Zodi Plays: Custom Robo (Redesign Your Robo, We Know What We're Doing)

[DataNinja]

Well yeah, that is why Rahu III is the final boss- is because its not a fight you want to do normally. its a threat you cannot possibly let continue, so it has mechanics that make it a threat that lesser fighters can't go through. it makes sense, because Rahu III was a playable robo it'd steamroll everyone and be the new optimal robo to have, being essentially a new paradigm of combat. its mechanics reflecting the threat something is supposed to be, because if Rahu III went down easy like Oboro.....then why would everyone be so afraid of it? all the hype and build up would be meaningless if it wasn't a little tough even 3 v 1.

Something can make sense in-universe, and even theoretically... and still not be a good design choice. If the entire game up to this point has literally been tutorial-ing mechanics at you, teaching you strategies... and then all of those strategies are thrown out in favour of "GUN"... that's not a great battle. It's why I hated the boss battles in Radiant Historia by the end. You learned all these mechanics for your team, and how to use your people... and then it was all useless, because you couldn't actually use then in 90% of the boss battles.

And that's the problem here. It isn't a satisfying culmination of all your training and powers. It's just mostly getting lucky, and hoping it doesn't focus its fire too much, while making sure you dodge and pick a decent gun.

[LaZodiac]

Strong agree on Data Ninja's point being made here. There are times when it makes sense in universe for the rules to break to show something, and sometimes it's just not a great idea.

Also, a strange question for everyone; there is a game called Carrion that I have picked up and want to do an A Taste Of of... but it seems like it could be really gross, almost a bit too much. I'm curious what all y'all thoughts on me doing it is.

[DataNinja]

I... definitely am not good with that sort of stuff. The Missing was, like, eeeeeeeeesh enough for me. So if it's beyond that, I'm afraid that I'm certainly not watching.

[LaZodiac]

And so begins... the Grand Battle!

Zodi Plays: Custom Robo [26] The Grand Battle Begins

Video Length: 30:10

In this video, presumably three months after we saved the world, it is time to once more throw ourselves into the holloseum! As is eventually explained to us, humanity as a whole has decided that today is World Remembrance Day, the government lying to everyone that Rahu and Z were both defeated today and that Rahu is gone for good, and now that that's happened everyone is required to participate in a Custom Robo tournament across the entire dome-world in celebration of the things that let us beat Rahu! It's also a secret government ploy to find the strongest fighters in the world, like Gyro, who might have come from nothing, and making it mandatory for everyone accomplished this quite nicely.

Because Rahu might come back, and in order to steel ourselves against it... the government and the police have now decided that a yearly mandatory battle tournament will be necessary in steeling Humanity for that eventuality. Which... is the government and police still lying to the populace, and is arguably just as bad if not worse than keeping the secret of Rahu and the Outside. So... hooray...?

Anyway, with that out of the way we begin the first, and easiest, tournament. A simple 1v1 style in our neighbor's house! Pretty simple, though we also get to see Walt's... impeccable fashion with regards to his toupee, so it's all worth it in the end. Also the reason why he was able to get the toupee is that Custom Robos are made extra cheap now to encourage everyone to get into them, which means that the government set the prices for the robos at a higher market to try and ensure you got quality over quantity but then they realized due to Gyro that having a quantity means you can find those hidden gems of quality easier and oh my god the more I think about this the more ****ed up it is!

EDIT: I no longer turn into Link for a minute now.

[LaZodiac]

I am aware of the Link Noises and will do my best to fix the video, I need to go into our temp office at work today physically so I may not have time to finish it immediately. My apologies.

[DataNinja]

Oh no! It's furniture thieves!

I do like how this game does more-or-less represent human psychology and reactions to this sorta stuff.

"You all get a vacation! To receive training in being robot warriors!"

Oh boy. Even more of a tournament arc. Except without witty between-battle dialogue. Noooooo, nameless NPCs, we will miss you!

Well, I'll watch to the end. Even if nothing interesting does occur.

Edit: Oops, I will redact my complaint, in that case, re: Link noises. I thought it was just a joke you were making, and not a screw up. In that case, apology accepted.

[LaZodiac]

I have fixed the problem. Enjoy Custom Robo, as Zodi intended

[DataNinja]

I have fixed the problem. Enjoy Custom Robo, as Zodi intended

Ah, the sweet, sweet extra 30 seconds of commentary.

[Aeson]

I really hope that the government asked permission before setting up a tournament table in Walt's and Carmen's apartment, the Steel Hearts office, and wherever else they're holding these things, but given what's been shown of the Custom Robo government...

[DataNinja]

I really hope that the government asked permission before setting up a tournament table in Walt's and Carmen's apartment, the Steel Hearts office, and wherever else they're holding these things, but given what's been shown of the Custom Robo government...

It seems like people're pretty happy to do it. At least from what we've seen so far. ...I wonder if our friendly neighbourhood restraunteur is gonna have his place taken over by tables, though.

[Qwertystop]

One thing I recall from this section: There's illegal parts hidden in random places throughout the world. Without, as far as I recall, any cue to that fact beyond that you've got slots empty. And given how few there are (and some are unlocked through other means), it's... not great to try to find them without a guide.

What was the Link thing you mentioned? I didn't have a chance to see the old version before it was taken down.

[tyckspoon]

What was the Link thing you mentioned? I didn't have a chance to see the old version before it was taken down.

Words getting clipped so it sounded like just a bunch of somewhat wordless yells, probably.

[DataNinja]

It was about 30 seconds replaced with a full litany of Link noises (which she would usually crop one out of to use) that she uses to censor stuff. So just imagine 30 seconds of just all of links noises one after another.

[LaZodiac]

It was about 30 seconds replaced with a full litany of Link noises (which she would usually crop one out of to use) that she uses to censor stuff. So just imagine 30 seconds of just all of links noises one after another.

If I recall the video proper it happens directly after I say to enjoy the slight intermission as we wait for a siren to pass.

[DataNinja]

If I recall the video proper it happens directly after I say to enjoy the slight intermission as we wait for a siren to pass.

Yep. I thought that it was because of that, even. I thought it was a joke censoring out unbearably loud siren noises, instead of just silence.

[LaZodiac]

Time for a video in which my dedication to using all the parts I get, immediately, comes back to bite me hard.

Zodi Plays: Custom Robo [27] Steel Hearts and Dull Minds

Video Length: 22:42

In this episode, we tackle the Steel Hearts Cup, which introduces one of the main rules of the Grand Battle; in almost all of these you will be lose access to the parts you win with for the duration of the tournament! A method of ensuring you do make use of all the other parts, learn their strategies, and otherwise feel the depths of the strategy this game holds.

Unfortunately said strategy is not as deep as the creators think, because some of these guns are just outright bad. The Blade gun, while cool, is not really viable in any sense, and the Trap gun... well, is what it says, unfortunately. The score we get in this cup is genuinely do bad that I might in my off time try and beat it to at least get bronze. I don't need to since my intent is to use a premade save file to show off the Bronze, Silver, and Gold Clear tournaments so we can make sure to see every bit of content this game has to offer. But hey, sometimes my pride gets the best of me, we'll see!

Anyway, hope you all enjoyed! Join us next time for the Daimen sponsored Noodle Bowl! Take care everyone~

[Aeson]

It's a pity that you (or Gyro) couldn't reply to Harry's "why did you go ape on me" with something like "but I was just monkeying around."

The single-use rule seems to me more likely meant to prevent the player from using just one very good robo loadout and beating everyone with it than to encourage experimentation, because if you care about your score then time-limited scored matches in a tournament/cup that gives a score-dependent reward really aren't the place to be experimenting.

Also, did you reload after losing to Marcia, or is the game still not letting Gyro lose a fight? The scoreboard at the end showed no losses, if I'm reading it correctly.

[Qwertystop]

I rather liked the Trap Gun, but it's definitely tricky – the worst bit being how the planted traps disappear when you're downed like all gun projectiles. It'd be really good if that only happened with the already-in-flight shots. Still, a robo that takes a lot more hits to down could use it well, I think.

[DataNinja]

I'm still disappointed at the lack of out-of-combat dialogue. That is all.

[LaZodiac]

It's a pity that you (or Gyro) couldn't reply to Harry's "why did you go ape on me" with something like "but I was just monkeying around."

The single-use rule seems to me more likely meant to prevent the player from using just one very good robo loadout and beating everyone with it than to encourage experimentation, because if you care about your score then time-limited scored matches in a tournament/cup that gives a score-dependent reward really aren't the place to be experimenting.

Also, did you reload after losing to Marcia, or is the game still not letting Gyro lose a fight? The scoreboard at the end showed no losses, if I'm reading it correctly.

This is actually a pretty fair point. Though it's also kind of clear that the game expects you to do these more than once, I feel?

Also yeah I don't... know why it didn't register the loses because I absolutely did not reset. The game just refuses to let Gyro actually canonically lose.

I rather liked the Trap Gun, but it's definitely tricky – the worst bit being how the planted traps disappear when you're downed like all gun projectiles. It'd be really good if that only happened with the already-in-flight shots. Still, a robo that takes a lot more hits to down could use it well, I think.

This is a pretty solid point honestly. The overload on the trapped bullets sucks a lot, but it COULD be better on like, a Metal Grappler.

I'm still disappointed at the lack of out-of-combat dialogue. That is all.

There's a LITTLE bit more dialogue then I thought, some of the "go back to your side of the table" dialogue is unique, but... yeah. A lot of what makes this game good is the dialogue yo!

[LaZodiac]

Video delayed due to power outage, sorry for the wait!

Zodi Plays: Custom Robo [28] Ramen for Breakfast

Video Length: 25:39

Nothing really special here, beyond the fact that now I'm hungry for noodles... and also we get punted across the full length of the arena with a single blow and that's pretty rad honestly.

[tyckspoon]

Video delayed due to power outage, sorry for the wait!

Zodi Plays: Custom Robo [28] Ramen for Breakfast

Video Length: 25:39

Nothing really special here, beyond the fact that now I'm hungry for noodles... and also we get punted across the full length of the arena with a single blow and that's pretty rad honestly.

LaZodiac: Ack stop hitting me with your practically melee-ranged taser gun!
Also LaZodiac: Come back here I want to hit you with my giant ape arms!
... possibly related problems

[DataNinja]

LaZodiac: Ack stop hitting me with your practically melee-ranged taser gun!
Also LaZodiac: Come back here I want to hit you with my giant ape arms!
... possibly related problems

Yeah, everyone knows you need to hit with both arms to carry a current. Next time only hit with one arm.

[LaZodiac]

Apologies for the missed video yesterday. Life's caught up with me; not bad, just busy. Regular programming shall resume Monday!

[DataNinja]

Apologies for the missed video yesterday. Life's caught up with me; not bad, just busy. Regular programming shall resume Monday!

Also Wednesday. Nah, no worries, Zodi. Life's been life-ing harder than usual, so nobody blames you for missing a bit. Take care of yourself.

[LaZodiac]

Okay video is going to be coming at night because I've felt like **** all weekend every chance I've had to record! Will do it after work. Thank you for your patience.

[DataNinja]

No worries, Zodi! We'd rather you take care of yourself instead of a new video!

[LaZodiac]

A robot appears!

Zodi Plays: Custom Robo [29] Robo Punching Simulator

Video Length: 25:43

In this episode of Custom Robo, we take on the first of two police tournaments; the Computer Battle. We must face off against a series of opponents and personalities in a no-limit bout! It's actually pretty tough if you're experimenting with all the parts and not just mainlining dragon into your soul.

Shockingly, I have more to say! The three "Legendary Commanders" we fight at the end there are, as I said, from previous games! I've done the footwork to figure out where they're from: Melvin is a rival character in Custom Robo V2, which is the second N64 Custom Robo game. Max, the Second Greatest Battler, is from both V1 and V2, but is more plot important in the latter. And finally... Marv, the powerful idiot boy, is in every Custom Robo game, using a robo called the Gigantron! This is the origin for why he calls it Giant Can in the Gamecube english version... we just didn't know the proper name of his signature mech. It does tie in to this game proper a very small amount if I recall, but ultimately it's just that they didn't want to put his big goober machine in the game. Dour Head, to be fair, does look a good deal like Gigantron!

So yeah. That was Custom Robo for today! Again, thank you for your patience in getting the episode out. Life's been catching up with ole Zodi, be it people distracting me, me wanting to hang out with friends, or just generally feeling unwell. Rest assured, regular programming is back on track.

[tyckspoon]

It's actually pretty tough if you're experimenting with all the parts and not just mainlining dragon into your soul.

/s using aggressively terrible weapons for half the fights.

[LaZodiac]

/s using aggressively terrible weapons for half the fights.

Yeah yeah. I gotta do something to make these a little interesting, there's so little dialogue