the ultimate spoof-- tales of phantasia, Final Fantasy, Guilty Gear X, and Pokemon TCG combined.

Tales of Final Pocket Dragon Gear X Trading Card Game: Blue Moon Rising

1.1 Characters

Name: Fuzzwuzz Kooloobuckwuck
Class: Amnesiac -> Failed Clone -> Saviour
Description: Main character of the game discovered at the base of Doom Peak. Bears a mysterious "3.1415" tattoo on his left forearm. Seeks out "The Man in the Lacy Bonnet" to recover his lost memories.
Weapons of Choice: Palm trees, telephone booths, oil drums
Default level: 1

Name: Bumwum Rabadabee
Class: Village girl -> Last member of extinct superior race -> Villain Hostage
Description: Simple village girl with mysterious healing powers, occasionally able to shoot giant fish out from a hollow steel rod. Discovered Fuzzwuzz at the base of Doom Peak when she was out shaving ice for the village party. Joins him on his quest after she discovers his connections to the mysterious "J" organisation.
Weapons of Choice: Hollow rods, pinatas, Bruce Lee
Default level: 1

Name: P. Zhansheng 1990
Class: Technician -> Cyborg -> Ultima Weapon
Description: An underrated computer hacker who works at a coal mine to make ends meet. First meets Fuzzwuzz and Bumwum in the coal mine near Vermillion City, but only joins after Fuzzwuzz defeats Lt. Surge. Able to hack into anything (except trees and two variations of home-grown wheat) and re-enroute the system. Only other permanent member (besides Fuzzwuzz) upon joining the team.
Weapons of Choice: Mad skills
Default level: 7

Name: Sephiroth
Class: Lumberjack -> Swordsman -> Legend
Description: A kind hearted lumberjack who slogs his pants off to support his ailing wife George Best and two young children Ren and Stimpy. Joins the party after he discovers his employer Koko Krunch has brainwashed his fellow lumberjacks into mindless Stunt Doubles.
Weapons of Choice: Nun habits, instant noodle flavourings, Masamune
Default level: 10

Name: aznGer
Class: Retard -> Cannon fodder
Description: Fuzzwuzz needed some love since Bumwum wouldn't give him any, so he decided to go search on GunBound. He met aznGer, who was dressed in a cute panda suit, and immediately invited her to join his party on their quest. Turns out she was a man. A weak one at that.
Weapons of Choice: Not able to equip weapons
Default level: 1


1.2 Begins hence the adventure!

Your character (Fuzzwuzz) wakes up in a hospice, surrounded by old people and freshly cut pineapples. A young girl walks in and introduces herself as Bumwum. She tells you that she found you at the base of Doom Peak.
After she asks you about your name and origin, which you can't remember, you regain control. First head north one screen and open the chest in the top right hand corner to find Fuzzwuzz's Ultimate Weapon: Deux Ex Machina. Equip it immediately.
Leave the hospice and talk to everybody in town twice. Head south and into the overworld. There will be an explosion in the town, and Fuzzwuzz quickly re-enters the town to see it destroyed, a man in a lacy bonnet standing in the town square.
Bumwum emerges from the hospice and tells you that everybody is dead. The man in the lacy bonnet says something about it being retribution and makes references to the "J" organisation. Fuzzwuzz is overcome by emotion upon hearing the organisation's name, and the man laughs mockingly.
An octogenarian lying on the ground starts stirring, and the man in the bonnet is about to stab him when Fuzzwuzz gives a loud cry and rushes at him. It's time for our first boss fight.

Boss: Man in Lacy Bonnet
Level: ??
Weaknesses: None
Element: None

This fight would have been hard had you not obtained your ultimate weapon. Heal whenever you get attacked and retaliate with your only technique available: One-inch Strike. His attacks will hurt a lot, considering he's one of the final bosses and you're a bloody level 1. Just try to survive for a few rounds. After 5 rounds, Bumwum will join the battle. Her technique, Full Restore, is particularly useful since it regenerates 100% HP and cures all status ailments.
After a few more rounds, the Man in the Lacy Bonnet will retreat into the shadows, leaving you with 5000 exp and 10000 gils richer.


After the battle, Bumwum will tell Fuzzwuzz about her past, and how she has been searching for the "J" organisation because it was where her parents told her to seek her destiny. Fuzzwuzz understands that to find out more about his own past, he has to find "J" as well, and hence they set off on their grand adventure, leaving behind 20000 cadavers in town.


1.3 The Forest of Lore! Onward to Destiny!!

After leaving the town, head north towards a dark patch of green, surrounded by a force field. This is the Forest of Lore, which you must pass through in order to reach Fuchsia City, but the force field prevents you from doing so. Try heading into the forest anyway, and Bumwum will suggest heading west to Vermillion City. That's where we'll go now.

1.4 We'll revisit the Forest of Lore later! Onward to Vermillion City!!

Random battles are pretty much useless now because your level is too high for them, considering they give you between 1-10 exp. Continue heading west until you see a bridge. Cross the bridge and continue heading west. You will soon see Vermillion City in all its grandeur, and also a small cave in the mountains to its north. That's where we will head first.
Inside the cave, head north two screens. Open the chest to your left for a Potion. Head east and open the chest there for 2000 gil. Continue heading east until you hit a large empty space. Head north and open the chest for a Revive. Head further north two screens. You should see a group of coal mine workers. Talk to the one dressed in swirling black robes with red hair. He will introduce himself as P. Zhansheng 1990, but won't say much more. Talk to him another 10 times, and he will slam the wall in anger.
A landslide occurs, and two of the coal mine workers are trapped under large pieces of rubble. P. Zhansheng 1990 takes out his laptop and hacks into the rocks' mainframe, disintegrating them into atoms. The workers thank him and the group leaves for the inner cave. Do not follow them once you regain control. Instead, leave the coal mine and head for Vermillion City.
Vermillion City has a large pharmacy for you to buy medical supplies, and the armory sells good armor for your level. Don't buy any of the weapons for Fuzzwuzz though, they will lower his attack by 230. Buy a Dark Red Bruce Lee for Bumwum (increases attack by 10) and sell her previous Steel Rod. Once you have enough Potions and Revives, go to the center of the city, where you will find an army commander shooting laser beams at passersby. Avoid his laser beams and approach him. Talk to him for your second boss fight.

Boss: Lt. Surge
Level: 10
Weaknesses: None
Element: None

Another easy battle. Just one hit from Deux Ex Machina and he goes down. Gives you 200 exp and 3000 gil.

Lt. Surge then gives you the Thunder Bolt ability. Teach it to Fuzzwuzz, it is much stronger than One-Inch Punch. After beating Lt. Surge, P. Zhansheng 1990 will appear and remark on your lack of skill. He then offers to train you, in exchange for a llama. Agree, of course, even though you don't have a llama now. P. Zhansheng possesses only one technique, Hack, which can be used to destroy any enemy on screen as long as it is not of the Tree or Home-grown Wheat elements. Now that you have P. Zhansheng 1990, you are able to enter the Forest of Lore! Leave Vermillion City and head east to the forest.

1.5 The Forest of Lore! Onward to Destiny!! 2
(to be continued)




A few days ago, Tales of Final Pocket Dragon Gear X Trading Card Game: Blue Moon Rising reached the markets, exploding upon touchdown to release clouds of toxic gases that immediately, and rather mysteriously turned anyone who approached into a green, sticky goo. The Tales (of Final Pocket Dragon Gear) series had always captured my hearts as a wee lad, and I immediately jumped upon my segway to obtain a copy for myself. Of course, being a Tales game, how could it be bad? With this in mind, I returned home, and after wiping off the sticky sweat that had gathered on the cartridge (Pressing those buttons on the segway is hard work you know), I threw it into the console and was ready to go.

GRAPHICS: 10/10
Sure it only has 4 pixels to represent each character, one on the top for the hair, one below for the face and two more under that to show clothing, but its a Tales game. The characters look so cute, and the creators have wisely left the details of each of them to the viewers imagination. With their cheerful 1 pixel emoticons and their 256 pixel weapons, you'll be left in sheer amazement at how something so simple ever got so far! I almost came just watching BumWum cast restore on FuzzWuzz as the sparkles were soooo erotic. Not only does it get a perfect 10, I dedicate all my DnD characters to this wonderful game! Huzzah!

SOUNDS: 10/10
It might be perfectly incapable of equalling the brilliant sound of that wondrous game pong, but it definitely wipes the shit ass sounds in such games as Oblivion and Halo-2, cuz its a Tales gamez! Ez Fun and delicious to hear each character commenting in sparnzihs (sp) on how wondrouz the flower is. Particularly, eez good in making funny noise come out of speekerz, lyk beep boop.

STORY: 10/10
EEZ TALEZ GAMEEEEE!!! ME NO WAN U TOKING CRAP! IT GOOD! IT GOOD! IT GOOD! ITGOOD. LOLLOZZZZ THARS NO WAYZ ANY GAMEZ CAN BEATS THIS GOOD! ESPECIALLY WHEN THE MAIN CHRAZ BSET FREDN TURNZ OTU TO BE A BAD GUY ALL ALOGN BUT IS ALOS REALLY A GOOD GUY HELPOING THE BAD GUYS TO BE A SPY ON THE EOTHER BADGUYZ LOL!! TALES! TALES! TAELTGH!TGH

GAMEPLAY: 10/10
Boop. It was rather confusing at first, when i realized i needed to perform a qcf x 2 along with pressing C, a button located along the wire of the controller, in order to move my character forward. I really haven't even finished talking to the the man in the lacy bonnet, but of course, its a tales game. Lol.

REPLAYABILITY: 10/10
Final fantasy sucks. Talez is the balls.

OVERALL: 10/10
I M NOT A FANBOY! FAG! I RATE ALL GAMES BAESD ON HOW FUN THEY ARE AS OPPOSED TO WHAT TITLE OR SERIES THEY COE MFROM! JUST THAT FINAL FATNSY, GTA, COTNERSTRIKE< STARCRFGT, WRARFRFT, AND ALL OTHER GAMES AR E TOO STUPID! I KNOW CUZ I READ ALL THE OTHER REVIEWS! ONLY TALES GAME! TALLLESSS GAMEEEE! TALELELEES GAMEEEEE!!!! AND YOU OTHERS CALL URSELVES FANS!!!! I BET YO UDONT EVEN HAVE FUZZWUZZ BODDY PILLWS AND BUMWUMB COOKIES AND LDOLLLLLL!!!!!

(Reply to this)

kezane 2006-04-01 04:58 pm UTC (link)

HRP 2006: Portrayal of Good and Evil in Video Games Section 5.6.2 Analysis of 'Tales of Final Pocket Dragon Gear X Trading Card Game: Blue Moon Rising' 5.6.2.1 - Introduction The 'Tales of Final Pocket Dragon Gear X Trading Card Game' series has traditionally been rich in its story and characterization. An exceptional amount of effort is put in by its creators in crafting the individual designs of the characters, all within the systemic constraints of its native console system, within the 4 pixels allocated to the character sprites. Of all the games in the series, "Blue Moon Rising" in specific is especially relevant to this research paper, considering that the game makes a deliberate attempt to blur the line between good and evil. While there is a clear protagonist, his goals are questioned more and more as the effects of the actions supposed villian, one by the name of Koko Krunch, are seen. As a 9th generation game(refer to 3.2: define generations), there is much more work in the creation of the plot of this game, and thus there is much more development of both the "good" and "evil" parties. The first half of the game is evidently more similar to the game of this genre, with a clear "good" and "evil". During this portion of the game, the characters of the protganist's party are defined in a light-hearted environment, before being thrown into the crisis of the later half. At the end of the first half, an event called the "Insurrection" occurs, which clearly demarcates the two largely differing sections of the game. The second half of the game is much darker and more philosophical, with a post-apocolyptic atmosphere and the revelation of the true mastermind behind the scenes, Koko Krunch. 5.6.2.2 - Fuzzwuzz Kooloobuckwuck "Fuzzwuzz Kooloobuckwuck"(hereafter referred to as 'Fuzzwuzz') is the protagonist of "Blue Moon Rising". On the surface, he resembles the generic RPG character, having been a soldier in the past and losing most of his memories prior to the events in the game. However, as the player progresses through the game, more light is shed on his past, revealing him to be a failed clone of the legendary Lumberjack, Sephiroth. Discarded from the experiment having resisted the mind-control process, and turned into a lowly soldier, he acted as a slave of the mysterious "J" organization for a long period before deserting the war efforts to find himself. After realizing that he is a failed clone, Fuzzwuzz faces an internal conflict regarding his identity. As a clone, he has an inferiority complex, constantly berating himself for not being able to take down Sephiroth, a major villian for the larger portion of the game, as he is merely a clone of the renowned lumberjack. At one point, he questions Bumwum(female protagonist with divine powers) whether he had a soul, to which she hesitated to give an answer. However, through the progression of the story, Fuzzwuzz slowly realizes that he has become an individual, capable of thinking and feeling on his own, and no longer needing to hide in the shadows of the predecessor Sephiroth. This realization, along with Bumwum's declaraction of love for him, drives him to enter a confrontation with Sephiroth, to decide who gets to lead the "J" organization. The confrontation marks the end of the first half of the game, where both Sephiroth and Fuzzwuzz have been clearly defined to be two separate individuals. For the first half of the game, the characters of the protagonist side are able to comfortably be developed and have their backgrounds fleshed out because there is a clear distinction between the good and the bad. However, entering the second half of the game, the aims and goals of the "good" side are put into question. 5.6.2.3 - Sephiroth There is a huge debate as to whether Sephiroth can be considered a true villian. On one hand, he was only a villian for the first half of the game, and was under direct control of Koko Crunch while he committed his acts of villiany. On the other hand, during the course of the game, Sephiroth is reluctant to join the party completely in their fight against Koko Krunch, questioning if Koko Crunch's aims and ideals are really evil, or merely misunderstood. While Koko Krunch slowly destroys every major city in the world, Sephiroth can usually be seen to a small extent celebrating the destruction of human civilization, chiding the party for mourning over the loss of lives. It is later revealed that Sephiroth only joined the party as part of his own vendetta against Koko Krunch, for having brainwashed his fellow lumberjacks. In the end, Sepiroth betrays the party, wanting to take Koko Krunch's life on his own, but failing miserably when Fuzzwuzz finally defeats him. 5.6.2.4 - "J" Organization The mysterious "J" organization, responsible for many forbidden experiments on live human subjects, is one of the first instances in the game of a morally questionable antagonistic being. While it can easily be seen why the organization is hated, for not only experimenting on humans, but also creating to soldiers and beginning war efforts against lesser developped regions. However, it is later revealed that the primary goal of the "J" organization is to accelerate the development and evolution of humans, in preparation for a probable coming "apocolypse", which threatens to wipe out the entire human race if nothing is done. Essentially, the "J" organization aims to force humans to evolve to a state where they can withstand and survive the coming "apocolypse". Originally a supposed "evil" organization which the protagonist party fights against, Fuzzwuzz eventually realizes the goal of the organization, as well as the larger truth of what is going to happen to the human race, and takes control of the "J" Organization is allowing humans to progress faster than they ever did before. 5.6.2.5 - Factional Warfare After Fuzzwuzz takes control of the "J" Organization, and Sephiroth is revealed to be controlled by a greater entity known as Koko Krunch, a large war begins between the two factions. While Fuzzwuzz leads the "J" organization in its efforts to create stronger and more powerful humans, Koko Krunch's armies are seemingly distinctively anti-human, bent of preventing the "J" organization from extending its influence far enough to save the race from the coming "apocolypse". While the player is evidently aware of Fuzzwuzz's goals from the first half of the game, more light is shed on Koko Krunch's goals in the second half, due to the ongoing war between the two factions. While the "J" Organization is distinctively humanitarian in trying to save the human race, the "K" organization, headed by Koko Krunch aims to prevent humans from playing god. Koko Krunch, whom had seen the race that preceeded the human race destroy itself from playing god with its own biological make-up, is bent on preventing humans from taking complete control of their own destiny, which because of their imperfect nature, is bound to be vulnerable to unrighteous temptation. In his opinion, whether humans will or are worthy to survive the "apocolypse" should be up to god and not up to them. As such, the "K" organization destroys all major cities that are currently researching on the biogenetic make-up of humans, in the process killing entire settlements of humans. In the end, Fuzzwuzz defeats Koko Krunch, but Koko Krunch asks Fuzzwuzz if he is really ready to take full control of the human civilization, having disregarded god and choosing to take responsibility for the fate of the human race thereafter. 5.6.2.6 - Conclusion 'Tales of Final Pocket Dragon Gear X Trading Card Game: Blue Moon Rising' is an espcecially morally ambiguous game. Although the game seemingly presents you with a morally uprighteous protagonist, as more is revealed about Koko Krunch's intention of controlling the growth of the human civilization, one begins to question who is really "right" in their cause. The game never does tell you who is right, and though the Koko Krunch's actions are evidentily objectable and meets his eventual inevitable downfall, the player is left to question if Koko Krunch's ideals really had some truth behind them, and whether the party really was just a representation of humanity's resistance toward change. This serves as a prime example of the evolving portrayal of good and evil in video games, where there is a clear and deliberate attempt in glorifying the villian and downplaying the ideals of the hero. In the second half of the game, the party put into direct conflict with Koko Krunch in large factional war. As with many wars, both sides are faulted at many points, and there is no clear good or bad, despite the game's portrayal of the Fuzzwuzz's party as the "good" faction. In the end, the "good" faction, headed by Fuzzwuzz, wins the war. This serves to mislead the player once again into thinking along the lines of "good always wins", which while true in many RPGs, is not so apparent in this game. While the "J" organization has won the war, the future is unclear, as history may repeat itself, having the human race destroy itself in controlling its own destiny. In essense, while one side has won and is heralded as the "good" side, the "evil" faction's points remain undoubtedly valid, with a haunting reminder for the player of what would happen now that the "good" side has won. In fact, the plot of the game has much more meaning once the player stops thinking along the sides of "good and bad" and "right and wrong", and focuses more on the issues that the game is trying to deal with. Hence, this game serves as an example of the plot of games evolving to a point where the line between good and evil is no longer even important, paving the way for more complex and less clear-cut stories, and enhances the validatity of video games as a story-telling medium.

the ultimate spoof-- tales of phantasia, Final Fantasy, Guilty Gear X, and Pokemon TCG combined.

Tales of Final Pocket Dragon Gear X Trading Card Game: Blue Moon Rising

1.1 Characters

Name: Fuzzwuzz Kooloobuckwuck
Class: Amnesiac -> Failed Clone -> Saviour
Description: Main character of the game discovered at the base of Doom Peak. Bears a mysterious "3.1415" tattoo on his left forearm. Seeks out "The Man in the Lacy Bonnet" to recover his lost memories.
Weapons of Choice: Palm trees, telephone booths, oil drums
Default level: 1

Name: Bumwum Rabadabee
Class: Village girl -> Last member of extinct superior race -> Villain Hostage
Description: Simple village girl with mysterious healing powers, occasionally able to shoot giant fish out from a hollow steel rod. Discovered Fuzzwuzz at the base of Doom Peak when she was out shaving ice for the village party. Joins him on his quest after she discovers his connections to the mysterious "J" organisation.
Weapons of Choice: Hollow rods, pinatas, Bruce Lee
Default level: 1

Name: P. Zhansheng 1990
Class: Technician -> Cyborg -> Ultima Weapon
Description: An underrated computer hacker who works at a coal mine to make ends meet. First meets Fuzzwuzz and Bumwum in the coal mine near Vermillion City, but only joins after Fuzzwuzz defeats Lt. Surge. Able to hack into anything (except trees and two variations of home-grown wheat) and re-enroute the system. Only other permanent member (besides Fuzzwuzz) upon joining the team.
Weapons of Choice: Mad skills
Default level: 7

Name: Sephiroth
Class: Lumberjack -> Swordsman -> Legend
Description: A kind hearted lumberjack who slogs his pants off to support his ailing wife George Best and two young children Ren and Stimpy. Joins the party after he discovers his employer Koko Krunch has brainwashed his fellow lumberjacks into mindless Stunt Doubles.
Weapons of Choice: Nun habits, instant noodle flavourings, Masamune
Default level: 10

Name: aznGer
Class: Retard -> Cannon fodder
Description: Fuzzwuzz needed some love since Bumwum wouldn't give him any, so he decided to go search on GunBound. He met aznGer, who was dressed in a cute panda suit, and immediately invited her to join his party on their quest. Turns out she was a man. A weak one at that.
Weapons of Choice: Not able to equip weapons
Default level: 1


1.2 Begins hence the adventure!

Your character (Fuzzwuzz) wakes up in a hospice, surrounded by old people and freshly cut pineapples. A young girl walks in and introduces herself as Bumwum. She tells you that she found you at the base of Doom Peak.
After she asks you about your name and origin, which you can't remember, you regain control. First head north one screen and open the chest in the top right hand corner to find Fuzzwuzz's Ultimate Weapon: Deux Ex Machina. Equip it immediately.
Leave the hospice and talk to everybody in town twice. Head south and into the overworld. There will be an explosion in the town, and Fuzzwuzz quickly re-enters the town to see it destroyed, a man in a lacy bonnet standing in the town square.
Bumwum emerges from the hospice and tells you that everybody is dead. The man in the lacy bonnet says something about it being retribution and makes references to the "J" organisation. Fuzzwuzz is overcome by emotion upon hearing the organisation's name, and the man laughs mockingly.
An octogenarian lying on the ground starts stirring, and the man in the bonnet is about to stab him when Fuzzwuzz gives a loud cry and rushes at him. It's time for our first boss fight.

Boss: Man in Lacy Bonnet
Level: ??
Weaknesses: None
Element: None

This fight would have been hard had you not obtained your ultimate weapon. Heal whenever you get attacked and retaliate with your only technique available: One-inch Strike. His attacks will hurt a lot, considering he's one of the final bosses and you're a bloody level 1. Just try to survive for a few rounds. After 5 rounds, Bumwum will join the battle. Her technique, Full Restore, is particularly useful since it regenerates 100% HP and cures all status ailments.
After a few more rounds, the Man in the Lacy Bonnet will retreat into the shadows, leaving you with 5000 exp and 10000 gils richer.


After the battle, Bumwum will tell Fuzzwuzz about her past, and how she has been searching for the "J" organisation because it was where her parents told her to seek her destiny. Fuzzwuzz understands that to find out more about his own past, he has to find "J" as well, and hence they set off on their grand adventure, leaving behind 20000 cadavers in town.


1.3 The Forest of Lore! Onward to Destiny!!

After leaving the town, head north towards a dark patch of green, surrounded by a force field. This is the Forest of Lore, which you must pass through in order to reach Fuchsia City, but the force field prevents you from doing so. Try heading into the forest anyway, and Bumwum will suggest heading west to Vermillion City. That's where we'll go now.

1.4 We'll revisit the Forest of Lore later! Onward to Vermillion City!!

Random battles are pretty much useless now because your level is too high for them, considering they give you between 1-10 exp. Continue heading west until you see a bridge. Cross the bridge and continue heading west. You will soon see Vermillion City in all its grandeur, and also a small cave in the mountains to its north. That's where we will head first.
Inside the cave, head north two screens. Open the chest to your left for a Potion. Head east and open the chest there for 2000 gil. Continue heading east until you hit a large empty space. Head north and open the chest for a Revive. Head further north two screens. You should see a group of coal mine workers. Talk to the one dressed in swirling black robes with red hair. He will introduce himself as P. Zhansheng 1990, but won't say much more. Talk to him another 10 times, and he will slam the wall in anger.
A landslide occurs, and two of the coal mine workers are trapped under large pieces of rubble. P. Zhansheng 1990 takes out his laptop and hacks into the rocks' mainframe, disintegrating them into atoms. The workers thank him and the group leaves for the inner cave. Do not follow them once you regain control. Instead, leave the coal mine and head for Vermillion City.
Vermillion City has a large pharmacy for you to buy medical supplies, and the armory sells good armor for your level. Don't buy any of the weapons for Fuzzwuzz though, they will lower his attack by 230. Buy a Dark Red Bruce Lee for Bumwum (increases attack by 10) and sell her previous Steel Rod. Once you have enough Potions and Revives, go to the center of the city, where you will find an army commander shooting laser beams at passersby. Avoid his laser beams and approach him. Talk to him for your second boss fight.

Boss: Lt. Surge
Level: 10
Weaknesses: None
Element: None

Another easy battle. Just one hit from Deux Ex Machina and he goes down. Gives you 200 exp and 3000 gil.

Lt. Surge then gives you the Thunder Bolt ability. Teach it to Fuzzwuzz, it is much stronger than One-Inch Punch. After beating Lt. Surge, P. Zhansheng 1990 will appear and remark on your lack of skill. He then offers to train you, in exchange for a llama. Agree, of course, even though you don't have a llama now. P. Zhansheng possesses only one technique, Hack, which can be used to destroy any enemy on screen as long as it is not of the Tree or Home-grown Wheat elements. Now that you have P. Zhansheng 1990, you are able to enter the Forest of Lore! Leave Vermillion City and head east to the forest.

1.5 The Forest of Lore! Onward to Destiny!! 2
(to be continued)




A few days ago, Tales of Final Pocket Dragon Gear X Trading Card Game: Blue Moon Rising reached the markets, exploding upon touchdown to release clouds of toxic gases that immediately, and rather mysteriously turned anyone who approached into a green, sticky goo. The Tales (of Final Pocket Dragon Gear) series had always captured my hearts as a wee lad, and I immediately jumped upon my segway to obtain a copy for myself. Of course, being a Tales game, how could it be bad? With this in mind, I returned home, and after wiping off the sticky sweat that had gathered on the cartridge (Pressing those buttons on the segway is hard work you know), I threw it into the console and was ready to go.

GRAPHICS: 10/10
Sure it only has 4 pixels to represent each character, one on the top for the hair, one below for the face and two more under that to show clothing, but its a Tales game. The characters look so cute, and the creators have wisely left the details of each of them to the viewers imagination. With their cheerful 1 pixel emoticons and their 256 pixel weapons, you'll be left in sheer amazement at how something so simple ever got so far! I almost came just watching BumWum cast restore on FuzzWuzz as the sparkles were soooo erotic. Not only does it get a perfect 10, I dedicate all my DnD characters to this wonderful game! Huzzah!

SOUNDS: 10/10
It might be perfectly incapable of equalling the brilliant sound of that wondrous game pong, but it definitely wipes the shit ass sounds in such games as Oblivion and Halo-2, cuz its a Tales gamez! Ez Fun and delicious to hear each character commenting in sparnzihs (sp) on how wondrouz the flower is. Particularly, eez good in making funny noise come out of speekerz, lyk beep boop.

STORY: 10/10
EEZ TALEZ GAMEEEEE!!! ME NO WAN U TOKING CRAP! IT GOOD! IT GOOD! IT GOOD! ITGOOD. LOLLOZZZZ THARS NO WAYZ ANY GAMEZ CAN BEATS THIS GOOD! ESPECIALLY WHEN THE MAIN CHRAZ BSET FREDN TURNZ OTU TO BE A BAD GUY ALL ALOGN BUT IS ALOS REALLY A GOOD GUY HELPOING THE BAD GUYS TO BE A SPY ON THE EOTHER BADGUYZ LOL!! TALES! TALES! TAELTGH!TGH

GAMEPLAY: 10/10
Boop. It was rather confusing at first, when i realized i needed to perform a qcf x 2 along with pressing C, a button located along the wire of the controller, in order to move my character forward. I really haven't even finished talking to the the man in the lacy bonnet, but of course, its a tales game. Lol.

REPLAYABILITY: 10/10
Final fantasy sucks. Talez is the balls.

OVERALL: 10/10
I M NOT A FANBOY! FAG! I RATE ALL GAMES BAESD ON HOW FUN THEY ARE AS OPPOSED TO WHAT TITLE OR SERIES THEY COE MFROM! JUST THAT FINAL FATNSY, GTA, COTNERSTRIKE< STARCRFGT, WRARFRFT, AND ALL OTHER GAMES AR E TOO STUPID! I KNOW CUZ I READ ALL THE OTHER REVIEWS! ONLY TALES GAME! TALLLESSS GAMEEEE! TALELELEES GAMEEEEE!!!! AND YOU OTHERS CALL URSELVES FANS!!!! I BET YO UDONT EVEN HAVE FUZZWUZZ BODDY PILLWS AND BUMWUMB COOKIES AND LDOLLLLLL!!!!!

(Reply to this)

kezane 2006-04-01 04:58 pm UTC (link)

HRP 2006: Portrayal of Good and Evil in Video Games Section 5.6.2 Analysis of 'Tales of Final Pocket Dragon Gear X Trading Card Game: Blue Moon Rising' 5.6.2.1 - Introduction The 'Tales of Final Pocket Dragon Gear X Trading Card Game' series has traditionally been rich in its story and characterization. An exceptional amount of effort is put in by its creators in crafting the individual designs of the characters, all within the systemic constraints of its native console system, within the 4 pixels allocated to the character sprites. Of all the games in the series, "Blue Moon Rising" in specific is especially relevant to this research paper, considering that the game makes a deliberate attempt to blur the line between good and evil. While there is a clear protagonist, his goals are questioned more and more as the effects of the actions supposed villian, one by the name of Koko Krunch, are seen. As a 9th generation game(refer to 3.2: define generations), there is much more work in the creation of the plot of this game, and thus there is much more development of both the "good" and "evil" parties. The first half of the game is evidently more similar to the game of this genre, with a clear "good" and "evil". During this portion of the game, the characters of the protganist's party are defined in a light-hearted environment, before being thrown into the crisis of the later half. At the end of the first half, an event called the "Insurrection" occurs, which clearly demarcates the two largely differing sections of the game. The second half of the game is much darker and more philosophical, with a post-apocolyptic atmosphere and the revelation of the true mastermind behind the scenes, Koko Krunch. 5.6.2.2 - Fuzzwuzz Kooloobuckwuck "Fuzzwuzz Kooloobuckwuck"(hereafter referred to as 'Fuzzwuzz') is the protagonist of "Blue Moon Rising". On the surface, he resembles the generic RPG character, having been a soldier in the past and losing most of his memories prior to the events in the game. However, as the player progresses through the game, more light is shed on his past, revealing him to be a failed clone of the legendary Lumberjack, Sephiroth. Discarded from the experiment having resisted the mind-control process, and turned into a lowly soldier, he acted as a slave of the mysterious "J" organization for a long period before deserting the war efforts to find himself. After realizing that he is a failed clone, Fuzzwuzz faces an internal conflict regarding his identity. As a clone, he has an inferiority complex, constantly berating himself for not being able to take down Sephiroth, a major villian for the larger portion of the game, as he is merely a clone of the renowned lumberjack. At one point, he questions Bumwum(female protagonist with divine powers) whether he had a soul, to which she hesitated to give an answer. However, through the progression of the story, Fuzzwuzz slowly realizes that he has become an individual, capable of thinking and feeling on his own, and no longer needing to hide in the shadows of the predecessor Sephiroth. This realization, along with Bumwum's declaraction of love for him, drives him to enter a confrontation with Sephiroth, to decide who gets to lead the "J" organization. The confrontation marks the end of the first half of the game, where both Sephiroth and Fuzzwuzz have been clearly defined to be two separate individuals. For the first half of the game, the characters of the protagonist side are able to comfortably be developed and have their backgrounds fleshed out because there is a clear distinction between the good and the bad. However, entering the second half of the game, the aims and goals of the "good" side are put into question. 5.6.2.3 - Sephiroth There is a huge debate as to whether Sephiroth can be considered a true villian. On one hand, he was only a villian for the first half of the game, and was under direct control of Koko Crunch while he committed his acts of villiany. On the other hand, during the course of the game, Sephiroth is reluctant to join the party completely in their fight against Koko Krunch, questioning if Koko Crunch's aims and ideals are really evil, or merely misunderstood. While Koko Krunch slowly destroys every major city in the world, Sephiroth can usually be seen to a small extent celebrating the destruction of human civilization, chiding the party for mourning over the loss of lives. It is later revealed that Sephiroth only joined the party as part of his own vendetta against Koko Krunch, for having brainwashed his fellow lumberjacks. In the end, Sepiroth betrays the party, wanting to take Koko Krunch's life on his own, but failing miserably when Fuzzwuzz finally defeats him. 5.6.2.4 - "J" Organization The mysterious "J" organization, responsible for many forbidden experiments on live human subjects, is one of the first instances in the game of a morally questionable antagonistic being. While it can easily be seen why the organization is hated, for not only experimenting on humans, but also creating to soldiers and beginning war efforts against lesser developped regions. However, it is later revealed that the primary goal of the "J" organization is to accelerate the development and evolution of humans, in preparation for a probable coming "apocolypse", which threatens to wipe out the entire human race if nothing is done. Essentially, the "J" organization aims to force humans to evolve to a state where they can withstand and survive the coming "apocolypse". Originally a supposed "evil" organization which the protagonist party fights against, Fuzzwuzz eventually realizes the goal of the organization, as well as the larger truth of what is going to happen to the human race, and takes control of the "J" Organization is allowing humans to progress faster than they ever did before. 5.6.2.5 - Factional Warfare After Fuzzwuzz takes control of the "J" Organization, and Sephiroth is revealed to be controlled by a greater entity known as Koko Krunch, a large war begins between the two factions. While Fuzzwuzz leads the "J" organization in its efforts to create stronger and more powerful humans, Koko Krunch's armies are seemingly distinctively anti-human, bent of preventing the "J" organization from extending its influence far enough to save the race from the coming "apocolypse". While the player is evidently aware of Fuzzwuzz's goals from the first half of the game, more light is shed on Koko Krunch's goals in the second half, due to the ongoing war between the two factions. While the "J" Organization is distinctively humanitarian in trying to save the human race, the "K" organization, headed by Koko Krunch aims to prevent humans from playing god. Koko Krunch, whom had seen the race that preceeded the human race destroy itself from playing god with its own biological make-up, is bent on preventing humans from taking complete control of their own destiny, which because of their imperfect nature, is bound to be vulnerable to unrighteous temptation. In his opinion, whether humans will or are worthy to survive the "apocolypse" should be up to god and not up to them. As such, the "K" organization destroys all major cities that are currently researching on the biogenetic make-up of humans, in the process killing entire settlements of humans. In the end, Fuzzwuzz defeats Koko Krunch, but Koko Krunch asks Fuzzwuzz if he is really ready to take full control of the human civilization, having disregarded god and choosing to take responsibility for the fate of the human race thereafter. 5.6.2.6 - Conclusion 'Tales of Final Pocket Dragon Gear X Trading Card Game: Blue Moon Rising' is an espcecially morally ambiguous game. Although the game seemingly presents you with a morally uprighteous protagonist, as more is revealed about Koko Krunch's intention of controlling the growth of the human civilization, one begins to question who is really "right" in their cause. The game never does tell you who is right, and though the Koko Krunch's actions are evidentily objectable and meets his eventual inevitable downfall, the player is left to question if Koko Krunch's ideals really had some truth behind them, and whether the party really was just a representation of humanity's resistance toward change. This serves as a prime example of the evolving portrayal of good and evil in video games, where there is a clear and deliberate attempt in glorifying the villian and downplaying the ideals of the hero. In the second half of the game, the party put into direct conflict with Koko Krunch in large factional war. As with many wars, both sides are faulted at many points, and there is no clear good or bad, despite the game's portrayal of the Fuzzwuzz's party as the "good" faction. In the end, the "good" faction, headed by Fuzzwuzz, wins the war. This serves to mislead the player once again into thinking along the lines of "good always wins", which while true in many RPGs, is not so apparent in this game. While the "J" organization has won the war, the future is unclear, as history may repeat itself, having the human race destroy itself in controlling its own destiny. In essense, while one side has won and is heralded as the "good" side, the "evil" faction's points remain undoubtedly valid, with a haunting reminder for the player of what would happen now that the "good" side has won. In fact, the plot of the game has much more meaning once the player stops thinking along the sides of "good and bad" and "right and wrong", and focuses more on the issues that the game is trying to deal with. Hence, this game serves as an example of the plot of games evolving to a point where the line between good and evil is no longer even important, paving the way for more complex and less clear-cut stories, and enhances the validatity of video games as a story-telling medium.