the worst kind, and the playstyle is what? To simply keep the opponents from getting on the ground so they can roll? And reuse concepts that have been around for ages and somehow turn a couch into a slip and slide playplace?
I won't pretend there is nothing clever in this set, like separating opponents to two different stages, although how it works for the players on the other stage during this time isn't remotely addressed. But creativity is a dime a dozen, especially for movesets that create their own rules like this. Ashens offends all the sense and sensibility of brawl simply on the hope that flawed arguments like "what else are you supposed to do for this character" and free acceptance of the ridiculous premises that it establishes in order to work at all. I just hope that neither of you actually took this seriously, and neither does the rest of MYM.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Hyper Ridley"]Ashens
The core way he's depicted here is certainly fitting, though at times I feel like it got too wrapped up in its own ideas.
For example, did we really need so much emphasis on OHKO mechanics? Yes, he melts the toys in the show. That doesn't mean he needs to melt his opponents in the same way. Even disregarding the difficulty for anyone to figure out to disable the effect (which makes it borderline useless considering you just have to tap down 6 times), it's a freaking boss with free flight and 100 traps everywhere, he has plenty of damage-racking and KOing tools as-is. Likewise with the couch/shelf transition. It's a really creative move and all, but did it have to be a true KO on opponents who are left behind? Especially when the pummel randomly takes one opponent to the other stage but magically doesn't do anything to the other players. What stops them from just making their way to the other stage from off-screen? Heck, even the final smash is a combination of these 2 things, only made nearly impossible to counter (open microwave, grab, close microwave, dead).
Making a giant death-trap of toys is fun and a good way to make him feel like a big over-the-top boss, especially when his hitboxes are so big that you don't have to constantly cross every trap ever just to do anything at all. At the very least it's nice to see a 1v3 boss that doesn't punish the enemy team for taking advantage of the fact that they're a team. However, I feel like the craziness could have been toned down a tad. Obviously the toys are going to be doing different things, but did he need special effects and move interactions on his standards? You even note at the start on the unscripted nature of his reviews, why does he have all of these scripted move effects?
On the bright side, I think the set is great from a character-appreciation perspective. Aside from my complaint on the interactions, the set feels like an Ashens review, and all of the pictures and video links and extras help to showcase what he's about to those who don't know about him. Overall, there's enough to like here to avoid death-by-HR, but I don't think I would put it on my Shelf of Interesting Movesets.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="FrozenRoy"]Instant Moveset in a Comment
First off, you instantly gain some love in this moveset simply for linking all of those Ashens videos. Very amusing stuff there, people.
While the fire at first seems really tacky, it's actually not that tacky when you consider the Smash universe and the nature of Ashens. He plays the role of the reviewer, with the Smash characters taking their actual roles, as trophies or, in SSB64's case, dolls. Ashens may not even be a trophy or a character of the same type as the Brawl character,s more like Master Hand's symbolicness, and in this context, Ashens' burning them to nothing makes sense.
I do think it seems actually a bit easy to get rid of the fire, though, between it's long time to come out, ease of getting rid of it even with the dog breath and all, though it will still at least push some damage through. The fact it isn't doused upon coming into contact with water also is quite odd, but eh. The game with the dual stages is actually quite interesting, probably the best thing in the set, though it's not always entirely taken advantage of. Though that's okay, since well, it'd be weird for that to be the focal point of the set. The POPstation is IMO one of the better moves in the set, as it's use as a solid platform is interesting, while retaining some good play with the pieces and it's good interaction with the water. And as an addendum to earlier, you can at least set them on fire with the grab, but eh...
As a whole, though, the moveset does feel a bit disjointed, as if it is scrambling for every possibility in the character's arsenel, which while not bad, leads to a bit of a lack of flow between the various types of play presented in the moveset, I feel. It's quite a good joint, though, as it's actually quite difficult to differentiate what was written by Warlord and what was dealt out by Dave, so you must have both been on the same wavelength. The extras are also quite a nice addition: Might MYM13 be the MYM where we see a revival of extras? Matchups are also much appreciated.
Overall, though, I can't really say it was a particularly amazing moveset, but I enjoyed it, so I think that it bodes well for a good Warlord contest to come and, with Bubblegum also around, a step up for Dave. We shall see, eh?[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Smash Daddy"]We're touching on new ground thematically in Ashens, a 3v1 stage-specific bloody stamina boss. I feel it's justified that I had little to no patience in terms of overzealous creativity when you've already got that many prerequisites. Then when you have an alternate KO mechanic, mass goop, slip 'n' slide and a second specific stage, it's not that it lacks flow, it's that it lacks a real focus. If you view it purely from the enjoyment you get out of reading, it's obviously a lot better, as the ideas are opaquely clear and the set only continues to throw wood on the fire as it adds layer upon layer of traps, easy and powerful interactions, halfway minions, etcetera. Character-wise, the playstyle is just okay. Ashens is nearly sadistic, barely keeping away from the Sid archetype. I didn't like the flamethrower, but not because it doesn't use Brawl's fire [???]. There's no reason to destroy your own toys, it's not like you need the space when you can fill two stages. The smashes stood out as awkward when the previous toy creating moves did actually work as the inputs originally intended. The smashes just place stuff, so it's a second set of, obviously worse, specials. You pulled it back some using the Master Hand-ish standards. Plus, there are genuinely new ideas surrounding the separation of a team and though largely not taken advantage of, the alternate stage idea is an interesting one. Seriously, I have almost no clue how that works outside of another stage existing that is to the left of the main stage. The character is certainly there in the writing and in a vacuum is excellent, as you could play out an actual episode of Ashens in its entirety, impressive in of itself. And with those extras and match-ups, it's hard to fault the dedication. Thus I'm unhappy that I end up mostly ambivalent toward the set, but its problems may be due to it breaking in some altogether new or unexplored concepts, or various creative mixtures.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="BladeKnight420"]Ashens: I love 3v1 boss sets, the set’s characterization, and I even got introduced to this guy’s videos thanks to this moveset, so I want to gush over this moveset. There certainly are a lot of positive aspects to the set, such as the two stages to put traps over, and I like the flamethrower mechanic for what it does for the moveset overall, even if I dislike how the fire effect is put out. It is more in the later moves in the set that I think things get a bit too much into overkill territory, that bag in particular doesn’t even contribute that much. I think the set could’ve benefitted from more of a cool off at the end. Maybe the smashes could’ve been moves without props that just used his hands, like the standards? It’s more okay for shield moves to be direct set-up moves since they’re a move category you made up yourself, but smashes should smash things.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Kholdstare"]
ASHENS by MASTERWARLORD AND DAVIDREAMCATCHA
CHARACTERIZATION — ★★★★★ — You successfully capture the "feel" of Ashens, mainly by having the moveset essentially a direct translation of his videos into Smash. You make it feel like you're playing with the foe like a toy, and the toy matchups add to that idea. However, I must say the way his playstyle turns out has an un-Ashens vibe. Using the slip-n-slide of a flow of water from an unmade cupcake as a central KO idea? Bringing the foe to his shelf so he can "review" and attack them while they're already on the shelf? Am I weird to think that Ashens wouldn't use his flamethrower on something that's already been deemed an interesting item? I certainly love that his grab game has him "review" the foe, that's as in-character as you can get with this set up, but it seems the moveset turns into "Ashens Hitler the sadist torturer" instead of Ashens the toy reviewer. DETAIL — ★★★★★ — The moveset certainly is standard detailing from you, Warlord. However, you're not as detailed as your old days, which is actually better, because too much detail is overkill. You tell us what we need to know and how it's best used, and you try to cover most situations that would occur. However, sometimes you make such a mess of the description that I can't really figure out what's supposed to happen and I have to refer back to the videos. This is most notable in the Neutral Special, and I had to outright ask you in the chat what it was good for. Another thing I was wondering: what happens to the other foes when you use your grab to take a foe to the shelf? Are they insta-ko'd? Do they have to stop and watch as Ashens fights their comrade alone? Clarifying this would help. BALANCE — ★★★★★ — Sorry, Warlord and Dave, but I can't really decide as to what Ashens' balance would be. Some times, especially with the flamethrower, he seems absolutely broken, but other times I think he'd be useless with him fiddling with interacting with his toys multiple times and whatnot in order for them to actually activate and do something. You never really can tell balance with MYM Smash unless the characters are simple or obvious, and Ashens is quite complicated so I have no idea on that regard. ORIGINALITY — ★★★★★ — Ashens is certainly unique, which is unsurprising since you adore making movesets for unique, fresh ideas. The premise is unique, and you set off to make it different from any other set ever made. This turns out to bite you when you have moves like flamethrower's unique fire effect, but it's certainly original. I'd love to see more ideas from both of you. PLAYSTYLE — ★★★★★ — Okay, yeah, he can lay toys and such down and tip over his cup and burn the foe and take them to the shelf, but to me it seems like a jumbled mess. It seems complicated and would take ages to figure out. That being said, he does what you say he does, and in that regard he's good at playstyle. Is it user-friendly? No. Is it perfect for a MYMer like Warlord who adores these complicated shenanigans? I'd have to say yeah. I doubt I'd play as him, though. PRESENTATION — ★★★★★ — Average is definitely the word I'd go for here if it was a normal Warlord set, except you have the pictures and videos for visual aid. Thank you very much for that. Without those the set would be even harder to comprehend. It's a big step up, but then again you'll probably never do another set that needs visual aids like this or draws from a source where you're trying to emulate it in Smash and it has videos to take screencaps of. Dave's organization is usually more pleasing on the eye, but your organization is neither pretty nor ugly, Warlord, so I'm not going to care if you keep it this way forever.
[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="ForwardArrow"]Ashens
First of all, I find it really bizarre that Ashens of all people is a bloody 3v1 boss. The man barely even has a commanding presence, regardless of how enjoyable his videos are, so giving this internet reviewer 3v1 status feels more than a tad ridiculous. Second, this is just a personal pet peeve I don't have a logical explanation behind but... I -HATED- Sid's Toys final smash where you just said "lol the Brawl characters are toys." And that occurs in Ashen's main moveset in the grab and the stupid flamethrower move, so that's quite annoying for me.
As for the actual set, Ashens doesn't honestly flow all that well, with fairly little interaction between his stage elements to be quite honest. It particularly bugs me that the Neutral Special of all things is barely even utilized, sans as a way to poke open a bag several moves later. There's a general theme of trapping, slip n' slide, and the flamethrower, as well as the Smashes feel like they frantically try to tie everything together but don't really succeed all that well at doing anything other than creating random prison environments. Then you have the grab game which sans the pummel is irrelevant to everything, standards which don't honestly contribute that much, traps that don't really feel like they contribute much aside from being just another trap... it's a fairly messy set.
The stage transition on the pummel and the flamethrower seem to be the main things that make the set unique. The stage transition is all sorts of awkward due to how it treats the other foes and kind of boring when you think about it, it's just another flat stage where you lay traps that you can utterly decimate foes in if you set-up there. Feels sort of like every cage scenario ever in some ways, and is as unfair as possible to the foe you trap, justified by him being a boss but regardless not making the set more interesting. The flamethrower is infuriating due to how it treats the foes as toys, giving him an instant KO he really doesn't need and doesn't make any sense in the context of Brawl(I don't agree with DM that all fire hitboxes have to behave the same way, but having all Ashens fire hitboxes provide an instant kill status effect is pushing it even for me), not to mention quite broken. Given the way Ashens works it's not like the foe will ever get reasonable time to roll given the stage is just cluttered from top to bottom with traps.
I want to give this set a bit more mercy considering the somewhat ridiculous character choice... but the way you handle this character actually makes it worse, not better. It's a stamina 3v1 boss who requires his own unique stage and transitions between 2 stages. He can generate a mass of props with all sorts of wacky effects as demonstrated via the goop and the bag, or that are multi part like the Neutral Special transformer or the Up Special cupcake, and yet none of them really amount to much beyond what is almost an MYM5 trap character. Warlord, you complain about Chakravartin being high potential, something I admit I agree too, but with all the crap Ashens is capable of I would say he makes Chak look like freaking Rattata. Being this horrifically unsmash too requires some sort of justification in my eyes, Ameno did it for the sake of an amazing mind control playstyle that felt completely unique from anything else in MYM. Ashens goes way further and as I said, has absolutely nothing to show for it. You have all the materials in here to make a potentially amazing moveset, and you waste on something that honestly feels utterly mundane and doesn't even manage to flow. That's pretty pitiful.
I suppose you did it as a tribute to the character, which is something that at least justifies why the set exists and prevents me from disliking every single part of it. But frankly, as a moveset it manages to fail at being interesting while making the character as preposterously out there as possible almost solely for the hell of it. This is definently not a set either of you two should be proud of.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces"]ASHENS
…this has got to be one of the weirdest sets I have ever seen, and I glanced at Weird Al back in MYM 1!
In terms of actual review, this set would be extremely annoying to actually face. The trains and myriad other obstacles look okay, but screen scrolling at the speed of a Side Special? Or worse, isolating one foe via a really fast grab? Somewhat overpowered even for 3v1 in my opinion. I get that you tried to balance that by making it so that they have to be in the grab for five seconds, but the five seconds don’t have to be in one sitting, which makes the balancing rather ineffective.
Additionally, the presentation leaves a little to be desired. Which is to say, the shield button specials. You didn’t even hint at it beforehand, and while I can figure out through context that it’s a special while shielding, it was a bit confusing.
However, there are some good interactions here; I especially like the possibility of short-circuiting the Popstation with the various puddles you can leave around the stage. In general, the best interactions come from those puddles, playing with the momentum on your other obstacles. The Senile Santa is also a great idea; who doesn’t want portable Wobbuffets? Also, the bag is a nice idea; perhaps one more suited to the Grab input, but that was taken. Nonetheless, this is not a set I’m a fan of. [/COLLAPSE]
Oh no, not Make Your Move! The only way out is to make your move!
I think the animations really sell the set here, even the most basic attacks are made memorable just because of the sheer patheticness of the guy performing them. You get tons of bonus points, though, for actually managing to give Mike genuinely creative attacks and a legitimate coherent playstyle. The knife in particular is basically the right way to implement Jason's concept of giving the opponent a weapon, good work!
There are a few things I have to critique. First, his BThrow is really useless despite how hilarious it sounds. He performs his down special on the enemy...so he gives them free invisibility? Did you mean his side special? Second, while I'm sure you didn't mean this, the crouch's description makes it sound like an infinite stall. Finally, I don't see any point the drunkeness thing in the USmash. I'd say it was just a joke but it looks like there was supposed to be a link there, only I can't click the link because this is an image-set.[/COLLAPSE]
[collapse="Katapultar"]It'd be silly for me not to know where you were going with the organization in regards to this set made from a terrible game. I did hear in the chat that you had to know the game to understand this moveset, and I think I've seen enough of that ridiculous game to understand where you were coming from with most of the moves, save the counter grab which not only contradicts Dawson's disposition as a weak character but also uhhh, doesn't make him weak against grabs...despite being slow to pull off. But with that out of the way, this is actually a pretty interesting 3-hour set worth looking at if for one that wouldn't look like one if you didn't say so in the first place. This is partially because of the Junahu-esque creative attacks as HR mentioned, but also the Side Special which obviously takes precedence over all the other attacks not only due to being uhhh, his goal but also the fact that it feels like a a self-contained moveset in that one move. On the subject of playstyle, it's not easy to convince one's self that the rest of the moves fit in with the Side Special (though I suspect the Side Special releasing his shadow as Jack is supposed to work in tandem with his Down Special invisibility so foes will have no idea where he is if they actively try to avoid Jack from giving them the knife...interesting), but given the time put into the set and the independent nature of the attacks I think it was intentional on your part (especially given the playstyle section isn't very long or gets into a lot of detail) - you always know what you're doing with this stuff, anyway. With the set-up and all you've been given, it's difficult to deny the sense of craftsmanship put into this set even if it seems a little questionable at times (just like the choices made by the people who made the game!) and one that deserves a bit of applause.[/collapse]
[COLLAPSE="Smash Daddy"]A set I was once making, Mike Dawson is a breath of fresh air because it allows me to put that plan to bed and has a purposefully dumbed down approach, which was likely why I couldn't finish my own version. It does not take itself seriously, nor does it fall into the trap of focusing too heavily on the ring toss (I heavily dislike focusing on generic stun). The specials are an enjoyably tacky end to the reading process because they, as expected, tie together the loose ends, like the item-stealing throw and all the stalling when you're waiting for Jack to come and end the match in your favour. I kind of wish that was talked about more, but that would go against the intentionally rushed tone and make Dawson seem far more competent than is deserved. Playstyle-wise, the set has Dawson play more of a wall to the foe than anything else, the mentioned wall-of-pain inducing recovery being big part of that, but also with plenty of moves designed to kill the foe's own momentum and drag the match through the mud. You play as an annoying character who, while never killing the game, becomes a huge bore to fight in a Negative Man like way, controlling the match through his own incompetence. This is where I felt the statistical downfalls of the character weighed down any negative impact of stalling. It could be less unsmash but I'll chalk that up for charm - the balance is cut finely between keeping Dawson from being a professional boxer and creating a fighting game character all the same. You handled this set perfectly, right down to saving it as a JPEG so the links no longer work and using my banner. If criticism is what you want, then the self-imposed nerfs on strange inputs are a bit much, plus the headband of invisibility is described in a confusing, at times contradictory manner. I was shocked at just how little filler there is and that many of the generic moves had some small purpose in the overarching playstyle. This set was a massively pleasant surprise and I hope you don't dismiss my approval as bias, though loving to hate the character certainly didn't hurt when you heavily played off of that in the playstyle.[/COLLAPSE]
This indeed seems like somewhat of a jokeish set until you reach the specials, specifically the Side Special, where the set shockingly takes itself somewhat seriously. The set seems to have a decent playstyle very surprisingly given the extremely joke-ish nature of the character. While you make it a bit too possible for him to win than I’d immediately like, I like that the only reason he’s remotely viable in any way is because of Jack – really emphasizes Dawson’s patheticness when he’s flailing about for so much of his set before reaching that input. It’s very impressive how deep you’ve gone into Dawson’s library to find potential props to use, and you still manage to include them and make them relevant despite their incredibly tacky nature. My main complaint would just be landing the ring toss sounds like it would be one of his main ways of getting KOs on people by throwing it on recovering foes – he would be landing it far too much for me to be comfortable with.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Darth Meanie"]Mike Dawson
Mike Dawson is a moveset that is intentionally grating to read, so it is only fair I get my revenge with this equally horrid Sienna text for your comment. Mike Dawson reminds me a little of my own Kenji & Hisao; a moveset designed to offend but smart in how it does so, carefully parodying and tiptoeing the lines between characterization and *******ization, and I wish I was more familiar with the source material to appreciate it.
Like many Junahu sets, I feel uncomfortable judging it because even the flaws often feel like calculated decisions, especially in a set like this. It's obviously not trying to be a Top 50 contender or anything, and the move interactions and playstyle is tongue-in-cheek in a way that I think will be appreciated on a different level by everyone who reads it, as a parody by some and straightforwardly by others. The set is an experience, if nothing else.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Kholdstare"]
MIKE DAWSON by JUNAHU
CHARACTERIZATION — ★★★★★ — Needless to say, Jun, you've done an excellent job with characterization. Every animation and move looks right, and it screams "incompetent", exactly what Mike is. In fact, you've captured the awfulness of Dark Seed-type animation with your words. Okay I'll stop gasming now. DETAIL — ★★★★★ — Now, normally for the attacks being so short as they are I'd give you a lower score, but you walk the fine line between "not enough" and "stylistically enough" detail with your writing. You describe it, and you don't waste any more words on it. I'm not saying it's bad, no, it gives it a certain style. But there's not enough detail in it to warrant a higher rating. BALANCE — ★★★★★ — Mike is balanced in an underpowered way, which is undoubtedly what you wanted. You wanted him to be a weak, negative-man type character masquerading as a normal one, and I think you achieved it. His side special is one of the few things that lends him any semblance of a strength, or at least superficially, and that's the reason I'm giving you a higher score. ORIGINALITY — ★★★★★ — Several of his moves have effects I've never seen before, and Jack lends him a nice original flavor. Many of these are generic, but I can't really blame you, considering it's Mike Dawson we're talking about here. I didn't expect a very original moveset in the first place. PLAYSTYLE — ★★★★★ — Mike pulls off what you aim to do perfectly, and the moves subtly but surely achieve it. The ring toss, Jack, his grab, and his Down Special all tie into a wonderful playstyle that's not hard to figure out, and surprisingly something I'd want to play with. PRESENTATION — ★★★★★ — While the current moveset is plenty ugly and fitting, I liked that .jpg in a hilariously ironic way. I want it back, then you'll get a five star.
[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="ForwardArrow"]Mike Dawson
I imagine I'd like this set a bit more if I saw the LP, but I can sort of understand who the character is... and given that, I understand why the set is so unbelievably tacky. The characters a wuss who runs around and uses all sorts of stupid nonsensical crap that doesn't really do much of anything in particular. What you introduce with the Side Special is admittedly kind of unique and fun, though I don't feel you flow into it at all, sadly. The stuff like the magnets and machine gun that do almost nothing add to the feel of the character, but at the same time make the set feel more like a novelty than something to be taken seriously. I can't really say I like it at all as a set, but it seems to succeed at what you were trying to do with it, so good job on that, at least.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces"]MIKE DAWSON
Um… for someone so weak, why are his damaging attacks so damaging? On the other hand, I suppose that he does need balance from his bad stats and self-damaging attacks, so there’s a reason; it just seems a bit contradictory. That actually is the main problem with this set: you treat him as weak, but there are actually useful effects on his moves, which is rather jarring.
However, this set has an interesting idea that I think I might have seen on Von Karma as well: get a knife onto the foe so you can get someone else to help you KO them. Besides that, however, the patheticness of the guy and visualizing that on the attacks was the best part, especially since it really meshes with the knife thing. Unlike Von Karma, he doesn’t get someone to help him because he doesn’t want to get his hands dirty, but because he can’t fight any other way. Great characterization there. If nothing else, props for those two concepts.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="FrozenRoy"]I Don't Wanna Be Like Mike
I found this set very difficult to comment on, so my apologies if it is lacking. Everything about the set seemed so...crafted, even the faults, while stradding this fine line between a set wanting to be taken serious and a joke set, that I felt it was hard to make a compelling or useful comment.
Dawson is certainly a fun read in the vein of Aquaman, having appropriate and amusing move descriptors and names to a high degree of self-awareness. I haven't seen the LP as well, but this set certainly has a lot of amusing character, as Dawson here emulates being a total loser in animation and, generally speaking, battle as well. He retains a few tricks up his sleeve, such as his amusing counter grab, and most notably his Side Special, which lets him accuse the foe of murder in a similiar vein as Manfred, so as to get out good ol' Jack. Or Mike could use the knife on his own, I think...
Aside from that, though, the moveset doesn't have a lot of flow, though this arguably works for the characterization part, as it gives Dawon a really inept and mixed feel, like he's just sort of flailing about. Still, it might have been nice to see one or two little tweaks here and there to add in some flow, maybe messing with the Up Aerial/Back Aerial some. He also has sorta seems strong at times, most notably the surprising KO power of the dash attack, though I suppose it makes sense given the prone stuff.
Still, the simple playstyle of trying to land your ring toss and try to get Jack out by accusing the foe of murdering Rita is at least effective, if sorta eh...the moveset being amusing makes it not bad, though to me, it's still pretty average, though still entirely worth it for the Mike Dawson amusement value. So yeah.[/COLLAPSE]
[collapse="Katapultar"]So you managed to get your bet set done? Good job. It's also surprising you managed to change your writing style to match the character's for the first part of the set. There are plenty of little magicy effects you'd expect from Magikoopa-type character scattered across the whole set which are pretty faithful to Brawl's, if at times a little too faithful in terms of effectiveness such as with the shrinking and pitfalling - Kammy is not a powerhouse however, and it'd obviously make sense for these effects to be powerful in the first place. These effects also prevent the set from getting weak past the Specials compared to your non Weird Rider and Appetizer sets, though they may be a little too diverse when the only thing they can interact with other than foes are the blocks (there were times when I actually thought you were going to incorporate minions or other magikoopas into the set based on the attack's names, and that would have actually worked pretty well). Not that what you can do with the yellow boxes is at all boring however, as rather than get too focused on it you simply let the effects of the other moves flow into them naturally such as with the shells (even the typical U-tilt and U-Smash energy bolt flow into her game when foes will try to jump over the blocks). Not to mention the grab works nicely in how it can be used with foes and blocks, the latter of which make up for some interesting combinations via giant and invisible. My only complaint is that the aerials don't seem very interesting nor completely feel like Kammy when you'd think she'd take that kind of moment to use magic from afar instead, though I can kind of see where you were coming from and it'd be hard to think of more random effects with what you've got without getting out of hand - none the less, it's a very simple and well-handled set coming from you (even if the ideas not being as intriguing as Weird Rider's prevent me from liking it as much as said set, but I still do), and even better when you consider this was a bet set (actually a good one!) and that you've got a bunch of other plans you need completed.[/collapse]
[COLLAPSE="FrozenRoy"]Contemptible Commentary
First off, I just want to point out that .5 weight is insanely light, and no amount of recovery can help Kammy with that weight. While not necessarily a bad thing, especially since Kammy get heal herself, I just figured I would point that out.
Also, I do quite enjoy the writing style of this set. The little Kammy-like description of it, along with the wonderfully worded headers, combines with the easy reading of the moves for an extremely soothing read.
Nitpick time! I highly recommend, when doing throws like this, making shield button + direction cause the "throw", as it is far too easy to accidentally smash while moving something for a throw and the poor people who use the Wiimote will feel sad if they wanted to use the move. To make this less of a paragraph fragment, I'll just go on about Kammy's playstyle here too, which is actually pretty fun, as Kammy summons 30 HP blocks around to create her own little stage, but combines it with the ability to inflict all manner of magical mayhem maliciously on the opposing malcontents. With the ability to shrink, enlargen, heal and make huge everything from her blocks to foes or herself, there's quite a lot to do, without there really being a direct one right answer.
Which brings me to the down tilt, a move I dislike immensely in the moveset. Pitfall traps being made in general already usually ends up bad, seeing as it is basically just stun, but here really hurts, as it is just too strong in combination with the throws and Up Special to be liked and sort of mitigates some of her options, as her best option for a lot of things is to place a pitfall trap, make two blocks, try to teleport and/or otherwise get them on the pitfall trap, then just F-Throw/B-Throw depending on direction, or just summon a block on their heads. Bonus points if she has a koopa shell added in.
Aside from this gaffe, though, it's pretty solid. The trade off between a tiny and huge foe is simple, as Kammy can more easily damage a huge foe and more easily KO a small foe, but a huge foe can also better take advantage of her small weight and a small foe can try to stall the time out. One nitpick, though, is that the Forward Smash/enlargening does not have a time set for it to expire, leading me to assume it either lasts as long as the shrinking or indefinitely/until you use the shrinking, which is pretty annoying.
The air game is quite nice, I feel, good movement, makes it almost hit and run feeling, despite not being one. One thing I wonder, though, is does the up aerial glide count as a normal glide, or not? If so, is there no glide attack, and she just can attack out of it? This move could use some clarification.
All the same, though, it's a good moveset. Something I really love, though not stated, is that you can play around with an invisible foe if you can grab them, since you presumably can move them around without them knowing exactly where they are. The invisibility is also neatly presented with the ability to just a grab on an visible block, F-Throw/B-Throw it and give your opponent a surprise KO move to the face. It's an inventive and fun use of invisibility. Nice set. Reminds me of Kamek, the Rool one, kinda.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Smash Daddy"]How you like Kammy can largely be pre-determined by if you prefer Rool Kamek to Nate's. If you do then this set is a glorious throwback to a well-remembered set that didn't age horribly, but for me, I never liked Rool's Kamek, and this set is basically that except not completely insane. Of course, Rool Kamek had potential to be better – in my opinion, you only need look at Nate's version to see that. Problems exist here like the grab game, four status effects for throws and a painfully derivative moving grab. Fine, she has traps, but it's missing the point of straightforward pitfalls and koopa shells to forcefully move an opponent into their way. The way blocks work don't mesh well into a standard fight when it easily could and doesn't need to be this unsmash, all that you're doing is creating a closed in area of varying degrees. There is also way too much filler to be forgiveable – the jab and neutral air, the generic size-altering moves and impossibly bland invisibility on potentially everything for a special. Nothing is added to these long-established concepts in this set, it's largely going through the motions and trying to get rid of most inputs in any way possible. I can't sense any passion, especially sad on a character who had the potential to have an interesting moveset.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Junahu"][/FONT]
Kammy Koopa
Considering I wasn't expecting any of my bet sets until much later in the contest, I'm extremely pleased with the moveset you've produced. You have a firm grasp on what Kammy should be doing, plotting and constructing, and slamming blocks in the foe's path at the very worst moment. I'm sure comparisons will be made between her and Mummy Men, but Kammy feels more dynamic and active, which in turn probably makes her more fun to play.
Not only do the attacks work together well, but even if the player doesn't make the mental connections, Kammy still works tremendously well on a team. I wonder if she and Bowser make a good team...
The whole thing is pretty nicely presented too, with rarely seen tricks like right alignment giving the set its own unique identity. Also, I just looove how you use highlighting exactly once in the entire moveset, for the Yellow Block. That's just genius, an effective visual way to demonstrate what the focus of the moveset is, to even people who weren't going to read the set at all.
But I wish there were other inputs to place the shrinking and pitfall spells. I'm no fan of using tilts for status effects and traps. In fact, I'm so annoyed by the practice, that I would sooner see such moves removed from sets, than have them forced onto tilts. At least Kammy's forward tilt is thematically similar to her forward smash, I'm thankful for that at least.
Also, could you swap Neutral and Side Special around? You already admit that the Neutral Special controls like Zelda's Side Special, and that the Side Special controls like Ness' Neutral Special. [/INDENT][/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="MasterWarlord"]EASIER CHAR CHOICE THAN GENGAR
Kammy has some basic stuff, tackily building block cages (Unmentioned and inferred on my part, much like Twilt’s terrible Joshua set) due to how randomly the blocks disregard gravity, putting a koopa shell inside, buffing the blocks, then teleporting the foe inside the block cage before getting herself out. The one interesting deviation is the throws, which I give you some credit for, though I agree with Froy’s criticism of how it should be Z + a direction to do the throws instead of how it is now, rather a pet peeve of mine. Things that don’t have to do with the blocks come across as complete and utter filler, and several of the moves that even do interact with the blocks don’t really contribute that much and are just assumed to you to be relevant because they interact, in a very substandard stage creation sort of way.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Darth Meanie"][/COLOR]Kammy Koopa
Junahu was absolutely right about how clever you were with your single highlighting of the word yellow block, and shows how even the simplest organization techniques can color an entire set. There's little overcomplication, and the air game I found to be smoothly beautiful the more I thought about how it worked. I am concerned about how exactly she moves though; since she's constantly on a broom, I'd think that her jumping and aerial mechanics would be a lot more detailed, but besides a simple affirmation that they're good, I'd like to know how she actually moves.
The Yellow Block mechanics strike a nice balance between simple to learn and difficult to master, with lots of options for players to engage in without getting into very many traditionally nasty overcomplicated mechanics. Stack, slide, shells, occasionally grow or heal. If there's one thing that I really think she could use, it's an effective projectile she can use in the air, as as she is now, she's quite mobile, but has almost no tools to space out opponents who stay in the air and out of her block zone. All in all though, this is easily my favorite set by yours yet Geto.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Kholdstare"]
KAMMY KOOPA by GETOCOOLAID
CHARACTERIZATION — ★★★★★ — I haven't played Paper Mario, so I have no idea how you characterized Kammy. There's not much character present, but I imagine she's a generic Bowser servant? I dunno, I'd have to be a fan of the series to give you a better score. DETAIL — ★★★★★ — You do a great job with detail, geto, which pleases me. It also pleases me that you use SBUs, so plus one star for that. One nitpick: you referenced moves used by other characters from Paper Mario, but I don't know what these moves look like, so that frame of reference is useless. Just saying. BALANCE — ★★★★★ — Kammy seems perfect at balance. Not too strong, but not too weak. When you write simple and don't make complex playstyles, it's easier to do well in this category, it seems. ORIGINALITY — ★★★★★ — I've seen many a terraformer and territorial control in my day, and many of them revolve around building blocks on the stage. Heck, my Concrete Man and Shadow Beast do it. Kammy does have some original stuff in here with the invisibility and healing her blocks, but I've seen the maze of stage before. PLAYSTYLE — ★★★★★ — Kammy's playstyle is done well, but it's certainly not the easiest to pull off because I can imagine you'd take a lot of positioning and luck to get the blocks how you want. You're essentially playing LEGO while wild dogs try to bite you, and the foe will certainly try to stop you from planting the blocks which could be a pain. I personally don't care for this playstyle, but others might, and it's not that terribly complicated. PRESENTATION — ★★★★★ — Your presentation is objectively better than the previous two movesets. I love the headers, the stats organization, and of course that singular yellow block highlighted. The purple isn't DarkOrchid so it's easy on the eyes, and it captures the Kammy feel.
[/QUOTE][/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="ForwardArrow"]Kammy
Stage construction is something I very much enjoy, but Kammy doesn't really know how to flow out of it that well. You do have some decent stuff with the grab game to drop the blocks in conjunction with each other or push them together to beat up on the foe, but I don't really feel there's too much worth to the blocks otherwise other than as generic dropping hitboxes and as walls, of all things. Kammy doesn't really play off it well at all, and certainly not in ways other stage creation characters haven't done better. Making them big/invisible had some potential, but given how little output the blocks give it's hardly enough to make the set interesting in my eyes. What's worse is the set has a fair bit of filler, such as the entirety of the aerials, kind of awkward on a character who strikes me as an aerial combatant at that. To be fair, the grab game is admittedly pretty solid and at least she has the Koopa shell to provide some other function, but I can't say it's enough to make the set stand out at all. [/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces"]KAMMY KOOPA
I like this set! A very tangible playstyle revolving around those blocks and manipulating them. The grabgame in particular is a great, but simple, way to manipulate your block structures. Even your KO methods are meant for the blocks; since Kammy’s so light and fragile, it’s only really safe to damage rack with the shell between two blocks from a distance, and KOing is difficult without using blocks due to that same fragility. You carried out the playstyle perfectly, using some very creative ideas with that magic. Not only that, but the implications for Team Battles are fascinating. Making your teammate giant and invisible has horrifying implications for the other team, blocks or no blocks. This is a pretty darn cool set.[/COLLAPSE]
A Magnemite moveset when I already planned a Magneton moveset as part of a trainer moveset later? How interesting. Perhaps more amusingly, you actually had one of my ideas almost exactly, as I certainly thought the same use of Lock-On for that moveset, save the magnetism of items/repelling of foes...
The moveset itself has some neat minor tricks, mostly involving Lock-On, though it is a bit sparse in terms of flow and detail. One particular area this hurts it is the Up Throw: What does "stay in midair" mean? Are they repelled from the ground or do they float up? Do they take knockback? Will using a stall-then-fall allow them to fall to the ground or will they, like stall-then-falls sometimes do when knockback is involved, not move you? I feel like a bit of further explanation could be in order, maybe along with some explanation of it's uses.
Lock-On being so hard to dodge is also a bit annoying, although given the move's purpose, not entirely bad. I do wish slightly more had been done with the magnetism, though, something possibly coming from the Up Throw into a different move, perhaps as an opposite of Polarize, causing the foe to steadily rise into the air if they're magnetized? Would be really need, especially given Magnemite has some good mid-air spacers, and add a little more to the flow. I also think polarize completely immobilizing the opponent is a bit much, especially since they gain super armor for combo fodder. It may have been cooler to move Magnet Bomb to Down Smash, Polarize to a Special and allowed it to do more, perhaps making zones that attract/repel magnetized foes or being able to make multiple polarization zones that merely slow down the foe or something.
Random idea for Magnet Rise is that it could have also attracted/repelled characters, perhaps changed by pressing B during the flight or something, which could make it an interesting attack tool and hard to edgeguard recovery. Just a thought. Also, not a nitpick, but just something you might wanna edit, your post title calls it "Magnetite".[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Smash Daddy"]Magnemite is not bad, but it suffers from a lack of focus. The core concept is great and a fitting start for what should be a simple Pokémon set. Your failure is an equally simple one, you don't elaborate on inputs enough to justify their blandness. Spinning the opponent in place for a throw and stamping on them as an airborne magnet is interesting stuff, I just wish I knew what relevance it had to magnetism. This didn't need to be on the inputs themselves, it would fit in the playstyle section. As it stands, this filler creates too big of a hole in the playstyle to make it decent. Pokémon who are weak in the canon are notoriously difficult to make into a set, as the set has to find a way to make up for their weakness and in Magnemite, you actually found a way to do it with magnetism. As said, many of the animations are interesting... the moves they're in simply ended far too quickly to get an idea of why they exist, leaving the reader feeling lost. Still, a big improvement from you, and I hope you learn valuable lessons from what went wrong.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Junahu"] [/COLOR][/B]
Magnemite
I just love clean compact movesets like this. I mean, obviously it's less reading for me, and I'm lazy like that, but it also means I can take a closer look at how all the pieces of the set work together. Magnemite doesn't stray away from logical, simple ideas. You beam something from afar to magnetise it, then use that to guide your projectiles. For some reason your playstyle casts him as a long-range character, when his options for actually keeping the foe at distance are surprisingly thin. Instead he seems better suited to playing a little closer, using his Down Smash and his grab game to lock the foe down, and his aerials to keep Magnemite safe. All in all though, this is a moveset I think I could really enjoy playing as. You've clearly put a good deal of thought into how to make the moveset about Magnemite (as opposed to making the moveset about magnetism) and his attacks certainly gave him a enjoyable sense of character, even if a few readers found those moves 'underdeveloped'
Personally, I'd like Lock On to be able to magnetise other things, like items, or magnet bombs, or himself, with the effect being that magnetised objects repel other magnetised objects.
You might also have to make Lock On a little harder to land (but easier to land on specific targets). Having a targetting reticule that moves like Zelda's Side B might be better, for example.
I also would have liked all of Magnemite's regular attacks to home in on magnetised foes/areas. Since most of them involve tackling and flailing about, having Magnemite automatically move towards nearby magnetised foes during the attacks would help to make him look more 'busy' during fights. Perhaps a couple of moves, like the Back Aerial, could repel Magnemite away from magnetised foes.
Magnet Bounce's effect also seems to come out of nowhere. A mode where Magnemite is repelled from foes? Wouldn't that be the kind of mode Magnemite would want to have more control over, instead of having to land a specific aerial to activate it?
BTW you get a billion brownie points for the hilarious introductory paragraph.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="MasterWarlord"]PRE-EVO OF LEAST ORIGINAL POKEMON
Magnemite’s playstyle feels too automatic for my taste. He locks on, then all he has to do is fire projectiles without care for aiming them, as they’ll all be heading the foe’s way anyway. Locking on in and of itself, doesn’t seem that hard to do. Granted, foes will be trying to stay close to Magnemite to minimize this advantage, but you can magnetize the floor to keep them in place, which also means you don’t have to bother locking on to foes in the first place. It doesn’t help that despite this set seeming so flowcharty, there’s not all that much flow anyway. Most of the flow comes from standard projectiles, while the non-projectile moves contribute nothing much of anything to his game. Rule of thumb for flow – you can’t just throw in that something interacts with something that’s a main part of his game and assume it flows, it has to actually contribute to his end-goal and do something that another move doesn’t already do.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Darth Meanie"]Magnemite
Magnemite is a no-nonsense set, which instantly wins my favor from the get-go. You make the important choice to make this moveset for Magnemite and not go all out crazy on the magnetic interactions possible, keeping in mind his own animations, but the tilts and standard attacks go a little too far in my opinion, and feel rather lacking. Magnemite is a small creature and doesn't have arms or anything to extend to give him a sizable hibox to attack with; having so many attacks that use only his magnets as physical attacks without any way to make up the distance gap makes him pretty short-ranged and makes it difficult for him to get the spacing he wants.
The biggest thing that holds Magnemite's playstyle back is how purely brainless Lock-On is though. A quick unblockable beam that can travel clear across most stages that can be aimed in any direction? It's child play to use, and carries little to no risk or trade-off for Magnemite to use. It's little better than making it a static effect of all his attacks. Making it more tactical or risky would improve his playstyle by leaps and bounds; lock-on ingame after all uses up a whole turn to get one guaranteed attack. Other than that though, it's a likeable enough moveset.[/COLLAPSE]
[collapse="Katapultar"]Given I was probably one of the few who actually read your sets last contest, I know for sure Magnemite is a pretty big improvement in certain departments (though I still greatly enjoyed Hardin whom I still consider your best). And everyone enjoys a Pokemon once in a while given how they can relate to it. Lock-On is a nice move in which provides potential for the rest of the moves to play off, but it feels too easy to use to the point where foes might as well -always- be magnetized. There are some nice, simple interactions that play off each other via the Specials however, and the standard attacks are an improvement too (minus the standards, but they do have a nice little charm to them when the range is non-existent). I only felt certain parts of the set were off via certain aspects: for example, it feels a little strange for Magnemite to drop a metal ball that shoots towards un-magnetized characters and explodes on them via the attack name "Magnet Bomb" when there isn't any reason why it can't just fly at them when they're magnetized and otherwise be a stationary item when magnetizing is so easy to pull off. The magnet bomb being an item works nicely with Lock-On, though I do feel it has rules which overlap that of those magnetizing establishes for items and makes the set clash a little - this also brings to mind the Up Special drawing in items, namely the Magnet Bomb which can kill Magnemite if it's sent offstage and tries to recover, meaning foes can kind of use the bomb to their advantage if they're fast and have good timing. For the rest of the set, there were some oddities here and there with Magnemite flying around the place like a speedster and being rather forceful with certain attacks, but it's not that big of a deal. You're doing well however, just a little polish here and there.[/collapse]
[COLLAPSE="ForwardArrow"]Magnemite
I feel like everyone has already covered what I want to say about Magnemite. Lock-on is far too easy to use, and then it just makes his projectiles home in to make him a pseudo bullet hell character, as well as generically buffing his other attacks. It's not particularly interesting, but there is flow in his projectile spam... into a camper. Camper is probably the most overdone playstyle in MYM, and as such the set's appeal is a bit lost on me, with the concept being so automatic and bland. Still, it does feel a bit like a step up from your previous works, with more creative attacks and a stronger overall playstyle. Just have a stronger core next time, and I think you're on the road to be a solid MYMer, Conren.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces"]MAGNEMITE
First off, Lock-on is a great idea, but it shouldn’t be so easy to aim and shouldn’t last ten seconds, not with all the benefits Magnemite gets from it. In fact, that’s my main problem with the set, the balance issues. Conceptually, this is pretty good: use Lock-on to make your projectiles far more effective or just KO the foe when a Home-Run Bat or Bob-omb flies at them. I also like the imagination on some of these moves; the Down Smash in particular caught my attention, although I do have to admit that complete immobilization is a bit much. This is a nice solid set, with decent flow and a coherent, if not revolutionary, playstyle. You just need to fix the balance and you’ve got something pretty good here.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Darth Meanie"]I haven't read terribly many of your sets since you've come into your recent prominent stature, and to be honest, I've found them quite difficult to get into. Madolche's mechanic is a great example of why that's been; it's not enough that her air movement is an attack, which I can live with, but that it has a grab hitbox that will enlarge and trap opponents and force them to air dodge an arbitrary number of times to escape? And this is just the beginning.
I really do like the focus on food items here, as far as I know it's never been used in a moveset since Chef Kawasakii, and it's honestly the most natural way I can think of to put healing into a moveset as well with a lot of tactical spacing. It's got elements of the mischeviousness pulled in as well. Honestly though, you do really need to polish your writing style; the interesting details easily get bogged down in minutia, plenty of these wall of text moves could easily be pared down into simpler sentences. Both the moves and the writing simply get so bogged down in the details and little intricacies that it obscures the main point, which isn't half bad.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Katapultar"]Madolche
The concept here is actually quite fun, just playing around with food items. You use them extremely well here, as bolsters to free flight and zany projectiles which you can potentially create a storm of via Nair and bouncy custards. The interactions just get nicer as you go along, you come up with some awesome inputs like the Up Smash, most of them contributing something unique and fun to Madolche's game. It amounts to a set that is a fairly unique interaction playground that seems fun and satisfying to play around with. Certainly an enjoyable read, if nothing else.
There is a bit holding the set back for me is probably the fork mechanic and how OP the whole thing is. The fork is just stupid, tacky, and doesn't really feel like it plays into the food aspect of her playstyle at all. The random grab, the whole flinching thing as she flies around... I don't see any need for that random mechanic, aside from making it a bit easier for her to KO. Given the sheer amount of healing she gets, as well as her ability to flood the stage with a ludicrous amount of projectiles via Nair, potentially powerful ones, also worries me a lot in conjunction with the fact that she has bloody free flight for absurd amounts of time thanks to the healing... she's not going to die now is she? It's not enough to make me dislike the set though, the ideas displayed here are great and the execution aside from those two things is just fine.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Smash Daddy"]Tacky is a word that has worn its meaning out through overuse, Madolche able to dodge and weave around pointless interactions for the most part - using her broom as a weapon - this alone a huge improvement on Athena. The set doesn't play out quite as I expected it to, but did convince me by the end that its direction, using the food items as unlikely projectiles in a projectile spam game, is a fitting playstyle for an entertainer like Madolche. And they said to never let you in the kitchen again after Charlotte! What makes a moveset like this resonate is the smaller details, and that's your forte; the personality in this set is palpable, from the whimsical use of established Brawl animations to the touches on move animations, sometimes relevant, sometimes not. Nevertheless, there are faults - niggling details, for example a nonsensical bit about air dodging to eat food [apparently this is in Brawl. That still should have been clear]. They come at the end of descriptions, cluttering up what is otherwise a fine move. The amount of interactions using the food as a trap or homing projectile on Madolche or the foe, does become excessive. That has the drawback of making it a long read, and that's a hard sell when even casual fans of Yu-Gi-Oh, like myself, won't know this character. Granted, this may be a realistic approach considering the wacky character and how she would try to 'cheat' in Brawl. I'd recommend cutting back on your length, not every set has to be an epic.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="FrozenRoy"]Majoleine's Delivery Service
Madolche Majoleine is actually a set I've been looking forward too, though it's...not quite what I was hoping for.
The initial fork hitbox isn't something I mind, but I find the grab hitbox awkward, it would have been cooler as a seperate move...maybe some kind of Float Attack? Still kinda odd to have a Float Attack, but feels more natural, to me.
The creation of food items and their use is certainly an interesting and pretty unexplored territory, in this case, Majoleine creates them to use as projectiles, curse so she gets their buff and, in the case of her fork grab, as a way to make them dislike the air dodging they must do. She also combines this with a wonky little summon of custard, making a spring-like obstacle that takes a bit to run through, being an effective way to transition aerially.
Unfortunately, the set does suffer from a bit of a thick writing style at times, most notably in the Down Aerial, a move I had to read multiple times to get how it worked, which was not pleasant combined with it's length. Sometimes you do delve a bit too much into specific uses of the moves to the point of being too unlikely to be worthy of such long comments: I think looking at sets like Young Xehanort and Yutaka might help in this regard...
I also find that sometimes, moves seems to get too much use out of them, and Majoleine in particular I wish had just a few less "special" moves. Dash attack is a good example, as it's pretty solid without the food coating part which seems oddly out of place. Down Tilt is also a move I didn't really like, layering on something not really necessary onto one of the few odd breaks from the normal Brawl formula for eating food that sorta just mucks with it. I also dislike Forward Smash, because it is too direct of a route to punish the foe for eating the food, as it switches from Majoleine tricking the foe into eating the food she has put under her spell and keeping them from that they haven't, to the opponent being lose-lose anyway. I vastly prefer the Pummel, which seems better due to not being as drastic, but at the same time allowing a way to hit foes with it. There's also a tad of Magic Syndrome here.
Overall, it's not a set I really liked, but despite the negativity, I can't really say I disliked it either, but it was just sorta...there. I think it could have been a lot better with some tweaks and a bit more focus, though, and it'd be great to see you go back to the Madolche sometime, even if I totes wanna do some too. Better than Wonka for me, anyway.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces"]MADOLCHE MAJOLEINE
I have to say, Yu-Gi-Oh! must be a very strange continuum to produce these food witches, because that’s just odd.
Anyway, as for the set itself, the presentation once again is your bane. The ideas are certainly creative enough with the focus on food, aerial control via a flying fork (we encounter weird things in MYM), and on making the normally tasty treats unattractive to anyone that isn’t you (not to mention an aerial counter, which I don’t believe I’ve seen before). I especially like the FSmash for taking away any healing the foe got from all the food floating around and the USmash for getting any unused food back for that very purpose. Not only that, but the playstyle flows fairly well, with pretty much every move being relevant to using the food to your advantage and with forcing yourself to control how much you eat, which no doubt resonates to anyone trying to control their eating habits IRL.
However, your usual verboseness does make this difficult to read (dividing them into more than one paragraph might help), as well as a little bit of vagueness during the specials; I have difficulty telling if they charge or not. So in other words, a fairly good set, but one that’s suffering from your usual problem of packing too much into it and making it hard to get through. I do like the extras here, though; the stage especially is fun, since even people who do extras don’t do stages as consistently as the extras, myself included. [/COLLAPSE]
I love having MYM13 already be 20% Battle Network 3 sets and I'm planning on getting some more BN sets just to join in the fun. I'm thinking JudgeMan.EXE, CircusMan.EXE... maybe Punk.EXE, MetalMan.EXE, or if I'm feeling Hippoy, BowlMan.EXE
That said, DrillMan.EXE is a moveset that I really wanted to like, but in the end I just couldn't. And I know exactly how everyone is going to react to that. Terraforming. I've been clear how I feel about this before, and I'm willing to admit that I've lost the battle here. And some form of terraforming seems unavoidable with DrillMan.EXE. So I'm not even going to be addressing terraforming in this comment, at least from a viability / playstyle perspective. Instead, I'm going to be focusing on how DrillMan.EXE screws this up characterwise.
If you remember the first time you fought DrillMan.EXE in-game, like I did, you probably remember having to completely redesign your folder in order to take him on. He was almost never standing, constantly rushing at you with that indestructible drill of his, and 90% of your chips couldn't do a thing to him because his drill blocked it. That is what made his playstyle in the actual game, that you had to attack from above or the side in order to hit at his actual body.
In this set though, there is no drill rush attack (except the Forward Smash that fills a completely different role), no indestructible drills, and only a weak shadow of the onslaught that fighting him was in Battle Network. The Side Special, instead of being the drill rush attack which would be completely at home in Brawl, is replaced with a Rockcube of all things. I was eagerly imagining how you would use his drill rush attack in conjunction with his Up Special to fire a drill and then charge behind it himself, but you just leave it there, with the Up Special being an easily countered recovery. As for the terraforming too, in-game he was rushing up from below and above, destroying panels and raining rocks down from above. I will hold no complaints for his drills doing the same thing in this game, in fact, I think it's fitting. I'll even grit my teeth at the Fissure move, which really shouldn't have just teleported opponents to the bottom and been an Instant KO move on Yoshi's Island.
But with moves like the Down Tilt, the Jab, the Back Aerial, you're not making him terraform like he does in Battle Network. He's doing the same terraforming tricks that every other moveset in MYM that uses terraforming does, and it's more complicated and less characterized. DrillMan.EXE was a character with some extreme concepts and the capacity for a truly unique offensive playstyle, but you packed him up in a little MYM box with rubble combos and cave building that, while it fits his physical appearance and his theoretical capabilities, doesn't translate how he fights in Battle Network to how he fights in Brawl. There's stuff I do like here, and I really like how the forward tilt alongside with a rockcube translate with the DrillArm chip in BN5 and how it did multiple hits when it could pin an opponent against something, but it doesn't feel like DrillMan.EXE to me.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="BladeKnight420"]Drillman.EXE: I haven’t read that many terraforming sets, but I’ve read and supervoted your own Master Hand from the previous contest, so this one has a lot to live up to for me. And honestly, it really doesn’t hold up. Master Hand’s terraforming made sense to be side effects since you had to get in the actual attacks Master Hand uses in his boss fights, while here, virtually any motion Drillman does results in terraforming if his hand just so happens to overlap with ground. The playstyle doesn’t seem nearly as focused as Master Hand either, so I’m going to have to give a thumbs down on this one.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="FrozenRoy"]Sometimes, a drill is just a drill
Yet another BN Mega Man set? At this rate, we're gonna have Best Mega Man Set in this contest's awards, not that I'm complaining...
Unfortunately, I can't say I liked Drillman.EXE that much. The core of the set as a terraformer is fine, though the uses for this in the set are only okay, and I feel like a little less should have gone into the terraforming moves, as a large amount of Drillman's moves terraform, which can make it hard to keep the "controlled" part of controlled chaos down, I think. A little more focus on doing stuff after the terraforming is complete could have helped the set along, I think.
There isn't too much going on in this set that is TOO interesting and the flow can tend to disappear a bit at times, though I do like that fissure move, even if it is slightly cheap. I do wish he had a non-stall than fall DAir though, given how Drillman actually has a somewhat comprehensive gimping game, and a different style DAir would have helped with that.
Overall, though, as you may have guessed from the short comment, it's not a set I liked, but I didn't dislike it much, either. I could have seen it being much better, but as is, it just kind of exists, there. So yep.[/COLLAPSE]
[collapse="Katapultar"]A set with a pretty promising base via casual terraforming, portals and the ability to OHKO foes via dropping them into conveniently made holes that lead down to the other side of the stage...almost too easy, even more so than SHININGBROWSERCRASHER. I was rather surprised to see that the set evolved into a melee combo character attempting to use the holes he made for such a purpose, especially when putting conventional melee attacks on a set isn't something I'd imagine you're too used to doing and is somewhat commendable for where you are. Can't help but think the holes last for a unnecessarily short amount of time in which it's painfully obvious one wouldn't be able to do something as lengthy as combo within that time - not a big problem with number crunching, however (you do make them sound like they last for a while, otherwise). There are other glaring issues however, even taking into account if the pitfalls did last for a reasonable amount of time: why combo the foe out of them being pitfalled when you can just use the Down Special to send them away for an instant KO? Pitfalled characters don't even take knockback, only sit there as helpless targets to damage-rack, but you have a much easier way of disposing them. I'll admit the shield-pushing into the pit is a nice touch I wanted to do in a set myself, but isn't too elaborated on when the rest of the set is confused in what it's trying to achieve, especially with the stage destruction, the "comboing" (which isn't all that convincing when there don't seem to be many moves for that purpose and they just damage the stage or have another special effect which wouldn't fit in) and a few of these moves which are too effective on their own (not just Down Special, but also F-tilt against shields). There are some very good ideas in the set and it showed a lot of promise as I said, but it turned out to be rather unfocused and messy, the dotted points of the playstyle section of which can adhere to. It's admirable to see you explore new ground, however.[/collapse]
[COLLAPSE="ForwardArrow"]Drillman.EXE
The idea of creating temporary tunnels to keep Drillman constantly moving and distinguish him from other terraformers is kinda neat, and it works into a somewhat flowing playstyle of having him stage spike the foe. Compared to other stage-spike sets, the process of getting them through the stage is certainly a bit more advanced than it is in say... Prospector. It's a decent set up for a set, and you play off it well at points with the fissure pitfall, the automated drills going through the stage, and the portals to transport about in the stage. And technically, it's the first set to focus around tunnels since Golem all the way back in MYM7.
Unfortunately, the set really doesn't hold together past the core concept. First thing worth noting is how many moves of his are dedicated to digging, while I really think you could've made a small number of more versatile digging moves and gotten by just fine. Using the tunnels to combo foes feels a bit pointless as well, considering you're trying to drag them through the stage, which doesn't really care about damage percentage. I suppose you can use it to pressure the foe towards the fissure... but the other thing about this set that really annoys me is that if you take it off that he can dig through, Drillman has literally no flow at all. I mean, in similar sets I find they usually have ways around this problem via having other playstyle elements, or some way to redesign the stage so it works, but Drillman is just restricted to a bunch of generic attacks that are quite UP when not used to tunnel about. Not particularly bad conceptually, but I don't think it was really executed well at all. [/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Smash Daddy"]I am known to like terraforming as a general rule, DrillMan.EXE didn't need to do too much to impress me, but it helps that the effort is so apparent. Immediately dusting off the criticism from BubbleMan.EXE and to an extent FlashMan.EXE, this set has a plethora of attacks and, shockingly, comboing that isn't mind-crushingly bland. The combos themselves are not as blatant as the set-up, and that is an approach I greatly favour when you need a mechanic on the same level as Kabutop's rain dance to make generic combos have interesting flow. At the same time as barging the opponent up against your structures and fighting over created territory underground, or gimping them off-stage, DrillMan.EXE is constantly keeping his own tunnels alive by simply fighting, creating a nice dynamic for an offensive playstyle. The only real flaw is that there's a deficit of moves that don't renew the collapsing tunnels and logically, it doesn't actually make sense - how does drilling part of an unstable tunnel do that? It's forgiveable, but less in larger quantity. I can't say much on the characterisation, though I found DM's main points mostly specific to fans of DrillMan.EXE's game, to everyone else it's nothing offensive. In all, it's a quality moveset and a step-up from BubbleMan.EXE.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces"]DRILLMAN
He creates black holes to summon a drill? That’s odd, but since that’s the canon and not you, I’ll move on.
There are some decent ideas here, the tunnel mechanic, the DSmash, and the pitfall being foremost among them. However, this set is just overall kinda bland. Yes, he tunnels; we’ve seen that with the Prospector, so what’s new here? The answer is either the collapsing mechanic (which I’ll grant is fairly good) the teleport, but even that isn’t horribly original (see Doc Scratch). In short, this isn’t bad, but it’s not good either. The collapsing mechanic redeems it somewhat, however, and I appreciate the Jab being playstyle relevant without being overly complex.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="MasterWarlord"]WORST TERRAFORMING SET
This set’s terraforming is very bland as is, but it’s really bizarre that a character that is essentially a stickman attached to 3 drills and has bizarre portal terraforming magic in-canon largely focuses on comboing over terraforming. The comboing and terraforming really don’t flow into each-other at all, and the comboing is even more bland than the terraforming, and has minimal explanation for why things actually combo into each other with you passively referencing the fact he can combo en mass more than actually enabling him to do so. The worst thing about this set, though, is how tacky the terraforming is – I hate this brand of terraforming where the character does several animations which have no real reason to terraform in the first place, but has several generic animations which somehow terraform the ground in different mystical ways.
[/COLLAPSE]
Try and tell me the title isn't appropriate with all the nipple abuse in this set.
The first streamed moveset ever is, appropriately enough, the master of the waters himself, Aquaman...better known as Sir Nipple Sea God Viking. Indeed, this set definitely is a jokeset, as Aquaman's playstyle revolves around his glorious nipples, as he uses them to summon torrents of water, fishy friends and stun the foe with the glory of his rechargable nipples.
And in that sense, it suceeds admirably, being quite an amusing moveset despite being on the short side, interspreading decent jokes and fun little jabs inside it combined with the middle brow hilarity of the nipples, which is thankfully usually retired for a move or two before being returned to, helping prevent it from being stale. Gameplay wise, it's not bad either, as it has some decent if sometimes sparse flow and a decent playstyle involving the water and Aquaman's little summons, which work together nicely. The whole moveset isn't too interesting and the flow doesn't get low at some points, but the humor kicks it up a notch and makes it an average to enjoyable read, injecting a little more fun into everything.
Plus it has dat final smash.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Junahu"]
Aquaman
Since I didn't see the entire stream this set was made in, I've no way of divining how much of this craziness was from other MYMers. But, obviously people had a lot of fun, and that's what the moveset aimed to do, so well done on that front. The moveset itself makes a lot more sense when you realise the word "Nipple" is one of those substitute nouns, like "smurf". It's mainly there as a placeholder, but also works to keep the tone of the moveset suitably nonsensical. Not sure what the ass is meant to be, other than an ass, but hey... whatever. I was surprised actually by how well this moveset abused its tone in order to force readers to see the set in a certain way. There's likely a baker's dozen of plotholes and balance concerns in there, but because its all presented in such a ludicrous manner, these anal concerns seem superfluous and the reader sees an adequate underwater moveset with fishy summons.
As a stream-of-conciousness piece of writing, the underlieing moveset does become inconsistant, with each attack almost taking on its own personality, seperate from the rest. I was also hoping against hope, that this moveset would somehow become more serious and functional than it otherwise let on. But then, it wouldn't have half the nipples it ended up with, so I won't complain. [/COLLAPSE]
[collapse="Katapultar"]Yet another water-based set to start off the competition...and a lot more hilarious than -that- one. This guy's more like a Master of Nipples than that of the ocean, a truly bizarre experience that gave me amazing material for my Story Recap. In any case, Down Special instantly brings King Ramses to mind, only with a more drawn-out, complicated description....umm, does he NEED to summon the sea creatures from his freaking nipples when he's underwater? As if I need to question the logic of your sets: you said yourself in the chat you'd make sets for characters based on how you thought they'd play, and that's fine by me. The set reads like a simple version of Ashens, spouting unexpectedly funny one-liners and random hilarity from absolutely nowhere, establishing a new logic for a non-existent superhero. Yes, even if I didn't watch the videos because I don't really have access to where they came from or can't be bothered, this was an easy and enjoyable experience. Seriously man, why can't you do things like this more often?
Also, my favorite part of the set was the Final Smash, but I'm sure lots of other people will tell you that.[/collapse]
[COLLAPSE="ForwardArrow"]Aquaman
I was not there for the livestream, so I have absolutely no idea what spawned this set, but okay sure. Stage flooding hasn't been done all that often... but admittedly Aqua Man does fairly little with it, largely just summoning a few underwater minions and having some moves/combos that work better or only work underwater. The end result just largely feels like if a stock Brawl character was given the ability to flood the stage, although the positively ridiculous animations make it an a lulzy read, at least. Given this is an Aquaman set where he shoots sharks from his nipples, I am not inclined to take it particularly seriously, and I did at least find it kind of funny. [/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces"]AQUAMAN
Well, at least you acknowledge that this set isn’t particularly good.
So, my complaints about this set. First, Aquaman doesn’t have water powers. This is forgivable since without water, Aquaman is rather hampered; however, the way you implement it makes no sense, especially since you do it with every single freaking special and smash, and a few other miscellaneous moves. Seriously, what’s with the focus on the nipples? Makes no sense.
That said, there’s some good in this set. The Neutral Special is fairly good, since summoning oceanic creatures to help him fight is right up Aquaman’s alley. The grabgame is good too, since it actually seems like it was made seriously and gives Aquaman some credit for being dangerous, which is nice. Even moreso the Final Smash; who needs description when you have that picture? The playstyle is fairly coherent, actually, flooding the stage and using your aquatic maneuverability to swim circles around the foes. But your focus on nipples and just the general un-Aquaman-ness of most of the set really detracts from everything.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="BladeKnight420"]Ghetsis: Why is he not using his Pokemon? That is the real big question. N is the one who is trying to liberate Pokemon, not Ghetsis, and for some reason I doubt his cane of all things does all of the weird stuff you’re having it do in this set. You aren’t going for a simplistic moveset with all the imaginative stuff you’re having Ghetsis do with his cane either, so I don’t know why the Pokemon aren’t in it anywhere. While there is some likable stuff you’re doing in here to make me neutral on this moveset, I just can’t get past the OOCness of Ghetsis not using his Pokemon. He intends to take everyone else’s Pokemon away so he can destroy them with HIS Pokemon![/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="FrozenRoy"]Get This
Ghetsis sure looks cooler in B&W2, apparantly. I never noticed how his coat...cloak...thing had that eye look on it. Actually really cool and creepy looking.
Where Y-Xehanort is the high point of your contest, Ghetsis is your low point, an absolutely horrid set to both read and in it's execution. I'm not going to harp on Ghetsis not using his pokemon: That's a conscious descision and it's at least admirable to try and make a set for a Trainer-esque character without the Trainer part. The problem here is that it just fails in so many other ways.
The moveset is full of some of the most tacky or otherwise nonsensical **** one could think of to throw in the moveset, as Ghetsis' cane suddenly becomes magical for most of the match, allowing him to summon ice pyramids, magnetize foes and MAGNETIZE ICE, all kinds of stuff, not to mention randomly summoning the Shadow Triad on about three moves including the recovery, with very few attacks involving the obvious use of the cane, which is to say, hitting people with it. Ghetsis also gets unique inputs with Special Pummels, Shield Specials, even a Triad special, yet cannot spare time for a single dash attack, as it is just the F-Tilt for a really lame reason.
The playstyle, while existant, really doesn't flow all that well, and the mass of nonsensical nicknacks piles up into a complex mishmash of suck, which only serves to help heap more trash on the arsenic sandwich that is the playstyle, although he at least has a tiny bit of flow between the ice sliding and the teleport pads. Little else really goes all that well together, which doesn't do the moveset any favors, especially when it's resorting to crap like strange ice effects and physics from offscreen frigates or just straight from his cane and, again, MAGNETIZING ICE. While magnetizing ice is possibly, it's a very odd effect, and delves into the mystical and into making Ghetsis a wizard.
This moveset has some minor points I'm okay with, like the Down Special pyramid if it was more logical to make and the Side Special teleportation pads, but it just can't climb out of the cesspool of stuff I don't like in this set, and becomes my first moveset this contest to earn a one star. Couldn't you at least have expanded on the Kyurem FS some more? : ([/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Junahu"]
Ghetsis
Don't for a minute think the irony of Ghetsis fighting without Pokemon has escaped me, because it hasn't. Since his eventual goal has always been to convince everyone to release their Pokemon so only he has them, "Ghetsis Sans Pokemon" is more indicative of his ruse than his actual self. There's also the fact that every attack is named after a Pokemon attack, a common practice in Pokemon movesets, but used as a more clever touch here.
Still, this is absurdly complicated, or rather, it's presented in a way that makes it way more complex and tedious than it really is. Interactions stacked on interactions result in entire paragraphs dedicated to extremely situational things. I cannot appreciate that, It's just too much.
Ignoring the specifics of this nigh impermeable moveset that I personally find impossible to enjoy (please, you do not have to mention every interaction that every attack has, we're smart readers, just not patient readers) what I understand of it is actually quite fitting for Ghetsis, who has a lot of set-ups and interactions designed around overcoming his mobility weakness. The spaghetti junction of interactivity all coalesces into making Ghetsis play the long game, potentially even continueing to set-up over multiple stocks before finally enacting his plan at the last moment. Sure, his surprising bouts of strength and magical powers (including the ability to spawn a pyramid of ice using nothing but his staff) are pretty bonkers, but there are some cool (less bonkers) ideas here too, such as the use of the Shadow Triad for most of his defensive and retreating needs.
All in all though, never make a set this notoriously verbose again, or I'll be... very slightly upset about it.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="ForwardArrow"][GLOW]Ghetsis[/GLOW]I actually don't think Ghetsis is quite as hideously terrible as some people say, though admittedly it's definitely not good. The ice based terraforming you come up with in the pyramids is actually pretty fun, though you could have afforded to have specified a little bit more on it. The set definently is playgroundy in how it utilizes the ice, electricity, and panels, allowing Ghetsis to create all manner of crazy set-ups that convince me he'd at least be fun to toy around with. As usual with your sets, inputs are never really redundant and frankly quite creative... I'm a little surprised nobody seems to have liked this set yet, given it has a lot of the things MYM asks for. On some level, I even admittedly like the set-up heavy, scheming characterization of Ghetsis, and think the clunkiness helps make it feel a bit more like him, though the characterization is bad overall there are parts that DID feel like Ghetsis.
At the same time, I have to agree that for it's good points, Ghetsis is ultimately a pretty bad set... while the playground elements are there and there are interactions out the wazoo, the flow between elements is very iffy. The teleporters don't contribute particularly much to how he plays, and the ice pyramid really could've been used better, I feel. Magnetism is cool and all, but the fact that he's magnetizing ice into projectiles/cages/shields just feels ridiculous to begin with for the character, and you waste what might be a bigger opportunity in tormenting the foe via use of the pyramid. Not to mention the degree of tacky is pretty bloody ridiculous, with the shadow triad somehow being able to steal magnetism from the foe among tons of other problems. Ghetsis' staff mechanic of him going into the air without it feels very clunky and crippling, making him far more annoying to play.
And really, the biggest problem of all is just the completely absurd degree of magic syndrome here. Building massive ice pyramids, magnetizing said ice with electric blasts, and enormous laser beam in the Up Aerial, him just dropping teleport pads... you're giving him some pretty absurd powers for a relatively normal human, including telepathy to control his staff from a distance. If the set was an OC, I'd say this would be way more forgivable, but it's hard to appreciate the concepts when it makes zero sense for this character to use them to start with. Normally, I don't let characterization kill a set for me, but here it's just so absurdly awkward I think it ends up giving me a very negative impression of the set. Which I feel is a shame, considering there is a fair bit to like in here, and I sort of feel bad for how much it's gotten destroyed for it's faults.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Smash Daddy"]I tried to give it a chance, but Ghetsis is nonsense. That is from the angle of a player and analysing the character, who is jumping off the walls in this moveset. The frequency in which he uses his cane as a remote for stage-covering attacks reminds me of a Bond villain in its exuberance. It was sad how the teleport panel move didn't read well, as I loved the idea of using overworld objects from Pokémon, a generic Pokémon mobster character may be enjoyable. It gets to the point in this set that you're summoning all these magical effects and minions and mass interactions are triggering, that the initial point of the set is lost - to make a Ghetsis without Pokémon. He is basically substituting for one in this moveset, which is bizarre. The playstyle also isn't there, in construct or concept. It's impossible to understand how it works due to the turn on / off device that is the cane for certain moves; input sections are unusable on the ground or in the air, there's such chaos that it nears incomprehensibility. Despite its huge downfalls, I'm convinced that the idea is plausible, particularly if you made it like Hugo or Pegasus in having Pokémon accessible though not directly playable, or simply focusing on a Pokémon-flavoured minion or two.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces"]GHETSIS
More Kat verbosity here; seriously, how do you find the time to churn these out so quickly with so much in them?
Anyways, I wanted to like this set. I did. It’s Ghetsis, the best Pokémon villain ever made! But I can’t. First, Ghetsis fighting without Pokémon (minus Final Smash) makes little to no sense; he still fights with Pokémon in BW2, no? Why would he need or want to get his own hands dirty? Second, although I actually can see Ghetsis trapping his cane, how the heck is he supposed to do all that with it? Ice, electricity, plasma blade, there’s only so much that can go into one stick. Third, that ridiculously strong FTilt and UAir. ‘Nuff said. Fourth, for a set elaborated on so much, you were surprisingly sparce on the True Final Smash. What does Kyurem do in this boss fight? You never say.
That said, I do like the implementation of the teleport pads; it’s a good way to annoy the foe and a great callback to every Pokecriminal team ever. Similarly, the Shadow Triad helping him out is very Ghetsis, especially the grabgame, although I wish I knew exactly what circumstances trigger that Special Pummel. I was also amused by almost every one of his moves being named after a Pokémon move. However, this set doesn’t feel much like Ghetsis otherwise, save for the elaborateness of his plans and setups. That’s my issue with the set. Well, that and the excessive verbosity, but no doubt you’re tired of hearing that by now.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="FrozenRoy"]How many Xehanorts does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
I'll be level with you Kat, when you first announced you'd be doing Young Xehanort in your previews, I thought it would be awful. However, I was pleasently surprised to find that this isn't so.
In fact, Young Xehanort is probably my favorite set of yours so far in the contest, and I think that is due to the happy simplicity in the majority of his non-Specials, keeping the set from being bogged down with too many overly complex moves or thick writing style. Y-Xehanort's gameplan is pretty simple and brings to mind the boss fight with him: Specifically, rewinding time to the start of the match. Using it as a counter helps get the fact it's annoying as hell in the actual fight down and makes actually landing it interesting, along with the fact he cannot go back in time past when he first went back in time, making the timing on it essential to get the most out of your rewinds. The implementation of the clones is also quite nice, with the cost of damage which is not healed as a nice overhead cost and their simple re-executing of attacks bringing to mind Gengar in a good way. I also quite like the way the recovery is handled, as while it is theoritically infinite, it is also very predictable and thus, some strategy is required to utilize it, possibly with clones, which works well with it's ability to chase foes when they get hit, giving Y-Xehanort a nice sense of urgency on an attack.
There are some things I do quite dislike, though, most notably the Up Throw: Randomy instant KO mechanic on a throw is already pretty bad, but especially on this moveset, where it sticks out like oh so many sore thumbs, without having much flow in it either. It should, at the least, be something that is not a throw. I do feel the moveset would be massively helped by just removing it or something, though. The smashes randomly being able to be charged for seven seconds is also kinda odd and since clones always try to charge them to max, I question the validity of them in terms of the playstyle, as even keeping the opponent occupied for that long is sort of hard. I also think that the F-Smash could have been a bit cooler if Y-Xehanort had to protect himself from it in some way, or at least when used by a clone, to add some element of strategy.
Still, overall, the moveset is a good one, as Y-Xehanort's pressure game is pretty fun with the neutral special slowing or shield eating, sort of reminding me of a cooler version of Cold Enchanter's crystals. His simple yet graceful attacks flow pretty well while the clones provide a lot of ability to make stuff up on the fly if used in game and exciting combinations. Good work, Kat. Oh, also, I like the extras, they're fitting.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Junahu"]
Xehanort
My favourite parts of this moveset are everything that isn't the specials. Obviously the clones are used liberally as static hitboxes, and as spell spamming turrets that the foe needs to disable, but it's the attacks themselves that are the highlights here. From the shield lowering F-tilt, to the stage-wide smash attack spells, almost every attack felt both pragmatic and sensible, as well as just itching to be used in tandem with a clone. The b-air sucks though
I don't usually compare one set to another, but this is just too relevant to pass up. Both Xehanort and Ghetsis have quicksand deep movesets, with an abusive number of interactions. But Xehanort has the sense to build these interactions logically, using simple building blocks with consistant rules, and the varying complexities of the elements at play are gradually built up throughout the moveset, instead of dumped in the reader's face all at once.
But, how is this moveset ever supposed to be defeated? I know it's wierd for me to make a balance quibble, but Xehanort can reset the match endlessly until the foe gives in and lets him win. You can even trigger it via a duplicate's attacks for heaven's sake, the foe has no chance in hell of ever having an advantage, ever (unless they somehow manage to KO him in 7 seconds). I wouldn't have mentioned it, but this kind of balance flaw should have been obvious even BEFORE you wrote the move. Besides, its main use isn't to reset yourself when you're losing. No. It's to deliberately rewind the foe so that they're right within range of a duplicate you have ready to go, and for that there's no need to go so far back as to reset the whole match.
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[COLLAPSE="ForwardArrow"]Master Xehanort
Now that we've gotten that little glitch fixed, I have to say I very much enjoy Xehanort. The use of duplicates here is pretty bloody unique, the only comparison point we have is Larxene and Xehanort's moves tend to create vast expansions of his gameplan, as opposed to Larxene's only providing simple combo fodder. In particular, I like having a duplicate which slowly charges up an extremely powerful attack while you fight the foe yours alongside other duplicates, although really that's just scratching the surface of what can be done in the set with awesome inputs like the Up Special and Bair(screw you Clark Pearce, I like that move), as well as Xehanort's ability to overwhelm shielding opponents in plenty of unique ways. And they will need to shield, as dodging is not gonna stop several clones flying at them at once. If I had to nitpick, there is some tacky in here, such as a move which just randomly cripples the opponent's shield when they get it back if he breaks their shield with it, but all the same it's lighter on the tacky than even in Jeanne. On top of that, far as I'm concerned it basically obsoletes one of the most overrated sets last contest. So hey, what's not to love?[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Smash Daddy"]Xehanort derived its fun from the atmosphere he creates in a brawl, piling on the pressure in a match. Sacrificing percentage for duplicates, while whittling down the opponent's shield, is a clever way of burning the candle at both ends and ostensibly works toward a high-pressure ending to matches that favours Xehanort, but only if he's paying close attention to his own movements. Moves are all stretched into traps to add much-needed versatility to everything and gives the set wider appeal – you have the in-smash moveset minus the specials, and when they are acknowledged, you have an expanded playstyle, it only being interesting to me when it's the latter. What's strange is I found it hard to enjoy Xehanort, though I can see that it has big positives. It's down to your eclectic design – it gets tiring to read your sets when I know the next move's going to be another magic spell that has an obvious function in the playstyle. You have a good balance of melee attacks, sure, but it's mostly in aid of shield breaking if not pure spacing. However, I'm not a complete grump, I can respect the set's approach, especially to the character, and you could say the calculated use of magic is actually a feature.[/QUOTE][/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces"]YOUNG XENAHORT
Ah, time travel, the bane of my existence. Usually confusing, and this is no exception. Between the clones and the time travel, this was a befuddling set for me. However, this set was quite well-crafted, with those same advantages coming at the cost of damage, which is a nice little tradeoff. Not only that, but your set actually was easier to read than normal; less verbose than usual, which definitely makes this easier to read than usual, which I’m grateful for.
The best thing about this set is the atmosphere. Even more than Ghetsis and his elaborate plans, this guy feels like a smart villain who knows what he’s doing and how to get it done. Especially that little touch where he fades out if he’s gonna be hit by one of his meteors; that suggests a guy who thinks of everything no matter what. That much gets this set a like, even if this set is somewhat confusing due to time travel.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="MasterWarlord"]FATHER TIME WAS NEVER CONVULUTUED
Junahu’s comment has never been so contrarian as here, where we entirely disagree in that I find the specials have some promise while loathing the rest of the moveset in its entirety. This is the most difficult of your movesets to read this contest and one of overall, and with how every move gets so tacky for no good reason to not actually advance the playstyle it’s quite bizarre – I keep thinking I’m missing something when the flow just isn’t there to be found in this mess. I could go and systematically review these inputs in a full on article if it was necessary, but I’m far from up to it given the circumstances. oweverI apologize for the terrible quality of this comment, but I’m struggling to even remember much of the set when I read it so long ago and it was so complicated/tacky/difficult to read, and despite all this fails to contribute much to a genre as open ended as –time travel-.
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[COLLAPSE="ForwardArrow"]Randy Johnson
What I don't like about this set is pretty obvious to me, it lacks much in the way of a playstyle. Yeah there's... throwing pitches I guess, but there's very very little flow other than throwing ones they can't dodge and the generic buffs from the baseball. I do sort of like that he has a specialized range that he can use to make the best use of his baseballs, but he's got no real way to put the foes in that range, honestly. With such a flimsy playstyle and not much in the way of creativity, there's nothing in this set for me to really get excited over...
Other than the fact that, you know, this is a bloody baseball player and it's clear you're trying to translate him as best as you can. His use of pitches to try and mess with the foes timing, while not creating much flow or interest, is at least a nice way to convey the sport, and the only real way I could see you representing this character. It gets a bit sloppier towards the end, you don't really have much you can think of for this character to do in terms of grabs and aerials, a problem I can admittedly understand but one that weakens the set on a whole. So yeah, you have my sympathies for trying to portray a "character" you love as well as the fact that he is one of the hardest bloody character choices I've ever seen seriously attempted. Even if I don't care for the set at all, that counts for something.[/COLLAPSE]
[collapse="Katapultar"]When I saw this set I died a little inside for a reason which has nothing to do with the set itself...naturally, the set-up brings Joe to mind, but heavy on the trivial side of things...what I like to call fun and educational set. It's a little hard to catch on at times, but that's only a result of the style used for the set...though it's more like an exhibition, an experience than a standard moveset, much like a lot of other sets this contest, especially when it all revolves around performing different actions with a single object - the antithesis of a playground set, something certain people may not think too fondly of. I'm not here to judge it on that level however: you know what you're talking about here, your writing style is more formal than usual. And there are some touches I like, even if small, that take into consideration the fact that Randy is a real life person: namely, your perspective on his stats, but my favorite part definitely had to be the ambiguous visual cue between the Neutral Special and Side Special (and smashes), and how you mentioned "people who pay a lot of attention to Randy will notice the difference between the two when he actually throws it, due to his grip on the ball" - that's a stroke of genius in my books, something that gives those familiar with Randy a huge advantage over those who don't instead of being a flat-out mindgame...being his fan is actually beneficial to fighting him! It becomes apparent that all these moves are designed to counter a different defensive application of the foe's assuming they were going to do such, and in such a way fighting him almost feels like playing a game of baseball. Even the rest of the set accompanies the feel, never going out of line (grabs and aerials obviously don't fit in with baseball, of course, but it's a moveset). A very different and unexpected kind of set from you, it's probably my favorite of your current line-up of fun (I kinda need to get into reading BastMan).[/collapse]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces"]RANDY JOHNSON
Okay, a set for a baseball player; kinda weird, but nothing compared to Count Chocula or Weird Al.
First off, a couple presentation quibbles: I really don’t need or want the description of the pitches and how they work in baseball at the start of the moves. Also, you might want to color the set a bit more. A little bit of red here and there would be nice. Beyond that, there are decent ideas here. The Slider only hitting dodging foes is a particularly good one, reminding me of Feint from Pokémon. I also like the Windup, changing your buffs to fit a given situation. Not only that, but the changes to each move depending on whether you have a baseball is pretty good as well.
However, the main failing of this set is simple: no real playstyle. Granted, this is understandable since this is more of a side project, but this means that this won’t be any more than a decent set.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces (Alakazam)"]ALAKAZAM
The first entry in Ace Trainer Joe, and I have to say, you started with a bang! Simple descriptions, but with moves that are easy to visualize and is actually very in-smash. Not only that, but there’s some good interactions here, with Kinesis-ing his spoons and using Confusion to throw people into them or reflecting his Psybeams, which brings some nice flavor to this set. Naturally, you didn’t make this set overly complicated since you have five Pokémon to go, which is another nice touch; it will make it much easier to play Ace Trainer Joe if even someone with the complicated potential of Alakazam is kept relatively simple. Well-done![/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces (Feraligatr)"]FERALIGATR
Ah, a good old-fashioned melee combatant. I had forgotten how much I missed those.
This set practically screams Feraligatr, from the surprising bursts of speed and maneuverability, to the pure power he possesses, to the Down Taunt. Seriously, I love that taunt. It’d be fun to spam if you really wanted to annoy the foe.
I also love what you did with Hydro Pump. One move to charge them all. Not only that, but the balancing is very well-done on that, with prohibitive charge time unless at higher percentages (kudos on that use of Torrent, by the by). We also see the team options beginning to show, which are pretty cool, since both characters can make equal use of it. I totally want this guy in Brawl already, and you’ve only done two of his Pokémon so far!
Also, have the same no-saving problem with my games. It bugs me. XP[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces (Breloom)"]BRELOOM
You’ve done it again, Joe, and with one of my own personal favorites. I always liked Breloom. Pretty cool, decent typing, and with Seed Bomb in 4th gen actually has a grass move that matches his stats. Definitely one of the better grass types in my opinion. I also note that you really like the hard-hitters so far; Alakazam, Feraligatr, Breloom, none of them are really the durable sorts. A team full of sweepers, or are your tanks yet to come?
But,enough about that, let’s talk about the set. First off, kudos on the presentation. I really like the way you used the colors; enough to give the set color, not so much as to be overbearing. As for the playstyle, another nice and simple one that really feels like Breloom, all jumpy and hitty and whatnot. The range with Seed Bomb and the rarely-used-on-Breloom ability to inflict statuses gives the definite feel of the trainer’s hand, giving Breloom tools he wouldn’t normally think to use but that really expand his repertoire. Another nice touch is the general feel of a martial artist to this set with all the varying ways you can use each input by pressing again or angling it. Focus Punch was perfect, rather reminiscent of a certain Warlock Punch. I also liked the way you did Drain Punch; I had always wondered how punching could drain health, so now the question’s answered! Well, for Breloom anyway.
Some things here aren’t so good, though. The last paragraph of Spore was kinda confusing, and the DSmash Leech Seed growing an Oran Berry, although plausible, was jarring. Nonetheless, this was another great set, and I eagerly await the next Pokémon! [/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="ForwardArrow (Trainer JOE!, Alakazam - Porygon-Z)"]Trainer JOE 2.0
This really feels to me like a big step up from the original Trainer JOE in a lot of aspects, or at least so far. I think the addition of team-up attacks, as well as the overall way the support characters work makes it a lot more interesting to make teams for this guy. This is largely on account of Porygon Z and Alakazam... but believe it or not, I actually feel that Breloom and Feraligatr were better than the Pokemon I read in the original JOE. Feraligatr has less tackyness, Breloom is more relevant. Now this isn't a compliment considering I despise the original JOE, but it seems you've learned and are assembling something that is honestly very fun to imagine. It'll depend a lot on the last two Pokemon though.
As for the mechanics, Team 2 is obviously good, as are the Super Smashes. The addition of Melee stuff feels random and slightly awkward, but it doesn't feel super central to the sets in question so I can excuse it. The set still suffers a lot though from how uninteresting the Pokemon can be on their own. Alakazam and Porygon have some stuff worth talking about, but Feraligatr and Breloom are devoid of nearly anything, as I'll go into more detail on in a minute. Those two are also rather lacking as Team Support, Feraligatr having some decent team-up attacks and Breloom's assist being okay... but I mean, you have some redeeming to do for both of them. Still, I think the current state shows promise and if the last two Pokemon and wrap up post are good, I can definently see it getting my vote.
Alakazam
Alakazam's support is pretty basic, largely providing a projectile reflector and being able to set up a spoon trap to capitalize on. Alakazam also has Psybeam, which is an interesting idea to capitalize on his own projectile reflector by allowing him to refresh his projectile after it's already hit someone. The set's rather lacking past that, Alakazam's main purpose really just being "that guy with a lot of KO moves", though Future Sight is alright as far as supporting your other team members goes. I get what you're trying to do with making the Pokemon more simple to make it easier to adjust too, considering how players have 3 characters to learn at the minimum, but I wish maybe he did a little more to capitalize on the lingering spoons or something? At any rate, he supports the team pretty nicely, if nothing else.
Feraligatr
Feraligatr is supposed to be an abuser of the two more set-up characters... and I don't really see it. You have a lot of movement possibilities, which having seen competitive Brawl matches with DM recently I can probably make Feraligatr a little more interesting than he looks on paper, but he still lacks sufficient reason to use them beyond some very basic spacing tricks. I don't see how this plays into any of what the other 2 set-up, maybe letting him rush in on a foe in a trick room...? That's some very, very loose co-operation, and I don't feel it's enough to give the set a strong place in the team. Feel free to prove me wrong as time goes on, and I did like the team-up attacks you gave him, but in the set's current state it feels like it doesn't do enough for the team.
Breloom
Breloom lacks Feraligatr's movement tricks and is a tiny bit more awkward with the Oran Berry plant and the Leech Seeds(at the very least, the former is just an easter egg), and makes up for it with... a stunning assist. I'm not impressed. Well, you do give leech seeds too, perhaps to keep essential team members alive for a bit longer by capitalizing on the healing. Still, while Gatr's movement tricks I could see playing into the rest of their game a bit, Breloom's actual gameplan is basically non-existent, while Feraligatr had even a trace of flow. And the contribution just feels so disappointingly minor and bland, compared to what Kazam and Z offer, that I can't say I think it really contributes anything to the team, as a set. Especially awkward when Feraligatr wasn't amazing to begin with.
Porygon Z
This set definently feels like by far the strongest Pokemon on the team in terms of relevance. Z's support projectiles are actually all really interesting, the sync up attack with Alakazam is probably my favorite thing in the entire set so far given how well they work together playing like that, and the trick rooms are a great boon to the team. I sort of wish you gave modifications to the other teammates projectiles in there, it'd be such an obvious way to improve Breloom and Feraligatr's otherwise bland projectiles. It's actual gameplan solo isn't that bad either, with it's ability to reconfigure it's body to create large hitboxes with Glitch and Trick Rooms, providing zoning for Breloom in the only time I actually appreciate it's Team Up attack. Certainly could be better, the grab game and smashes don't play into the whole hitbox changing thing as well as I'd like, and while the interactions with trick room are fine I wish they served a bit more of a purpose. None-the-less, it is fun and I think brings up the quality of the team dramatically, especially with how good it is at support.
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[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces (Porygon-Z)"]PORYGON-Z
Well, this was a fair bit more complicated than the other Pokémon so far, mostly due to Conversion. Now, don’t get me wrong, I loved what you did with that, but you have to admit that the strategy involved with the whole thing is quite a bit more complicated than everyone else. Then again, what should I have expected from Porygon-Z? Actually, this does feel a lot like the pixel Pokémon: seemingly random, but actually following a pattern. It just takes a bit to figure out the pattern. This is really emphasized in the Tri Attack, with separate effects for everything. And then there’s Trick Room, which seems hugely overpowered (it practically doubles your stock), but is insanely cool anyway. And then every single effect from Tri Attack has an effect from or on the Trick Room! And then after that, we come to some surprisingly interesting standards, throws, and aerials, especially that Forward Tilt, which helps make Porygon-Z even more unpredictable, especially in conjunction with Trick Room. And then the Smashes, which, once again, play off of Trick Room and make Porygon hard to predict as well as giving him some heavy-hitting attacks...
Wow, is all I can say. You put a lot of work into this guy, and I love it. I’d be using Porygon-Z every single time (even if it took me a while to figure out the best time to use each effect).
But then we come to Lock-On, which in comparison feels somewhat dull. To be fair, the previous material was quite complicated, and it wouldn’t make sense to use a different order, but nonetheless, it didn’t quite mesh. Some things were also a bit unclear. You mention a blue “flash” for a normal Tri Attack, but you don’t mention what it does. Is it like a Flashman flash? If so, how long does it last? If not, what does it do? Nonetheless, another excellent entry to Joe’s team. Keep up the good work!
Also, I think I see Bisharp in the future, yes?[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="MasterWarlord (Alakazam - Porygon-Z)"]
POKEMON EXISTING ONLY FOR TEAM SUPPORT
Alakazam has some basic entertaining stuff with his tilts, yes, but it’s really just throwing a projectile in 3 different directions, so even that is fairly fillerish. Bouncing spoons to and fro is more entertaining and more importantly actually relevant, although I wish there was more focus on this in his 1v1 playstyle. At least Alakazam does anything at all with his partners via his automatic reflecting Special, but it’s really pathetic how little this is played off of in the other sets. So many of the inputs, most blatantly the aerials, are wasted just as KO moves when you already have Feraligatr as the token bruiser of the group. He also seems to come across as quite laggy in this moveset on the whole, and in combo with his 5/10 weight and constantly physically bashing people over the head with his spoon this doesn’t really feel like the speedy glass cannon that is Alakazam.
IN CHARACTER CAP’N BOWSER
I don’t really have anything to say about this moveset – I’m only commenting it because you’re bothersome about asking my opinion on sets that very clearly aren’t my kind of style. I really don’t see any playstyle here, and what Feraligatr’s doing is pretty bloody boring. It’s not like Feraligatr even has to be interesting on his own – the least you could do is find something remotely interesting for him to do in the context of 5 other massive movesets. In any case, I also really don’t like (About Trainer Joe in general) that you are putting on a bunch of changes to the engine to make the game more like Melee and entitling it “SSB4” – it’s a very sly way to make those movesets for your project M stuff – if you’re going to do that (Something that makes me nauseous), just do it straight up without hiding it. It’s also a pretty easy way to cheat in an extra move with those super smash things. . .
BERRIES
This one is blander than Feraligatr in that it doesn’t really have much of any purpose at all in the playstyle, while simultaneously taking next to no advantage of Breloom’s actual potential (Feraligatr at least is difficult to do). Yes, Breloom has an actual background Special that is relevant like Alakazam’s, though at least Breloom interacts with Alakazam’s at all, whereas minimal interaction is done with Breloom’s. What truly makes Breloom worse than Feraligatr though, is that it’s not just generic. It tries to have some creativity in it by using MYM 4 esque “creativity” which done today largely results in tackiness. Breloom doesn’t exactly strike me as a Grass pokemon who should be planting random things in set-up esque moves, does it to you? That dsmash is probably the worst move you’ve done, and it feels terribly out of place on one of your movesets specifically.
PORYGON 3
This is largely what we’ve been waiting for – any actual team synergy with the rest of the Pokemon, which only Alakazam even presented to attempt, and that was quite limited. Here there’s plenty of versatile fodder that’s far better in the context of the other teammates, with Trick Room and Conversion. Unsurprisingly, the at all interesting interactions are with Alakazam and Porygon Z, the remotely high potential Pokemon, not helping out with the other two deadweights that are Feraligatr and Breloom. While a good deal of projectile manipulation is done here, especially in context with Alakazam, it’s largely contained within the Specials. The standards are okay for their various interesting canceling/mechanics with the jab, but the aerials are basically the standards again but blander and less purposeful. The smashes are a few okay interactions with the trick room, which is decent if tacky in a vein much like Gardevoir, whereas the grab-game again isn’t that good with just the one throw that teleports them to the trick room being all that relevant. All in all, a huge improvement and a good base, but it’d be fairly weak on its own (Albeit stronger than Kammy and company) and the synergy is kind of hard to really get that excited about on the team in general when, again, Breloom and Feraligatr are terrible and contribute nothing.
[/COLLAPSE]
[collapse="Katapultar"]Filling the stage with food items to take advantage of the eating input overlapping standard attacks was always something I wanted to do, but it obviously makes a lot more sense here with Wonka than it would for any character I'd attempt it for and fits the atmosphere quite nicely - I also can't help but realize how incredibly fitting it is for Wonka to embody such a playstyle that appears questionable at first only to reveal its true colors later on through the otherwise counter-productive method of healing foes, singing true to the seemingly ordinary nature of his candies on the outside. It's very well-crafted in that manner.
Given the set's special circumstances it's only natural it would resort to two offensive methods independent from damage: status-effects and gimping, both of which make a lot of sense for Wonka too what with all the wackiness his candies contain. His style is a lot less dominating than I expected it to be too, playing more subtlety with candies instead of machines. This translates into a playstyle with understandably small impact, where while Wonka can easily dominate the ground with enough time foes can simply approach him in the air where they'll be immune to his many, many effects where you have to be grounded for them to work...of course I was expecting him to have a way around this in the Aerials, and needless to say they do serve that purpose. You certainly have some interesting things going on with further forcing foes to eat the candies, especially with the Special F-Smash (it's hard for me to imagine the Oompa Loompa carrying a shovel to be set afloat in a bubble and vice versa however) that further helps force candy into the foe's face and in the air for once. The playstyle is subtle in my eyes and may not be the most convincing thing in terms of simply gimping, but the set has excellent characterization, I'd say easily among your best and is massively boosted by its daring nature and willingness to enter new territory. It's a very good set for a very weird character, and possibly an omen of more serious sets to come from others this contest.
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[COLLAPSE="FrozenRoy"]Willy Whack
This set's main problem is that picking up items does not work the way the author thinks it does. Eating food items will prevent you from using your jab, but you can use tilts next to items just fine, as many people who have accidentally blown themselves up on a bob-omb can attest too. If you own Brawl, you can play a match with food to test and you'll see it confirmed. This is not even considering the dash attack, which consumes food items and still continues the attack, making it an excellent way to get aorund Wonka Bars...
That is, of course, unless Wonka bars are eaten differently from normal bars, such so that the foe cannot use the A button for moves, in which case it is pretty tacky how this food item works. Why does the foe suddenly feel compelled to eat this over pretty much all other attacks? Exploding candy also seems really shaky, for the fact most smash attacks actually do allow the foe to move before the second is up, as everything short of D3/Ike/Snake's F-Smashes completes far fast enough to move if done properly, which for reference allow them to move after 79 frames or roughly 1 1/2rd of a second. While it will be useful against laggier characters, it's usefulness seems pretty overstated in the move itself. Though either way, the fact that Wonka can cover the entire stage in this is sorta terrible, since it lasts a very long twelve seconds. It's not too big of an issue, though...
The grab really seems more suited to a special. The actual mechanic is sort of annoying too, not least of all due to a number crunch-y complaint, as it does seem like a foe might have too hard a time recovering after being rolled off, as it takes one and a half seconds to regain normal jumping ability. They'll lose some of the time due to the rolling, but I still can't help but think this is somehow off. The mirrored input Side Throw only helps with this: You pretty much kill any foe remotely close to the edge if you use the Pummel to get Oompa Loompas there once, considering it sends them two platforms plus stun. Two platforms is pretty much half of Battlefield! If the dizzying doesn't work in the air it is slightly better, but the foe will still be knocked fairly far away from the stage, be falling and still need to de-juice some to use normal jumps, making it powerful enough that it sort of encompasses Wonka's game. Maybe intentional, but if so, the way it is overpowered sort of leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Really, I think the big issue for this set is that really, all it's trying to do is be annoying. It's normal KO method, rolling foes off the stage as blueberries, works regardless of damage % due to how momentum works, so the rest of the set is dedicated to making it so the foe can't do anything in multiple ways. He also has the same problem as some other sets this contest in lacking actual attacking moves: Even if any of Wonka's damage racking is temporary, some way to build temporary damage for the grab or just to knock foes who pressure Wonka away is really wanted, perhaps over some of the less stomachable moves in the set like the Up Smash.
Overall, I find Wonka to be at his core at best a boring lockdown character, making multiple ways to incapcitate the foe with with little payoff in terms of excitement or coolness, but is wrapped up in a wrapper of tacky and/or non working moves involving a misunderstanding of Brawl's food mechanics or, even if they do work, simply putting out enough candy to grab a foe three times and use a Side Throw, maybe with slight damage racking to get off the pummel if Wonka is able. This moveset's sole saving grace is it's characterization, as it certainly feels like a Willy Wonka set, strange and wonderous as it is. I suspect other people might like it, but I do not.
But hey, it's gonna be above Ghetsis. That's a plus, right?[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces"]WILLY WONKA
This is actually a pretty good set, despite my initial misgivings about the character choice. Much disruption here rather than straight damage, which makes a good deal of sense for the trickster candy maker. The Wonka Bars especially are a nice idea; instead of using some new mechanic to inconvenience foes, you abuse an already-existing one, which is quite clever. Along with the Oompa-Loompas and Exploding Candy, that’s a great way to lock people down.
That, however, leads to this set’s weakness: the fact that it wouldn’t be especially fun to play against due to all that lockdown-ness. The aforementioned disruptions are good, since setup is required that can be interrupted, but the grabgame, plus the gobstoppers to augment the Wonka Bars, plus slipping people up with butter or blueberry juice, plus spotty powder, plus buttergin bonbons… you get the idea, it’s just too much lockdown to be fun to play against. On the other hand, his lack of real damaging options does keep this balanced. A well-crafted set that’s fun to imagine, even if I wouldn’t want to play against him under any circumstances.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="ForwardArrow"]Willy Wonka
Unlike Froy, I confess I don't harbor any particular dislike towards this set. The ideas are fun, using healing items to interrupt the foes attacks while making it more difficult for them to use attacks that do not consume items with his minions. It's admittedly lockdown-ish, but I will say it's not a perfect system, with fast specials and smashes being a nice solution to a lot of what Wonka throws at the player while Wonka still has enough to interact. I also admit, I love the Up Special. It gives Wonka actual solutions to aerial opponents through using it on the minions, as well as a functional but necessary close range defense. Your expansions of the concepts are at points pretty interesting too, the gobstopper move is pretty darn funny and would be terribly fun to mess with people with, though admittedly the mindgame isn't as effective as I wish it was.
What brings Wonka down for me are a few things. While you flow into it just fine, the blueberry is horribly frustrating, given how much it limits the foe while transformed. Sure, it takes time for them to become the blueberry, but once it is the set becomes highly flowcharty and obnoxious, and what's more annoying is a lot of moves are solely dedicated to dealing with it. I also rather dislike the smashes, as it feels just to me like they'd be incredibly ineffective given the foe has no real reason to eat them... I mean, it clears stuff out, but they just feel horribly ineffectual taking up 3 inputs. This isn't helped by the fact that due to the way he works, what with having to feed them gum 3 times to get a decent KO method(and even then it's not really certain), having almost no close range defense, and the ways the foe can work their way around Wonka's gameplan if they are smart... I believe he's very underpowered. You also have a few inputs in here which I just don't really care much for, such as the Up Tilt, while providing a necessary aerial deterrant, is really damn tacky and doesn't contribute much to Wonka IMO. Honestly, I can't say whether or not the bad outweighs the good here, so mark me down as a firm neutral on this one.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="MasterWarlord"]LOSING 3/5 STANDARDS = GAME
It seems a bit bizarre so much focus is given to removing 3 moves from the foe’s arsenal, and devouring food isn’t exactly a length process. It’s less of a lengthy one when the foe has almost nothing to worry about in terms of getting pressured by Wonka’s moveset. The only real thing that’s a threat there is devouring candy to achieve some sort of tacky status effect that doesn’t actually help Wonka that much. With how useless some of them are, it’s a wonder you refused to give Wonka more attacks, as the few attacks in the aerials come across as some of the most important moves in the set. Foes will also generally have at least one smash with which they can use on top of explosive candy, and the explosive candy is a lot more central due to how much more viable it is than the more interesting thing you’re doing with the candy due to it actually packing some of the very little punch in this moveset. The Oompa Loompas are the most clever part of the set really, though they don’t do much that the explosive candy doesn’t already. The set needs to interact more with the foe and less with itself.
The other thing is that because of how much healing the foe gets, you have to make the playstyle more gimping based. Of course, because you refuse to put on any attacks after doing poorly with Ratigan’s actual attacks last contest, it is entirely a slip’n’slide. Fair, a slip’n’slide makes more sense for this character than most and would flow into his game. . .But the slip’n’slide you introduce is very cringey by banning the foe from attacking while in their blueberried states. It almost seems like a counter-measure to deal with the rest of the set being so unviable making this so overpowered, but it comes across as an un-interactive kill method that is basically what Phatcat and DM stereotype the entirety of MYM as. The set would be. . .-Okay- with a more generic slip’n’slide, but I hate the existing grab-game, and the way the throws are handled it just feels like you wanted to have throw inputs and little else.
[/COLLAPSE]
[collapse="Katapultar"]Why do I get the feeling I'm partially responsible for this set's creation? It almost comes off as a parody at times, and the timeframe in which it was made sorta helps further that conviction. The idea of making the Ditto as competent as being able to transform into foes and use their movesets with only a half-weight penalty sort of much kills it for me right off the bat however, even if it can be used for some mindgaming (of which reminds me of two of my sets...) which doesn't play too much of a role or gets taken advantage of much minus some subtle pit and teleport pad interactions. And possibly due to the convenient nature of having 3 Pokemon and a fat heavyweight male antagonist with a mining theme that each have their own potential for a set, I found the set a bit too straightforward in what it does via distracting the foe with Ditto and either healing or setting up pits to knock foes into, and that's pretty unfair when you have the foe's moveset and your own to work with despite the latter being more vulnerable than the foe....but he can kill them with their own moveset with all the ways you can prone foes - that does bring purpose to those defensive and healing moves, but they're not really enjoyable in hindsight. I did enjoy the "dark" aspect brought about by the forged character however, and all the clever reasoning to go with the uses of Pokemon and striking rich much like Hugo - it's just that it all seems to fall into place -too- conveniently, yet on the other hand all those combined materials made it work well for a one-day set when it's easy enough to come up with stuff.[/collapse]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces"]CLAYTON
This is a set I can get behind! A very nice playstyle that not only feels like the greedy businessman the set is for, but also flows pretty well. Lots of nice mindgames here with the gold, the Faint Attack, Leftovers, the throws, the teleporters… all very well done. Ditto doesn’t flow quite as well, but it’s not as if Clayton has a huge number of offensive options, so Ditto gives him some needed offense. Meowth was fun to imagine; he actually fights rather like an angry cat (minus Faint Attack and Pay Day), which I’d love to see, and Machoke does a very good job at being a bruiser. Heck, even Clayton himself gets in on the fighting, using his weight to his advantage, or just dynamiting to victory. Anything to win. Not only that, but with Clayton’s poor stats, he’s actually quite balanced. This is definitely a set to watch.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="FrozenRoy"]Warlord As A Pokemon Trainer
Clayton is an interesting little set. The crux of the idea is piling up these, well, piles of cash around the stage, helping obscure everything and giving some little movement debuffs. While that isn't all that special on it's own, I like how the obscuring is handled here, as the mindgames are kept relatively simple and, in my opinion anyway, it avoids the all too easy to fall into pitfall of the mindgames becoming sheer guessing games. I think the jab counter is a good example of this: The counter works wonderfully when obscured by the gold, but by being weak behind and from grabs, it means that foes can still properly counter it with some brains and that it requires some careful use from Clayton's player, since the foe is just as obscured ad Clayton.
Ditto is also a good example: While normally throwing out a level 7 AI copy is just a way to make the MU a little easier it changes a bit in this MU. Level 7 isn't exactly a worldbeater but, most importantly, we all know that AI doesn't make proper use of things like invisibility, so the opponent always has an advantage straight up and Clayton needs to get his hands dirty...or your stock hurtbox becomes vulnearable if you take control directly. It creates a nice choice and helps sort of go with the train of thought that Clayton isn't the most competent of trainers.
This set does have some issues though. The up aerial is pretty bad, to me: Foes that are in the air can't be put to sleep by any attack in Brawl, so it seems sort of odd to have one that works on Clayton, and it only functions as generic stun anyway, so a generic up aerial probably would have worked better. Super Repel also seems a tad off to me, but I think it's more acceptable. The dash attack sweat being a hitbox also seems a tad odd to me. Whoo, nitpicks! ...Also, I still think D-Smash would have worked with Machoke, but I'll accept it since it still makes sense with him as a former miner and all.
So yeah. Overall good, though it could have been better with some polish, but hey, it's a one day Trainer set and a success at that.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="ForwardArrow"]Clayton
I admit, using coins to obscure things is a bit of an... awkward use for them, though at the very least the obscuring is used pretty well. Instead of confusing your own position, you're confusing the foes, with a combination of the ditto and the teleporters. Clayton can take advantage of the foes confusion by healing himself, using counters from safety, hiding traps... admittedly it's basic and not entirely revolutionary, but I have to say I sort of enjoy the Iron Tail-esque manner you use Ditto/Machoke/Meowth. It gives him a bit more strategy and kind of opens a whole new way to do Hugo sets. The terraforming as well as sort of fun, in conjunction with the minecart throw. At points it's a bit too flowchart for my liking, with the best follow up to Down Throw being Forward Smash and that having it's own best follow up, not to mention that his gameplan really doesn't have much room for interesting deviation in general. Still, for what it presents and it's solid functionality, I will say I like it overall.[/COLLAPSE]
[collapse="Katapultar"]Another MW/Dave joint? Cools, didn't expect one so soon. A much more "at-home" type of set, it predominately feels like a Dave set and brings certain other characters and elements to mind. The moves themselves and interactions are very respectable, though sometimes it's difficult to see where it all leads too when the concepts are somewhat ordinary and arguably scattered - don't get me wrong, I do like the idea behind the puppets being suspended from a certain point and bumping into each other, though the idea of them just attacking on the spot felt like a bit of a let down. It works together with the gold and doesn't take too long to activate if you have 4 puppets as to flow into a decent recovery method for Stromboli, though I can't help but feel it could have been handled in a more elaborate manner where Stromboli not only gets more indirect control of what his puppets to attack foes from afar but also have it affect the output of gold - we're talking about a fat man who wants to exploit his foes for money, so why not allude the "audience" into thinking they're playing a role in the show? The grab's name also made me think Stromboli would have taken control of the foe by attaching strings to them to move them like puppets, something that could have played a role in the gold output that this man desperately wants. From what's shown here, the puppets are simply used in rather mediocre interactions to help with Stromboli's slow melee game - he seems to be fairly versatile and well-armed, but nothing really leapt out at me. It's a fairly average set albeit a passionate one in my books, one that could have been great had it gone in a different direction in showcasing the greedy Stromboli.
Also, I totally loled at the Ghetsis victory pose.[/collapse]
[COLLAPSE="Hyper Ridley"]Stromboli
This always was my favorite moveset for Disney Rumble, and thankfully it makes a very smooth transition to Brawl's engine. Using his puppets as weapons is too much fun, as is all the angry Italian stuff (though I can't help but feel the pummel deals a bit too much damage). It also strikes me as a very practical moveset, quite impressive considering how much craziness is packed into the specials. This might have been the motivation I needed to get back to work on Basil. (h)[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces"]STROMBOLI
This was an odd set choice, but one that I think worked fairly well. You had somewhat predictable ideas revolving around the puppets (predictable since, y’know, he does puppets), but with the added tweak of Stromboli actually physically attacking a lot with said puppets, giving added depth and keeping me interested. Not only that, but the gold coins give even more depth, working towards the eventual reward in the healing and the Side Special. Very befitting of a puppet master, that slow, deliberate game.
Not only that, but you’ve got plenty of other stuff here that’s fun as well. This was very easy to visualize due to your descriptions of each animation. The basic animations at the front especially were great; I think I’ll be using that for my own sets in the future. The special victory poses for several of the recent sets were also amusing, and actually might be more realistic than normal victory poses; naturally anyone would have different reactions to different opponents. This does bring up something I can’t believe I missed, though: what happens if you battle, say, Alakazam, Ghetsis, and Garble in FFA? Which pose would play? Regardless, you’ve got something pretty good here with Stromboli.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="FrozenRoy"]Italian Rage
Stromboli's another good set, albeit one with it's flaws. And his name makes me think of DELICIOUS FOOD. And he has Italian rage.
The basis of Stromboli's game is calling down his puppets from the top blastzone, which function as little mini-hitboxes for Stromboli to work with and be swung around. From there, the puppets help turn the audience to his side, which allows him to accumulate delicious healing gold, which also is used for his really strong money bag KO if he can gather enough. These are taken and used competently, though not spectacularly, with some fine flow between moves, though not quite a worldbeater, and I do like how he is aerially vulnearable.
Something I don't like, though, is Stromboli's down tilt, as the fact it merely puts you into prone is odd to me, especially since Stromboli randomly has these odd prone switches. It's a bit jarring to me and I can't say I particularly liked it. Stromboli swinging on puppets also seemed a bit odd to visualize and out of place in the context of the playstyle to me, so I wasn't much of a fan of that and likewise I felt a few other attacks were written in ways that they seemed a bit confusin, Forward Tilt being a good example: The puppet remains behind him after use in idle, until used again? Does that mean Stromboli's arm stays there or he controls it from the front or...what? The animation seems wonkily written there, which makes the attack feel a bit misconstructed.
Still, overall, Stromboli is a good moveset, with solid flow and ideas, but just with it's fair share of issues which could be ironed out. Certainly it is leagues above many of your MYM12 works which, combined with Bubblegum, is an excellent message for you going forward, to me.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="JOE!"]
JOE!'s thoughts on:
Yeah, JOE! is gonna start commenting now since I feel guilty about not being as active with the community as I should be... (sad).
Anywho, I'm going to do something a little different with my comments and try and break down the set to get a better "feel" for it's inner workings and design, before coming to any conclusions over it's quality (with stuff like organization, flow, discovery and balance tossed in too). So, without further adieu, let's start with my first Xat-elected set:
SPECIALS:
We already saw that Stromboli is a fairly standard WL-heavyweight with his low movement stats and high fall speed, but his size and air speed seem to suggest he'll be well at home short-hopping aerials to approach, which fits right in with his Puppets. Since they hang just above ground in most cases, or on platforms, you'd easily see Stromboli using them as a defensive tool to hop around and lead foes into tomatoes/capitalize on the KB from the puppet's kicks.
We also see he has a combo of Marth's Shield breaker and Dolphin Slash in his USpec, which gives me the impression that he'd be a great edge-guarder. I can just imagine him say setting 1 puppet right at the edge of battlefield, another on the edge of the platform of the same edge, and then taking command of the space between. If a foe is knocked from there, he could simply do his Grounded Uspec to swat them away while they are trying to avoid the kicking hitboxes of the puppets. Not sure if this is intended, but it is a clever workaround to his miserable recovery: make the foe have just as hard a time!
A part that confuses me however is the Nspec when fully charged, does it only last for 5 seconds as opposed to the 20 seconds of tomato tossing? Do tomatoes still appear when he maxes his gold count? Also does side special have to be held out for him to actually "collect" coins, or does this just sorta happen when he touches them?
Speaking of Side Special, I think the move is a tad borked seeing as they can take knockback while having to escape from a grab. This can easily lead to easy-gimp situations combined with the battlefield scenario I proposed above, or just flat out free-kills if they don't take set-KB at all times. If the latter, that's just dandy for a kind of "reset" move to position yourself for puppet drops and gold-farming, but if not it's just a cheap move of sorts that degrades his game play into: rack % then do side B > win a stock. I do like how the gold is used with the move as ammo for a powerful KO option, like GW's Bucket, just want some clarification here.
GRAB GAME:
In typical WL fashion, Stromboli has a special grab mechanic with his strings (sorry for not mentioning Dave much, is just the stats and this part are WL staples). Let me take a moment here to nit-pick about the HP of the strings though: his Grab-Strings have 26% HP and his puppets have 15%. The latter is a bit more acceptable since it takes usually 2-3 aerials depending to snap through them (with some obvious exceptions like Fox's Fair that does like 23% when ll the hits land), but the 26% on the grab version seems a bit too much, especially if it's something the foe would want to be focusing on while Stromboli is whipping them around with his other inputs. Combined with how the strings must cause hit-lag (like with Castle Siege statues), this just seems a bit -too- rewarding for just landing a grab let alone throwing.
That said, the throws do throw that off a little, especially just the pummel alone. From a victim's point of view, there is no reason for them to try to grab-escape. If they do, they're be stringed up anyways and have to fight off of it unless Stromboli willingly lets them go, and if they try to fight, Stromboli could just press A and potentially KO them (or send them offstage for the super-edge-guard mentioned in the specials). This kinda layers on the "too much reward" aspect for just landing the grab, it's a bad or badder situation for the grabbed foe, and a win-win for Stromboli.
I also fail to see why Stromboli would want to release them, or do any throw other than Dthrow for that matter. Uthrow is a little confusing, you guys seem to imply that he can hold it forever with it only ending once you or the foe let go/mash out, and even then holding Z still has them tethered to you making it really only useful to stall a foe to build up the gold count as Stromboli's weight will definitely be an anchor if he gets KBed a bit by them in return. Side throw is nice, but at the same time kind of lackluster (even while being able to smash foes into puppets) compared to Up/Down/Pummel. Back to Dthrow, this is double-edged in that it not only puts the foe in prone it makes them prone while you have complete control over their actions from then on. Looking at the standards, he pretty much gets a free action with his Jab/Ftilt since the string is so tough, and they cant really resist the tug those moves make. If they try to roll, he can just grab again to pull them towards him or punish if they roll towards him for whatever reason, and get-up attack wont do much since he can just kinda wait there (after scootching back a bit I'd assume) and do his jab/ftilt.
Added up, if I were facing Stromboli and got grabbed, I may as well put down the controller for the next 5 seconds or so, since fighting back will have Stromboli press A, taking up 3 seconds of our play time/sending me flying. Then, he'll either just stall more with Uthrow or do Dthrow to which the only good option is your get-up attack (explained below), which he then can predict and punish. Then again, this could also be risky for Stromboli as he is also tethered to the foe, which I'm sure they could take advantage of (DK doing Down B over and over = lol, or hell just utilt combos > Uair combos for like 80% free on his tubby, FF-ing butt since he can only go a platform away and has to use his Uspec on the string to get away... speaking of, just doing any juggle entirely will absolutely ruin Stromboli's day since he'll need to Up B to escape, which puts him in helpless...), but again is neutralized by his ability to drop the tether on command. I can easily see this being abused off-stage on both ends, but mainly in Stromboli's favor as he can let go whenever, or just suicide KO his new puppet.
Also, can foes grab Stromboli while they're tethered? If so, Stromboli dittos must be ********.
STANDARDS+ AERIALS:
I like to group these two together as for 90% of all smash characters, there are their bread and butter moves. Many may have specials or grabs that they like to use often, but aerials and standards can really make or break a character.
As for Stromboli, I really like the interaction with his puppets here, giving good reason to "sacrifice" one of your puppets for personal use as an extended hitbox. Though utilt is a little weird to think about when a wooden puppet is reflecting stuff like lasers back at people but eh, MYM has seen weirder. Ftilt is also a bit odd for those not familiar with melee, as it should require Crouch-Cancelling to perform out of a dash, but is otherwise fine. Dash attack I really like due to the foe's ability to pick up your puppets as well, allowing Stromboli to reclaim stolen property, so to speak (and then go about his business of using it as a flail).
His aerials are a bit worse in my opinion however. Starting with Nair, it would have just been better IMO to give him super-armor when his belly is jutted instead of the awkward counter, allowing him to just plow through attacks instead (I'm trying to imagine like, him bouncing Ike's Fair off of him and it's just like "lolwut?"). Fair does a much better job of pushing the foe, so I didn't really see the need for this part of Nair. Both Uair and Dair kinda serve the same purpose (Dragging foes down while stringed) with a little nuance between them, an I find Bair just kinda borked both as a projectile, spinning ranged hitbox, and grab hitbox all in one. Don't even get me started on how cheap it is to have an attack that sends foes flying a -Battlefield- away, on an edge that's a free kill on basically anybody.
Where the standards/aerials really fall apart IMO is when they're used after a grab. As mentioned, Stromboli will most likely Dthrow after grabbing a foe, unless they're at a good position to be Pummeled (at high % or at an edge), meaning the foe is prone, and Stromboli is ready to use his standards. Right away, he gets a free 11% from his jab as the foe is pulled up then down, and their only real response to this would be to try and hit with an aerial... which is either swatted away or punished by making them go into the end lag of it. Ftilt, Utilt, and all but Nair also force the foe's position to be somewhere else, with 3 of the aerials potentially being guaranteed KOs! On the opposite end of this spectrum is his Dtilt, which against anybody who knows the match-up is practically useless. As I said earlier, this is the reason a prone foe vs Stromboli's only wise move is to use get-up attack, as it completely neuters this move, and against non-prone enemies, it's just easy to avoid and easy to punish.
SMASHES:
Stromboli's smashes are pretty cool however, but I do have another nitpick: when calculating how much damage a smash attack does, multiply the base damage by 1.4 (then round up/down) to get the charged damage. A little known fact I'd reckon, but I always find it kinda funny when a move goes from like 18-30% when it's just been charged for like a second. Oh, and on that note: smash attacks are only counted as charged when fully charged, but it seems MYM has kinda added on to that by having certain effects hapen mid-charge *shrug*.
Back to Stromboli. I really do like his smash attacks, Dsmash is very rewarding for what you have to accomplish: get both a puppet and a stringed enemy without dropping either, and in this case I approve of the slightly overpowered-ness due to how rare/hard that would be to set up. Fsmash is nice, although kinda easy to avoid IMO due to how telegraphed it is (combined with his slow dash). It's a little odd how only jointed attacks fron the front are blocked, why not make it heavy armor for like... 12%ish to allow him to approach in his rage if he wanted? Then again his puppets act as total projectile shields due to them being attack-able, meaning even like Samus' Charge-Shot will stop at a string as it destroys it, saving you from the impact at the cost of the string.
Lastly there is Usmash, which due to the range of the shockwave I can't seem to find why you'd charge it instead of using the quick Kirby-height version. Especially when a foe is prone (grabbed) it's pretty much guaranteed to hit when it takes up about 3/5ths of BF. And then yeah they're airborne.. you can then abuse aerials/jab to reset the stuff I mentioned in the standards/aerial section.
VERDICT:
Overall I do like Stromboli a lot despite the flaws I found with it, which IMO seemed attached to his special grab for the most part. Without the grab, Stromboli stands on his own as a character that can either play a defensive game via manipulating puppets as defensive barriers of a sort while he builds up his show, literally sacking foes who try to ruin it for him to buy time or flat out KO them. Or an offensive game by using a puppet as a weapon combined with all his other attacks which is something I find quite enjoyable, especially with how easy this would be to do on the fly when the player sees the need to alter his tactics. As I said though, this does get brought down by his grab though as it just brings in too much bad mojo to his moveset with how limiting it is for the foe in the situation, and how just amazingly empowering it is for Stromboli. It's comparable to the Ice Climbers in all honesty, but only you feel as though you can fight back while he just kinda wrecks you. He'd be just fine IMO if say, his pummel attached strings and you could get out of it, or if the strings had much less HP/only stuck if Stromboli willingly let them escape his grab instead of throwing.
As for the actual -set-, I really enjoyed the feel you guys made for Stromboli with his idle animations, taunts, and special victory poses. It really fleshed him out for me and brought him right out of Pinocchio and into Smash.
So in the end, Stromboli is a good read but has just a few things in his act that may keep him strung up from being one of the "greats".[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="ForwardArrow"]Stromboli
I do feel this set strikes me as the logical next step from Bubblegum for you, Dave. You've not only ironed out your tackiness problems, I feel you've managed to create a set that feels a bit more substantial than Bubblegum, with a lot more depth due to the use of the puppets as lingering pseudo projectiles. The character admittedly can't exactly do much, but you do a good job of giving him melee moves that serve the purpose of defending him well as he collects coins. Perhaps the grab game feels like it's a bit too easy for that purpose with all the lockdown it provides, but it's not a huge deal breaker by any means. Not like you don't give him a noteworthy weakness anyway, what with how much he freaking hates the air.
The unfortunate thing the set suffers from a bit is how extremely bland it all is. The flow is very limited, the extent of it really just being "stay still" and "oh you can use this better with a puppet swinging around or a tether". One of his better KO moves utilizing a puppet and a foe slamming into each other once both are tethered to you is alright, but a lot of stuff in here just comes across as extremely boring. He's got a bloody drag down Up Aerial even. I suppose that's because you removed the, admittedly extremely awkward, puppet swinging, but that hardly excuses the move. It also feels a bit too easy, I know the gold sack should be a good reward, but making it nigh lagless means there's absolutely no effort in pulling off a KO with it, when you have swinging puppets around so you could have more depth by giving it actual lag. Part of this obviously wasn't your decision Dave, but I would've liked it if you changed that or something. At any rate, it's not a bad set, especially considering the fairly difficult character and the fact that there is almost no tackiness here(even Ashen's Smashes weren't tacky, and with Engineer and Bubblegum I think you're getting over that problem), but I wouldn't call myself a fan.[/COLLAPSE]
[collapse="Katapultar"]What a hilarious character choice. It's an improvement, as most the Specials do make sense for this elusive creature who wants to hide from people, good characterization to go with his heavyweight nature in the case of not making the trees too elaborate or obscure characters...it's also somewhat hilarious to imagine. The Specials are also a bit of a weakness to the set, as the Side Special doesn't seem to do much and the Neutral requires the trees to work, giving little variety in the process. The standard attacks seem a bit weak for this powerful character damage-wise and are a bit too vague to be interesting despite the nice little established playstyle of heavyweight hit and run - the attacks are allowed to be simple by all means, just a bit more fleshed out with lag and as to why they'd work with the playstyle (your F-throw is somewhat of an example that could be applied to the rest of the set). It's a pretty imaginative set for where you are given the open-ended source material however, and easily your best like you say with a more solid playstyle. [/collapse]
[COLLAPSE="FrozenRoy"]Fleet of Foot
Bigfoot is a set with an interesting premise, similiar to a set we saw in MYM12, Bowser Sphinx. Teleportation fleeing via little teleporter setups.
It's actually a cool idea, but poorly utilized here in Bigfoot. The moves could use some more "flow", which is to say, work towards a general gameplan rather than in a vacuum. A good example here would be defensive approaching via teleporting, so you might have...say...a forward tilt with movement, a down tilt with big crouching, stuff like that to use simple attacks as examples. Bigfoot's attacks don't really go together towards any gameplan, aside from "hit a foe".
Another suggestion I have is to look up some Brawl attacks, or if you own Brawl pop it in and check some attacks, to get your damage % on attacks down, as Bigfoot is lacking in the power you intended for him to have in the playstyle section: On average, tilts do 10%-12% damage, and smashes do around 16%, a far cry from Bigfoot doing 6%-8% and 7%-13% respectively.
As a final suggestion, you probably want to slightly expand your attack descriptions, a good example I will try to use here is the Down Smash: You could add in, say, the size/speed of the shockwave, then maybe a bit about it's uses in the context of Bigfoot such as...say...forcing the foe into the air for some reason due to jumping to dodge it. Little things like this make the attack feel more alive and easily pictured.
This moveset certainly is an improvement over Soundwave, though. It's much easier on the eyes(I highly recommend your first few sets using a basic organization of coloring headers only, then experimenting more as you go on). I recommend reading some sets, maybe commenting(great for organizing your thoughts and trying to find out why you like stuff so you can throw in what you'd like) and then go out and chug another out, you'll hopefully get it soon. And as I said, an improvement: So there's always that.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces"]BIGFOOT
Well, this is an improvement on Soundwave. You have a much more readable font and color (although you might try coloring attack names to make it a little easier on the eyes). Not only that, you have a better playstyle here, revolving around teleporting from tree to tree as a hit-and-runner. Most of the problems with this moveset were discussed by Kat and FRoy already: the problems with the damage percentages and the need for a little more description (the latter being something I struggle with myself). Also note that two-second stuns are a bit overkill. Nonetheless, a marked improvement from before.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="ForwardArrow"]Bigfoot
I admit, I actually sort of find the stuff you do with the character amusing, with him creating random trees and getting picked up by a UFO. On such a ridiculous character, I think lulzy stuff like that is perfectly acceptable. Aside from that, what the set comes down to is a very, very basic hit and run set. You have trees to warp away with and shake for healing items after running away to give a reason to want to retreat, and the fact that he's awkwardly weak actually works into this alright by giving him a need to use this. This is all that's positive to say about the set unfortunately, as all moves sans the tree input are extremely generic and serve no purpose to furthering this game plan other than just being standard melee stuff, albeit underdetailed and with no attempt to really play off Smash Bros mechanics in any meaningful way. What doesn't help is the fact that you just give him an input that does literally nothing when not used for it's interaction. I recognize I'm being harsh, but I just want you to incorporate more stuff to work into his teleporting based game plan. Still, it's a step up from Soundwave Superior.[/COLLAPSE]
[collapse="Katapultar"]This being a remix of somebody else's set makes it a weird experience right from the get-go, and I haven't read FA's version - it helps that your style is vastly different. I found it a bit awkward that the sheep's wool acts as a springboard of all things right off the bat, making it feel a little forced for the general sake of giving Howler a chase game and something to rebound off when you could probably use other props for the same purpose, and that's the only thing you can really do with wool. Having to set-up as one character to support the next is a pretty cool basis for a playstyle, if sort of being light on said setting up and being heavy on melee attacks which makes it fairly ordinary...it does work for what you intend however, as it's fairly fitting for Gastaf not to have control over his transformation and at least he isn't all desperate to keep his sheep alive just to use them for the transformation. Not to mention that by the time you do transform, the sheep will be useless to you anyway so why not just eat them? (I was expecting some more sheep interactions to pump up Howler's game aside from Standard when you have a Side Special that dashes through them, however) Given your style, I think you took a pretty good direction with the character via making the player go with the flow, but the main ideas could have been a fair bit more interesting to make a great simple set.[/collapse]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces"]GATSTAF SHEPHERD
Well, my first note on this one is the difficulty in reading it. A bit more color would be appreciated so it doesn’t just look like a big wall of text. Or at least bolding attack names.
My second note is how well you managed to make sheep an interesting playstyle. I would never have thought it would work, but you managed it anyway. The various interactions of these severely unintelligent sheep with Gatstaf’s wool and hay shenanigans are quite impressive and show a great deal of work put into them; I especially like the Down Smash. I also admire the relative simplicity of most of the moves in conjunction with the discussion as to their use; I’ll definitely have to remember that for myself. The Final Smash is also quite creative and fun.
Of course, there’s also the werewolf form, although there’s less to be said about that; while handled well, it basically boils down to more KO power while being able to disguise yourself as and devour the sheep you spent so much time summoning as a shepherd. The Down Taunt in werewolf form was amusing, however.
This was a pretty darn good moveset, with plenty of playstyle; I just wish it wasn’t so wall of text-y.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="ForwardArrow"]Gatstaf Shepherd
I'll say right off the bat that this is far better than my version of the set for obvious reasons. You don't bother with tacky shield breaking and wool parachutes, rather creating a sort of stage construction based playstyle with using the wool to create bouncy structures. Gatstaf can play off these structures by creating projectile hell, comboing foes off them, sending sheep bouncing through the air... it's pretty hilarious how all this is described too, I find this one of your most enjoyable sets to read honestly. The interactions are basic and the set doesn't innovate an absurd amount, but they work into a rather enjoyable playstyle. The wolf form isn't nearly as exciting to be honest, but the prone abuse makes decent use of the walls and such, and you at the very least play off the first forms set-up nicely. I feel that the eating of sheep could've been better honestly, while the super armor coating is nice it doesn't feel like a tangible enough reward in addition to healing, nor does the set really acknowledge it enough for my tastes. This is all just nitpicking though, the first form is very enjoyable and the wolf is at the very least decent.
If I had to complain about this set... I guess I'd just say I feel you mischaracterized Gatstaf in some ways. Yeah, I can understand the cartoony use of sheep in Smash on a more random fantasy shepherd, but this guy comes from a fairly serious block, and if you look at the artwork and then thing "this guy is making wool trampolines", it strikes you as a bit off, does it not? I'm not exactly a guy who cares THAT much about characterization, especially on a character as random as this, but it's very jarring for me, especially having made this bloody character myself. Admittedly, your version is vastly superior(though keeping the sheep based invisibility in the second form was a mistake, I feel), but the characterization does hurt the set a bit in my mind. [/COLLAPSE]
First and foremost, use a different font, please; this one is nigh unreadable, especially in conjunction with your usual wordiness. (Yes, I realize the irony considering that everyone says the same thing about me and Comic Sans MS.)
Nonetheless, I really like the character of this set, as it revolves around Atmey using DeMasque to his advantage without revealing that that’s what he’s up to. With the thief appearing on the crates and using the items Atmey considerately summons/confiscates/whatever, it has the tangible feel of a con artist in Brawl, and your presentation makes it almost feel like you’re telling Atmey’s story as you fgo through the set. It flows fairly well as well. However, it definitely requires a lot of thinking ahead, as usual for a Kat set, which I’m sure you’re aware is not my cup of cocoa. Additionally, there’s the usual wall-of-text stuff; if you could just split paragraphs a bit more often, I’m sure your sets would be more readable. And finally, the Final Smash, while creative, is a bit complicated, and harkens back to a set that I at least don’t want to go and find, which makes it harder to visualize.
In short, a good set presentation and flow-wise, minus the font and wall of text.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="ForwardArrow"]Luke Atmey
In a similar manner to Putata, I don't think Atmey made a good first impression with how it introduces Mask deMasque being summoned by a pummel. Especially when it randomly has the foe have an item in their possession. That said, the resulting set has probably the best item manipulation I've seen to date, with the ways to rig the items, store them in safes, create your own sack to carry them in, rain them down on foes with the Dair, and more importantly use the in conjunction with DeMasque. The chase you give him to grab items which kind of has you fight him and yet help him along at the same time is fascinating, and gives Atmey a very deep playstyle that requires him to be constantly involved. I happen to really like the KO method with the safe full of explosives too, especially in conjunction with the frame. That was genius.
The set really could use more items to play off, even one more interesting one would've massively improved the set. Atmey has an absurd amount of ways to utilize items, but when he creates a grand total of 2(technically five, but really they all feel very similar in their purpose, just varying in effectiveness), I sort of feel there was a lot of missed potential. That and the tacky base really hold the set down a bit for me, though it's not enough for me to dislike the set. Honestly, this set in particular makes me think you've got it in you to top Luxord at some point in the future, possibly even soon![/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="MasterWarlord"]RETCONNING DEMASQUE
A Snake clone with altered stats is indeed superior to Junahu’s moveset. Jun’s version has Snake’s dsmash randomly anyway.
Undoubtedly my favorite of your sets posted this contest – while I have character bias in favor of this one, I was largely expecting this to be the worst of the bunch, given how difficult the character is and your tendency to not care about playability/exaggerate abilities of characters. The item manipulation in the set is done incredibly well, and specifically interacting with De’Masque and fighting him as the match goes on was a stroke of brilliance both for the moveset itself and the characterization, and getting items from De’Masque via the safe mechanic is an equally fantastic crowning moment of ingenuity. The elaborateness of it all really fits Atmey perfectly, and yet despite all this you still give him a couple of very strong direct attacking moves to make up for his lack of them.
My main complaint is a very simple one – all of this elaborate item manipulation, and all you can get is one very simple item from the foe that isn’t especially useful, and the bombs from the dsmash. Yes, the bombs can trigger into a massive explosion in the safe, but that’s a literal hit or miss deal as using the bombs up is pretty terrible. With all of the random stuff in the moveset, I really think you could’ve fit in a couple more simplistic items for him to manipulate. I also think you could’ve come up with a better way to make walls and reflect projectiles than the crates and frame from the usmash and fsmash, but I’m willing to forgive it for the usmash just for the awesome interactions you make with the crates.
[/COLLAPSE]
[collapse="Katapultar"]Your passion for the character, mostly seen in the monstrous amount of pictures, is really quite admirable and you deserve props for it right off the bat - it's also fitting to the character, or should I say person here. I don't think any other set posted before has used such a plethora of pictures, but then again this a character whom a lot can be drawn from. You've got some nice, simple organization and detail that's to the point (though it does get a little rough on certain edges with obvious spelling errors, but we don't tend to judge that much here so it's okay).
As much of an impact as all the GIFs have however, a weakness they have with the set is how overbearing they get when the attack descriptions are incredibly obvious and simple, so much that you wouldn't really need the GIFs - it's great that you're trying to give evidence as to the inspiration for every attack, but here in MYM you're very much allowed to think outside the box and be creative with the attacks given few characters would have enough existing material for one to make an entire set from just by using actions they've already used (most of the attacks being taken from somewhere sort of invalidates the given character type presented at the start). I can see where you were coming from however, as you'd want players to be able to recognize exactly -where- those attacks came from much like those in Brawl...after all, this is a hugely popular celebrity we're talking about, similar to Mario in the video gaming world. Naturally, people will remember the set for the huge amount of GIFs instead of the attacks, having created a new sensation.[/collapse]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces"]LADY GAGA
Well, considering the odd character choice, you did fairly well here. The gifs and pictures really do help the reader visualize the moves. Unfortunately, there are bigger problems with this set, revolving around playstyle. Or rather, the lack of one. There doesn’t seem to be a playstyle beyond “hit people”, and since you provided no playstyle section, I (the reader) am stuck over here trying to make a playstyle out of this when there simply isn’t any. Except maybe reflecting the Neutral Special star off of your Up Special metal bars, but one interaction does not a playstyle make.
There’s really not much to say here; you kept to the simple with this set, which I appreciate, and the presentation is good, but there’s no flow here at all.[/COLLAPSE]
[collapse="Katapultar"]Primid does seem like an obvious choice for the next super smash bros game as a Brawl-exclusive enemy who uses enough attacks to warrant his own set, so it'd be natural to anyone imagining it that he'd use all those different forms seen in SSE. Many of his moves and forms are based off item effects, and I was kinda hoping that he'd emulate their effects in order to represent that side of Brawl - instead of simply doing a Beam Sword combo why not let him wield it afterwards? These various item effects would seem overpowered when given to a character for their set, but foes can use them to their advantage too. Not to mention that the Primid is made of Shadow Bugs; he could give himself one of Brawl's transformation buffs at the cost of some damage and combine them with items to become a fun little character who you can experiment with, just as you intended (Big Primid is missing in the set; I assumed you intended to make that the Final Smash). Some of the moves do seem dumbed down when Primid already takes so much material from Brawl; I would have been cool with he simply ripping off the exact effects of said items and his attacks from SSE when they're surprisingly varied.[/collapse]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces"]ARSENAL PRIMID
Well, the basic idea on this is fairly good, combining the many types of Primid into one. However, this set is a little underelaborated. Aside from the specials, nothing has any damage percentages or any indication of knockback, which is a problem. There also don’t appear to be as many stats as I’d like; what’s Arsenal Primid’s jump capability? Traction? Fall speed? One might assume they’re identical to a real Primid’s stats, but since you didn’t tell us, we can’t know for sure. A playstyle of some sort would also be nice, with at least some discussion on the moves as to how they can be used to further said playstyle (that said, I struggle with that myself). And finally, while the Tabuu thing isn’t a bad Final Smash, I personally think that Giant Primid would have made more sense with what you were doing. You’ve already heard that, though, and defended it, so feel free to ignore me.
In short, good potential here, but it needs a bit more elaboration.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Darth Meanie"]Brilliant Moveset, instant super vote.
I would recommend a few edits though, you forgot a neutral special and throws or aerials, or a picture, which are all necessary for a moveset to qualify the contest. Some line spacing and more detail would also make it more palatable.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="ForwardArrow"]Cooking Mama
DM is correct. This is truly worth of a Super Vote. As a matter of fact, contest winner right here.
I mean, this set is truly a work of genius. The sheer ingeniousness of every input here, as well as the loving detail put in, is something astounding. You come up with such wonderful inputs as the shopping cart, a completely original take on Wario's bike that we've never thought of in all our years as a community. Not to mention it's such a perfect set for Cooking Mama, really giving us deep insight into her character, such as her incredible desire to knife people in the face and explode them over a grill. This set's not just the best thing posted this contest, it's LEGENDARY.[/COLLAPSE]
[collapse="Katapultar"]Simple enough if you want a simple outline of what CM could do in Brawl, but for those who haven't played the game it's hard to relate to anything when there's no picture or that much to go by - there's a little to go by how the character acts, however (in the Final Smash). If the game's about cooking though, shouldn't this character play like a cooking character? It'd be fun if you could cook some actual food and not just the opponent, cus every fighter is able to do that in their own way - CM doesn't have any actual moves to make food items, which would be rather weird considering she's a chef of all things (you could put all the food in a shopping cart to cart it around). Also given there isn't anything about the source material, the Up Special and Down Special come off as being weird; kite? Shovel? If the character is crazy then knives are sorta understandable, but poison seems downright sadistic for this character when it'd be of no benefit to actual cooking unless in the game she works part time as an assassin to kill people with cooking or something, because why else would she use poison? In order to give out your vision to other people, elaboration is naturally needed, though anyone will tell you that - looking at other sets with give you the answer.[/collapse]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces"]COOKING MAMA
This shouldn’t take long, because this is just plain bad. No picture; no explanation of the character; no damage or knockback percentages; absolutely useless presentation without line spacing, headings, or clarity; and a Final Smash that seems like a OHKO for everyone onscreen, which is so unbalanced that I have to wonder why you thought it was a good idea.
Understand, I don’t want to be mean, but this is rather the antithesis of what we’re here to read: legible sets with enough details to keep our interest. Try looking at other sets and trying something more along those lines, with detail and presentation. A playstyle may also help.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="ForwardArrow"]Putata
For the vast majority of the set, I confess it was making a bad impression on me. The Neutral Special feels a bit pointless, why wouldn't you just want your minions animated to start with? You also have a wall with some very obscure uses, a stamper to create supremely underpowered minions/projectiles, some very tacky stuff in the Dash Attack and Up Tilt, a pointless pitfall trap, and the flow is pretty sparse if there at all. What you introduce on the Jab in the upgradable weapon is awesome, and you give some projectile manipulation to play around with it's missiles and such. The Up Aerial is also pretty fun in your ability to sort of combine it with your other aerials. The ink mechanic's also pretty blah, serving as a standard ammo bank with an awkward recharging mechanic.
Then you introduce the Forward Smash, which is where the set massively turns for the better in giving you a completely customizable awesome minion, with awesome fodder provided in the other 2 Smashes as well as helping out earlier parts of his game(utilizing the customizable weapon and Nair projectile control, for one, as well as actually creating a situation where the wall camping feels a lot more interesting in the pillar hound). It makes the set into a very interesting playground revolving around this amazing minion, and frankly my main regret is that you didn't give it more stuff to play with. There's almost no need for the platform mechanics or stuff like the Bair, which could've been focused on more fodder for the stuff introduced later in the set. What's also slightly annoying is there's no reason to use the fragile wall created earlier in the set when the Down Smash provides a vastly superior one, an understandable mistake considering it's a one day set but none-the-less problematic for the set. It could obviously be better for the reasons I've stated, but I actually find myself enjoying this set a fair bit when I really did not expect too at all. At the very least, this certainly massively outclasses the Keroro Platoon.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces"]Putata
Well, this had a couple of differences from your usual sets. First, it’s less verbose, which I actually appreciated. I was able to follow things a little more easily. Unfortunately, I had difficulty anyway in figuring out what the use of each move is. For example, I’m still not sure what the Neutral Special is useful for, and the UAir was a bit confusing as to whether the explosions are stored or not.
However, there was some good stuff here. The ink mechanic was pretty good, and the mecha-hound may be your best idea yet. Completely customizable, and you have your own weapons, walls, and seeds to start it off with! It would be a terror to face, and I actually think that, since I can’t figure out why you need to activate paintings with NSpec anyway, the hound could have been a good special, with the FSmash being replaced by something else to feed the thing. In any event, it’s a pretty good set for a one-day.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="MasterWarlord"]CYBORG HOUND
This set has some decent ideas. . .But they’re all competing for attention against one another, and the execution, while decent in the playstyle sense, is so splattered all over the place in terms of both practicality and readability that it’s difficult to make heads or tails of the set. I think the biggest mistake presentation wise is that the smashes with the hound come last, when they are the blatant focal point of the set and probably should’ve been the specials. For what it’s worth, they’re great, but more items are needed for the hound to devour/mass item manipulation attacks, and more focus on that would be better than an ammo bank mechanic of all things – I thought we were past those. Yes, you do flow into the ammo bank and come up with creative ways to fuel it, with creating minions and such with the sole intent of absorbing them and wacky as hell cloning platforms, it’s a very awkward/weak pay-off for all of this creativity, and just comes across as yet another un-necessary layer on top of everything else. When the set’s not focusing on the hound, it’s either too tacky or too tame, and never really finds its footing with the incredibly fast pace you’re bringing us through the set.
[/COLLAPSE]
[collapse="Katapultar"]It's been a long time, and your style is a breath of fresh air when you take simple attacks as seriously as we take complex attacks - the Specials seem a little weak bar the Down Special (the Side Special feels glaringly useless), and this is comparing them to the real Meta-Knight's chivalrous 4-set recovery moves rather than actual MYM-standards. Some moves do manage to differentiate themselves from MK and look dishonorable however, such as a hitbox that gets kept out for as long as you like afterwards via the F-tilt, and moves like D-tilt, U-air all which have some gimmicky spin to them. Things get better with the throws, which are a nice twist in terms of character representation, though I'm not sure whether you'd have time to throw projectiles out from the other side of the mirrors. Presentation is a very, very strong point to this set - you even went as far as to post a "Meta-Knight" set that linked to it with obvious character implications to it. The extras are undoubtedly pretty too, with all the links, pictures and coloring despite the vague atmosphere - it's similar to Garble in a way with the glossing. Not the most -interesting- set for me even with in-smash standards, but for what was intended the hard work shows.[/collapse]
[COLLAPSE="ForwardArrow"]Dark Meta Knight
I initially thought this set was terrible and didn't deserve any thought, but thinking on it I find it a bit more interesting. Charging up the Down Special and the mirrors on the grab game give him the ability to keep around one of his tornados to beat around, potentially spacing his foe into it all the while. He's got some decent moves for that purpose too, and the Side Special for a bit of projectile hell for people trying to dodge around it. I find it pretty damn tacky that the Side Special only hits foes dodging or shielding, however. A lot of the set is just very generic attacks, which is fine for this character, but I think you could've done a bit better when you have him shattering into glass shards, spawning mirrors, and having his sword go into the ground, duplicate itself, and pop out on both sides of him. Though, I confess I actually find that cool from a flavor perspective.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="FrozenRoy"]Meta Knight Tier / Good Plorf Set
First off, I want to give major props for the presentation of this piece, as having to step through the looking glass so to speak is quite nice, then the actual set itself carries a simple yet effective and aesthetically pleasing look through it's entirity.
The set itself is a favorite style of mine, taking simple yet effective steps to create a playstyle best described as "fun", with some nice inklings of creativity: The Down Special guard/counter is particularly fun, making up for Dark MK's projectile weakness(One is non-spammable, the other not hitting foes most of the time), plus I enjoy that the time and strength don't increase at the same time, especially as it makes perfect sense for Dark MK to power up his power before it's lasting.
The standards and smashes follow this, with sweetspotting in the Forward Tilt(I always wished we saw more movesets with an emphasis on sweetspots...), the Up Tilt provides a nice attack that gives playstyle relevance with a simple block-and-strike, especially since aerial approaches are likely common against Dark MK thanks to his tornado, the Dash Attack being able to go off the side and being, well, Drill Rush but more relevant makes for some nice MK/Dark MK paralell even moreso and being playstyle useful. The Forward Smash's nice range and projectile destruction properties are also nice, while the Up Smash is a tricky little beast and the Down Smash is a basic but effective move.
The aerials are also nice, though I dislike the Up Aerial, as it feels a bit forced: The back aerial placing even more importance on spacing with it's strong ability to semi-spike is also nice, the Forward Aerial giving you nice soft reactions with the tornado and launchers like the Down Tilt and the use of a ZAir when it's not entirely obvious pleases me: It's an input not often used to any relevant context or seen.
The throws, however, tie it all together for me: The Forward/Back throw especially, bouncing the tornado's long time around or messing with their ability to Air Dodge followups with your Side Special, plus some general fun knockback play, with some basic prone for the tornado and a personal favorite in the Down Throw, as it leads to great rewards for he who can read the Directional Influence and plays so well in with Dark MK's spacing game, all without going over the top.
Of course, no set is beyond criticism, and so too does Dark MK have things to complain about: The Side Special only hitting dodging foes feels extremely "hippo" here: Perhaps you could have included a light push/wind effect for non-shielding/dodging foes? It fits well into the spacing game and the Up Smash shows Dark MK can do that anyway. And as I mentioned, the Up Aerial seems like forced creativity, when I feel something more playstyle relevant could have been included in this. Some might complain flow is a bit sparse, but it feels so dedicated to it's craft that the moves flow naturally into a singular game of spacing and wits.
[collapse="Katapultar"]The premise of Koala Kong having a more competent version of Doomsday's stage chunk battering got me pretty excited, being a new and surprisingly fresh take on terraforming - it's also one of your more complex sets to date comparable to the likes of a Smady set (it does dab on unnecessarily at certain points like with the aerials that reference future throws), though the idea of messing with stage chunks to such depths had to come to light sooner or later. One of the most fascinating parts of the set for me was the very idea of riding off stage chunk via Dash Attack and not being invalidated when you have a good jump to get back on-stage, though sometimes I wonder if he moves too quickly to be able to pull off most the stuff you say he can. And despite the set's complex exterior there are points where it makes itself more obvious and inviting thanks to you doing a pretty good job at explaining the bits and pieces. Very good set that comes together with strong perks of originality which I very much appreciate from you.[/collapse]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces"]KOALA KONG
The way you implemented the stage terraforming here reminds me of Doomsday, only far more streamlined. Instead of just saying a generic “this much damage in that direction” like I did, you actually gave each ground chunk move differences from the regular moves as well as playstyle purpose. Unfortunately, this does mean that this set was a bit harder to read than usual; not quite at Kat’s usual level, but getting there.
The playstyle is actually fairly strategic for a dumb brute character: instead of just plain hitting people, much is made of gimping people or tearing up the stage to inconvenience the foe. This doesn’t quite add up to the brutish nature of the character, but it is quite a good playstyle. The Dash Attack helps you with the gimping, as does the terraforming, which can eventually strip away enough of the stage to make gimping a lot easier. Alternatively,
you can just bash people while they’re onstage, terraforming to make your boulders more powerful. All aided by the TNT, which helps you keep control of everything.
I’d say the strength of this moveset is its playstyle, which is fairly compelling. I just wish it had been a little easier to read.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="ForwardArrow"]Koala Kong
Your continued use of terraforming, particularly when you already have done earth chunks before, is something I could see annoying people. However, this set distinguishes itself from Nappa in many, many ways once you look past the base mechanic, and I feel this is a vastly superior set, which is saying a bit since I already really like Nappa. The Dash Attack was a stroke of absolute genius, giving him a falling platform off stage to use his ground game from, which you manage to make insanely interesting for gimping. The set never runs out of crazy cool options to utilize the ground chunks, from fusing them together to putting TNT on them to creating a projectile that travels along their surface... it's positively obscene the sheer versatility this set has without feeling redundant at all. I also actually love the way you use pitfalls here. They're rewards for performing a certain degree of set-up or landing difficult attacks, and feel well worth the effort in the context of Kong's gimping game and TNT, which he can embed alongside them. The playstyle summary is really telling of how bloody deep this set is, and it manages to be fairly unique at the same time. By far and away the best set posted this contest.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="FrozenRoy"]Komment Kong
I had the pleasure of previewing this pretty set before it was posted, so I'm quite happy to have to read it twice(Since I read it once, didn't comment for a while and thus am rereading it).
The ground chunk playstyle is a nice little throwback to the time of Nappa and Golem, though I'll say right now, I prefer Nappa to Koala Kong, even if Nappa is infinitely more broken. One area that Kong does excel over the old overpowered fogey, however, is the emphasis on the beyond-the-ledge game, especially with that fantastic dash attack, a great and fun abuse of the ground chunk.
...Can't Koala Kong infinitely stall off the stage with U-Tilt? Or can he not put the platform under him via pressing down in midair? Easy enough to fix it doesn't matter, but worth asking. I also do find it kind of odd he has so many aerial grabs, though not necessarily bad: His gimping game is gratuitously well developed, with the (cool) F-Tilt spike, Up Smash reminding you of stage spiking and the like.
"If you grab something with more depth than Wario, Froy and HR will be displeased to find that Kong doesn’t swing that way." Let me just admit that made me smile and laugh. I will say, though, I'm not much of a fan of the Up Aerial: It seems a bit complicated without a ground chunk and perhaps a tad situational, the breaking and refusing the ground chunks seems kind of odd since I don't see how he'd be able to actually keep them together(And it misses the chance to let us see what wielding two split up ground chunks might be like!) and the aerial pitfalling doesn't seem all that worth all this. Similiarly, the ground chunked Up Throw seems less fun and to an extent playstyle relevant/useful than the normal Up Throw.
Overall, though, Koala Kong is quite good. He's at his best when he works on the pure and simple chunk-based gimping game and basic manipulation of the chunk's solid nature, IMO, alongside that splendiforously wonderous(Whee, long words!) dash attack. Sometimes, however, it feels like the set delves more into other playstyles that don't seem to mesh as well with the overall plan or just are not as well done(Such as the ground chunk swinging with UAir) and on ocassion it feels like it's doing complexity for complexities sake(To me, anyway). But this is not nearly enough to overcome the better parts of this set, assuring this will be a nice contender for MYM13.
Oh, also, props for the awesome MUs. Always love to see those![/COLLAPSE]
Okay, you’ve got some good ideas here. The Side Special is a particularly good one, which can either be used to inconvenience a foe or to give an ally some healing. That’s a nice touch. The Up Smash’s ability to suck in projectiles for extra damage is also good.
However, you have some presentation issues, mostly regarding some missing information that would have been useful. Like the Neutral Special: you say it automatically homes in on the target, but how is the target determined? Is it just the closest foe, or something else? The Side/Up/Down Smash: how big is that electrical ball/Tornado/Crystal? The Dash Attack indicates that you ride on a broom for her dash, but that would have been nice to know beforehand. And the Forward Throw is just confusingly worded.
There are also some number crunching problems here. Five SBBs is an enormously powerful recovery to start with, which wouldn’t be a problem if she didn’t get on her broom after that jump. And I’m pretty sure Jabs aren’t supposed to have KO potential, let alone at 145%. Similarly, some of your other moves have ridiculous KO potential: the Forward Air in particular seems excessive. Another problem is that, for us casual players, frames mean little to nothing; I at least would prefer seconds.
That said, you did a fairly good job of remembering to use playstyle and whatnot; not marvelous, but fairly good. Just try to remember clarity and try not to make your numbers go too high.[/COLLAPSE]
[collapse="Katapultar"]This is a pretty cozy read in certain aspects, only being greatly dragged down by abundant grammatical errors - we're not usually one to nitpick such things but there are times when it's noticeable enough. While I enjoyed Regulus more because of his intriguing bomb attack, there is surprising attention-to-detail among the many elemental attacks Witch possesses, almost like an extreme version of Brawl Zelda or whoever magic character. I can't help but think that some of the attack measurements are a bit extreme however; Witch jumps 5 SBBs for her recovery whence the famous jumpman Mario only covers about 3 with all his jumps and recovery! 4 SBBs is half of Final Destination, which is pretty far but not extremely far for the Dash Attack to cover in comparison to some Brawl stuff...but then again we have Snake's infamous DACUS trick. The grab sees theoretically interesting, but feels awkwardly explained in some parts such as the pummel and f-throw where I wish it weren't, especially when there's a cute little bout of characterization there. This is an alright little Brawl set if you ignore the small prickles in the way.[/collapse]
[COLLAPSE="ForwardArrow"]Trixie
Admittedly, I've probably seen enough mindgames/duplicate stuff to make a new set based around it rather... unappealing to me. Trixie doesn't really do too much new with it, honestly, creating traps to put in your smoke cloud, doing a Scratch-style attack animation fake-out, and creating a duplicate to distract the foe. The Poison Joke provides plenty of enjoyable effects in the context of said smoke cloud at least, though the random chance hurts the move a little for me(I rather hate randomness, though at least all 4 effects are relevant and useful, and useful in a smoke cloud), the rather nifty platform contributes somewhat naturally to her camping/trapping, and the Bair seems like it'd be a very fun move to use(or capitalize upon when a duplicate uses it to stop the foe from attacking). The fact that the set is legitimately flowing is rather shocking for you too, most inputs do something relevant and occasionally even interesting(though weird that my favorite inputs outside the specials tend to be on the aerials, and something like removing your hat I think would be better to put on a ground move than an aerial). There are a few things bringing down the set for me though, the as said generic invisibility becomes all the more frustrating when you have all 4 throws be almost completely irrelevant and boring. Given this character has no shortage of potential, I'd figure you could've given her some half decent throws, regardless of the unconventional grab. Still, I do think this is a sign of your gradual improvement in that it's better than Larfleeze and leagues above your MYM12 stuff... I wish I could say it was enough for me to like it, but you still have a little further to go, honestly.[/COLLAPSE]
[collapse="Katapultar"]This is a pretty smooth set on most levels, you once again showing to have a very good grasp on the characters you choose to make sets for - the very first attack has a nice allure to it assisted by good use of pictures, though I can't help but think that the cart and platform should be wider than you specify. I like how you handled the effects of Trixie's moves in tandem with her characterization where they can backfire on her, actually making it feel like you're playing as the overconfident Trixie who can mess herself over with her own attacks. The Specials work quite well together with each other, as FA has mentioned, even tying in with a few other moves. Said moves are more of intrigue than seen in Larfleeze. The grab game and awkward props of moves such as F-tilt and D-tilt are probably the only complaints I have at this point, but otherwise I like this set, a fair bit more so than anything else you've posted.[/collapse]
[COLLAPSE="MasterWarlord"]PONY ROBE AND WIZARD HAT
This moveset mostly reeks of Calvin and Hobbes, wherein most of the creativity isn’t for the sake of the playstyle and is just random (AKA it’s not creative, it’s just tacky), making it much wackier and awkward to actually play than the MYM sets who focus their creativity. It’s not all bad, of course, and this set actually is stronger conceptually than I’d expect for a duplicates and smokescreens set. Baiting the foe into the explosion into the middle of the cart with the duplicate is actually quite clever, though I’m not going to give too much credit when you don’t even acknowledge this or barely even talk about the duplicate in general – it seems to be accidental on your part. Instead, you choose to focus heavily on the stupid hat mechanic which doesn’t really have much of anything to do with anything, and is largely a debuff – a tenth of a change in speed/power isn’t worth unmasking your animations on a character who uses mindgames for their playstlye rather heavily. Combined with many tacky moves like dtilt and the lack of throws (Even if they’re all generic, four throws is always the way to go, for MYM and in-smash practicality), the execution is far too terrible to work on the decent concepts. This is stronger than the BladeKnight420 version conceptually, but the execution is just so terrible I’d say I prefer –that-, somebody’s first set with many one line move descriptions.
[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="FrozenRoy"]Silly Warlord, Trixie is for Kids!
Hm. I was gonna make a Trixie set. I suppose I should make it next contest, then.
The hat mechanic seems awkward to me: Trixie is many things, but one to hide her magical talent's source, she is not. And she never seems to care to hide her horn in the show, the hat is basically just for show! I suppose it does work in the sense Trixie is intentionally doing this to try and trick the foe, but I feel better means could have been accomplished for this.
Trixie using Poison Joke? Why? The fact it's effects are random seems a bit odd, too: Just limiting it to the first effect, the one that seems most fitting for how Poison Joke works, seems better and more reliable to me. I also don't really like the Down Tilt: Brawl ice from a hay smoothie? And why is Trixie fighting with a smoothie, of all things? Also, 3 SSB platforms is definitely KO material, seeing as that is essentially the entire length of Battlefield. Use that near a ledge and unless the foe has a great recovery they're probably screwed.
That down aerial is ridiculously situational, even if you can activate it yourself. And that grab game is sad!
I can't say I like this...the playstyle seems weaker than, say, Larfleeze, the set doesn't feel particularly Trixie-ish(it doesn't feel...magician-y, to me), I dunno...not my cup of tea, even if it doesn't have enough bad that I'd go ranting at it. The extras are nice, though, especially the symbol you've got there.[/COLLAPSE]
[collapse="Katapultar"]H.N Elly doesn't feel as atmospherically invigorating as Elsa Maria, though it would have been impossible to incorporate the idea of she preying on the victim's personal feelings into a set. On that note, the TVs obeying the laws of physics and their multi-functions generally come off as being too mechanical and realistic for a Witch for me - there could have been a fair bit more surrealism here (though there is some which I appreciate via the D-throw), but instead it kinda feels like commanding a flock of birds. While I read up that Elly has a covetous nature and as such the fly effect can be considered pretty fitting to character, the set still feels strange as a whole. I think the TVs are the biggest perpetrators here rather than what you do with the angel minions, which is pretty decent.
Possibly because of the sheer quantity of effects packed into the Neutral and Down Special compared to the Side and Up Special, the kind of execution that generally serves to suck attention from the rest of the moves instead of dividing the effects among them, I found the rest of the set a bit basic whether it was simple TV interactions or minion-flocking - it's mostly positioning stuff locking the opponent into a corner so the angels can grab them, with most the interesting stuff being right at the start. While others would probably like it like Warlord did, the atmosphere is a bit tight for me despite the proclaimed versatility. I'm sorry FA, I know you worked very hard on this set, but it just doesn't feel like my kind of thing - I don't dislike it, but I don't -like- it, if that much at most.[/collapse]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces"]H. N. ELLY
I am sorry to say that this set didn’t exactly interest me. That said, I’m not sure why. The barrier was an interesting idea (even if we saw something similar on Ashens, this felt better in terms of characterization), and the various things you can do with TVs was good, what with teleporting between them, zapping people with them, or blowing them up for damage. Not to mention the minions; is it odd that they reminded me of the winged monkeys from Oz? In any event, the minions were well-balanced between too weak to be useful on their own but dangerous in groups. I also liked how you acknowledged the possible problems with commanding minions with aerials and put in a way to compensate.
That said, there were a couple of weaknesses here. I do have to agree with Kat in that, in comparison to the other specials, the Up Special felt a little bland. Effective, but bland. On the other hoof, we have the Forward Special, which seems to be an entirely too easy way to gimp, even at Jigglypuff’s relatively slow dash. As for the presentation… well, the main color certainly fit, but it made things seem more wall-of-texty. Come to think of it, that may be why I wasn’t thrilled with the set; the ideas were good, but the presentation not so much.
I do see the work you put into this, but… I dunno, maybe make the text red next time? It still kinda relates to the character without being so difficult to read.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="MasterWarlord"]YOUBOOB
The main complaint I have with this moveset is something most common in Nick’s sets like Drillman, but is also quite strong in Kat’s sets. It’s where you have a hitbox on your moves, but there’s largely no playstyle relevant reason to hit with the hitbox and you use the move for some various strange playstyle based effects. Telly really doesn’t feel like she’d be using these attacks for much outside of GTFO and generically spacing foes towards TVs, though in the least you do enable her to use her aerials with the extra effects turned off, which is a bit weird in and of itself, but less weird than being punished with weird minion commands when just trying to attack people.
The actual moveset is fine, and I like the fly concept having fully read the moveset in just creating mass stuff that you’ve established can already be interacted with. The main reason I see for her to actually play aggressively as you suggest, is largely to defend her frail as all hell minions with the bair (Something you don’t mention) – a character that defends their minions isn’t something we’ve seen in forever, though Telly isn’t the best equipped to do that. Either way, I do like the minion improvements the most in the fly, and it actually feels pretty balanced now that foes can actually use all their (Non earthshaking) attacks there. I’m also impressed with how you actually made most of the other throws quite viable after how incredibly good fthrow was, though bthrow’s the exception that feels too situational in the context of the other all-powerful throws. Either way, I’m fishing for complaints now, tis a good set.
[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="FrozenRoy"]"I have only one wish. Box up that moveset."
I love seeing you continue to do movesets for Madoka witches. Their designs are absolutely phantasmigorical and they usually end up doing something interesting, even if it's an Elsa Maria that I don't always get.
This moveset follows that suit, with a fun and engaging start with the odditity of the televisions. Move over Persona 4: We've got a new TV boss in town! I do quite love the TVs: Their multiple uses are quite well thought out and I feel it's use of chain reactions is much more palatable than Ratigan's, reminding me of Alice's dolls in how they work as projectile platforms or bombs, but done in a refreshingly different manner. Her minions being so weak is nice as it makes the fly harder to accomplish: With the Fly itself being more interesting than an average Fly, though I do wish a little bit of time had been devoted to saying how the foe can use both tilts and aerials. Something I truly love about this Fly is that it captured the spirit of Madoka's witching realms and especially Elly's own, with it's free flight and floaty feel, the battle being "televised" so to speak behind the scenes in FFAs, that sort of thing. It also feels much easier to survive than some Flies we've seen, while still providing a notable boost.
The jab's simple television interactions also tickle my fancy, especially since it means foes will have to be active against destroying them: Even if Elly does often destroy them herself, she can always just keep healing off TVs and overwhelm a foe too passive. It fits well given Elly seems to be categorized as a bit aggressive, if weak. Forward Tilt's ability to re-organized televisions is also well liked, being organic and simple and not putting your minions at risk. Up Tilt being able to NOT teleport is also a nice improvmenet over the preview I saw.
This moveset does have some downsides, to me: I'm not entirely sold on the aerial minion formations as being a good idea, they don't always feel quite as organic or playstyle intensive as I'd like, though you do solve the issue of "Sometimes, I don't want you to do that!" nicely. I also feel that the Forward Throw just seems...weird and sort of useless, kind of out there, but not in the most pleasant of manners. The Pummel is superb, however.
A final complaint is I feel that, after the standards/smashes, Elly seems to lose her playstyle in the shuffle so to speak, as the aerials seem a bit...disjointed from the rest of the set, I suppose, even if it does regain some of it's flair there in the throws. Still, the playstyle is solid enough that combined with the cool aspects of the set, it's good. I just feel it could have been better.[/COLLAPSE]
[collapse="Katapultar"]This is a surprisingly good set with depth and details to it for the timeframe in which it was made (which showed with the writing). Copying an attack from the foe and -customizing its properties- sounds fascinating to imagine, and I give you props for having a way to force foes to attack in order to find you through rock chunks you've made. Making golems whose attacks you can copy only makes this better, and while foes will have to use their D-tilts to kill tiny lizard they'll have to use other attacks to kill the golems which you can observe and copy. It's hard for me not to like this set nor find something to complain about, aside from the fact that the copied attacks don't seem to lead into that much on their own and Lizard already has his fair share of kill methods, so for the most part it's mostly flashy stuff. Had this set been a bigger endeavor perhaps there could have been more open-ended ways to create the rubble which Lizard so desperately needs, as just creating it through an explosion you can only use every 3 seconds comes off as being a bit awkward, especially when you need to be on the ground where foes can kill you easily. Don't mind me however, this is much better stuff than H.N Elly for me as much as I sort of hate to say. [/collapse]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces"]LIZARD
How can this set be hippo when it’s a lizard? XD
There’s quite a bit of cool stuff here, so much so that I had to remind myself of his insanely low weight every now and then so that I didn’t think he was overpowered. I thought the Keroro Platoon was bad weight-wise! But the copying of foe’s attacks, hiding under rubble, darting back and forth with the dash attack teleport, disabling some of the foe’s attacks (maybe even disabling an attack you don’t want to copy in an attempt to make the foe use one you do), and the making of golems: all of that is really good, although I can’t help but wonder why there were no Air Golems. :D The golems are my favorite part, giving him some necessary killing power and just being a cool way to implement minions, not to mention the ability to modify them via the grab. Not to mention the Forward Tilt, which was just plain amusing. “I wanna use Magic Missile!”
That said, there are a few weaknesses here (most likely as a result of the one-day-ness of the set). For one thing, the Down Special was a little confusing for a while, until I figured out that Neutral Special was the actual copying of the move and the Down Special was what you pushed to perform the copied move. There’s also Kat’s comment about the difficulty in getting rubble (although I suppose if you need to, you can just perform it early to get a single rock, but that means the foe know exactly where you are).
In spite of those shortcomings, however, this is a fun, creative set with more packed into it than I expect from most one-day sets. Good work![/COLLAPSE]
[collapse="Katapultar"]It seems you've singlehandedly created a moveset genre. On that note, I would suggest that in the future you or anyone else doing this kind of thing use some sort of coloring in the attack headers or the name of the character using the attack to differentiate, as there comes time where one needs to read over it twice (there are two characters in this set with very similar names) even when some of the attacks would be designated to certain characters.
Oddly fitting given his webcomic nature, Strong Bad strikes me as doing a lot but not really doing -anything- special in particular. I guess you could call it a lack of focus in the set, or at least being too focused in controlling the flight path of Cheat when that in itself doesn't seem special...the idea behind being able to control a moving hitbox had good promise though. The set seems to simply boil down to using Cheat to to latch on and stall the foe while you hit them with a rocket launcher and/or fireworks. There are Special Smashes, though I don't see what purpose any of them serve in the set aside from being props meant to represent Strong Bad's character given not much is mentioned in regards to the playstyle - I guess he -is- the kind of character who will want to have a lot representing him in a similar manner to Calvin and Hobbes due to having so much source material. [/collapse]
[COLLAPSE="The Warrior of Many Faces"]STRONG BAD
Special Smashes. I never really liked that sort of thing (how fair is it for certain characters to have extra inputs?), and here it is also combined with the “not enough detail syndrome”: you never specify what exactly you have to do to use a Special Smash, which really destroys any use they could possibly have. If you’re really going to give Strong Bad extra inputs, make sure the player knows how to use them.
So, basic playstyle: throw the Cheat around a lot and use your standards to command him to attack in midair. Okay, it’s a good idea, but therein lies a problem with this sort of set: having to devote standard inputs to commanding minions. Strong Bad has practically no standards, which makes it kinda difficult for him if someone gets up close and personal. That’s probably why you included things like cardboard walls, tires, the anvil thingies, the fireworks, and the pancakes, but how is the player supposed to juggle laying enough traps to keep Strong Bad alive while punting the Cheat around? It’s not as if the Cheat attacks on his own, so he can’t help cover Strong Bad while he sets traps. Admittedly, Strong Bad’s inability to deal with people close up may be a characterization choice, but even so, it’ll be hard to play. At least Clayton pretty much revolved around one trap, which made it a lot easier to get it out, and was heavy enough to take a good number of hits.
This is a rushed set, so I suppose I can’t expect genius, but Strong Bad’s basic strategy is fairly flawed.[/COLLAPSE]
[collapse="Katapultar"]This is an incredibly proppy set to a ridiculously high degree, though in some ways it's a relief because it means such thing is acceptable. It's not had to tell that the attacks and such are a parody of the events that occurred in Apollo Justice given how incredibly scripted it all is, as well as being a parody of Von Karma. Set-wise it's pretty decent with some fun ideas, though a little hard to take seriously sometimes and the pacing is uncomfortably quick, which is probably not helped by the presentation and unviewable pictures.
EDIT: the set looks a hundred times better with the pictures. The whole thing is actually pretty amusing to imagine, and I do genuinely like it despite the impression I may have given out before.[/collapse]
[collapse="Katapultar"]This is a very cute moveset with its heart set in many right places. It has a lot of detail for something so simple, and a pretty inviting writing style. The presentation has a lot of weaknesses to it however, as listing an attack's properties as statistics is completely unnecessary when you're already doing it in the actual attack. Nobody will want to pay attention to them as such. As good as the writing is on certain levels too, it can get pretty fragmented and weakens the experience a little (there are times when you create too many sentences that could otherwise be one). While the detail put into the moves is easy to respect, using seeds, electricity, shadow balls and ice on such a casual basis for essentially over half its attacks don't make it feel like Zigzagoon despite being able to learn some of those moves. Covet also seems to be a pretty problematic move, as it sounds rather unbalanced when it comes out so quickly and cripples foes who aren't attacking, pretty much forcing them to always be doing so whenever they're near him. Five seconds of lag upon whiffing is pretty heavy stuff, but then again Jigglypuff goes through the same thing with Rest.
Despite my criticisms, I did greatly enjoy the little moments the set had to offer with its writing - it has a good eye for detail with the animations, making it appealing to visualize...my favorite move was Seed Bomb with its hilarious opening line and the idea of Zigzagoon being hit by the Seed Bomb. Sure, it's inconvenient in practice, but fun to imagine - easily one of your best movesetting traits to be able to bring out such character. In all honesty, with a bit of polish to your presentation, attack choices and sentence structuring your potential could lead to some amazingly unique set outlooks.[/collapse]
I kind of feel as if I've been a bit unfair to you in Xat, Bionic, and am thus breaking my three/five-month long no-posting streak to give you some valid feedback on your Mr. Dark set, here. It's been a while since I've commented, and standards have certainly changed since then, but I'll do my best to provide some constructive criticism.
Now then, I'm embarassingly unfamiliar with the source material, but I'll trust you did your best to accurately represent it here. I mean, it'd be hard to go wrong with a generic evil wizard.
• One thing you may want to consider mentioning is how quickly moves activate. I imagine this input having recoil comparable to Samus's Neutral Special, but maybe I'm wrong. All the other relevant stats seem to be here though, and I appreciate the balance issue addressed by limiting the range.
- I'm curious why the Double Fireball needs to exist as a random chance. I think I'd prefer to have a bit more control over it, as a double tapped input with a bit of cooldown. The range does seem to be skewed to be fairly long.
- The trapping aspect of the thunderbolts seems to be a little bit tacked on. Is it really necessary?
• Oof, there are a few key details missing on the Fire Prison, most notably the actual range and the distance between the two fireballs when they land. It'd also be nice to know if they penetrate enemies or if they're disippated if they deal damage before they fall. 7 seconds is also an absurdly long time to be trapped. This move certainly has potential though.
• Recovery is kind of a standard flying move. There is, however, a reason this type of move does not usually have a hitbox on it. You realize this is essentially Pikachu's Final Smash, right?
• While I appreciate you're trying to be true to the game with the various Crystal Shields, I think it'd be more useful if the crystals Dark summoned were themself random, instead of the projectile type. Controlling the rotation of the crystals to create the desired counterattack could actually be pretty nifty. This move also fails to indicate any sort of cooldown.
• Not much to comment on with the standards, really. They all seem to be fairly similar. If you're going to fill up a set with moves like this, try to let us know a bit more detail on how they function - execution speed, potential follow-ups, etc. Was really hoping for interaction with the Crystals here.
• Minor nitpicks on the smashes.
- Overall, 8 seconds is an absurdly long time to need to charge a smash fully. Or any attack, for that matter. Are you familiar with Ike's Eruption? 5 second charge. Normal smashes? 1 second. Of course, this is meant to be used after you've trapped the opponent with a Fire Prison, but you could easily stand to crank both the times down.
- Actually, why is Fire Prison even needed when the Forward Smash does the same thing?
- Up Smash could stand to indicate how high up the balls go.
- Aaand very minor as I assume it's right in front of him, but Down Smash never states where the wall is actually formed.
• Alright, so you did follow up with how the simpler moves mesh together, very good. I'm not entirely sure where the jump cancelling logic is coming from, though it is very anti-air which Mr. Dark certainly loves. Not really much to say here.
• I have no idea whatsoever where the timestamps are coming from on these throws. Four seconds for the opponent and ball to fall down in an UThrow? Isn't Kirby's near identical UThrow about half a second?
- Unrelated, but I think a constant damage effect might be a bit more fitting on this particular grab. The pummel could perhaps do something in addition to damage.
- Wait, the opponent can shatter the ball of fire they're trapped inside? That's kind of cool, why didn't you mention that in the grab's description instead of waiting for the DThrow?
Alright, so, overall, Mr. Dark is portrayed as a character which uses a variety of practical fire spells to keep his opponent occupied. With options for ranged attacks, various methods which shut the opponent down entirely, and fairly weak but effective moves to push the opponent back when they get up close and personal, he should be able to handle most situations with flair. It's riddled with balance issues, as many attacks are entirely unusable or broken to hell and back as written, but there are some interesting concepts here with the throwable prison, particularly if you were to consider stunning the opponent via an aerial Neutral Special beforehand, so walls, floors, AND ceiling would be hostile. (electricity really feels out of place here, by the way, since most everything else uses fire, but whatever)
As a whole, I don't feel it explores any particularly interesting new concepts, which does drag it down a bit. Take this as you will, but it is significantly better than I expected going into it. I... probably would not give it a vote, even if I were voting this contest, but it's a very notable step up from your previous efforts. Keep at it.[/COLLAPSE]
[collapse="Katapultar"]You've garnered quite a bit of presence in the chat, making Rayman the franchise you're synonymous with, so it's nice to see you follow up on this. It's also natural you'd improve over time, and it does show when the greater detail and much more balanced numbering (though I don't think enough detail is given about the shielding properties of the crystals via the Down Special, and being able to trap the foe in a ball of fire for 7 seconds via F-Smash seems pretty lengthy).
Mr. Dark almost seems a little less interesting than Bigfoot to me despite being an improvement, if only due to the general simplistic nature of his moves and Up Special being a bit too varied for its own good. It seems like Mr. Dark would be pretty good at gimping with his aerials that cancel out jumps and lightning bolt variation of his Neutral Special he'd use in the air - with that, the set does manage to work given you have those fire traps like the F-Smash and what not you can use to get the foe in the air in the first place and cancel their jumps, pushing them into the fire. (I realized that the end 8 seconds is a very, very long time to charge. While you were probably trying to balance the moves out, it wouldn't be too bad if they even took twice as long as a normal smash to fully charge given nobody would want to charge them for that long unless they were flashy screen-filling projectiles one could keep the foe in suspense with) While it's probably due to this character being a boss or there being no extras, there doesn't seem to be a lot of character that pops out when reading, and as such it would have been nice to have a link or two to this guy's boss fights (we do that in the chat all the time, remember, and it would help us relate to the character's attacks. I'm aware you made this set in a fairly quick timespan given what you mentioned in the chat, but it's a good improvement with some nice ideas to it nonetheless, so props to you there. [/collapse]
That's quite a collection there, WoMF! I'm sure this will be useful for people looking for a good set or someone looking to improve on common criticism
That's quite a collection there, WoMF! I'm sure this will be useful for people looking for a good set or someone looking to improve on common criticism
Grimlock
It's obvious you think existing 3v1 bosses are OP based on this set, which isn't entirely untrue in regards to some sets... but a character this size without any immunities is just ridiculous. 3x Ganondorf's size is bigger than almost all existing bosses, and not only does he have weight that means he'll die at around 200%, he has no immunities at all. So, you give him a mechanic to compensate for that. My dislike of awkwardly labelled meters like that aside(I even think Sayaka's mechanic, while good from a playstyle/characterization standpoint, is a bit awkward)... it actually doesn't protect Grimlock much at all. You want to know why? Because when Grimlock actually goes and uses the Final Smash in the midst of getting chaingrabbed or combo'd, he will transform. For 5 seconds. When he comes out of it he has super armor, which means you can deal him a relatively free 30% with a fully charged Smash you've been preparing. If that's too risky for you, just get away from the stupid dinosaur and plank/stall. It's really not particularly threatening, having power that is dwarfed by something like Giga Bowser and a grand total of 7 different attacks, making it laughably predictable. He also has only one attack for hitting foes above him that can only be used on the ground. When he does transform back, Grimlock has presumably gotten in all of 1-2 hits for a total of 15-35%, far less than the foe chaingrabbed him for, and then he's going to die shortly afterwards due to the foe busting through his rather low stamina shield and ripping him apart at close range due to how pathetically easy he is to string hits on. Aside from that, may I mention that pinning him between two characters with an infinite jab, IE Captain Falcon, is enough to just trap him forever or at least until the KO move?
Maybe, MAYBE I could forgive this set a little bit if it was ever interesting or at least had defensive methods to make him viable in -1v1-, let alone 3v1. The frame 1 shield bash is something, but the shield isn't honestly that durable and once it's down Grimlock will be mercilessly slaughtered. The Down Special comes across as so laughably predictable that Grimlock will never actually land it, Forward Smash is a worse version of Link's Forward Smash with bigger range... as a matter of fact, these moves aren't even that powerful by Brawl character standards and they aren't especially fast either, only really having the fact that they are huge hitboxes to defend Grimlock's ridiculously huge hurtbox. Even the "awesome Dair" is basically Bowser Bomb that can be easily punished, especially in the context of 3 foes. The set barely attempts to take advantage of the fact that it's 3v1, only having some fundamental anti-infinite protection and a grab that allows you to disable a foe in the most generic manner physically possible. Never mind that in a set that is very clearly trying to be stupidly simplistic you have two Smashes that don't even do damage, just an upwards grab that of all things destroys platforms(REALLY?) and a Down Smash which is movement with super armor. Or that the dinosaur has a dash attack that undoes terraforming to show how clearly you're trying to spite existing MYM sets(though the first line of the playstyle summary makes that clear regardless). I'm fairly sure you could create a flowchart of attacks that you could use to defend yourself reasonably as Grimlock, which I suspect you'll reply with, but this really isn't going to save him when it just makes him predictable and he's trying to hold off 3 foes with their own full sets of options to retaliate.
In spite of my extremely negative tone, it's nice to see you try and be adventurous and try an archetype of moveset I'd never expect from you.
Derpy
I'm... sure you won't be too surprised at my distaste for this set, WoMF. Derpy has some very obvious problems, IE random effects tied to half the attacks that hurt Derpy. Not especially much mind you, but still enough to be frustrating and whenever they come up the player is just going to find themselves furious as the foe abused a mistake the player didn't even make. There's a major difference between this and Pichu, with Pichu you can choose how much you suffer with Derpy it's like your picking straws. No idea how you thought this could be fun to play, regardless of being fitting to the character or not. Aside from that, the set is... ironically very OP, largely due to a numbers error but still a pretty egregious one. You make it so she can heal 40% per second if left alone with muffins. I don't think you truly realize how ridiculous that is, but to give you an idea Derpy will never get to a high percentage with that crap, all she needs is a little space and she can heal like 10%, and getting a reasonable distance from the foe will give you some absolutely ludicrous recovery. Number crunching, but the reason you put it in the set isn't any better, given it's to counterbalance self damage that happens 1 in 5-20 times you use a move. Lastly dear god why would you give Derpy terraforming. It contributes nothing and really sticks out in a set which otherwise has such a straightforward "in smash" approach. I suppose how poorly put together the set is can be chalked up to that it was made in a short timespan, and frankly the stupidity of the set is almost fitting in a very meta way.
Edit: Apparently WoMF turned down the healing to once every .5 seconds as of this comment. That still doesn't improve the set all that particularly much as it doesn't fix the problem of how tedious it is to play.
Nyx Assassain
Nyx Assassain is an okay set, but not one I can really get excited over. The idea is pretty simple, sneak into the enemy base with your intangibility and pick off an enemy teammate, utilizing the ludicrous out of invisibility damage bonus. It's a very clearly in character playstyle, and you can also create ambush traps, the best one being the ambush pitfall which you can use to sneak in and assassinate a foe trapped in it. You can also disable foes in various ways as you break out of invisibility, giving the set some versatility in how it sabotages people. The way it handles itself is a lot less tacky than Spy, the closest thing it really has to competition... that said, there are far too many moves that are just variant ambush attacks. As far as I'm concerned the standards for CtF sets are higher than the standards for normal sets, given they have a unique mode to work in, so a straightforward assassination set without any particularly exciting options is... not really something I can find myself getting behind. That and the amount of stun and disabling in this set does make it a bit annoying to imagine. It's not a bad set either, just kind of mediocre.
Lord Voldemort
I admit when this set came out, I was a pretty big fan, and I'm really sorry to say it didn't hold up quite as well for me on reflection. Now, before you get upset Kupa, fret not. I still like this set, it's vastly better than Medic and Wonka, I'll be voting it, don't worry. But a lot of problems did come to light with it on further reflection.
The base system of the horcruxes is really clever, creating an invisible item if you will that the foe has to destroy to kill Voldemort. You have to conserve them wisely if you want to win and it can lead to any number of interesting strategies for Voldemort to play out his stocks. Then you of course create systems that are more subtle to defend the horcruxes, such as projectile spam around a crater that reflects about, minions that split on contact to make them threatening to even go near, and some lockdown/blocking moves to help hold the foes away from them. Then you just give traps to spawn over them to defeat the point of actually bothering to hide them properly or using skill to defend them. Just put a grab tendril over them or the stupid Up Tilt/Uair traps, don't bother with doing anything actually interesting. Forward Smash doesn't just flat out prevent them from attacking the horcruxes, but it's awful close with how much damage it does.
Aside from that, I'm not really sure Voldemort should have been a 3v1 boss. The character doesn't scream 3v1, power alone doesn't make a character 3v1 material. The concepts here aren't really that 3v1 oriented, the sole exception being the grab... while the pummel is pretty cool, I can't say I was that fond of the other throws(straight Mind Control that turns the foe into an AI is a pet peeve of mine, balanced or no, and the other two throws are a bit awkward). It just serves as a balancing factor for... things that could really be toned down to be fair in 1v1 with a little number crunching. Don't know why you went the boss route with this.
That aside ignoring those problems, I do like what the set has otherwise, with the fire/water system of controlling the minions(and recreating the lake scene is kind of a cool touch), and a lot of the sub-mechanics are cool. Hiding Nagini in a minion while underwater to help drown the opponent when she lashes out at them is some awesome stuff. The projectile game seems like it'd require a lot of skill to use and be interesting to play against, and the one of the few reasons I am willing to forgive the set being 3v1 a little, as the foes can use their shields to mess around with the projectiles. The methods of defending the horcruxes, when they aren't extremely straightforward and boring to use, are actually cool and feel like they'd be fun to use. It's a good set, but it could have been a lot better if you didn't force it to be a boss and were a bit more careful in creating horcrux defense methods.
I'm really not the mood to start an in-thread argument, so I'm just gonna say that Grimlock's received his 2nd update, buffing his down-special and down-smash.
I'm really not the mood to start an in-thread argument, so I'm just gonna say that Grimlock's received his 2nd update, buffing his down-special and down-smash.
[collapse="The Sniper"]This set is somewhat hard to comment, as the way you went about making it is completely understandable. Making a set for any ordinary sniper interesting with today's standards is very difficult, if because one can't really do much with the medium let alone tie it in with the rest of the moves, especially in Capture The Flag where there's so much ground. That said, being able to snipe people in a game mode like Capture The Flag seems like it'd be incredibly fun, and you even have some fun supporting moves to go with it (going by Centigrade's Sniper set though, couldn't you have had the Jarate give your attacks a damage buff?). If I'm going to level any complaints on the set, perhaps Sniper could have had a more competent melee game that made use of the Jarate, bleeding and his interesting ability to pull characters away from the base - he is a hunter, after all, and it's not like there'd be anything wrong with wanting to fight close-up. There also seems to be a bit of a lack of passion behind the creation of the set, but then again all the spots had to be filled in for the movement.
On a different subject, I found some of the attack names pretty amusing, making up the crux of the set's personality. There's also the Final Smash that I originally made for a theoretical Sniper Side Special within a rushed 2.5 minutes, left completely in-tact (I can understand WoMF not being able to understand it, as I know nothing about TF2). People can blame me for that, if they like.[/collapse]
[collapse="Derpy Hooves"]It's pretty hard to make a set for someone who doesn't fight (believe me, I know), let alone have a goal that's difficult to translate into a fighting game. It usually results in a playstyle that could have very easily been outfitted onto another character, not being unique to the one whom it was made for, but at the same time I can understand why you would choose to make a quick set for such a character. A character who often stumbles can be fun to make a set for.
Although a part of MYM dislikes chance-based moves due to the conditioned mindset that all the aspects of the game need to be controlled in order to make the moveset flow perfectly, there's honestly nothing wrong with it, especially when it fits the character. One just needs to take into account how players would react to it. Take a chance-based move that already exists in Brawl, Luigi's Green Missile: it has a 1/8 chance of misfiring, sending Luigi further and dealing more damage without having to charge the move, but suffers from the risk of sending Luigi -too- far. Theoretically, it seems like something the Luigi player and enemy players would be careful of, but in practice they will almost always assume it'll function normally due to that being the most common outcome. In Derpy's case, I think she really needs some number crunching, as there are times when the chances of a mishap are too high (Up Special) or are too low (the Standard), but most of the tilts are fine. That said, I find it interesting how you didn't give Derpy any aerials that can backfire on her, and you were self-conscious of this.
Unlike some others, I don't think Derpy's playstyle is inherently bad, just something that you could have been a fair bit more self-conscious of. You admit to Derpy not having much of a focus, though she'd probably be in the air at all times what with having multiple jumps, a float and not being able to screw up there, and when foes knock her light frame away she sits on a cloud and eats muffins, using her own weight to get the spacing she needs. That's interesting in itself - it makes Derpy come off as being a character who teases foes to come at her while she heals away. The only problem I have with this is that not only is it not very fun but encourages Derpy to cower and not do her actual job of delivering letters. Speaking of letters, the Side Special is a little strange in how it only works in FFA situations or else you don't get the corkscrew attack (which has very low priority due to only dealing 4%), being useless in a 1v1 match. It's a weird thing to work with in the first place, though.[/collapse]
Yes, that's right folks. The father of our country, George Washington himself, has decided to grace the world of Smash with his worldly presence. Whether he's saving the children, or not saving the British children, Washington will prove to be a fiercely fierce competitor.
Stats Size: 8, similar size and shape as Captain Falcon
Dash Speed: 5, he may be spectacular, but he's slowed by the 4 ****s on his feet
Fall Speed: 8, his hefty weight is slightly lessened by his lofty wig
Air Speed: 3, in all his majesty, Washington sadly lacks wings
Jumps: 6, powerful legs offset by massive weight
Weight: 10, what can I say, he weighs a ****ing ton
Traction: 8, those ****s on his feet may not be good for running but they sure are sturdy
Specials
Neutral Special: Twelve Stories High As many history scholars will tell you, Washington was not only six foot eight, not only was he six foot twenty, he was also twelve stories high and made of radiation. Utilizing this power, Washington grows to immense size, as if he had taken a mega mushroom and a half. This transformation takes a moment, roughly a second, and he is susceptible to attack while he is transforming. When he is giant, his weight and fall speed are increased by 50%. This makes him easier to juggle, but harder to KO. Also, it is easier for him to land attacks as his hitboxes are now all much larger, but also he is an extremely vulnerable target. All projectiles or items or magicky magic Washington uses grows with his size. Using this attack again reverts him to original size.
Side Special: On a Horse Made of Crystal Washington was known to patrol the land on his horse made of crystal, so it is no surprise that he mounts his crystalline steed in the field of Smash. Washington whistles, calling his steed to come to his side. The horse runs (or flies, depending on the terrain) across the screen at the same Y-coordinate as Washington was at when he used the attack. The horse gallops across the entire screen, dealing minor damage and knockback to anyone who it hits with its body. Anybody unfortunate enough to hit the horse's legs get buried, or if they are in the air they suffer a harsh meteor smash.
Damage: 5% for body contact, 10% for leg contact
Knockback: Small up and diagonal for body contact, meteor smash for leg contact
Up Special: So Divine Washington crosses his legs in a zen pose, curls his fingers in an equally zen pose, and in true NyanCat fashion farts rainbows as he floats into the sky. He gains 2 seconds of free movement at the speed of Pit's Wings of Icarus. After the time is up, poor Washington becomes helpless. A fun twist, though. A rainbow traces Washington's path as long as the special is active. Any enemy caught in the rainbow will be forced to taunt. Even if they are in the air, they will pause where they are and taunt, as if to bow down to their lord and master.
Down Speical: Killed his Sensei in a Duel Washington's old teacher, knows to most peasants merely as "Sensei" was a very powerful swordsman. However, Washington famously killed his sensei in a duel, and never utilizes the patience taught to him by his former sensei. He whips out a sabre and holds it at the ready for 1 second. If he is struck during this time, a duel is initiated. All other fighters freeze, background action in the stage stops, and the timer halts as well, if applicable. The game will then prompt each player to hit the special button as rapidly as they can. The duel lasts 3 seconds. If Washington loses the duel, he is stunned for 2 seconds in shame. If Washington wins the duel, he appears behind the loser, his saber sticking prominently out of their abdomen. Washington winks at the camera, then the unlucky fool is sent flying. Don't you dare duel Washington.
Damage: 13%
Knockback: Heavy knockback up and to the side, enough to kill at cerca 85% depending on weight
Smashes
Up Smash: Got a Wig for his Wig Tis common knowledge that Washington often wore a powdered wig. However, tis rare knowledge that Washington's wig was deemed prestigious enough to have its own wig. This second wig is alert and ready for battle, and will jump up at a moment's notice. In fact, it does just that for this attack. It leaps into the air with frightening velocity, ready to smash any unlucky foes above good sir Washington. This is very quick for a smash attack, but it only connects when opponents are directly above him.
Damage: 11-18%
Knockback: Completely vertical, and strong enough to kill floaty characters as early as 70%
Side Smash: Could Kill with a Stare Washington claims to not be able to tell a lie. However, he lied when he said he chopped down his father's tree. In reality, he burned it to ash with his laser vision. He was just too modest to tell his dad that. But we know better. Washington shoots red hot lasers out of his eyes at a 45 degree angle at the ground in front of him. The initial charging portion of this attack takes a moment, but when the attack button is released, the lasers come out on the next frame. After the lasers have been shot, Washington needs a fair amount of cooldown time, making this a dangerous attack to get punished.
Damage: 17-24%
Knockback: Very strong, mostly horizontal but a little upwards as well
Down Special: Spread, Spread the Delaware When his troops needed to cross the Delaware River, Washington put the team on his shoulders and pushed aside the waters like a modern ****ing Moses. Washington charges his mojo for half a second, then points to the ground at either side of him. The waves of the mighty Delaware splash up, then cascade down about a half a Battlefield platform's length on either side. This attack has an average startup time and ending time, making it a reliable and safe move as long as it is used intelligently.
Damage: 14-19% on initial splash, 8-13% on cascade
Knockback: Strong near-vertical on splash, average horizontal on cascade.
Tilts
Up Tilt: Threw a Knife into Heaven Washington's vendetta against the heavenly bodies is a largely talked about subject. His precise methods of attack are known to be throwing knives. As such, Washington throws a small knife at about 75 degrees above horizontal. The knife travels distance equal to his height, then vanishes. The knife travels quickly and is thrown quickly, allowing the attack to chain with itself at lower percents, should the angle be correct.
Damage: 7%
Knockback: Small, in the direction of the knife's direction
Side Tilt: He had a Pocket Full of Horses Along with his trusty crystal horse, Washington had an entire stable of normal boring regular horses stuffed away in his pocket. At a moment's notice, he is able to command a horse to stick out its tail so Washington may violently whip it good into shape shape it up. He twists his butt in the desired direction, aided by a horse tail coming out of his posterior. Quick attack, good for quickly getting some space between Washington and any enemy redcoats.
Damage: 6%
Knockback: Small, pops the enemy up and back a bit
Down Tilt: Invented Cocaine Among Washington's many gifts to American society, perhaps the most prominent and well remembered is his invention of Cocaine, a product which Washington himself was known to use quite magnificently. In his crouched state, he brushes his head along the ground, sniffing up any Cocaine that my happen to be there. This is a rather slow move, as it's a pretty uncomfortable motion for someone to make while crouched. However, Washington gets strangely energized from it (must be the coke) so, although the move starts slow, it ends very quickly after the hitbox comes out, making it a good move to start a combo.
Damage: 4%
Knockback: Tiny, just pops them up a bit.
Aerials
Neutral Aerial: Made of Radiation Critics and lovers agree that one of Washington's most attractive attributes was his constant pulsing radioactivity. Washington glows a vibrant shade of green and puffs up a bit, hitting anyone he touches. This attack can be performed twice in a short hop due to its very low lag on both ends.
Damage: 7%
Knockback: Small knockback in whatever direction they touched him.
Forward Aerial: His Gallant Stroll Contrary to popular belief, most of Washington's lovers do not agree that his radioactivity was his most attractive attribute. Rather, twas his endless swag. Harnessing this nigh limitless swag, Washington takes some swag filled steps in midair (he doesn't actually move, he just makes a strutting motion). This is a multihit attack that hits anybody he touches. Quick to start and end, but the attack itself lasts long enough for it to not finish by the time he lands a short hop.
Damage: 3% per hit, or 18%
Knockback: Each hit leads into the next, the final hit sends them away with enough strength to kill at pretty high percents.
Back Aerial: He'll Kick you Apart Just as Washington had a sensei back in the day, so too was Washington a sensei of sorts for another American hero: Chuck Norris. Norris' crude rendition of the roundhouse kick is inspired by Washington's famous "Kick you Apart" kick. Washington juts his leg out behind him with a mighty thrust. This attack comes out very quickly, and is Washington's ideal kill move in the air.
Damage: 10%
Knockback: Heavy knockback a little above horizontal.
Up Aerial: With the Mason Ring Washington's sense for bling is matched only by his sense for senseless violence. He thrusts his fist into the sky Freddy Mercury style, his fist being enchanted by the magicky magic of the Free Masons. Don't ask Washington who the Free Masons were, because if you do he'll respond with this very quick and strong uppercut. Why? Maybe because he doesn't like you prying into his business. Maybe because he has no ****ing idea either.
Damage: 13%
Knockback: Strong vertical knockback, would kill most characters by the top of the screen around 75%
Down Aerial: He Made Love like an Eagle Falling out of the Sky Calm down, kids, Washington isn't actually going to be making love with his enemies by simply hitting down and A while in the air (though he, Zamus, and Peach have plans for after this match is over). Nay, Washington will crash to the earth with the thunderous power of a dive bombing eagle. He very quickly falls to the ground, landing in the traditional kneeling hero pose, also creating a little explosion at the landsite.
Damage: 8% on fall, 16% on explosion
Knockback: Average away and up on fall, huge up and away on explosion.
Grab Game
Grab: Perfect Hands Washington's perfect hands aren't just great for modeling mason rings. Nay, they are also lovely for grasping helpless fools into his American clutches. A quick grab, but with very low range.
Pummel: He Once held an Opponent's Wife's Hand in a Jar of Acid at a Party As the name of this attack would suggest, Washington has a knack for putting opponent's wife's hands in jars of acid. However, no wives of opponents are available at the moment. So, he'll just use his opponent's hands instead. This is a difficult procedure to do safely, so it is a slow pummel.
Damage: 3% per hit
Forward Throw: Schnauzer History usually only details the accounts of Washington's vast array of horses. His poor Schnauzer, Schnauzer, is oft forgotten in the background. Well here's his chance to kick *** and chew bubble gum but also be all out of bubble gum, so instead he'll just chew on his master's enemies. Schnauzer appears, grabs the enemy in his vice jaw, waves them around like a piece of eaten homework, then spits them out a short distance in front of him.
Damage: 12%
Knockback: Small away and a little up, usually too far to combo out of
Back Throw: ****ing Killing for Fun A favorite hobby of Washington's, and subsequently of America's, is ****ing killing people for fun. Washington tosses his opponent in the air, spins around, and shoots them in the face with a glock.
Damage: 9%
Knockback: Strong a little above horizontal, enough to kill at around 85% at the edge of the stage
Up Throw: The Sons of his Opponents Wished that he was their Dad Washington humiliates his victim by telling them that their kids would rather have Washington as a dad than their actual dad. This manifests itself as a thought bubble appearing above Washington's head with an image of a sad child, the child then having a thought bubble above its head with an image of Washington looking dapper. Washington then tosses his foe up into his thought bubble, which explodes and sends the foe towards the second thought bubble. This can be smash DI'd away so that only one explosion hits.
Damage: 7%, then 8%
Knockback: Small towards next bubble, then huge up and away, a very strong kill move
Down Throw: Ate Opponents' Brains As if it weren't bad enough to dip his opponents' hands in acid, Washington no takes a nice chomp out of their brains, feeding his own brain and brainheart. Washington takes a large bite outta his foe, then carelessly deposits them behind him. Washington's American spirit and biological system is aided by the brain digestion, healing him for 10%
Damage: 5%
Knockback: They end up lying on the ground a platform and a half behind him.
Final Smash: He'll Save the Children, but not the British Children What's that? Washington got the Smash Ball? No ****, he's Washington. He does this **** for breakfast. Upon activation, all foes don red coats and British accents. Washington becomes enraged at the sight of this, and wastes no time in throwing alligators and burning orphanages at his enemies from across the pond. He throws 3 alligators and 3 burning orphanages in random order at each enemy redcoat, then he calms down, hopefully in a wake of obscene American carnage.
Damage: 24% per alligator, 32% per burning orphanage
Knockback: Alligators meteor smash, burning orphanages launch enemies far up and away.
Extras
Logo An American flag. What did you think?
Entrance Washington walks on stage with adoring attractive women, he shoes them away.
Up Taunt Washington flashes red, then white, then blue.
Side Taunt Washington gives the thumbs up, winks, and shows us those pearly brown dentures.
Down Taunt Washington calls out, "Present beware! Future beware!"
Kirby Hat Kirby dons a fashionable powdered wig.
Losing Pose Wait, what? Washington doesn't lose. Something must be wrong. He appears next to a ballot box, counting out ballots.
Victory Pose 1 Washington runs off screen being chased by a hoard of attractive women in skimpy America bikinis.
Victory Pose 2 Washington stands holding two very attractive women in skimpy America bikinis. He gives the thumbs up to the camera.
Victory Pose 3 Washington stands holding the Professor Brothers in skimpy America bikinis. He starts to give the thumbs up, then realizes who he's holding. He burns them both to ash with laser vision, then stands upset, arms crossed.
[collapse="George Washington"]Haven't seen you since MYM9, peeup. This is a pretty amusing Chuck Norris-esque character choice, with each move containing a hint of George's unparalleled coolness and educating readers who are uneducated in American History (like myself, but I'm not American) - for that reason, I hardly need to watch the video linked at the top. Your moves are as carefree and simple as they were from as far back as I can remember (Me, Kael), only here Washington is a lot more simple than those sets when nearly all his moves provide a standard fare Brawl effect. To be blunt, the moves themselves are bland, if because they don't have a sense of style or purpose to them that's consistent with a main playstyle, and have the damage and knockback slapped on the end like a household chore. Those very same moves could be more interesting with some depth in their usage (Brawl attacks are far, far more interesting), but then again you've only gotten back into the swing of things. As things stand, this set is but a mild, memetic experience with jokes around every corner, far from possessing a refined style but still working.[/collapse]
Wiggity word, I accept all criticism with open arms and stifled tears. Twas more intended as something to get me in the mood for MYM cause I totally miss it, and I have some ideas bouncin around me noggin. Also George Washington is just too badass to not be given a set, so I figured he's be a good foray back into the world of MYM. Expect the next set to be more exciting and less jokey. Also you should totally watch the video.
. Ya gotta figure out some bigger punishment, maybe extra lag or something.
