comicallycluttered

Honestly, I think Game Freak is its own worst enemy.

I enjoy all the mainline games for one reason or another, and I don’t mind the poor (to put it mildly) textures in these last two or three gens (the framerate is what really kills it for me), but it definitely speaks to a larger problem at GF.

They’re releasing games on a single console and still can’t optimize for it, either in terms of graphics or performance. They’ve had three major releases on the Switch, and somehow Scarlet/Violet is the least optimized despite them supposedly being very familiar with the Switch at this point.

I’m honestly convinced at this point that Game Freak is just winging it with the 3D stuff and being too stubborn to get more outside help. It’s almost like we’re watching a company learn in real time how to make 3D games. Every lesson other developers learned a decade ago, Game Freak is only learning now as they go.

We’ll see what happens with Z-A and I’m sure I’ll personally find stuff to enjoy about it (I love Kalos, and AZ and his Floette were a high point in XY, so I’m glad they’re returning), but I’ve already seen the weird textures (balconies on buildings are flat 2D JPGs, it’s fucking wild) and frame drops in their preview. If this was any other company, I’d take that “does not represent final product” warning a tiny bit more seriously, but I can’t with GF’s track record.

I know you only want software from the official repos, but it’s really simple to add the LibreWolf repo and use that.

Other than that, there’s not really much in the way of Firefox forks in the official repos. I believe the Debian builds have their own configurations as well, but I’m not certain. You could use other browsers (Falkon, GNOME Web, etc.), but they’re severely lacking in features.

Off-topic, LibreWolf uses the extrepo package to add their repo which is a great third party repo management program for Debian. It has a curated (by members of the Debian packagers) selection of other third party repos for some popular software that either doesn’t make it into the official repos for whatever reason or aren’t kept super updated in Debian Stable.

That and it’s so much easier than adding signing keys, messing with sources lists, etc. I wish more software used it, honestly, but the maintainers know what they’re doing.

What do you mean? Firefox alternatives in Debian/Debian-based repos? Or just an alternative for apt in general (in which case, I think you’ve replied to the wrong post)?

I mean, the Z-A previews definitely showed a similar art style, but the battling gameplay is completely new. Dodging out of rollout looks great.

If it’s in Lumiose, I really hope the “you’re not the one” hex maniac girl is back and they actually resolve that plot thread. I doubt it, but who knows.

If you ever want Emerald with some quality of life improvements (e.g. HMs not being necessary to actually teach; you can use them in the overworld as long as anyone in your party can learn whichever move), I’d highly suggest the Emerald Seaglass ROM hack.

I’m mainly bringing it up because the art is absolutely gorgeous. So if you ever want to dive into Emerald again, give it a shot.

You can play it on a variety of GBA emulators, so it’s pretty simple to get running. A few good Android ones, I believe there’s one called Delta on iOS, and there are several for most desktop OSes (included Linux).

Lol, I’m actually playing through Violet right now. I don’t even know why, since I finished Scarlet a few weeks ago and they’re basically the same. I think I just like Miraidon more than Koraidon.

But man, I started playing the series when it first came out. Red was my first, but I’ve had long periods (like almost a decade) in which I never even bothered, then eventually came back to it and finished what I missed. It’s a series I just kind of bounce between.

Honestly, getting back into it after a long break last year with Shield surprised me. I get why some people don’t like it, but I really had fun with that game.

As for similar games, Cassette Beasts nearly ruined the entire series for me. Such a great game that did so much right and so very little (if anything) wrong (in my opinion, at least). Art, music, creature designs, battle system, and especially writing. All fantastic.

I’m eager to try out Beastie Ball when I get a chance as well. Looks fun.