Unpopular opinions

[Codraroll]

^Rest assured, any additions of Megas to "XY2" were probably planned out years ago, just like the addition of new megas to ORAS was well-known when XY was in development. Ccase in point - Mega Blaziken being an event download for XY at launch. No way GameFreak would ever implement a Mega Blaziken without having planned for a Mega Sceptile and Swampert too.

Masuda (?) once said in an interview that the Mega Kanto starters were added to XY once he saw the designs in action. It sounds like they weren't meant to be available originally, but were added quite late in development (whether or not he meant "available during the story" or "available at all" is open to interpretation, but I assume the former). My little pet theory goes that the launch event was originally scheduled to be a Charmander holding the Charizardite Y (under a different name), and that originally there was only one Mega for each Kanto Starter. Due to its heavy exposure in Origins, I presume Mega Charizard X was the "original" Charizard Mega Evolution, whereas what we today know as Megazard Y would be some sort of bonus. However, with the inclusion of the Kanto starters in the story, the event had to be rescheduled at a point late in development, so the already-designed Mega Blaziken was implemented in XY and Torchic given out as an event instead.

That, or the Eon Duo were originally scheduled for the launch event, but scrapped either due to blatant overpoweredness or because their Megas were too similar to highlight a version difference. Either way, I remain rather convinced that the implementation of Mega Blaziken in XY was due to a change of plans, but that the entire Hoenn Starter Mega trio were designed, with the relevant code ready long before XY shipped.


Anyway, whatever the reasons for not patching XY were, "they hadn't planned for it" is not among them. Whether or not ORAS will be patched when "XY2" comes out remains to be seen, but I'm leaning heavily to the "no" side.

 

[Karxrida]

That, or the Eon Duo were originally scheduled for the launch event, but scrapped either due to blatant overpoweredness or because their Megas were too similar to highlight a version difference.

I laughed so hard when I read this.

 

[jordanthejq12]

Hoenn is the first point in the series where the villains actually have a) competence and b) a goal besides profit. Hoenn for me hits a sweet spot in terms of the villains--they're not comically stupid and inept (Rocket), but as we all know, boy did things get dark when the series hit the DS. Magma and Aqua (how did I say Plasma originally?) are clearly not joking around, but nor is it spooky to the point of over-the-top, as some people have expressed herein.

I have to say that the ORAS megas in particular were pretty nice, especially for the impact they had on the meta. Sableye as a top threat? Lopunny? Altaria? My all-time favorite has to be Camerupt--it's ranked a solid C in OU but is still, by usage...wait for it...NU. Mega Camerupt was GameFreak's greatest gift to the metagame--everyone gets to play with it! (And use it well!) Now that's an underrated mon.

 

[stage7_4]

Team Magma and Aqua? Seriously?

I know ORAS slapped a pretty fresh coat of paint and did a lot to correct their faults, but we're still looking at the biggest examples of stupid-evil in the pokemon franchise, with a plan that involved insane troll logic about ecosystems, even with the usual pokemon-physics.

Not to knock your favorite, as we are each entitled to our opinion (it is "unpopular" opinions) and personally I love envisioning Team Aqua as the kooky cast of Whale Wars and Team Magma as BP post-oil-spill trying to justify global warming and revive land-bear-pig.

I can't say I have a favorite evil team, I like bits and pieces of each. Team Galactic had the best battle music, Team Plasma had Ghetsis and his utter depravity, Team Plasma had Malva and... sunglasses?

One thing for Team Rocket, it's the one that I thought was the most accomplished. Sure, over the course of two games we managed to bring them down a peg, but I always felt it was more putting out fires than actually STOPPING Team Rocket. Sure we foiled some schemes, but I never felt any closer to ending them completely as a criminal organization. Even after HG/SS there was a lingering threat of resurgence (that never panned out... YET!) We could foil the plot, but could never catch Carmen Sandiego Giovanni and Admins.

Sure in the grand scale a straight-out criminal gang doesn't seem as big as the "change the world" plots of the sequels, but Team Rocket did manage to have a gym leader as the boss (only Team Flare can top this) and at some point had full control over three cities right under the poke-government's nose and there wasn't a dang thing the police could do about it. They even gave Lance some trouble.

 

[Random Passerby]

Hidden Power. This single move allows a Pokemon to basically BS it's way past it's usual checks and counters because it can be of any of the 17 types (screw Fairy). Example, a Volcarona can't get past Heatran normally but HP Ground Volca 2HKOes it easily.

The way the type of Hidden Power is selected also means it's a hassle to grab hold of a Pokemon with the correct EV spread and Nature (hope you prayed and offered enough sacrifices to the RNG). Oh, and if you happen to want a Pokemon with the right spread (say, Hidden Power Ground Volcarona ), you better prepare to Soft Reset a lot or just toss it. After that, you remember the "fun" of Soft Resetting for Hidden Power Legendaries.

 

[Darth Manaphy]

Hoenn is the first point in the series where the villains actually have a) competence and b) a goal besides profit. Hoenn for me hits a sweet spot in terms of the villains--they're not comically stupid and inept (Rocket), but as we all know, boy did things get dark when the series hit the DS. Magma and Plasma are clearly not joking around, but nor is it spooky to the point of over-the-top, as some people have expressed herein.

I have to say that the ORAS megas in particular were pretty nice, especially for the impact they had on the meta. Sableye as a top threat? Lopunny? Altaria? My all-time favorite has to be Camerupt--it's ranked a solid C in OU but is still, by usage...wait for it...NU. Mega Camerupt was GameFreak's greatest gift to the metagame--everyone gets to play with it! (And use it well!) Now that's an underrated mon.

I wouldn't say Team Aqua and Magma was actually competent. They didn't know how powerful their chosen legendary actually was, and considering you pretty much beat them at every moment other than that last one, it doesn't seem like they actually know what they're doing. But I see what you mean by that. Team Rocket didn't really have a very particular goal besides getting money. On the other hand, you don't actually know for how long Team Rocket was working on each scheme until you stopped them. You can assume they had control of the Game Corner since it opened (probably for years). Mahogany Town was probably going on for at least a year or two considering how big their base underground was.

Hidden Power. This single move allows a Pokemon to basically BS it's way past it's usual checks and counters because it can be of any of the 17 types (screw Fairy). Example, a Volcarona can't get past Heatran normally but HP Ground Volca 2HKOes it easily.

The way the type of Hidden Power is selected also means it's a hassle to grab hold of a Pokemon with the correct EV spread and Nature (hope you prayed and offered enough sacrifices to the RNG). Oh, and if you happen to want a Pokemon with the right spread (say, Hidden Power Ground Volcarona ), you better prepare to Soft Reset a lot or just toss it. After that, you remember the "fun" of Soft Resetting for Hidden Power Legendaries.

The main use of Hidden Power on the cartridge is figuring out who hacked* (or is using a Ditto that's been hacked*) ESPECIALLY if it's shiny as well

*Hacked means either the traditional stuff like using PokeGen, etc. as well as RNGing Pokemon.

 

[Random Passerby]

Now that I think about it, the fact that IV, Nature and HP type being set from hatching or being caught is teaching the kids that your efforts won't matter in the long run. No matter how hard you train, if you're not born with the correct inner traits, you will forever be regarded as useless (because those with less than desirable IV spread, Nature or HP gets tossed without as much as a second glance).

This also goes against the friendship with Pokemon which the series preaches (except in the ORAS postgame) where the trainer and his Pokemon grow together. Apparently, the circumstances of birth are all that matters. It's like Naruto all over again where the series preaches about how destiny doesn't matter and hard work is all that matters when the titular character is able to do everything because destiny hands him everything on a silver platter. As for the guys who work hard (say, Rock Lee), too bad that destiny decides to screw you over! (This mirrors Pokemon because the in-game destiny (RNG) governs whether the Pokemon in question is used or tossed)

 

[antemortem]

Speaking of villainous teams, people tend to only say "Team Galactic had neat designs!" (or the complete opposite) or "Team Galactic had great battle music!" and that's the end of it. But I was just talking to some people on IRC last night about Team Galactic and I'm pretty deadset on Galactic being my favorite villainous team. Their goal of making a deity from man was far reaching, but it was sort of inspiring, I guess, if you could get past the hairstyles and long ass monologues. I still enjoyed everything from their storyline integration - which was heavy handed for what felt like the first time in a Pokemon game - to the tag team battle on Spear Pillar, to their team changes... it just all seemed really intrinsic to DPPt and Team Galactic was just really fun to play against all around.

 

[stage7_4]

Speaking of villainous teams, people tend to only say "Team Galactic had neat designs!" (or the complete opposite) or "Team Galactic had great battle music!" and that's the end of it. But I was just talking to some people on IRC last night about Team Galactic and I'm pretty deadset on Galactic being my favorite villainous team. Their goal of making a deity from man was far reaching, but it was sort of inspiring, I guess, if you could get past the hairstyles and long ass monologues. I still enjoyed everything from their storyline integration - which was heavy handed for what felt like the first time in a Pokemon game - to the tag team battle on Spear Pillar, to their team changes... it just all seemed really intrinsic to DPPt and Team Galactic was just really fun to play against all around.

Team Galactic was pretty good (except that hair oh gosh no why a bowl cut). I feel they are forgotten about mainly because a lot of their innovative ideas got overshadowed by Team's Plasma and Flare to a lesser extent, except the mentioned battle music.

Cyrus was pretty cool, especially his backstory, and his utter meltdown after losing made a nice play on the "unemotional loner" trope. They also did blow up a lake, which left a pretty big impact to me (especially the flopping Magikarp, I mean it's implied they all survived but it sure didn't LOOK that way). And they were the first team to succeed in capturing and using legendaries (the lake trio and the box legendaries with the red chain, just foiled by said lake trio and Giratina). They also had Saturn's redemption arc, plus I liked Mars and Jupiter's characters too.

But that said, Team Plasma overshadowed all of that in comparison (you actually fight the opposing legendary, N & Ghetsis together outperformed the sympathetic and utterly evil halves of Cyrus, and Plasma was better motivated if poorly executed). And Team Flare had the Rose Quartz Laser Light Cannon, which does make blowing up a lake seem rather uninteresting.

I still think that at the time they were one of the better evil teams, and a new coat of paint with a remake could make that shine through a bit better. There main flaw now is just appearing dated.

 

[jordanthejq12]

Let's not forget, Gen V gave us this:

 

[brightobject]

I actually really like Klink and Klang they look cool af

 

[Kurona]

I hated the both battle frontiers in Emerald, Platinum and HGSS and I couldn't care less that they haven't returned. Most of them were very luck-based with cheap, annoying strategies which could ruin any well-prepared run. It's not back in ORAS and frankly I couldn't care less; the tower/subway/maison's annoying enough.

 

[Darth Manaphy]

I hated the both battle frontiers in Emerald, Platinum and HGSS and I couldn't care less that they haven't returned. Most of them were very luck-based with cheap, annoying strategies which could ruin any well-prepared run. It's not back in ORAS and frankly I couldn't care less; the tower/subway/maison's annoying enough.

I agree and disagree at the same time. I thought it was a neat novelty but it kind of wore off over time and I rarely ever played it compared to the Battle Subway and Battle Maison. I earned all the silver medals in the HG Battle Frontier so I got that going for me which is nice. I couldn't see myself going on to get gold. It was just exhausting and really easy to lose compared to the more standard battles. And I never really liked the Battle Factory ever. Any challenge where I can't use my own Pokemon is complete and am completely up to the mercy of the RNG Gods is not worth my time or effort.

 

[JES]

I hated the both battle frontiers in Emerald, Platinum and HGSS and I couldn't care less that they haven't returned. Most of them were very luck-based with cheap, annoying strategies which could ruin any well-prepared run. It's not back in ORAS and frankly I couldn't care less; the tower/subway/maison's annoying enough.

As much as I hate to admit it, you do have a very good point.

Still, I'm disappointed, because I can't help wondering how I would fare with properly bred Pokémon, with the right IVs and nature. I honestly think they need to be redone, if only so they are less luck oriented, and more about skill based.

 

[lighthouses]

Garbodor has my favorite design from gen 5

 

[Kurona]

As much as I hate to admit it, you do have a very good point.

Still, I'm disappointed, because I can't help wondering how I would fare with properly bred Pokémon, with the right IVs and nature. I honestly think they need to be redone, if only so they are less luck oriented, and more about skill based.

That was what I was thinking at first; but the more I thought about it the more I started to doubt my own rationalisation. I barely find the time to spend in just one facility - the Maison - with my fully bred and trained 'mon as is and I find that an absolute chore. To do this for five facilities? I wouldn't be able to find the time nor would I want to.

 

[JES]

That was what I was thinking at first; but the more I thought about it the more I started to doubt my own rationalisation. I barely find the time to spend in just one facility - the Maison - with my fully bred and trained 'mon as is and I find that an absolute chore. To do this for five facilities? I wouldn't be able to find the time nor would I want to.

The more that I think about it, the more that I think that the Battle Frontier was made to exploit IVs and Natures, and those who either had a lot of time on their hands and had nothing better to do. Having the pick a new team after beating one session at the Battle Factory always ended up managing to reset my record, due to having to depend on luck to get the right Pokémon, and I think that for example causes a lot of frustration.

 

[Darth Manaphy]

It felt like they got rid of a lot of the luck-based elements (aside from the Battle Factory) between Gens III and IV. It got to the point that for the most part, in Gen IV, I COULD actually win with one single team (aside from again the Battle Factory). The Battle Castle was fine in my opinion. The Battle Arcade was...passable (ok, I got lucky with the roulette a lot). The Battle Hall was fun until you run up against the one thing that can OHKO you that you can't OHKO back and faster. The only problem was that it got stale and boring after a while as opposed to the interesting but VERY frustrating Gen III Battle Frontier that almost relied on pure luck at times.

 

[Lady Vader]

I still want a Frontier, but I do understand hating the ones that were mostly luck. I don't mind a little luck (just to make it interesting, like the Battle Arcade) and I would love something like the Battle Pyramid. We just need facilities that can shake up the battles and make us plan accordingly to minimize such problems.

 

[KingHeracrossTheBug]

I agree with all those points above. If anything, just kill as much hax-involvement as possible and put them back. For example, they could redesign the Battle Factory so that you get one of your Pokemon and the other two are still random, or better yet, make it so that you get to keep that sexy Adamant DDTar that could've helped you soooooo much in your next fucking killing spree, which confidentiality, was also the last one before the gold medal è.é

 

[Xen]

And I never really liked the Battle Factory ever. Any challenge where I can't use my own Pokemon is complete and am completely up to the mercy of the RNG Gods is not worth my time or effort.

While I'm not really a fan of the Factory, it's still a nice option to have for those who just freshly completed the main narrative of the game and currently don't have a properly raised team of Pokemon. I also wouldn't say it's completely luck-based. While which Pokemon you have access to is, indeed, largely luck-based, it also tests your team building and battling skill-set since you have to make do with a team of unfamiliar Pokemon, which in a sense puts you on an equal playing field with the AI.

In all honestly, I don't really miss the frontier; the only facilities I ever bothered with were the Battle Tower/Maison. The other facilities in Emerald were fun to play around with (I liked the fast-paced environment of the Battle Arena, in an era where the frontier AIs worshiped stall/evasion tactics), but I always found myself going back to the Tower, while the facilities in Platinum, I got bored with rather quickly. While I was initially disappointed with the lack of a frontier in ORAS like most fans, it is easy to forget about it when trying to build up streaks in the Maison. Still think that Game Freak shouldn't have done a blatant C+P of the X/Y Maison though; they could at least have given it a new paint job with different NPCs and movesets.

 

[Lady Vader]

I personally loved the Factory and after reading all of this, I am considering pulling out my copy of SoulSilver just to try it now that I have four years of competitive experience of building teams. This probably goes back to my love of the original Stadium games. With no other way for me to have Pokémon battles, those rental Pokémon were the only ones I had when I was little. This combined with my love of team building challenges and random battles on Showdown (all hail my Primeape, killer of Legendaries!) makes the Factory my personal favorite battle facility of the Battle Frontiers. Plus, as Xen pointed out, that's less Pokémon I have to train.
On the Battle Arcade, I actually do like it and I feel like I need to elaborate on why. First, I just enjoy the concept of bring a team of Pokémon in and having a random, almost board game like element added to the fight. It forces you to adapt and try to play around it if it isn't to your favor. Secondly, my first experience in competitive gaming was playing Yu-Gi-Oh. One thing that you do in any TCG is try to minimize bad luck. This is things like keep your deck at the minimum size to maximize the odds of drawing what you need, run as many copies of the major cards as you can, etc. You can apply this idea to the Battle Arcade easily. Bring in a Mamoswine since it won't be hurt by Hail or Sandstorm or bring in a Gengar since it can't be poisoned, etc. Sometimes, it all depends on your point of view.

Now, looking back, Sinnoh's Frontier is way better than Hoenn since many Hoenn facilities were very luck based and in some cases (the Battle Palace, the Battle Dome*) take away any control you actually have. Also, I can't even understand them just by reading about them, which isn't a good thing. When I look at Sinnoh's five facilities, I understand each one, which says a lot about how much Game Freak thought about improving the concept of the Frontier when making Platinum.

*Like I said, I'm not sure about how many of the Hoenn facilities even work, especially since I am just reading about them since I never played Emerald.

EDIT: Hey, this is my 700th post!

 

[noobcubed]

Yeah I actually quite liked the battle factory because it made you think on the fly, whereas for other formats you tend to have a plan for every AI opponent you meet and just execute that plan and hope not to get critted. Plus I can never be bothered to breed for IVs etc so I'll take any format where you just get given perfect-IV mons, even if they are running some very dubious sets.

 

[JES]

I actually loved the Battle Factory because it was just like getting a booster of trading cards: you never knew what'd you get. It was so exciting!

 

[Hyper Cutter]

Battle Factory is the only type of battle facility I ever really do. Trying to win with whatever ridiculous thing they offer you is probably a lot more challenging than going in there with some optimized Pokemon of your own.

My favorite was probably the physical Claydol (Earthquake/Rock Slide/Swagger/Psych Up, I believe) I got in the Emerald one, which actually managed to win some battles.