Pokemon Game Discussion 2.0

[UltramanGoji]

Looking into EVs and IVs for anything other than training for competitive battling is a huge mistake.

[Missingno.]

^I realize that now, but it has legitimately sunken in. Gen 3 onward is never going to be the same for me again.

[Smuggers]

Not sure how many saw my last post detailing my current playthrough of Black & White and the absurd rules I have myself limited to before it was page'd, but I realized over the course of it all, I genuinely ruined Pokemon as a casual playing experience altogether. While that honestly began in X version when I started to breed for natures due to mega evolutions, I only recently educated myself on EV's and IV's, and.. the results are tragic. I used to never swap out in battle, but now I'm constantly changing who is in play because of the effort value system, and how every opposing Pokemon, wild or owned, rewards different EV's (Audino rewards HP EV's, for example). The most ironic part is that I do not even consider myself an elite player, as I tend to stay away from online competition altogether; and I'm sure that even with my newfound consideration for stats that I'd still get swept away because I don't look into strategy beyond simply how much damage I can dish out.

Don't worry about EVs and Natures if you're just playing through the game. I know it might be hard to shake once you know they're there, especially if your end up getting a nature that's detrimental to your Pokemon's very being but just remember that 99% of battles are braindead easy and that's not even taking into account the massive advantage items can give you, or that you're almost always overlevelled.

I wish they could come up with better ways to differentiate each Pokemon besides "this one has worse stats". Maybe visual changes like slightly different scale or texture patterns.

[LSD Jellyfish]

The issue for me became I would catch a pokemon I really liked, and then noticed it`s nature was "bad" even though I rarely play competitive and I would just feel bad I was using an "inferior" pokemon.

Not a complaint or anything, I like the EV/IV system because it adds individual uniqueness towards individual pokemon of the same species, but it makes you paranoid and OCD.

[Missingno.]

It's annoying when you first learn it and realize how much of a grind entails (which is why I probably will not consider things as much in HG/SS), but it pays off when the results are there, even if they are overbearing for simply completing the story. My Rufflet finally evolved into a Braviary in the time from my post on the previous page to now, and of a possible maximum attack for about 197 at level 54 under perfect circumstances, it has 187 in that stat, probably because I got impatient and vouched to simply fight Audino rather than grind out the Herdier, Throh, Bouffalant, and other Rufflet on Route 10. Not too bad overall, I must say.

I wish they could come up with better ways to differentiate each Pokemon besides "this one has worse stats". Maybe visual changes like slightly different scale or texture patterns.

Yeah, no kidding. The closest we've seen to that yet, which I actually liked by the way, was the Pumpkaboo/Gourgeist line and how there was different sizes. I think the only thing that was affected by the sizes stat-wise was speed and HP though, rather than fundamental differences that made them truly unique. But with them it brought a tiny bit more of the anime into the games (think: Gary's Krabby next to Ash's, or Bruno's Onix compared to Brock's, among others). However, I'm not sure how they could completely overhaul the system to where natures, EV's and IV's don't make or break a Pokemon.

[Fish Cakes]

I replayed both Crystal and Emerald recently, it's amazing how much smoother things go when natures aren't there to worry about. I've come to just accept anything that's not actively detrimental and even then it's such a huge pain. :c

I really don't like the switch the 3D still, everything feels much smaller and slower to me (sprites were hella comfy.) My bestie wants to grab Sword or Shield as her first main series game since like Pearl though so I'll probs end up picking up the other so we can trade or whatever.

[Demon Lord Gira]

I replayed both Crystal and Emerald recently, it's amazing how much smoother things go when natures aren't there to worry about. I've come to just accept anything that's not actively detrimental and even then it's such a huge pain. :c

I really don't like the switch the 3D still, everything feels much smaller and slower to me (sprites were hella comfy.) My bestie wants to grab Sword or Shield as her first main series game since like Pearl though so I'll probs end up picking up the other so we can trade or whatever.

Yeah, the transition from sprites to 3D models has not been kind to Gamefreak, either due to them having no idea how to handle implimenting or managing so many 3D models (They ain't the ones making them, that's Creatures Inc.), or sheer laziness, but it's clear the games have suffered because of this transition. Look at everything from Platinum to BW2, all high quality games across the board with a lot of attention and care put into them... and then you get to XY, where the need to get those 3D models working properly and somewhat polished and "future proof" caused the original intended game to be gutted and what we end up with is... a really skeletal game, and while it sorta gets better from there, gen 6/7 really do feel like the transition to 3D is massively hindering them, and causing the cracks in GF as a developer to show. The games used to flow smoother and had faster overall pacing as well before the transition, because now... holy hell is Gen 7 a nightmare to replay because of all the unskippable cutscenes and piss poor pacing.

[Stump Feet]

I miss the Pokémon Snap and Stadium models lol

[Fish Cakes]

Yeah, the transition from sprites to 3D models has not been kind to Gamefreak, either due to them having no idea how to handle implimenting or managing so many 3D models (They ain't the ones making them, that's Creatures Inc.), or sheer laziness, but it's clear the games have suffered because of this transition. Look at everything from Platinum to BW2, all high quality games across the board with a lot of attention and care put into them... and then you get to XY, where the need to get those 3D models working properly and somewhat polished and "future proof" caused the original intended game to be gutted and what we end up with is... a really skeletal game, and while it sorta gets better from there, gen 6/7 really do feel like the transition to 3D is massively hindering them, and causing the cracks in GF as a developer to show. The games used to flow smoother and had faster overall pacing as well before the transition, because now... holy hell is Gen 7 a nightmare to replay because of all the unskippable cutscenes and piss poor pacing.

Right on the pokedollars there, bruh. Animated sprites were cool as shit too in gen 5, then I play stuff like Octopath Traveler and think "man, what could have been". :/

[UltramanGoji]

The battle pacing in Gen 5 might be the best in the entire series. Everything flows quickly and the animations on the sprites are fucking rock solid. Going from that to the sluggish speeds of Gen 6 and 7 is torturous.

[gottatalktothefake]

Is it just me or are the designs for the Galar Pokemon just really bad? I only like Sobble, Drednaw and Corviknight. 3 out of 15 is pretty horrid.

[Missingno.]

I.. Was honestly turned off after seeing the starter designs, let alone the rest of the Pokemon revealed thus far. I just haven't been too impressed with the new creatures as a whole since Gen 6 if I have to be honest; let alone game play for the titles in that time span. Sure there are some standouts as in every generation, but this one just doesn't have any sort of appeal to me whatsoever. Maybe it's because I'm focused on replaying/completing Black & White right now? I dunno, but this generation is truly the first time I have not had some sort of excitement or vested interest in an upcoming Pokemon title since I first started following Pokemon news around 2009 or 2010-ish.

[gottatalktothefake]

I.. Was honestly turned off after seeing the starter designs, let alone the rest of the Pokemon revealed thus far. I just haven't been too impressed with the new creatures as a whole since Gen 6 if I have to be honest; let alone game play for the titles in that time span. Sure there are some standouts as in every generation, but this one just doesn't have any sort of appeal to me whatsoever. Maybe it's because I'm focused on replaying/completing Black & White right now? I dunno, but this generation is truly the first time I have not had some sort of excitement or vested interest in an upcoming Pokemon title since I first started following Pokemon news around 2009 or 2010-ish.

I haven't bought a Pokemon game since Sun and Moon. Ultra didn't bring enough new things to the table for me to buy what is essentially the same game again. And Lets Go didn't interest me in the slightest. It's pretty sad honestly.

[Missingno.]

I haven't bought a Pokemon game since Sun and Moon. Ultra didn't bring enough new things to the table for me to buy what is essentially the same game again. And Lets Go didn't interest me in the slightest. It's pretty sad honestly.

Ah, so we're in the same boat, then. The last title I bought was Sun, and that didn't really leave any sort of impression to me; it was just there. I was initially excited to hear about the Let's Go titles, but I had (and still have) yet to get a Switch so I figured I'd wait and see what became of those, as they looked like they would truly be the first games to come close to what Colosseum/Gale of Darkness had done in terms of game play, which is something I've wanted to see taken to a full-length core game experience since I first played the aforementioned titles. Then I started seeing the news and reviews about the elements of the Go mobile game being ported into those titles, and had my hopes dashed. Now we are here, and it looks like there isn't much being taken advantage of for the platform that the Switch provides in terms of just how open the games could be, looking as though the series is still stuck in a DS. Honestly though, Sword and Shield are not available yet so all we can do is speculate, but it looks like a very rocky launch is headed this way, at least critically speaking.

[Stump Feet]

So, how about dim regional varients?

[UltramanGoji]

So, how about dim regional varients?

[Godzillian]

The weezing is God awful

[Stump Feet]

I think the KISS-esq. Zigzagoon line is comical

[gottatalktothefake]

I think the KISS-esq. Zigzagoon line is comical

I agree with you wholeheartedly. The final evo is probably my least favorite Pokemon next to impidimp. I know it's said about every generation, but in my opinion this generation has overall the worst designed Pokemon.

Even gen 5 for all the stinkers it had also had some good stuff to balance out the bad.

[Smuggers]

Yeah, it's weird because I was all over Alolan forms when they were first revealed, but these regional forms have already worn out their welcome for me. Just make new Pokemon.