Pet Partner Finale

1. Irks & Aghs
2. Non-Copy Abilities
3. Fan Favorite
4. The Runners Up
5. And the Winner Is...

Irks & Aghs: The top eye-roller this time was naming. I could swear I mentioned somewhere how it was odd that enemy submissions in these things strayed away from simple word-names like "Climb" or "Cappy" and tended to jumbled syllables. Then, with Animal Friends, who have dubbings as such despite an inherent meaning get word names. You don't just get what applies to apples and use it on oranges, folks.

Another cougher was "environmental" changes. Now, real pets work on the basis that they are adapted for characteristics in certain terrains. Rick is best at arctic levels since he doesn't slip on ice. Kine rules the waters as his swimming is superb. They don't just non-descriptly "do better" when in that type of place. They are overcoming an obstacle that affects everyone else. There's no temperature flag occupying the air, and none are slowed by cold or heat but rather snow on the ground or desert sands. Air is only ever either calm or windy, but the ground is different, which is what is interacted with. The reason this trend gets a mention is that I explained why it wasn't really logical when it first appeared, and then it kept appearing.

Non-Copy Abilities: There were pretty much three things to do with an entry in this. Pick an animal, give it a set of copy ability combos, and give it some sort of mobility/game play changer. Many people, I guess, thought two out of three were fine. I should have cut off that snake's head at the source, 'cuz then they really piled on thick. Even that aside, some thought that traction control or wall/ceiling climbing would suffice despite already being held by Rick and Chuchu. In fact, some people just seem to toss around the word "traction" without even seeming to know what it meant. You know, the point of these IFs is to be creative and not just say, "Know what this other guy does? It's that. I take nap now. Zzz..." Anyhoo, here's the kudos to those that went above the rest -- doing what they were asked -- to make a creative, original capability. Or, they came up with it first (early bird, folks):

1. Bloosh the Mouse
2. Ribo the Echidna
3. Shaeno the Hedgehog
4. Sprint the Weasel

Fan Favorite: What can you say about the public selection? The last twenty-some didn't even break over twenty votes, and only the first ten cracked over thirty. With sixty-plus submissions, if everyone were to vote, even counting for those who submitted more than one pet, you'd at least expect forty. Regardless, here's who came out on top of the polls. It's the top ten, which amazing were all the entries ranked between Spunt and Gar, the two examples I provided. Also not surprising, pretty much all of them had some type of artwork made for them. Way to judge on written creativity, guys.

1. Henry the Penguin - 45%
2. Sam the Dog - 42%
3. Skipp the Lion - 41%
4. Ori the Chameleon - 37%
5. Parvati the Peacock - 36%
6. Yuki the Fox - 35%
7. Yema the Bat - 35%
8. Swoth the Tarantula - 35%
9. Indy the Armadillo - 33%
10. Bristles the Pig - 33%

The Runners Up: Even though one pick wins it all, I still feel that a bit more than that one deserve some type of kudos to show that they're better than the rest. Take that, rest! Of course, this nomination is a little bit redundant. It's nothing but repeats of names already seen. They were either top-voted or stand-outs of prior mention. I mean, there is a reason that the masses picked them as favorites -- they were done better / had more care put in them by their creators / had a picture made by not me.

And the Winner is... Nope! That's right, this again. There isn't a stand-out winner once again. It isn't that "none are good enough" but rather "no one can break away from the pack". I guess this makes no sense given the lack of runners up, too, but listing the same entries over and over again just gets repetitive. Someone like Sam had an amazingly unique concept with the leash but skirted the border of being absurd game-wise. Then, someone like Henry hit all the notes and shook no boats but, at the same time, didn't really break any new ground. That was the dark horse fan-pick, however, which says something about credibility for the public to at least sniff out when an entry hits a sour note. Someone like Skipp, while inspired and fleshed out, ultimately lacked any real desired or creative mobility (fast and a slide kick equivalent? better than most, true, but not getting a pizza trophy). I could go on naming the pros and cons, but I think the point has been given.

Again, it wasn't that any weren't good enough; there were just no entries that undisputedly dominated the rest of the competition.