983: Kingambit

...And I know coming off the Dudunsparse review, it might sound suspect to say I find Kingambit here just a little too silly.

I wasn't all that wild about its predecessors, but I don't think Kingambit really reaches the standard, here. It picks up a giant sword head crest and a 'stache made of more swords. On top of ALL OF THIS, being a shogunate that scoots around on a throne made of its own hair. All concepts that, on a lone, totally new Pokemon, I would've found amusing. But as an evolution of Bisharp, I don't much care for it.

I'm not the biggest fan of Pawniard and Bisharp, they're fairly competent designs, but Bisharp always felt like one of its key features was how self-serious it was. Not necessarily that it's a badass edgelord, but it still had a cool-factor to it and mostly plays it straight. Kingambit just feels a little too... ironically cool? Sure, it's still a sharp blade man covered in knives and has a huge ribcage made of more knives. But it's a quirky kind of cool, which inadvertently kinda undercuts its linemates a bit. It's a little harder to take Bisharp seriously when I know it's gonna eventually start taking facial hair styling tips from Dr. Robotnik and start to roomba around on its hair chair.

It's just all-around entirely too extra. One could argue that's fitting for a Pokemon like this, but for one thing, it feels utterly audacious to stick another evolution onto a Pokemon that already evolved as late as level 52. And Bisharp already felt pretty "complete." Nothing really missing from it, as much as the design still isn't notably my thing. And it's not like it was missing an evo because it went from "pawn" to "bishop" and nowhere else; these Pokemon have nothing to do with chess pieces and that was just something localization made up. Kingambit just feels like a lesson that constraint can go a long way, sometimes.

I'll permit it a technically passing grade from the absurdity, it's just very misplaced absurdity.