25 years is a long time for a video game series. Almost as old as me. Even if the last games didn’t always excite me, the pocket monsters just become part of me and my life. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I absolutely couldn’t miss the big anniversary Nintendo Direct. A few days have passed since then and I was able to organize my thoughts. First things first:
New Pokémon Snap ... oh my, memories galore. It's not really a game-game, is it? Driving through an area and taking photos is simply not the most interactive activity, but honestly, who cares. I'm sure it’ll be a perfectly relaxing feel good experience. And we don’t even have to wait all that long. I mean, April 30th isn’t that far off, right?
It’s not a question that it will be the ideal way to bridge the time till the release of the two other big announcements. Not one, but two adventures in the Sinnoh region await us. A true-to-original remake of Diamond and Pearl and something that at first glance looks like a fusion of Pokémon and The Legend of Zelda: Breath the Wild.
In a nutshell: The remakes aren’t really my thing as things stand. The colors are extremely bright, the proportions of the characters are weird and 1:1 remakes simply never particularly appealed to me. During the fight scenes I’m heavily reminded of the Let’s Go games and (I can hardly believe I'm saying this) I would have liked it way better if the overworld would have used the same inspiration.
However, visuals are obviously a matter of taste. I really do hope they will at least add the extra content that came with Pokémon Platinum, but then it wouldn’t really be a faithful remake anymore, sooo...we’ll see what kind of info we’ll get till the release at the end of this year. Hope dies last!
The other announced Sinnoh game certainly roused a lot more curiosity: Pokémon Legends: Arceus. An open game world, an ancient setting, a cross-gen selection of starters, strange Pokéballs and more. The video material shown was sadly rather poor. Wonky animations and a pretty empty world, but what can I say, I haven't been looking forward to a “different” Pokémon game in years. It really seems like Game Freak is daring to do something new. FINALLY!
Two things have particularly stood out to me in the short trailer. The protagonist seems to catch Pokémon in the wild without a fight. I could imagine that the Pokéball Plus controller would be used there. And there doesn't seem to be a single loading screen between the overworld and the battles, which would be very appreciated.
The fights themselves still seem to be the same, turn-based and four attacks per Pokémon. Personally, I would have applauded a new system. For example something like Pokémon Tekken? As an option, obviously. Legends: Arceus takes place in the past, so I think it would fit the concept if the "trainers" don't know any attacks yet and rather let their Pokémon attack wildly.
The game will supposedly release in early 2022, but I’d embrace a delay of up to a year if we would get something amazing. I really like the idea of a past setting. It reminds me of one of my favorite and least known spin-offs of the franchise: Pokémon Conquest.
I hope they’ll fill the world to the brim with life! I hope it will be aimed at older players. I hope it will be a great, big, addicting game and then maybe we could even look forward to Legends: Zygarde or Legends: Mew in the future. Infinite possibilities, but until then we’ll just have to wait and see...and maybe have a cup of tea with a classic Sinnoh Poffin?
These ingame goodies come in all sorts of flavors, but I've decided to focus on the sweet version today. Hopefully these delicious berry Poffins will sweeten the wait for even the most impatient among you.
7g Dry Yeast
1 Egg
30g Butter
250g Flour
150ml Milk
250g Berries 65g Sugar
Pink Food Coloring
Sprinkles(Chocolate, Sugar, etc)
Salt
combine the yeast and 15g sugar in a big bowl
melt the butter and separate the egg
mix in the milk, the egg yolk and the slightly cooled butter
let the mixture rest until it starts to froth
add the flour, the food coloring and a pinch of salt
knead the dough until it’s smooth, soft and pulls away from the bowl
shape it into a ball and place it back in the bowl
cover it with a clean dish towel and let it rise till the volume doubles
preheat the oven to 190°C degrees top/bottom heat
roll out the risen dough into a big square
cut it into 10 roughly equally sized squares
distribute the berries and the rest of the sugar on top
close the dough over the sugar and berries into pockets
shape into neat buns and place on baking paper
mix the egg white with a dash of milk and brush the buns with it
bake for 25-35min
sprinkle sprinkles of choice on top while still hot
let the Poffins cool completely or enjoy luke warm
Guten Hunger!
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