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The Secret To Training Powerful Pokémon In Scarlet And Violet

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Terastallizing isn’t the only way to power up a Pokémon.
Screenshot: The Pokémon Company / Kotaku

For most players, Pokémon games are a pretty straightforward affair of attacking enemies’ weaknesses and scoring that sweet one-shot. But Pokémon can become incredibly overwhelming once you start playing competitively. What’s an IV? What’s an EV, if not the cute brown fox who can evolve into a bunch of other, more colorful and elaborate foxes?

In fact, they refer to hidden numbers and background math that competitive players like to tweak and manipulate to create the strongest versions of their favorite ‘mons. EV and IVs stand for Effort Values and Individual Values. These hidden numbers determine the final state of a Pokémon’s six stats, and understanding how they work and how to influence them can give you an upper hand in competitive battling. Let’s take a closer look.

Listen up, students! It’s time to learn how to make your Pokémon the very best.
Screenshot: The Pokémon Company / Kotaku

Not Eevee…EV!

Manipulating Effort Values is quite a time investment, as they’re entirely based on what you expose a Pokémon to as you raise them. Each Pokémon has up to 510 total EV points to distribute among all six stats, but each stat can only have 252 EVs individually.

You raise EVs by using items like vitamins and feathers, which each boost specific stats. Vitamins are the most immediately effective, as each will raise an individual stat by 10 EVs. Before Pokémon Sword and Shield, Vitamins were only effective up to a Pokémon’s first 100 EVs, but now, these items will work to max out an individual stat to the ceiling of 252. Feathers aren’t as powerful, raising an EV by only one point. Pretty straightforward so far, but influencing a Pokémon’s EVs while you train them in battle requires a little more planning.

Every Pokémon you battle grants specific EV boosts when defeated, often reflective of its own base stats. The amount of EVs you’ll get per stat depends on how powerful the Pokémon you’re fighting is. For example, if your Pokémon beats a Pichu, it will add one EV point added to your creature’s Speed stat. However, if you’re fighting its fully-evolved form Raichu, that will net you three Speed EV points. If you felt so compelled, you could go beat up a bunch of unsuspecting Pichu to raise a Pokémon’s Speed EVs, but you’ll hit the stat-specific 252 limit much faster if you’re battling more powerful Pokémon.

Some Pokémon don’t dump all their EVs into a single stat like Raichu does, however. Take Butterfree, for example. It divides its three EVs into Special Attack and Special Defense. So while there are better Pokémon to fight for either individual stat, defeating Pokémon who earn you a spread of EVs is a way to raise multiple EVs at once. It’s just a matter of your goals for stat raising and how you want to spend your time.

One thing worth noting about EVs is that, because modern Pokémon games allow an entire party to gain experience after battles, EVs gained are shared through your party as they gain experience, even if they’re not on the field. So be mindful of what you’re training against and what Pokémon you have waiting in the wings to join the fight, as their EVs will be influenced by these battles even if you’re not using them directly.

Grinding EV can take some time, but you can speed up the process of raising specific EV stats by equipping Pokémon with power items that correlate with a specific stat, such as the Power Anklet that increases Speed EVs, or the Power Belt that increases Defense EVs. All of these are purchasable at Delibird Presents stores for $10,000 each.

This man will help your Pokémon overcome their natural stat deficiencies.
Screenshot: The Pokémon Company / Kotaku

“The circumstances of one’s birth are irrelevant”

Individual Values, known as IV, are a bit more complicated. IVs are essentially Pokémon genetics, in that these are stat boosts inherent to the specific Pokémon you have, which range from zero points to 31 points. Once unchangeable, the Pokémon series has implemented various ways to influence them over the years.

Imagine you had two level 100 Raichus and one had 31 Speed IVs and the other had zero. Even if you trained these two Raichus exactly the same way and curated the same EV build, the one that was born with 31 Speed IVs would have a Speed stat 31 points higher than the other. A lot of competitive players will breed Pokémon to try and attain optimal IVs, as parent Pokémon pass on higher IVs based on their own to their offspring.

In more recent games, Pokémon has given players the ability to “Hyper Train” their ‘mons to increase their IVs in exchange for Bottle Caps. This can be done in locations like Montenevera in Scarlet and Violet by talking to a trainer standing close to the town’s Pokémon Center. Bottle Caps can be hard to come by. You can buy them at the Delibird Presents stores around Paldea, but they’re pretty pricey at $20,000 per cap. You can also win them in high-level tera raids, but often just as a random drop. So while it might seem more immediate to be able to use Hyper Training, acquiring those Bottle Caps can take time, which is why some players opt to max out a Ditto’s IVs and use it to breed better versions of whatever Pokémon they’re trying to raise.

My Raichu is not EV/IV optimized, I’m simply showing you the menu where you look at them. Do not yell at me. He is a good boy.
Screenshot: The Pokémon Company / Kotaku

“Just tell them that it’s Pokémon nature”

But no matter what a Pokémon’s EVs and IVs are, a few additional factors will determine whether or not it’s is inherently effective in certain builds compared to others.

Each Pokémon has a set of base stats inherent to its species that grow as you raise your critter, and the direction those numbers go will be determined by how its EVs and IVs pan out. Raichu’s base stats position it as a fast, special attack-driven Pokémon. It has a base speed stat of 110, and its special attack stat of 95 outshines its base physical attack, which is 85.

This helps you determine what attacks are probably most effective for it to learn. Its physical attack stat is still respectable, but at a glance, Raichu is meant to primarily be a special attacker. Understanding EVs and IVs can help you shift those scales, or at the very least make up for certain deficiencies. Raichu’s base physical defense stat is much lower than the rest, coming in at just 50, so if you wanted to help make up for that, raising its IVs through Hyper Training or fighting Pokémon that naturally raise physical defense EVs can help it bulk up a little. But those base stats can be influenced by another factor that can play into how you divvy up your EVs and IVs: Natures.

Alongside its universal base stats as a species, every individual Pokémon you come across will also come with a Nature. These appear in the status summary screens as a means to give you a sense of your Pokémon’s personality, but they also determine one increased stat and one decreased stat. As such, some players will breed multiple versions of a Pokémon in an effort to get one with the most desirable Nature and stat distribution for the build they want.

There are 25 total Natures in Pokémon games right now, and the stats they increase and decrease are as follows, courtesy of Serebii:

Hardy: No change
Lonely: Attack/Defense
Brave: Attack/Speed
Adamant: Attack/Special Attack
Naughty: Attack/Special Defense
Bold: Defense/Attack
Docile: No change
Relaxed: Defense/Speed
Impish: Defense/Speed
Lax: Defense/Special Defense
Timid: Speed/Attack
Hasty: Speed/Defense
Serious: No change
Jolly: Speed/Special Attack
Naive: Speed/Special Defense
Modest: Special Attack/Attack
Mild: Special Attack/Defense
Quiet: Special Attack/Speed
Bashful: No Change
Rash: Special Attack/Special Defense
Calm: Special Defense/Attack
Gentle: Special Defense/Defense
Sassy: Special Defense/Speed
Careful: Special Defense/Special Attack
Quirky: No Change

While Natures themselves are fixed, Sword and Shield introduced Mints, a new set of items that can change the stat distribution associated with them. For example, a Modest Mint will increase a Pokémon’s Special Attack, but reduce the Attack stat as if the Pokémon’s Nature had changed. This won’t change the actual personality it talks about in their summary (that would be brainwashing), but it will allow you to tweak their stats for any competitive schemes you might have in mind.

He’s happy because I just told him we’re going to go change up his EV/IVs so the Kotaku comments won’t roast him for his unoptimized build.
Screenshot: The Pokémon Company / Kotaku

Different pokés for different folks

All of these moving parts can be a lot to keep track of, and these mechanics are really there for the sickest of competitive sickos. It can be rewarding to get a Pokémon to the competitive state you want and see them excel in battles, but it’s also a huge time investment to get your team’s numbers precisely dialed in. But if you’re curious about the world of competitive Pokémon, understanding EVs and IVs is a good metric for whether or not this side of the scene is for you. And if it’s not, you can still do cool tera raids with your friends, like the ongoing Charizard one happening in Scarlet and Violet right now.

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Technology

New $100 Diablo IV ‘Collector’s Box’ Doesn’t Include Game

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Image: Blizzard / Kotaku

Blizzard is now taking pre-orders on a large, nearly $100 special Diablo IV collector’s box which includes many things. But it doesn’t include the game. And while Blizzard isn’t trying to trick people into accidentally buying this game-free box, it still seems very odd that there’s not even an option to get the game with this pricey package of demonic goodies.

Expensive collector’s editions of video games and movies have become more and more popular over the last decade. Personally, I never felt the need for all the random gubbins and statues usually included in these pricey bundles, but I get it. Some folks just really love to collect everything involving their favorite franchise or series. Whatever floats your boat! Just don’t get confused and think this $100 Diablo IV Collector’s Box actually includes the game it’s named after!

This week, Blizzard started taking pre-orders on something it’s calling the Diablo IV Limited Collector’s Box over on its merch store. This large, spiffy-looking box will cost you a cool $96.66 (I see what you did there…) and includes all of these items:

  • Occult Mousepad
  • Cloth Map of Sanctuary
  • Pin of the Horadrim
  • Diablo IV Collector’s Edition Art Book
  • Matted Fine Art Prints (x2) – 18.54″ x 10.79″

That’s very nice and all, but you’ll notice that the game isn’t part of this pricey bundle. Now, Blizzard isn’t trying to deceive anyone. It’s clear in the store description that this box doesn’t contain the game. It also isn’t selling the box on Battle.net but instead on its merch site, further separating it from its video game store. So I’m not trying to imply that Blizzard is trying to pull a fast one and trick diehard Diablo players into forking over $100 for something that doesn’t include the upcoming ARPG. I’m just saying it’s a bit odd, is all!

I guess for folks who prefer buying a digital copy of the game via a third-party site or who might want to provide a physical gift to someone who might already have the game pre-ordered, this is a nice idea. But why not have a different version that is $60-70 more and includes a code for the game? Or even a discount on it! Though that kind of stuff might make things more confusing.

Anyway, Diabo IV comes out June 6, 2023 on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, and PC. If you want it, don’t buy this box. Or do, but then also buy the game separately.

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Technology

New $100 Diablo IV ‘Collector’s Box’ Doesn’t Include Game

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Image: Blizzard / Kotaku

Blizzard is now taking pre-orders on a large, nearly $100 special Diablo IV collector’s box which includes many things. But it doesn’t include the game. And while Blizzard isn’t trying to trick people into accidentally buying this game-free box, it still seems very odd that there’s not even an option to get the game with this pricey package of demonic goodies.

Expensive collector’s editions of video games and movies have become more and more popular over the last decade. Personally, I never felt the need for all the random gubbins and statues usually included in these pricey bundles, but I get it. Some folks just really love to collect everything involving their favorite franchise or series. Whatever floats your boat! Just don’t get confused and think this $100 Diablo IV Collector’s Box actually includes the game it’s named after!

This week, Blizzard started taking pre-orders on something it’s calling the Diablo IV Limited Collector’s Box over on its merch store. This large, spiffy-looking box will cost you a cool $96.66 (I see what you did there…) and includes all of these items:

  • Occult Mousepad
  • Cloth Map of Sanctuary
  • Pin of the Horadrim
  • Diablo IV Collector’s Edition Art Book
  • Matted Fine Art Prints (x2) – 18.54″ x 10.79″

That’s very nice and all, but you’ll notice that the game isn’t part of this pricey bundle. Now, Blizzard isn’t trying to deceive anyone. It’s clear in the store description that this box doesn’t contain the game. It also isn’t selling the box on Battle.net but instead on its merch site, further separating it from its video game store. So I’m not trying to imply that Blizzard is trying to pull a fast one and trick diehard Diablo players into forking over $100 for something that doesn’t include the upcoming ARPG. I’m just saying it’s a bit odd, is all!

I guess for folks who prefer buying a digital copy of the game via a third-party site or who might want to provide a physical gift to someone who might already have the game pre-ordered, this is a nice idea. But why not have a different version that is $60-70 more and includes a code for the game? Or even a discount on it! Though that kind of stuff might make things more confusing.

Anyway, Diabo IV comes out June 6, 2023 on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, and PC. If you want it, don’t buy this box. Or do, but then also buy the game separately.

Read original article here

Technology

Genshin Impact’s New Quest Has A Choice That May Mess You Up

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Screenshot: HoYoverse / Kotaku

I’m not just a clown, I’m the entire circus. A week after I called him Genshin’s most annoying character, Scaramouche’s storyline crushed my heart into itty-bitty pieces and caused me to spend gacha currency on him. Ever since Genshin launched two years ago, players have been grumbling nonstop that the dialogue choices in the story “didn’t mean anything.” Now it finally does, and I agonized over it last night for several hours. This was probably the most difficult choice that I’ve made in any video game this year.

Scaramouche is a recurring villain who’s been a pain in the ass since his debut back in November 2020. He always had a rude personality, but he first earned my ire for helping to create weapons that killed their unknowing wielders. Several months later, I found that he was using a stolen divine object to remake himself as a god. Again, I understand this is all from a textbook villain arc, but what really irritated me was his superior attitude. He’s an artificial puppet who feels abandoned by his creator, but that doesn’t really excuse his terrible personality. Or his desire to become a god-tyrant.

The latest main story quest attempts to redeem him. After we defeated his god form in the last patch, he became an assistant to the God of Wisdom. She showed him a traumatic memory from his past that proved his loved ones hadn’t betrayed him. The revelation was so shocking that Scaramouche tried to erase himself from reality using a fantasy supercomputer. It worked, sort of. The world created another version of him to replace the one that disappeared in this new timeline. That’s the one that you pull in the character gacha. More importantly, you get to give him a new name. This name will appear in all cutscenes and interface text. While this is normal for a game like Pokémon, being able to rename playable characters is a first for any gacha character that I know of.

Here’s the catch, though: The new guy won’t just accept any name. Players report that you can’t give him his old name. You also can’t name him after the mother who “abandoned” him. He rejects any names based on his former coworkers, since they had abused and exploited him. He has a custom response to each rejected name, which some have pointed out is similar to the naming mechanic in Undertale. If you decide to give him your own name, he expresses approval. The game will allow you to rename him in the future, but warns that it can only be done a limited number of times. The developers really want you to be thoughtful about naming the character and treat it as seriously as names deserve.

I was pleasantly surprised by the process, because naming video game characters can often be a way of stripping agency from them. It’s become a meme to give the rival a humiliating name in Pokémon Red and Blue. But by demonstrating clear preferences against specific names, the Scaramouche clone feels more like a “real” person to me. Giving him a name didn’t just feel like a matter of personal aesthetics. It felt like I was fulfilling a specific emotional need that he had been denied for so long. Despite all of this, you can still name him Bootyshaker69 or biggestchungus. One popular name that has swept through the fandom is “babygirl.”

Thankfully, a lot of people are more thoughtful about it. Some people are making lists of potential names like they’re a first time parent. One fan even created a whole Google Survey to ask other players about which name they had picked. Others are looking up the meanings of certain Japanese names, since his homeland is based on Japan. Honestly, this is just such an incredible gameplay experience. I can’t think of any other artistic medium that could compel players to put so much effort into simulating the experience of choosing someone’s name. In choice-centric games, I’m used to making decisions about which NPCs live and which ones die. This one took me on an emotional decision making process that felt exclusively personal.

I was met with a conundrum. Names are new beginnings. It’s impossible to use names to describe the past or present. So I gave him a name that represented my hopes for his future. Shohei (soar, even/flat) seemed to fit his new wind-based Anemo element. And just like his mother, I also wanted to give Shohei some freedom and agency—but without the tragedy that Scaramouche experienced. His previous incarnation felt abandoned while he wandered the world. Wherever Shohei goes in his new life, I hope he goes with purpose.



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Technology

New Final Fantasy Remake Has A Getty Watermark In A Painting

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Screenshot: Square Enix / Kotaku

Crisis Core – Final Fantasy VII – Reunion was released today and is a solid remastering/remake of a beloved PSP title. But at least one painting in the new game contains a li’l something extra: a Getty Images watermark, implying that the in-game painting was created using an image preview taken directly from that service’s website.

In our review posted earlier today, we noted that the new remake is a faithful adaptation of the original PSP game, complete with flaws that come about from being overly dedicated to being a perfect prequel. And like the original, while the first half or so of the game is solid, the ending makes for a “disappointing conclusion.” It’s a damn good-looking remake nonetheless. However, we’ve noticed that the new visuals come with a new mistake, in the form of a watermark left on at least three instances of an in-game painting.

During chapter eight of the game, you’ll enter a Shinra mansion. In this very nice-looking and opulent home you’ll find many fancy paintings hanging on the walls. Look closely and you’ll discover these are real paintings. Look a little closer and you’ll clearly see where Square Enix grabbed the art from.

Hello there, Getty.
Screenshot: Square Enix / Kotaku

Yup, that’s a big old Getty Images watermark right in the middle of it. I was able to track down the exact painting that Square Enix grabbed using our own Getty account. It’s a piece by artist John Crowther depicting Ludgate Circus in London in 1881.

Kotaku has reached out to Square Enix but didn’t hear back before publication.

Read More: Crisis Core – Final Fantasy VII – Reunion: The Kotaku Review

It appears that whoever grabbed this image from Getty—and possibly didn’t pay to license it, as the watermark is still there—stretched it out and cropped most of its top to make it fit in the frame. And this isn’t a one-off error. The resulting painting appears at least three times in this area of the game complete with the Getty watermark. Whoops!

The watermarked painting appears in at least three different places.
Screenshot: Square Enix / Kotaku

This isn’t the first time a big Square Enix RPG has shipped with a mistaken watermark included. Kingdom Hearts III also included a watermark during one cutscene. However, that was a “blink and you’ll miss it moment” and not an easy-to-find painting that appears multiple times and can be seen clearly by anyone paying attention. If you want to see this mistake yourself, I’d go to the mansion sooner than later, as I imagine Square Enix will be patching it out shortly.

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Technology

This New Scarlet And Violet Pokémon Is Surprisingly Overpowered

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Screenshot: Nintendo / Kotaku

Pokémon has a new meta contender in town, and it’s…a cute mouse family? That’s right. In addition to having unsettling in-game implications like how parents hatch out of a single egg, the Tandemaus line is also incredibly powerful: its signature move can exceed the base power of attacks such as Hyper Beam and Explosion. Tandemaus and Maushold have gotten competitive players shaking in their boots.

Tandemaus is a Normal-Type Pokémon that resembles a pair of mice who live together as a family unit. When they evolve into Maushold, they can gain either one or two mice children. Yes, the Pokémon are procreating with or without your approval. And the reason that you’re only hearing about it now is because these Pokémon were introduced in the recently released Scarlet and Violet.

The only thing that saves us all from always being pummeled to death by a family of mice is that its effectiveness is RNG-dependent. That signature move, Population Bomb, is a multi-hit move like Bullet Seed and Double Slap, and it hits anywhere from one to ten times. Each hit deals a base damage of 20, and each hit has a base accuracy of 90. If you miss even a single hit, then the entire move ends. The mice couple raised a family of quitters, apparently.

But wait, there’s more! If you get a Tandemaus with the Hidden Ability “Technician,” it then further boosts each hit by 50%. That’s on top of the 50% Same Type Attack Bonus (STAB). So Population Bomb’s true power is 45-450 if you get the correct Tandemaus. Assuming that RNG favors you for ten consecutive hits, this move can be the most powerful Normal-type move in the game. If you really think about it, do you even need all 10 hits? Just landing four attacks will net you 180 points of base damage. And it doesn’t even come with the typical drawbacks of missing a turn or taking massive recoil damage. You can also further boost Tandemaus with held items such as Wide Lens, which brings Population Bomb’s accuracy to 100 percent.

In order to get the Technician ability for these terrifying fellas, you have to obtain the Ability Patch as a rare drop in Tera Battles. I know, I know. Tera Battles are some of the worst raids I’ve ever played. But think about the gains! Think about crushing your enemies with the cutest Pokémon in the game. If you have more patient friends, you can also ask them to breed you a Tandemaus with the Hidden Ability.

For the rest of us, have no fear: There’s one reliable counter to the tyrannical reign of Technician Tandemaus: The Rocky Helmet. This held item shaves off one-sixth of an opponent’s health bar every time they use a move that makes contact. So assuming that Tandemaus is at full health, you just have to survive six hits—or 270 base damage. The Mudbray line also looks like a good counter—its ability Stamina raises its Defense with every hit. Or you could just run a Ghost-type Pokémon.

This family is here to shake up competitive Pokémon, and it takes no prisoners. And you know what? Good for them.

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Technology

Pokémon Scarlet & Violet Guide: Get Every Legendary

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Image: The Pokémon Company

Wherever you’ve fallen in your Pokémon journey in the month since Pokémon Scarlet and Violet were released—either sticking to the grind or protesting some of the year’s most flagrant bugs—you’re still under the shadow of a 24-year-old refrain: gotta catch ‘em all. Though Scarlet and Violet marketing has featured legendaries Koraidon and Miraidon most prominently (likely by virtue of both these serpentine creatures turning into Harley-Davidson bikes upon request), the games actually have six total legendary Pokémon combined. I’ll tell you how to catch ‘em all, every last one of ‘em.

Koraidon

Scarlet players will receive Koraidon naturally as they progress through the game’s core story, and the legendary will be able to start providing transportation at the end of the tutorial. But to unleash Koraidon’s full potential—different types of movement like dashing and gliding—you’ll have to progress through Scarlet’s Path of Legends storyline and defeat the five Titans. Finishing the complete main story allows you to battle Koraidon, too.

But you can also pick up another Koraidon upon completing the game by heading down to Zero Gate and entering the Great Crater of Paldea. Koraidon will be standing on an iridescent cliff outside of Lab Zero, waiting to be caught.

Miraidon

Everything about Koraidon applies to Miraidon, but for Violet players instead. Violet and Scarlet players can also trade exclusive legendaries if they want both in one game, which might incentivize finishing the game and grabbing that double.

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Chi-Yu

Dark/Fire-type guppy Chi-Yu is one of the “Ruinous Quartet,” a group of legendary Paldea Pokémon that represent hatred, fear, and envy. They are cute though, despite their malevolence.

Chi-Yu is floating around North Province (Area Two), in a cave locked behind a glowing blue shrine, or the Firescourge Shrine. Your history teacher Ms. Raifort will mark this shrine and the other three on your map if you talk to her.

You can open Firescourge by plucking all eight blue Ominous Stakes from the ground, which immediately crumble when you interact with them. You’ll hear the legendary cry out once you crush the final stake, the chains on their prison unleashed.

Once you get rid of the blue stakes and reach Chi-Yu, you can fight for it. The legendary will be at level 60, as will be the rest of the Ruinous Quartet, and you should look out for its Beads of Ruin ability, which decreases your fighting Pokémons’ Special Defense by 25 percent.

Chien-Pao

Ruinous sabertooth Chien-Pao is locked in the yellow-lit Icerend Shrine, in West Province (Area One). You can release the frowning Dark/Ice-type by removing all yellow Ominous Stakes. Chien-Pao can use Sword of Ruin, an ability that decreases Defense by 25 percent.

Ting-Lu

Red-eyed Ting-Lu is a stony Dark/Ground-type, sealed behind the green Groundblight Shrine on the Socarrat Trail. You know the drill—get rid of the green Ominous Stakes to get to this Ruinous Pokémon. It can perform Vessel of Ruin, which decreases your Pokémons’ Special Attack by 25%.

Wo-Chien

Closing out the Quartet is Cousin Itt’s nephew Wo-Chien, a Dark/Grass-type obscured by browning leaves. It’s bolted behind the purple Grasswither Shrine in South Province, which you can open by destroying all purple Ominous Stakes. It’s able to use Tablets of Ruin, draining your Pokémons’ Attack by 25%.

 

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Technology

One Of Steam’s Top Rated Games: Watching Rubber Ducks Float

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Screenshot: Turbolento Games / Kotaku

Idle games are one of the most surprising break-out niches of the last few years, although the genre’s name is something of a misnomer. For the first while, these games are typically anything but idle, as you frantically click until you reach a point where the game starts to play itself. Now, Placid Plastic Duck Simulator truly is an idle game: you do absolutely nothing, but watch some plastic ducks float in a pool. And I’m here to tell you it’s one of the most highly rated games on Steam.

As first reported by the excellent GameDiscoverCo newsletter, PPDS’s popularity on Steam isn’t a sudden spike. It is, to be more reasonable, a succession of spikes since its original release in July this year. Since then, the barely interactive game has received over 3,500 “Overwhelmingly Positive” reviews on Steam, currently registering at the almost unheard of 98% positive ratings. And why? Um…

On one level, this genuinely is nothing other than watching rubber duckies floating in a blandly rendered backyard pool. At first you have one yellow duck, but as an on-screen duck-o-meter fills, new ducks fall from the sky. These come with their own designs, perhaps sporting a headband or a top hat and pipe, or they may be cleverly disguised as a sprinkled donut.

Screenshot: Turbolento Games / Kotaku

Your interaction is limited to awkwardly moving the camera around, pivoted on a selected ducky. The view gently bobs up and down with the water, while serene background noises of birds chirping and wind blowing soundtrack the banality. (Or you can turn the awful music on, which you shouldn’t.)

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The thing is, far more effort has been put into it than it deserves, and as much as I was ready to roll my eyes and switch off, it’s been running on my desktop for a couple of hours now. There’s a day/night cycle, with features of the two-level pool lighting up at night, and the natural soundtrack shifting to cicadas. Out beyond the pool is the ocean, and if you watch you might see a pod of dolphin swim past. Oh, and of course there’s DLC that adds more patterns on the ever-growing number of ducks.

This was all created by Italian developers Tunnel Vision Studio as a silly break from developing their proper game, open-world survival sim Starsand. It was part of an internal game jam at the studio, GameDiscoverCo reports, for which they did “zero marketing.” Due to some attention from some big Japanese and Korean Twitter accounts, and then a few weeks ago from 2.75 million-subscriber YouTube account RTGame, it keeps catching people’s attention and imagination.

Screenshot: Turbolento Games / Kotaku

That it only costs $2 is likely a big part of its review success. It’s hard to begrudge something so sweetly stupid when it costs so little, and as much as I want to be cynical, I can’t stop checking back in to see which ducks have arrived, and I became inexplicably excited when a small plane flew over that one time. Also, one time, for reasons I don’t understand, one of my ducks escaped via a propeller on its head and floated out to sea.

The duckies genuinely have different behaviors, even if that really amounts to floating about slightly differently. I wonder if simply sparing the player of almost absolutely everything about a game makes the tiny elements that remain feel so much more significant. Either way, I find I just can’t argue with the reviews it’s getting. It’s ridiculous, and it deserves that 98% positivity that’s usually reserved for the likes of Half-Life 2 or Stardew Valley.

Here’s more information:

Sesame Street

 

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Technology

Sonic Creator Arrested Again Over Final Fantasy Shares

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It was only three weeks ago that we reported the astonishing news that Yuji Naka, the creator of Sonic The Hedgehog, had been arrested over allegations of insider training in relation to Dragon Quest. Now, it’s being reported that he’s been arrested again for similar charges, this time allegedly regarding shares bought before the 2021 announcement of mobile battle royale Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier.

Yuji Naka, a name behind some of the most iconic Japanese game franchises of the last 30 years, could be in a whole heap of trouble. The man who took Sonic from a high school notebook doodle to one of the most famous gaming characters in existence was arrested in November, along with others, allegedly accused of buying shares in developer Aiming, shortly before it was announced in 2020 that the studio would be making Dragon Quest Tact.

Less than a month later, it’s being reported by Asahi that it’s happening all over again, but this time in regards to his allegedly purchasing shares in ATeam Entertainment, just before it was made public in 2021 that they’d be creating Square Enix’s ill-fated mobile game, Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier. According to Asahi, he’s alleged to have paid 144.7 million yen ($1,051,000) for 120,000 shares in ATeam. It’s claimed he was arrested alongside another former Square Enix employee, Taisuke Sasaki, who was also said to have been arrested over Aiming shares last month.

Were this to be a thing someone had done, it would of course be an attempt to profit from the increased share value such an announcement would cause, but given it would be based on non-public confidential information, that counts as insider trading.

Most recently, Naka had been working on Square Enix’s dreadful Balan Wonderworld, before being let go by the studio six months before its release. He says he later sued Square Enix over this, but has never disclosed the resolution.

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In February last year, Squenix announced Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier would be jointly developed with ATeam, before releasing it for mobile in November last year. Then, less than a year later, announced they were killing it dead. ATeam shares are now worth about half their value in 2021, and a fraction of their peak in 2013.

 

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Technology

Fans Unsure If Pokemon Scarlet & Violet Patch Improves Anything

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Screenshot: Nintendo / Kotaku

Rumors are swirling that Nintendo may have underplayed its hand with yesterday’s Pokémon Scarlet and Violet patch announcement, with some suggesting that the worst of the framerate issues have been significantly improved. In our own very unscientific tests, it looks like this might at least a little bit true.

Yesterday’s announcement of Version 1.1.0 (the first patch the extremely broken Pokémon game has received since its 1.0.1 day one addition) was incredibly vague on what it actually did. For some reason, it only highlighted that it addressed the most trivial of music issues, while anything else was summarized as “various bug fixes.” Which, when followed up by a sort-of apology for the mess of the game, had everyone assume the more important fixes were still to come.

Yet, players are reporting a big improvement in how the game is running. Check out GameXplain’s footage, for instance:

GameXplain

Others are reporting greater render distances, improved shadows, fading light changes, and fade-in rather than pop-in for NPCs.

However, Nintendúo World’s side-by-side framerate test seems to show each version out-performing the other in different places. Although I’d argue there’s definitely some improvement when entering towns in 1.1.0:

Nintendúo World

One more for luck? This side-by-side comparison by Reyvanlatino (which unfortunately plays the music from both simultaneously, but just out of time) makes them look absolutely identical to me:

Reyvanlatino

So yeah, it’s pretty difficult to know exactly what’s happening here, and why different people are recording such different experiences.

Read More: Pokémon Scarlet And Violet: The Kotaku Review

In my own very unscientific comparison, I played the same area on my son’s original Switch with the 1.1.0 patch and on my OLED without the patch, and to my eyes the patched version seemed noticeably smoother. But, my eyes are notorious idiots, and either way, it was far from a revelatory experience.

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It’s so hard to know what’s your imagination versus what’s a genuine improvement, but Pokémon still popped in, and it was still freezing up for half a second at random points. (Still, at least I caught a bunch of the Violet paradox monsters to trade to myself later.) If things are improved, they’re absolutely definitely not improved enough.

We asked Nintendo yesterday if they could be more specific about what had been patched, and didn’t even receive a response. So we’ve asked again today, not least because it seems like they could have something to boast about here. We’ll obviously update should they find time to reply. Although perhaps they’re relying on people’s hopeful imaginations to fill in where they did not?

Meanwhile, come on Digital Foundry, pull your fingers out and give us the definitive answers.

 

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