SSBU Machinima | Smash Region - Episode 4: "Pikachu's Dilemma!"

[@retrominimii]

And now we wait 2 years for the next episode. Great episode btw

[@ShadowZPA]

This comment was so funny it deserved a pin.

[@retrominimii]

@@ShadowZPA Yay!

[@TheSonOfBoaz]

Finally had a chance to sit down and watch this! Glad to be a part of such a unique and ambitious story!

[@ShadowZPA]

Glad to be having you on the team, Boaz! 🔥

[@dakiehamilton7261]

Zach has to be very very careful because he's not holding back

[@Obsidianskin]

Such a great episode , thanks for having me be part of it

[@SarioTG]

Wonderful episode. Editing was top notch as always and everyone did really well. Hopefully Zach makes it in time. 🤞

[@EhrgeizRetired]

EPIC!!!! ❤️ the editing is legendary 🙌🏾 love the voice acting as well, and great music choices!! It was worth the wait, Keep up the good work lil bro! EDIT: HOW THE FUCK DID YOU DO THOSE EXPRESSIONS ?!?!!! (minus the Mii’s)

[@AngelStar291]

Ya know what's funny? I completely forgot I recorded this LMAO XD

[@SmashWonders]

Hey, Shadow. First off, welcome back, Smash Region! It's good to see this series continuing, even after a 2-year pause. I promised some in-depth feedback of the series thus far, so here goes: - The places where this series shines the most (so far) is in the visuals and the editing. It really can't be understated how much they stand out, compared to other machinimas. The way the in-game and not in-game footage blends together, along with character animations and any special effect is, if it's not totally seamless, then it's damn close to being so. And best of all, it's all done to better convey the storytelling, never solely for the sake of, "it looks cool." I'm excited to see what other sort of creative visuals you'll come up with. - The main issue I have with the series as of now is in the pacing: I found the pacing to be really sluggish, that is, I feel like the series is taking way too long to really dive into its story and plotting. There are 4 episodes as of this comment, but, it just doesn't feel like much has actually happened, outside of Pikachu being kidnapped and Zack and Jace discovering Dragon. With Sariana, most of what we've seen with her just seems like a lot of brooding and talking about herself; it just doesn't feel like much has been going on with her, outside of her X (dark?) half taking over her body. In short much of these first 4 episodes feel like they get bogged down in conversations that refuse to allow the plot to move along. I get it if there's intended to be time dedicated for stuff like character development. I would suggest to, from a writing standpoint, look for ways to possibly integrate character development with moving the plot along. For example, in Episode 2, I feel like, instead of having Zack and Jace just standing outside of Zack's house talking for several minutes and then heading out, it could've instead be Zack and Jace immediately head out, and then have all their discussions/dialogue while they're walking/travelling to go find Pikachu. That way, we could get both character development and a sense that the plot is still moving along. - One other area I really feel needs to be addressed more is the world-building. With this series being called Smash Region, I'm led to believe that there's going to be a lot of focus on the overall setting this series takes place in. However, this Region/world, to me, feels like it has just been confined to wherever our main characters are located, which makes this Region/World(?) feel rather small and limited. I'm really curious to know more of what exactly is this world like, with this supposed dark underworld of shadows, and perhaps how do these shadows affect the world's modern-day residents. The scene in the 1st episode where Zack goes to the store I felt was a prime opportunity for world-building, maybe have him do something like walk through a town and socialize briefly with others, not just argue with the store-owner. I understand there can be limitations with the number of available characters/controllers, as well as Smash 4 being limited from a machinimating standpoint (although I take it this series has fully transitioned to Ultimate now). Even so, I would push for looking for creative ways to pull off certain world-building scenes, because even if they seem small, they can still make a lot of difference. - I applaud everybody in the voice cast: the casting has been top-notch, and everyone does a great job with their performances. Watching these episodes makes me think everyone in the cast really embraces their role(s) and knows how to properly portray their character through their voice. I'm looking forward to seeing any other roles/characters that have yet to appear. - A small nitpick I had: Dark Soul's note from Episode 1 emphasized that Zack had to come find him before 5 PM, or else Pikachu gets it. From what I recall in Episode 2, it was at least 3 PM, when Zack and Jace headed out. Now after 4 episodes, I'm not sure how exactly time has progressed. I guess it's still like 4:30 PM? This seems like a lot to happen in the span of 2-3 hours. So, overall, I find there to be a lot of great things about this series, but at the same time, I believe there is still a lot of room for improvement. In my opinion, it's not fair to make a final verdict on a Smash machinima after a few episodes, so, assuming that it won't take 2 years to make every single episode going forward, I trust that future episodes will have notable improvements. Looking forward to what is yet to come, Shadow!

[@ShadowZPA]

Hey, SmashWonders! Thank you for the opportunity to comment your feelings about this series so far! After reading the feedback, here are my thoughts. For the timing of the events within 5pm from Dark Soul's letter (coming up with time ideas can commonly be a pain); Episode 4's current time for Zack's part during the flight was 4:10 p.m. Their walk on the way to Dragon's cave from Episode 2 took 25 minutes, where right before they took off, which was at 3:35 pm stated by Jace. Dragon said they were halfway there, in which it would be an hour away from dragon's cave to make it to the shores of Soul's area (4:00 pm to 5:00 pm). So basically, the time is 4:40 pm overall in Zack's case scenario. And yes most certainly, so much has been happening during the runtime. Some scenes for the different characters (Jace and Sariana's individual scenes) actually take place a little further beyond the other characters' (Zack, Dragon, Pikachu & Dark Soul) time segment. With all of these episodes going by, especially if progress has been delayed for months or even years, you would think that it is way beyond the deadline, which is understandable. I was basing the settings in this episode (i.e. Evening, Dark time) off the season where the day goes out faster than it would normally, since this arc currently takes place before Christmas. The world building, yes there is a lot more to the Smash Region than just Wario's shop. A definite massive region, and I really could've added more residents and citizens into the mix, but I had Zack so focused on getting the requirements he needed for shelter. Sariana's part, her dark side is fully named "Sariana X", but X is actually standard. I will admit that Sariana's play does absorb more of the time in this series than Zack, Jace and Dragon, which are the main focusing characters aside from Max and Dark Soul as of now. But I wanted to give everyone the same amount of importance in screen time for more of their character development, despite the process being a tad bit long. Due to difficulties and problems, I unfortunately confirmed to move this series to ultimate. However, I still intend to use Smash 4 for other stages that doesn't appear in ultimate. (i.e. the Stage builder that has a different background and layout.) Thanks so much for spending the time to tell me your feedback once again, and I will take these words into consideration for the future episodes!