We should make a classic Monkey Island game with Ponies. The witty dialogue may be harder to do though.

Without a flask, even!

edited 18th May '12 8:18:34 PM by KylerThatch

The closest I could think of coming to a ponified monkey island game would be to make a THEMATICALLY SIMILAR game as opposed to a direct port.

@Swas: You recharge between the Rise and Teddie shadow fights.

As for the not so final boss, it was the fog thing yeah. I had the battle going perfectly up until that point - a steady pattern of buffs, hard hits and healings. Then he whips out his fog, puumps himself out the ass with buffs I can't do anything about, and blasts me with an attack that does a good 700 damage and hits all my party, so nobody can take the hit for me. Bam. Instant death.

I guess I have no choice but to guard when the fog goes up?

edited 18th May '12 8:25:13 PM by kegisak

I'm expecting at least one more Ascended Extra to come up, and another character apart from the main roster to write a Friendship Message for an episode (I kinda had this theory that the message idea is something a slow plot for Celestia to get closer to her people).

On a more negative theory, I'm kinda expecting at least some character imbalance to perk up at this point. We already had slight changes in Season Two (eg. Applejack demoted to more supporting roles, exageration of characters such as Rainbow Dash) but it was mostly kept balanced by some Character Development and occasional more traditional formulas. If they avoid the problem, then good, but I feel things might topple a little by this point.

edited 18th May '12 8:31:41 PM by Psi001

You're not a real pirate unless you can rhyme your song with orange.

well all the RD issues were all due to exactly one writer that just does NOT know how to write her. She was fine in any episode not written by Williams. And the AJ stuff was due to the lack of more ensemble episodes and the fact tha ven in season 1 AJ is the one least liely to get into trouble on her own, she only has one rel character flaw..her stubbornness.. but she's alreay learned her lessons on that for the most part. Not that we wouldn't enjoy seeing a day on the farm, but AJ is at her best (stroyline wise) when interacting with the other ponies.

All i really want WANT from season 3 is more ensemble episodes with the whole Mane 6.

I wonder if AJ will suddenly develop a new flaw in order to have more conflict.

nah..she works perfectly fine as is.

@ kegiI think they mentioned that after Shadow Rise, she healed you. I'm pretty sure the "justification" is that there's not enough time or something.
After the fog goes up, you're pretty much stuck defending for a while. You can heal and buff for a bit after, but defending is the only way to make sure you stay alive, yeah. If it's any consolation, that means you got halfway through the fight?

@Psi. I can't see where you're coming from with the negative prediction*

I just don't see how RD is that different in S2 episodes compared to S1.

and I don't see how the AJ point is really a problem. She's the kind of character who seems built to be supportive. Also, see what seraph said.

edited 18th May '12 8:39:04 PM by Swasfews

Just watched Putting Your Hoof Down again. Great episode.

I dunno, AJ seemed a bit more complex than that in Season One, she was still a very sympathetic character, but she a bit more self righteous and bad tempered, and had an occasional Serious Business ethic to her work overzeal. She seems like someone that could be rather unpleasant to work with in a bad mood.

Not to mention she probably has the largest number unique relationships with other ponies outside maybe Rainbow Dash, while a few are Straight Man relationships (eg. her Cool Big Sis role with Twilight) some involve her being flawed (eg. her Ladette traits vs Rarity, or her Rival moments with Rainbow Dash). A few of these seem less prominant in Season Two.

As such I think AJ has as much potential as the others for both lead and supporting roles, after all of them are RoundedCharacters

And Depending on the Writer may have played into Rainbow Dash's exagerration, but the point is it was still a bit more exagerrated than in Season One. Same for others like Twilight who has a bit more erratic swings into straight man and completely neurotic. It's not Flanderization yet because they still refer to their other traits, I just fear it may end up that way if certains depictions take on with others. This is usually the point in shows such evolutions happen.

edited 18th May '12 8:46:42 PM by Psi001

@Swas: Yeah, I figured as much. I need to get myself a persona with the skill that removes all an enemies buffs. That'll help me out a lot there.

Ugh. I'm probably not going to be able to finsih the game before I move... that means I won't be able to play it for who knows how long, until I get a new TV or a link to connect the PS2 to my computer. I hate it when that happens, and so close to the end. Gonna loose my groove.

edited 18th May '12 8:43:28 PM by kegisak

@Psi 001: Season 2 tended to use alot more Character Exaggeration then season 1, for better or worse. I also agree about AJ was. . .I guess had a greater variety of roles in Season 1 then in 2.

edited 18th May '12 8:48:01 PM by Mio

Whoops. Walked into the Ultima weapon fight without a single rasp user in the party. Time to grind up some magic. Fortunately the last save point was fairly close.

edited 18th May '12 8:47:05 PM by stevebat

Here's Chapter 27 liveblogged.

Only one chapter tonight because I simply couldn't go on after that one. So much rage, and nothing to direct it at.

By the way, I finally managed to get a pony dream last night. It was weird (as is usual for dreams).

I think AJ is largely the same, she just didn't get as much focus in the second season. She's not really simpler as her issues are a lot more subtle than most other ponies issues. She definitely has some issues about wanting to earn everything herself. There's still some material to work with, especially if we get another family themed episode. I'm kinda curious about how a "Sisterhooves Social" type episode with AJ and Apple Bloom would work out.

As for the next season, I'd love to see more ensemble episodes as well; I really think the first season was better at incorporating the entire cast into each episode. I'd also like to see more character-driven episodes; stuff like "Look Before You Sleep" where the conflict is driven by a personality class rather than an external event of some sort.

@Steve: Ah, so you are there. Rasp would be helpful against Ultima Weapon.

My two spellcasters in the party know osmose. Problem is osmose is great for filling up to full, not so great for draining 5k mp worth.

For some reason I think an episode revolved around AJ's Bad Liar trait could work very well, maybe like she is convinced she has Brutal Honesty so has to dwell over when to use "little white lies". Might also make for an amusing oppotunity for her now almost mandatory Sanity Slippage like the others, she seems like someone who would completely crack having to hold the truth.

I feel Scootaloo will likely get her token individual episode next season at the very least.

edited 18th May '12 8:52:29 PM by Psi001

When did they blow up ponies? I was under the impression that Zecora's extraction was arranged in order to cause as little harm as possible. If anypony died, it was an accident.

I wholeheartedly disagree with the notion that any of the characters have been on the decline in quality this season. Isolated incidents of exaggeration (that aren't even as bad as people seem to make them out to be, and can even add more complexity to the character if you take a closer look) are in no way forming a trend, as the incidents that people seem to keep bringing up are always the same isolated ones for each character.

They made no indication that the wagon that exploded was empty, and shots were fired, also with no indication that Zecora's guards were not to be harmed. If it was meant to be casualty free, then it was poorly written to show it.

edited 18th May '12 8:54:36 PM by PerpetualLurker

@Steve: Raps does 5k of draining? Wow, mine only goes up 1200.

Ah scenarios in which the characters are coerced to do the contrary. Fun stuff.