LogFAQs > #968317172

Soma Cruz - Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

Almost entirely because I prefer the boss fights, theres no damn touch screen mini-game after each boss, and you get the Black Panther soul as a reward for getting on the True Ending path instead of it being a random drop, Black Panther is such an insanely fun reward that makes completing Aria a delight. Anyway, Somas probably the only Castlevania character who can reasonably give Alucard a run for his money when it comes to best playable vania character. And I hold Castlevania protags in higher esteem than most; Richter, Maria, Shanoa, JONATHAN CHARLOTTE, even Eric, all really fun characters to be. Whereas Alucard is every single broken idea that the devs had and then some as long as you got the right drops, Soma is a much more streamlined experience; still a ton of experimentation and a lot of broken souls, but it feels more complete and considered. They had four prior games to iron out all the bugs, Soma is Alucard without jank or that really fun backdash but I have to admit I really like SotN FOR the unpolished jank and the everything and the kitchen sink approach to what Alucard can do! From a pure game design standpoint I like Soma more - his powers have a more natural progression that lets him explore the castle more easily, Power of Dominance is a lot more elegant of a system and fits in more with his flavor than Alucard getting random drops and artifacts, the overall setting and set-up of his character is a bit stronger than Richter really screwed it up, Alucard can you go fix it? - but hes a far more gradual power fantasy while I feel broken with Alucard almost immediately after Slogra & Gaibon go down, and I think I prefer Alucards mindless, ever-varied destruction in this case. Somas still excellent, if a bit bland as a character for my tastes when hes not considering being evil, hes just a step behind his ex-son for me. I do love how he leans more into being a summoner, though - always the coolest kind of character for a game as centered around combat with weird enemies as the corner scratcher Castlevanias, and he plays with that novelty to the fullest. Cool way of getting his spirit, too, bit of an unnecessary spoiler but Hell if Sakurai ever cares about that!

Eevee - Pokemon Stadium 2

https://youtu.be/R9BWt3v2Y2Y

Theres something so delightfully demented about this music. Its such a fun, quick test of reflex game, and just little things like the disappointed clunk sound Eevee makes as you bonk against the closed bucket and the way the tempo shoots up for the final round makes it feel so good. Most of the Pokemon Stadium mini-games are winners for putting Pokemon in weird and occasionally violent situations, and this is a solid one of em.

Anyway Eevees pretty much always great in whatever game it appears in. Red and Blue its an auto-include amongst most teams once you get it, if only because Hell if youre gonna use any other Gen 1 electric type, I love how its made to be more or less effective against your Pikachu depending on how you fight the rival at first in Yellow (if he beats you in the lab, he doesnt consider Pikachu a threat so he evolves Eevee into a Vaporeon, if you beat him twice he thinks electrics are the way to go so he goes Jolteon, 1-1 or you skip the Rt 22 Rival and he goes Flareon), Gen 2 essentially banishes evolution stones to Kanto so youre encouraged to get Espeon or Umbreon and theyre both great, XD has it as a starter, Lets Go Eevee its apparently broken but I dunno I never finished that one, BIG FLUFFY GIGANTIMAX EEVEE. Lil dudes just a great time every time. Its never been my absolute favorite line, but its one Im always glad shows up and has a great gimmick. I like his modern voice too, where he goes yeeeeee boi when you pet him. Fabulous. Smash Bros Eevee I get why its there, Eevee deserves to be repped, but I cant help but think a random evolution wouldve been a better gimmick for it. As-is it just is a slightly more effective but slightly less funny Fletchling or Starfy.

And for posterity (and these are all good but I dont adore kinds of Pokemon to me), Vaporeon > Espeon > Jolteon > Leafeon > Glaceon > Sylveon > Umbreon > Flareon. Combination of how much I like the design and how much I like them in battle, with Flareon falling down because of that weird Pokemon Stadium animation where he shakes his ass at you.