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HereComesTom

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  1. HereComesTom
    Well, there's this picture from off of the PBS Kids Wiki; it at least shows the six main human characters. I do remember Lambchop's Play Along; it was a pretty good show.
  2. HereComesTom
    I was just thinking about a TV show from when I was a kid during the 90s: The Puzzle Place. It had six different main-character puppets meant to represent preteen humans, and on top of that a talking dog and a talking cat. The characterization was strong, I feel like it was well-written, and having a rotating, diverse cast of characters meant they could have plots centered around their individual anxieties, struggles, flaws, cultures, and backgrounds...which kind of sounds a lot like FiM when I put it all that way, doesn't it? I'm just wondering if I'm the only one who remembers it. Do you remember it? What episode or episodes stood out in your mind? The ones that stick out in my mind are the one where Ben is called butterfingers, the one where Jodi got bullied, and...shoot, maybe the one with the musical instruments.
  3. HereComesTom
    I had in mind an easier song/level to start with, or maybe starting with use of fewer buttons earlier in the song. That's let the player get used to the controls. Ideally, there'd be a whole bunch of songs that ease the player into the harder parts---partly the difficulty was how there were so many different things to pay attention to at the same time, and partly it was because I wasn't used to the controls---and, of course, partly it's because I haven't played many rhythm games in general, if I'm being really honest!
  4. HereComesTom
    This is an impressive game, but having six buttons instead of the traditional four of five was overwhelming for someone like me who isn't used to rhythm games in general! ...It also would've helped if I'd had my fingers on ASD for the first half of the song instead of SDF... This game really would've benefited from a tutorial mode; if it's any consolation, I enjoyed it way better than the rhythm game they put into the canon G-5 My Little Pony game for Switch!
  5. HereComesTom
    I'm having a hard time believing AlphaHaven is canon now, but...well, at least it was well-implemented! I feel like Zipp should've been more observant of how the day was going and her mother's feelings; it's making me wonder if her detective reasoning or observation skills can be easily compromised when she's emotionally invested and/or teaming up with Pipp...? This could be deepening characterization, but it could also be a bit of sub-par writing. Doesn't this still sum up the whole thing, though? It's no wonder they finished the episode with it!
  6. HereComesTom
    I have to agree; I think we'd have a more cohesive story about what happened between G-4 and G-5 that would be dribbled to us piece-by-piece as part of compelling and ongoing stories if Hasbro or the writers had a real plan for where G-5 is going. That said, revealing this about Opaline's character is definitely a good watch and a good story, and if this is part of a new trend where the writers have wised up and decided to give G-5 some direction and decided to start giving us gradual revelations about the characters, setting, and conflict, then more power to them, I say!
  7. HereComesTom
    Even if she is silly, she can still pose a threat. I can think of a lot of villains who were silly and still posed a threat: Discord comes to mind from the MLP franchise itself, but outside of MLP, there's Fawful from the Mario and Luigi RPG series, the hyenas from Lion King, Fandaniel from Final Fantasy 14, Joker from Batman to an extent---the list goes on. Personally, I feel like Opaline having a silly side makes her a more complex villain, and I've found that usually, the more complex a villain is, the better---as long as the characterization and motivations remain consist, at least.
  8. HereComesTom
    This leaves me wondering if Opaline will end up redeemed in the end like a lot of MLP villains---she could be as hilarious as Discord, albeit for totally different reasons, if that happened to her! I agree that this was a terrific episode, but sometimes I wish we had some kind of a sense of progression with TYT---learning more about what happened after G-4, or learning more about Opaline's history and/or why she doesn't leave the castle, just what a "fire alicorn" is, etc. G-5 doesn't seem keen on revealing any of its secrets.
  9. HereComesTom
    I have been watching episodes of G-1 of My Little Pony on Tubi. I have to say, there's oodles of things wrong with the G-1 cartoon that'd never fly with the standards of today's animation: there were animation errors like the wrong character's lips moving, incorrect or missing colors, crossed eyes (no wonder Derpy became deliberate!), and of course it's sometimes hard to keep track of all the characters. But there is one thing to be said about how shows were delivering content to viewers back in those days: they did it in nine-minute chunks---a little less than twice the length of a G-5 episode of TYT these days. I also noticed that the lion's share of G-1 episodes were parts of multi-episode stories, and each story usually took up about 4 episodes. Several took up 2 episodes, one took TEN episodes. And while there some were one-off self-contained stories that were told in their entirety in those nine minutes, only nine out of sixty-five episodes were one-offs. (I counted.) What I'm wondering is: would TYT be better if Hasbro took a page out of their 80s playbook, and created episodes that were 9 minutes long, and often made them parts of a multi-episode story? I'd like to say that I know that the reason these episodes were nine minutes long was because they were designed to be shown in a half-hour block alongside episodes of other shows like Glo Friends, Moon Dreamers or Potato Head Kids---the intro, the credits, and the commercials took those nine minute episodes up to fifteen minutes, thus filling 50% of the half-hour blocks that broadcast television was (and still is) divided into. And I get that the four-parters gave TV stations and showrunners the flexibility to have four of the five weekdays devoted to a MLP story, and then on Friday they had the option to either do something different or to show a one-off G-1 episode. But the nine-minute episodes allowed them to have longer songs, more dialog, more character development, stronger characterization (it did happen, though not as often as I'd like), more locations, more setup for stories and plans, and it didn't need to rush the way TYT episodes do these days. Plus, the fact that most of the stories were divided up into four parts meant that there could be some pretty darn good adventures in G-1---sometimes better than the adventures they're showing us in G-5, if I'm being honest! (After watching the Tambelon episodes, I'm really understanding why most bronies were in favor of Grogar coming back in G-4 more than Hydia, Reeka, and Draggle!) Anyhow, with all that context in mind: do you suppose it'd be better if Hasbro switched to a nine-minute episode format for TYT, instead of the five-minute episode format they have now?
  10. HereComesTom
    I've seen an episode or two of G-1 on Tubi. I think I should watch more; there stuff I haven't seen from G-1 that I probably should see.
  11. HereComesTom
    Whoa---this episode actually set up something for future action- and plot-related developments! I'm actually excited to see the next episode in another couple of weeks! That said, I wish G-5 in general would explain things like: What happened to Celestia and Luna Why an alicorn no longer needs to move the sun/moon in the sky Why weather happens on its own instead of pegasi creating it What exactly happened to divide the tribes Why Twilight created the crystals Why Opaline doesn't know much about the crystals if she knew Twilight It really seems like the writers have no real plans for any of this stuff...
  12. HereComesTom
    Nice! Hard to believe such a nice piece was really just Mozart dinking around
  13. HereComesTom
    What I liked was how we got a solid use of earth pony magic when Hitch made a bridge. Sometimes it's easy to forget these ponies have those kinds of powers, and in some ways, earth pony magic is more impressive than pegasus or unicorn powers (though if pegasi still controlled the weather, they'd be even more impressive).
  14. HereComesTom
    Was that a typo, or...? I liked this one; I think it's above-average for a TYT episode. Focusing on what Sunny does for a living made for a good change. But I have to ask: was that robot made mostly out of cardboard? It sure looked like it was!
  15. HereComesTom
    About the part of the article that speculated about resolving the arc with Opaline and Misty: I'm not sure G-5 is going to actually do that---not until G-5 has its own finale, that is. I mean, it feels like Opaline was designed to be an ongoing series-long villain. There's still that's plenty mysterious about her: just what is a Fire Alicorn? How does a Fire Alicorn differ from other types of alicorns? What other types of alicorns are there, anyway? Why is Opaline the only one we've seen? Why does Opaline have these ideas that alicorns should be worshipped and feared by other ponies when (a) the only alicorns we saw in G-4 didn't have that attitude at all, and (b) the kinds of conditions necessary to become an alicorn preclude that kind of evil? I figure that, if G-5 were paced with the intention of revealing these kinds of answers and resolving these kinds of plots, then we'd have gotten a few answers to these questions, by now. As it is, we've gotten no answers, so my feeling is that the writers (a) haven't decided on the answers to these questions, themselves, and (b) are intentionally creating a static status-quo universe conducive to episodic adventures, rather than the dynamic story-driven world we got in G-4. We may never get these answers unless they're planning on a finale for G-5's stories.
  16. HereComesTom
    I kind of liked this one. Some part of me thinks the toilet jokes are overdone, but then I realized there was exactly one---and it's the one that ended the episode. Maybe they're not over-saturated, but they are a lot more prominent than they were in G-4. Though I have to ask: would it kill them to reveal just what a "Fire Alicorn" is---how that's different from any other kind of alicorn? Or how Opaline got the idea in her head that she should be feared and worshipped? Or how she lost her magic in the first place? Or why she doesn't go into town, herself? Or what exactly the story is behind why Twilight thought it was a smart idea to make those three crystals? Or... ...Need I go on?
  17. HereComesTom
    Nice! The opening few riffs remind me of the Grand Cathedral stage of Serious Sam the Second Encounter.
  18. HereComesTom
    Insensitivity was one of Pinkie's biggest flaws, and it continues to be one of Izzy's. I'm surprised Hitch didn't catch up to her and arrest her, though; he was blowing the whistle quite literally!
  19. HereComesTom
    I figure Misty will switch sides at some point, just like the Cutie Mark Crusaders had to get their cutie marks at some point---the setup needs a payoff. So far, Opaline hasn't been seen outside her castle, and she's sent Misty to do her dirty work each time---the implication is that she can't leave, though one of the video games is bringing that into doubt. So if Misty left, that would change Opaline's dynamic as a villain quite a bit; she'd need something else that would let her have influence outside of the castle if Misty left her. But then again, the writers can introduce a new character or set of characters (giving her a new lackey actually seems like it'd be great for narrative, character development, and maybe even merchandising), or they can give Opaline a power boost in-story that lets her no longer need Misty to be a threat. Heck: they could have Opaline get desperate enough to invite Nightmare Creatures into her heart, just so she's got a way out of her castle---turning her into as much a victim as Luna was. It'd be an interesting way to possibly redeem Opaline, having her on the receiving end of abuse, instead.
  20. HereComesTom
    G-5's writing really is up to par with G-4's. If they had some higher-stakes adventures, it might just reach G-4's heights!
  21. HereComesTom
    Kind of an adventure episode. Not bad, though it feels like magic should've quit working while they were arguing. You could make the case that it was going haywire instead of ceasing to function given the chaos of the situation, though. It feels like FiM had better consistency about what magic could and couldn't do than G-5 does.
  22. HereComesTom
    Opaline might, yes---if she's half as powerful as Celestia or Luna, she could be a world-ending threat, and given what we've seen her talking about in MYM, it's what she wants to become. But she's not a threat like that yet, unfortunately. At this point, the mane five don't even know she exists, and she's apparently not very powerful at all; she probably can't even leave her castle, since she never accompanies Misty anywhere in person. I'm surprised they haven't explained why she can't leave the castle; that might add some worldbuilding if, for example, Twilight imprisoned her there with a magical storm that dumps fire-alicorn-extinguishing rainwater onto her if she attempts to leave. Though why Twilight would use a means of imprisoning somepony that could be thwarted with an umbrella is beyond me... Problem is, Opaline doesn't feel like a world-ending threat; she feels like a goofy, hammy kid's cartoon show villain. Of course, so did Discord and Nightmare Moon, but you could feel their threat; you can't really feel Opaline's threat. It's kind of ironic that I'm criticizing her, though: one of the things I'd wished G-4 did was have a villain that lasted a whole season and whose plots and machinations drive either the A-plot or the B-plot of most episodes. Preferably, this villain would have a Laughable Lackey with which they could have humorous back-and-forth. And now in G-5, Opaline/Misty is providing exactly the kind of villain dynamic I'd wanted, and when you take both MYM and TYT episodes' runtime into account, either Opaline or Misty is probably responsible for about half the plotlines in G-5. And it feels like they could be better done, and that the lack of a big villain threat is what's holding G-5 back from achieving G-4's greatness...
  23. HereComesTom
    IMO, in a way, they have moved on from G-4: it feels like the slice-of-life episodes in TYT are a sign that G-5 can stand on its own with good writing, good characterization, and good narratives, even without dipping into G-4 lore. That said, I think they need to start answering some questions about what happened between G-4 and G-5, and include some high-stakes adventures like G-4 had.
  24. HereComesTom
    My experience of the youtube shorts and the MYM episodes, at least so far, is that the humor* and dialog and writing is more or less on par with that of an average G-4 season. That being said, I do feel like G-5 is missing something that G-4 has. Probably more than one thing, now that I think about it. Worldbuilding has been mentioned in this thread, and I agree with that, but what came to my mind about what G-5 was missing was the kind of far-reaching, high-stakes adventures and threats that Twilight and company had to deal with: the series premiere for G-4 showed them duking it out with a threat that could end all life on their world, for example, and there are no such high-stakes threats in G-5. Probably the lack of worldbuilding is closely tied to that lack of high-stakes threats. EDIT: I spelled "humor" as "human" for some weird reason :/
  25. HereComesTom
    I kind of hope they don't start shipping Hitch and Pipp as some kind of official couple---if anything, I felt like there was more of a spark between him and Zipp in the movie, though I'll admit that Zipp snarking at Hitch and joining him in dismantling the Sprouticus Maximus doesn't necessarily mean anything romantic, and even if it did, it hasn't really gone anywhere. And probably it shouldn't; mixing romance into a friendship dynamic can be a really messy proposition, IMO. I'm glad I'm not the only one thinking "Wait---Equestria has a population of 100 million??" That's like a quarter of the USA's population in real life! That is a VERY good question---for that matter, how is it that they didn't explore outside of Equestria and/or have regular contact with other races, like Yaks, Griffins, Changelings, etc.? We still haven't heard a blurb about what happened to any of those races, unless you count a very brief (and context-free) mention of how rare dragons are in response to seeing Sparky's egg. There's so much potential for exploring that history...! But when I say that, I realize something else: It's a very, very good thing that G-5 stands on its own and has characters whose interactions form interesting stories, even without standing on G-4's lore. I mean, I still want to see the mysteries solved about just what happened to the harmony Twilight created, where the other races went, what happened to families that had a mix of earth ponies, unicorns, and/or pegasi in them, why the sun and moon and clouds move on their own, now---all that kind of thing. The answers to those questions could create the kinds of truly epic storylines with far-reaching consequences and high stakes that G-4 was known for. Exploring any one of those questions in-depth could easily be worthy of movies, season finales/premieres, and/or season-long story arcs. But the fact that G-5's slice-of-life episodes stand on their own, and do so without bringing G-4 into it at all, means that G-5 has some good quality, good characterization, and good writing behind it---and when you get down to it, without good writing/characterization/quality, plots that build off of G-4 mysteries would end up falling on their faces, anyway!
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