Astral's Advent Observations - DAY 3!

Welcome back to Astral's Advent Observations, a special holiday thing where I gradually open this Yu-Gi-Oh! Advent Calendar and unearth its cardboard treasures!

Day 3 is today and it's time for what's behind that door to come out to play!

Brrrrrrr! Today, Ghostrick Jackfrost is chilling out!

General Observation:

Like the previous day's card, Ghostrick Jackfrost doesn't have much in the way of stats, but its effect can be potent if used correctly. When you're in danger of a direct attack, you can special summon this card from your hand in face-down defense position to change the attacking monster's position to the same. This means a potential boon for you if your opponent has out a Monster that is more powerful with offense than defense or has a troublesome effect that only activates while it's face-up. You could also potentially use Jackfrost as material the next turn for another summoning. Keep in mind, though, that Jackfrost shares the quirk of a typical Ghostrick Monster: it cannot be normal summoned unless you have another Ghostrick face-up on the field.

Trivia Observation:

Ghostrick Jackfrost was originally printed in the TCG set Legacy of the Valiant. It has not made any anime or manga appearances, but its snowman form and presence in the Ghostrick archetype could be seen as a reference to the ridiculous 1997 horror parody featuring a mutant killer snowman. (Not to be confused with the Michael Keaton family film from the following year.)

Personal Observation:

I'd actually never seen this little guy until the front of this Calendar, so I didn't expect him to be a GHOSTRICK of all things!

That's all for today, but come back tomorrow for more Astral's Advent Observations!

Astral's Advent Observations - DAY 2!

Welcome back to the second episode of Astral's Advent Observations, a series where I combine my love of both Christmas and Yu-Gi-Oh! into a weird thing where I open an absurdly huge box one day at a time, pull out a trading card, and tell you a little something about it.

What awaits behind today's door...

Why, today's box has gifted us with another box! It's the Level 1 Machine Effect Monster, Box of Friends!

General Observation:

Box of Friends features both attack and defense values of 0, so its primary strength is its effect. When it's destroyed, you are allowed to special summon 2 Normal Monsters from your deck with different names as long as either their attack or defense points are 0. You cannot use these monsters as Synchro material and they are destroyed at the next end phase. With that in mind, this effect is best used to gather Monsters for an XYZ or tribute summon, as since it doesn't specify that you have to destroy Box of Friends in battle, you can easily use one of your own Spell or Trap cards on your turn (Such as Tribute to the Doomed or Treacherous Trap Hole) to do the deed, leaving you open to special summon using the gathered Monsters. (Assuming your one normal summon that turn wasn't used summoning Box of Friends in the case of a tribute summon.)

Trivia Observation:

Box of Friends was originally printed in the TCG set Number Hunters. While it never appeared in a Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, a version of it called Toy Box originated in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal manga. This equivalent was used by living doll Princess Cologne to special summon four of her Doll monsters in her duel against Yuma. As the anime/manga are very different from the real life game, the effect of course had to be nerfed when it made the transition.

Personal Observation:

Huh, guess I conveniently picked a good time to finally read the Zexal manga, huh? Who'da thunk something I just decided to do a few weeks ago would end up helping with this Advent thing?

That's all for Day 2, but check back here tomorrow for another Astral's Advent Observations!

Astral's Advent Observations - DAY 1!

Welcome to the very first installment of Astral's Advent Observations, a series where I gradually go through the contents of the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG Advent Calendar and provide tidbits about each card I pull out all the way up until Christmas!

Hm...just what could be lurking behind our first box?

Ding ding ding dooooooong! Today's card is the Level 3 effect Monster, Ceremonial Bell!

General Observation:

Being a Level 3 Monster, Ceremonial Bell can be pulled out in a duel immediately, but since it has 0 attack points, it's best set as a defense. With 1850 defense points, it boasts above-average protection against 3-or-4-Star Monsters with more average stats. When face-up, it has the power to reveal the hands of BOTH players as long as it remains on the field, making it both a bit of a gamble for the Duelist using it as well as a boon for strategies involving guessing your opponent's cards.

Trivia Observation:

Ceremonial Bell was originally printed in the TCG as a part of the Spell Ruler set. (Originally Magic Ruler, before Konami decided to set Yu-Gi-Oh! apart from that other game...something the Gathering, I dunno.) Despite being a VERY old card, it only eked out ONE anime appearance in the Zexal episode "Flipping Out Part 2." It was never used and only appeared in a flashback. As far as video games go, this card was used by the NPC Duelist Terence in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Tag Force.

Personal Observation:

Wow, I had honestly forgotten this was a card. Just one of those set-fillers in the really early ones that you can vaguely remember if you look at it, but have never actually seen anyone use it. (Unless you count your old Middle School friends building decks out of whatever they could get.)

That wraps it up for Day 1! Hope you enjoyed and come back tomorrow for another Astral's Advent Observations!

November Hauls and a Festive Teaser!

Happy Holidays, ya'll! Busting out a rare Lazy Shell update that takes less than two months after the last one! Today's agenda is the stuff that I procured in the month of November...and a little something special at the end.

South Park: The Fractured But Whole (Switch) (Amazon)

This Fall, I randomly decided to marathon South Park, as I had always enjoyed the episodes of it I had seen, but never really caught more than a stray random one before. I now tune into it every week. So, you can see why I purchased the Stick of Truth game when it came out on the Switch...and finished it within a week...and wanted more, so I eyed the Fractured But Whole Amazon listing like a Hawk until it was lowered to less than half-price. Then I bought it and here we are.

Been playing it and already enjoying it even more than Stick of Truth. There are more areas to explore, taking selfies is super addictive, and I get to dress like a Shark/Spider-Man hybrid named after a ridiculous Yu-Gi-Oh! card. It's good.

Ralph Breaks the Internet Domez Blind Bag Figure - Yesss

My family surprised me with THIS on Black Friday after the holiday rush had taken its toll on my sleeping schedule and I was left in kind of a crabby mood. Thankfully, I got more than a bit of rest following that and now I can look at Twitter without wanting to hurt things. Anyway, there's an 8-Bit Ralph and Felix in this blind bag series, so I think I need to buy more of them.

Arcade Classics - Fix-It Felix Jr.

Ho-Oh and Zeraora Codes (Gamestop)

Ralph Breaks the Internet Ticket Stub

Speaking of surprises to try and lift my unfortunate mood from being sleep-deprived, my Sister handed THIS to me right after we got out of Ralph Breaks the Internet the Saturday after Black Friday. Needless to say, I was elated. It's SUCH a cool piece of merch for a HUGE Wreck-It Ralph fan like me and I thank my lucky stars every day that I have a family who choose to bestow THIS MUCH kindness upon me just because I'm feeling a bit off. Love you guys more than you'll ever know.

Also included are some Pokemon codes I had my Sister pick up for me (She lives closer to a Gamestop than I, so whenever there's a new 'Mon, I give her a little mission) and my ticket stub from the previously-mentioned showing of Ralph Breaks the Internet. (Loved it. It was great seeing my favorite pixelated knuckleheads back together on the big screen and there were a ton of laughs, Easter Eggs, and even tears shed.) 

64-Gig MicroSD Card

Because downloading both Stick of Truth and Fractured But Whole's MASSIVE update had my Switch's space gasping for air.

Now on to that something special I mentioned!

THIS bad boy is the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG Advent Calendar, filled with festive trading cards of all sort. I have NO IDEA what's in this thing, so how about we find out together? Yep, since I love Christmas and Yu-Gi-Oh! more than any mentally stable 27-year-old probably should, I've decided to open up one box on this Advent Calendar every day in December leading up to Christmas, complete with any trivia I can dig up on the cards within. It's kinda like the Advent Calendars Matt of X-Entertainment and Dinosaur Dracula fame used to do, only not nearly as ambitious. Anyway, get ready for the most wonderful time of the year and be back here TOMORROW for the first ever installment of "Astral's Advent Observations!"

Happy Halloween Haul Huddle-Up!

As you can probably glean from that unnecessarily alliterative post title, it's the spookiest day of the year! I originally wanted to do something special for it blog-wise, but my trademark laziness won out. Regardless, I wish everyone a fun night of spooky specials, scary movies, fun parties, and CANDY. Don't party too much, though. There's a full day of Smash Ultimate fun tomorrow! (Personally crossing my fingers for Geno and Shadow.)

Anyway, with that out of the way, it's time for the primary purpose of today's post: haul clean-up! Yes, since it's been a while since I've posted here, I acquired a TON of junk in-between posts, so it's time to share my hauls from the past few months! (That's August through October for those keeping track!)

Funko Pop! Animation Zorak Vinyl Figure (Ebay)

Funko Pop! Games Dr. Eggman and Dr. Wily Vinyl Figures (Amazon)

Starting things off with some Pop figures of some bad guys! While the latter two were mainly purchased because I realized that I could recreate the evil bromance from Sonic/Mega Man: Worlds Collide on my shelf for an efficient price (they were both on sale on Amazon), the first guy is my favorite of the bunch! I ADORE Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Zorak is easily my favorite character, so when I found out that they had given him the Pop treatment as a convention exclusive...well, you can guess the rest. Took me a little while to finally fit this guy into my purchases, but finally having a little reminder of my favorite show on my shelf has made it WAY worth it.

World of Nintendo Series 2-1 Iggy Figure (Amazon)

Awwwwwww yeaaaaaaaaah, my favorite Koopaling and Mario Kart/Smash Bros. main finally gets an articulated figure! Got him for retail, too, so he was well worth the investment.

Sonic the Hedgehog Volume 1: Fallout! (Amazon)

The first volume of the new Sonic series by my fave Sonic comic guy, Ian Flynn! If you're in ANY WAY interested in Sonic, check out some of his previous work with the franchise, particularly the previously mentioned Sonic/Mega Man crossover. IT'S GREAT.

Also, I am LOVING being able to stay up to date with a Sonic comic through trades. Archie's trades were a few years late and I had to have a subscription up until it was canned, so it's nice not having to deal with that kinda hassle.

Ralph Breaks the Internet Theatrical Poster (Disney Movie Rewards)

Similar to the Zorak figure, THIS acquisition was LONG in the making. Ever since a sequel to my favorite movie, Wreck-It Ralph, got announced back in 2016, I've dedicated myself to saving up enough points at Disney Movie Rewards to eventually afford a real theatrical poster for the sequel to display on my wall. Well, that time has finally come, and needless to say, she's a BEAUT. It's HUGE and high quality as well, so I definitely got my points worth. THIS MOVIE CAN'T GET HERE SOON ENOUGH.

Mega Man 11 (Amazon)

HAD to pre-order the long-awaited return of everyone's favorite Blue Bomber! 

Disney Toybox Ralph Figure (Disney Store)

Disney Toybox Vanellope Figure (Disney Store)

Back on the Wreck-It Ralph train of thought, when Ralph and Vanellope were revealed as upcoming figures for the Disney Store exclusive "Toybox" line (Think Disney Infinity designs, but as articulated action figures), I knew that they had to be my first purchases from it. They're great little things, too! While the articulation could be better, I love the scale with Ralph being MASSIVE compared to Vanellope and the sculpts and build are great quality. I'll have to pick up more of these. (They need to make a Darkwing Duck so I can live out my unfulfilled Disney Infinity dreams.)

8-Bit Mario Ugly Sweater Christmas Mug (Fun.com)

Last but certainly not least, at the start of October, I entered a giveaway from one of my favorite nerd stuff sites, Anime Superhero (Formerly Toonzone). It was for $50 of credit towards Fun.com's wide selection of dorky bric-a-brac. Well, I won, so I decided to use most of the cash code on Christmas presents for my loved ones. However, I had enough left over to get myself a little slice of the upcoming jolly season as well. Now cold days will echo my Mario obsession!

One last Happy Halloween for the road and look forward to more content from the blog in the coming holiday months! (I may or may not have something special in mind for Christmas, so stay tuned.)

Review: Pokemon Ultra Moon

Ever since we were first introduced to the Alola Region in 2016, it's been a largely beloved addition the Pokemon world. From the tropical scenery backed by a gorgeous new gameplay engine to the score of new faces and Pokemon that quickly became fan favorites, Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon reinvigorated the franchise with a lovely combination of elements both old and new. 

However, after launch, many wondered what their next step into the world of Alola would look like. Many speculated a Switch follow-up called Stars and even more weren't quite sure. The answer was finally given right before E3 2017 when Pokemon Ultra Sun and Pokemon Ultra Moon were announced via a Pokemon Direct presentation. Billed as an alternate take on your previous adventure in Alola, many with Switch-happy brains were underwhelmed. Months later, the game released and here we are today. How does Pokemon Ultra Moon stack up to the previous game? What's new to experience? All these questions and more I aim to answer in this review.

Pokemon Ultra Moon (or Sun, but I bought Moon, so yeah) begins just as the previous title did. You're a young trainer just starting out having moved to the Alola Region. You quickly meet both friends and foes, obtain a starter Pokemon, and get on your way to fulfilling an Alolan right of passage called the Island Challenge. While there are odd changes here and there, as far as the game's opening hours go, you'll have a hard time noticing much in the way of differences. However, things start to get more interesting when you're introduced to the mysterious Ultra Recon Squad and become tangled in a situation involving the Legendary Pokemon Necrozma.

As far as the story goes, Ultra Moon is a very interesting beast. While it builds upon the same elements and characters as the original games, you might see a very different amount of focus given to certain characters versus others. For example, while Sun and Moon put a TON of focus on Lillie's family and her growth as a person, in Ultra Moon, even though some of that stuff is still here, it feels overshadowed by the Necrozma plot. On the other hand, while Hau didn't receive much story focus in Sun and Moon due to the game really being Lillie's story, here he's a lot more noticeable and has a nice character arc. As soon as I finished the story, I got what the developers meant by this being an alternate take, as it truly feels like another universe's version of the same events.

My team. Can you guess what my naming theme was?

Moving on to gameplay, it's the same world and great battle system from Sun and Moon, only with some added areas, NPCs, mini-games, and additional little quality-of-life improvements. For example, while the unrelenting SOS Battles were one of the worst points about the original games in my eye, Ultra Moon completely fixes that issue by making it so a Wild Pokemon can only call for help ONCE. This makes encounters MUCH more bearable and makes the hunt for new team members all the more fun because of it.

Some of the most interesting additions are the Episode RR post-game scenario and a couple of brand new Ultra Beasts. Episode RR takes place directly following the main story as an interdimensional legion made up of previous evil team bosses from Pokemon games past called Team Rainbow Rocket seize the Aether Foundation for their own purposes. Being the upstanding young champion that you are, it's up to you to venture through their nutso base and beat each boss while squashing scores of identical grunts along the way. Episode RR was honestly a blast with all the fan service, the numerous puzzles, Guzma being a BOSS, and it overall feeling a lot meatier than the previous post-game from Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, Episode Delta. As for the additional Ultra Beasts, it's really cool to see a "third version" introduce entirely new Pokemon and a few are really cool like Naganadel, buuuuuuut that also transitions into my biggest disappointment with this game...

There are no additional Alolan forms. Despite it being an extremely cool concept and a big part of the original Sun and Moon's marketing, all you have are the ones from the last games, which is a bummer, especially after having most of them revealed pre-launch for the original games and having so few "surprises" left to discover. Here's hoping form variation isn't a concept Game Freak puts back in the closet for Gen 8, as it'd be an INCREDIBLE shame to see an amazing concept's potential used so poorly.

My only other real gripe about the game is the RotomDex being so needy. While RotomDex just served as an adorable companion to you in the original Sun and Moon, here you can interact with him to gain some neat extra powers that'll help certain parts of your journey along. However, the problem with it is HOW OFTEN he seems to want input from you. If you only ever chat with him a couple times every once and a while, he just sits there with sad eyes on your bottom screen, making you feel bad. I appreciate the added functionality to RotomDex's role in the game, but DON'T GUILT-TRIP ME BY MAKING IT SEEM LIKE I'M MAKING A POKEMON SAD TO PUSH YOUR EXTRA FEATURE. It's silly.

In conclusion, while Pokemon Ultra Moon features a TON of familiar stuff and story beats, it also features a nice bit of unique content in it's own right. While the amount of new stuff doesn't touch the likes of Black 2 and White 2, it's perfectly serviceable as far as a usual Pokemon "third version" game goes. Plus, just getting away from all the talk of "new stuff," it's still built off of the amazing Sun and Moon, so it's still a quality game regardless.

When it comes to whether or not you should pick it up, it's really a question of how HUGE a Pokemon fan you are. If you're a Pokemon nut, of COURSE you'll pick it up, wanting to experience the alternate story and new Pokemon and areas and stuff. If you adored Sun and Moon? Sure, I'd say it's worth a look, especially for getting kind of a different viewpoint on the plot and it works as a neat way to kind of "replay" the region without erasing your game or owning both versions. If you still play a lot of 3DS titles? Can't think of many better library additions than the latest Pokemon game. If you're looking for a totally new experience and mostly play Switch these days, however, I'd probably recommend just waiting for Gen 8.

27th Birthday Haul

Yesterday was my 27th Birthday and maaaaaaan, was it one for the books. Day started out with receiving money (From my Grandma and Sister) to order more silly stuff at my leisure as well as finally pick up some Mario + Rabbids and Sonic Mania DLC, then escalated a bit with some very nice greetings through Facebook as well as one through Twitter (Love ya, Dosm), ended strong with Pizza and one of the coolest gifts I've ever gotten (My Sister bought me a custom Birthday shout-out from GREG CIPES), and then to top it all off, the Smash Ultimate site update for the day confirmed yet ANOTHER returning stage, bringing the total to a whopping 80, not counting the new ones. (This might seem unrelated, but new Smash info FUELS ME.) It was all in all a fantastic day and I'd like to thank everyone who made it possible.

However, somewhere in all that fun was what you're probably here to read about, my gifts. So without further ado, let's get on with The Lazy Shell's very first Birthday haul post!

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Switch)

Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition 

Mega Man Legacy Collection 1 + 2 (Switch)

Mega Man X Legacy Collection 1 + 2 (Switch)

If you know me at all, you know that I'm big on video games, so I try to get a couple of them every Birthday and Christmas. This year just happened to turn out to be the year of the ports, with enhanced versions of titles that have been around for a while, all for Switch. 

I absolutely ADORED the original Wii U version of Tropical Freeze (I still consider it my favorite game of the past decade), so of course I had to grab a portable version of it with extra Funky. 

I'm notoriously slow with Zelda games because of the timesink and brain commitment, but I rented Hyrule Warriors back in 2016 and enjoyed the crazy crossover combat, so a portable version with ALL of the content seemed like the perfect way to finally own it.

As for the Mega Men, 11 has me all sorts of hype (In fact, it was one of the things I pre-ordered with my Birthday cash) plus I only owned the outdated PS2 collections, so it was the perfect chance to update. (Having all of them on the go plus X7 and X8, games I've never actually played, were the cherry on top.)

Gravity Falls: The Complete Series Collector's Edition + Exclusive Lithograph (Blu-ray)

Gravity Falls is one of my absolute favorite shows EVER, so when I heard that Shout! Factory, through some bizarre magic, had convinced Disney to pass the home video rights on to them to create a set loaded with special features truly worthy of the show's amazingness, needless to say, this became a very easy want. 

Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated: The Complete First Season

Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated: The Complete Second Season

Gravity Falls: Lost Legends

Gravity Falls gets some more love with the brand new Lost Legends graphic novel, complete with four new stories penned by the creator himself, Alex Hirsch. Haven't read it yet, but I am absolutely jazzed for more adventures of the Mystery Shack crew. 

Regarding the DVDs, I've been meaning to pick up the excellent Mystery Incorporated series for a while, and with all the Gravity Falls goodness, it seemed like the perfect time. (Seriously, if you have ANY positive feelings for Scooby-Doo, CHECK THIS OUT. It's the first Scooby show to have a legit mystery happening throughout it.)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Volume 17: Desperate Measures

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Volume 18: The Trial of Krang

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universe Volume 2: The New Strangeness

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Dimension X

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Ghostbusters 2

Wrapping things up, we have my yearly comic fix of my favorite boys in green. IDW TMNT comics have been a constant of my Birthday hauls for a long while and I'm looking forward to tearing into these puppies. (Especially since THIS batch promises Ace Duck, Jagwar, Wyrm, and the Dark Turtles.)

That brings this year's haul to an end. Quite a nice one, I have to say. Not too excessive while still having a good variety of fun stuff on hand. Thanks for reading about my blatant materialism and stay tuned to the blog for future hauls and maybe even a game review or two. (Once I get over my laziness and get around to it.)