Playing Colosseum and purifying shit AGAIN, and I'm using the Daycare for part of it... so I went to get my Aipom from it, and just before I got it, there was an Ultra Ball on the desk as the lady walked up. And then I picked it up - the Ultra Ball the Aipom was in. I know it's a really small thing to gush about, but it's a really nice little detail imo. Not only to just show a Poké Ball being picked up, but the exact one you used.
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Little things you like about Pokémon
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Well, Leaf only appears in FRLG if you answered "girl" to the First Question. I feel that in HGSS, if you play as Lyra, Leaf appears at the top of Mt. Silver.
I'm pretty sure it's Red atop of Mt. Silver regardless if you play as Ethan or Lyra.
That's why I said "feel". I wish it was the case, but it isn't.
I've developed a bit of a reputation for harping on Black & White, but despite my frustrations with the story, I loved when they told it in little details. Like, going into N's room in the castle, or talking to the scientists that mention they can hack your PC effected me way more than any platitude N, Ghetsis, or Cheren said.
I love how they finally improved the low damage sound. The fact that it wouldn't stop before was nightmarish. Now, it is a brief moment, alerting you to the danger without over staying its welcome.
They improved it in gen 5 by making it part of a cool tune, but I agree it's a relief that since they dropped the music change at least they made the 'in a pinch' sound stop after a few moments.
I like that while the main Pokemon titles have stuck to the same general formula since gen 1, (with some tweaks and improvements along the way) the spinoff games get to have some freedom from this. There's a little experimenting going on, and it helps keep the franchise from getting stale for more casual players.
A big appeal for Pokemon is the fact you can customise your teams, from a diverse to even a monotype. One thing I really like though is when there is a theme to a character's team in the game.
In particular are the two Water Gym leaders in Unova, Cress and Marlon. How did they differentiate the two gym leader teams of the same type in the Pokemon World Tournament? They gave Cress a general emphasis on freshwater-based Pokemon (Simipour, Golduck, Floatzel, Slowking), while Marlon had large, a more generally sea-based Pokemon (i.e. Wailord, Jellicent, Starmie, Mantine). Those teams also go really well with their personalities with Cress being more classy while Marlon is a big active man of the sea.
Cilan in particular had an interesting theme which was a mix of light, cotton-based, friendly fairy-like Pokemon (Jumpluff, Whimsicott, Lilligant) and Pokemon with thorns in their bodies (Ferrothorn, Maractus, Simisage's tail). I mean sure they wanted more of a Gen 5 team emphasis but it's really interesting if you take that as Cilan being defensive and introverted since he comes across as very timid in the game.
Even the twins Tate and Liza uses a theme of counterparts in their World Tournament things such as Solrock/Lunatone, Gardevoir/Gallade and Gothitelle/Reunicleus. They even have usually levitating Pokemon like Claydol, Bronzong and Chimecho as a nod to how Levitate as one of the more popular abilities in Doubles.
Lastly, any Fire, Water or Grass gym leader will have at least one team that has a starter in the region the Leader was in. For example, Erika with Venusaur and Cress with Samurott (which sort of breaks his usually freshwater theme since I see otters as sea-based). Also, since Sinnoh didn't have a Fire Gym leader (mostly because Fire types were rare in that region), instead Maylene gets an Infernape because of the secondary type!
Oh and N with weather teams in BW2. Nice way to incorporate the seasons mechanic and the power of weather in Gen 5.
In particular are the two Water Gym leaders in Unova, Cress and Marlon. How did they differentiate the two gym leader teams of the same type in the Pokemon World Tournament? They gave Cress a general emphasis on freshwater-based Pokemon (Simipour, Golduck, Floatzel, Slowking), while Marlon had large, a more generally sea-based Pokemon (i.e. Wailord, Jellicent, Starmie, Mantine). Those teams also go really well with their personalities with Cress being more classy while Marlon is a big active man of the sea.
Cilan in particular had an interesting theme which was a mix of light, cotton-based, friendly fairy-like Pokemon (Jumpluff, Whimsicott, Lilligant) and Pokemon with thorns in their bodies (Ferrothorn, Maractus, Simisage's tail). I mean sure they wanted more of a Gen 5 team emphasis but it's really interesting if you take that as Cilan being defensive and introverted since he comes across as very timid in the game.
Even the twins Tate and Liza uses a theme of counterparts in their World Tournament things such as Solrock/Lunatone, Gardevoir/Gallade and Gothitelle/Reunicleus. They even have usually levitating Pokemon like Claydol, Bronzong and Chimecho as a nod to how Levitate as one of the more popular abilities in Doubles.
Lastly, any Fire, Water or Grass gym leader will have at least one team that has a starter in the region the Leader was in. For example, Erika with Venusaur and Cress with Samurott (which sort of breaks his usually freshwater theme since I see otters as sea-based). Also, since Sinnoh didn't have a Fire Gym leader (mostly because Fire types were rare in that region), instead Maylene gets an Infernape because of the secondary type!
Oh and N with weather teams in BW2. Nice way to incorporate the seasons mechanic and the power of weather in Gen 5.
Maybe not a small thing, but: Lumiose City.
This is pretty much the only city in any Pokémon game that managed to give the impression of being a proper city, rather than a random assembly of buildings plopped on a field. You can walk around it and explore for hours. It's so huge it took the guys at Bulbapedia over a year to figure out its exact population. There are boulevards, plazas and small streets seemingly everywhere. It's so easy to get lost that GameFreak put in a taxi service. It's big, disorienting and it also helps that the camera goes down to street level. A whole side quest takes place entirely within the city. All in all, easily the most immersive and believeable urban location ever shown in a Pokémon game.
This is pretty much the only city in any Pokémon game that managed to give the impression of being a proper city, rather than a random assembly of buildings plopped on a field. You can walk around it and explore for hours. It's so huge it took the guys at Bulbapedia over a year to figure out its exact population. There are boulevards, plazas and small streets seemingly everywhere. It's so easy to get lost that GameFreak put in a taxi service. It's big, disorienting and it also helps that the camera goes down to street level. A whole side quest takes place entirely within the city. All in all, easily the most immersive and believeable urban location ever shown in a Pokémon game.
Castelia was Gamefreak's first attempt at doing that and even that was pretty substantial for a first try. The city was filled with buildings and a ton of people that, for the first time, didn't actually want to talk with you! (Just like in a real city!) And, then you go down the one allyway and someone "flashes" you with the TM for Flash. That was a really neat touch. Everything made you feel that the city actually had a purpose beyond just you being there. Sure it was kind of streamlined compared to Lumiose, but it was still hard to traverse through the city completely blind about where you actually want to go just like in a real city.
So, I liked going to museums as a little kid, and I was always glad to see museums in the Pokemon world. My favorite thing about the Hoenn Region was that there were essentially 3 museums that helped flesh out the world by providing two science lessons in the Slateport oceanic museum and the Mossdeep space center, and an establishment in culture through the art museum.
So what you're saying, is that Cress is Sailor Mercury and Marlon is Sailor NEPTUNE(not Uranus, plz don't hate me).
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You mean Sailor Neptune ! :D
I really loved that ORAS' Victory Road was loaded with a ton of non-Hoenn Pokémon. You had a Sigilyph there, a Houndoom over here, a Hitmontop... it just really gives you a sort of... unexpectedness to the trainers; you can't rely on them being the Pokémon you've fought in the game until now. It also hints further at there being more Pokémon in Hoenn after Cave of Origin.
In the same vein, HGSS' Kanto trainers having gen 3 and 4 Pokémon was something I liked. IIRC the first trainers you fight in the route above Vermilion had like Minun, Plusle and Bronzor. Gives a lot of variety n'shit.
In the same vein, HGSS' Kanto trainers having gen 3 and 4 Pokémon was something I liked. IIRC the first trainers you fight in the route above Vermilion had like Minun, Plusle and Bronzor. Gives a lot of variety n'shit.
OK long-ish post since idc enough to splinter all my stuff into threads. I've played a shitton of pokemon games; RSE, FRLG, DPP, HGSS, BW, BW2, and also played red a while ago in order. I like the idea of having pokemon, catching them, legendaries, the various gameplay features and facing high level trainers and stuff. The diving/fishing mechanics and perspectives are also really fun and the idea of being able to catch rare 'mons in certain areas has a nice allure (see: RSE Glalie, Mence, and obviously legendaries lol). Pretty sure i completed the pokedex as far as i could w/o trading or w/e (my RSE cartridge was shit adn wouldn't fucking save; i shit you not; i couldn't play post e4 ;_; but its ok i finished it on emulator!!!). I think RSE is the best game; the music is fucking incredible, I love the storyline, it has an incredible nostalgia factor and I fucking love it. Trick mansion was cool shit haha. Like I've played it so many times it feels great to even hear like a poochyena or a ZIGZAGOON cry or something rofl. I finished p much everything including contests although I didn't attempt the emerald frontier thing and prolly won't haha. I didn't really get the whole 'secret base'/museum thingy and they just seemed like 'cool stuff you can do but which will serve no purpose to fulfill the game'; kinda could've given them a more pronounced showcasing in the games; contests were kinda like this but I swear they were fun as shit to do. DPP/HGSS were fun games, HGSS seemed like a nice throwback despite me not playing the original GSC games. Facing red is fun i guess u_u. BW/2 were also pretty fun games and the permanent TM thingy was really nice as well as a few wild pkmn mechanics (like the horde battles? or is that XY? regardless that's some really cool stuff) and shit that were cool. I remember doing the ingame battle factory which was really fun (unlike the battle factory option on the sim!!!). I didn't play any of XY or ORAS games due to me not having a 3DS and kinda being a fucking pleb so I can't really get it; additionally there's no 3DS sims yet and considering how bad 2DS sims were can't expect to have a really good one soon =/. I'm kinda hyped to see the shit that's there but idk, I might just pass; I was really fucking hype for an RSE remake since amazing games and shit but from what I've heard, ORAS is kinda inferior so w/e; playing RSE with similar music (actually I just heard it and I really dislike the way they've remade it =/) and new Pokemon graphics seems hype as fuck though so we'll see!!! I like strong post-games with a lot of stuff to do, which Nintendo really picked up on with DPP and BW (I mean I think GSC had 16 gyms so can't credit HGSS there). BW2 with a lot of neat little stuff to do like battle Cynthia seemed pretty neat to me n_n. Pokemon is just a game i've played a shitton of and Smogon is kinda like shit I can do which I couldn't in-game due to shitty Indian retail stores and their fucking stupid ass cartridges :[
Anime was great although first gen is pretty overrated lol; I'd say that the ADV one was best since the advanced battle was fun as fuck and I love ADV mons; plus it's the last time the anime was /good/ (DPP was pretty bad lol [although some episodes were pretty good!] and BW was utter crap; I've heard XY is good but the recent movies were really /ok/ so w/e lol). I liked a lot of the translated intro songs to the anime seasons so that was pretty great; May definitely seems like the best out of all companions (Misty was annoying and lol Dawn/Iris/w/e it is now). I think I also watched some Orange Island episodes a while ago and loved them too.
It honestly feels a bit weird watching the anime b/c I kinda have nostalgia associated w/ the pixelated quality right up till ADV.
uh this post looks incoherent af but i'll prolly edit it up i swear;;
EDIT- ok made this a little less illegible; this stuff is important to me so will edit >:/
Anime was great although first gen is pretty overrated lol; I'd say that the ADV one was best since the advanced battle was fun as fuck and I love ADV mons; plus it's the last time the anime was /good/ (DPP was pretty bad lol [although some episodes were pretty good!] and BW was utter crap; I've heard XY is good but the recent movies were really /ok/ so w/e lol). I liked a lot of the translated intro songs to the anime seasons so that was pretty great; May definitely seems like the best out of all companions (Misty was annoying and lol Dawn/Iris/w/e it is now). I think I also watched some Orange Island episodes a while ago and loved them too.
It honestly feels a bit weird watching the anime b/c I kinda have nostalgia associated w/ the pixelated quality right up till ADV.
uh this post looks incoherent af but i'll prolly edit it up i swear;;
EDIT- ok made this a little less illegible; this stuff is important to me so will edit >:/
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No, really?
Regardless, you made many good points.
Another nice thing I like is Route 120 in Hoenn. Seeing the sky reflected in the water is a really nice touch, especially since you first get to the route after passing through an area of perpetual rain. Then, in route 120, everything clears up, the wind seems to keep the rain away, and clouds pass overhead (plus ORAS' starry sky at night). Really wonderful. I always keep my Secret Base in the bush by the little pond there, because it's such a nice place.
I've gotten rather fond of OR/AS' change in how volcanic ash is collected. You still need to acquire the Soot Sack key item, but you need only run through piles of ash instead of back and forth through the grass. (I'm a little mixed on the change to the glass blower and his apprentice, though. The 'plink-plink' makes it clearer that they're blowing glass, but the 'huff-puff' was more amusing) The backdrop of the battles on Route 113 is really unique, with everything covered in falling ash. A small touch that could have been overlooked without anyone really caring, but it's nice that they didn't overlook it.
I also enjoy how from gen 5 onward, you need only look at the bottom screen for a reminder of what the current weather is rather than be pestered with it at the end of each turn. In gen 5, you had a little picture in the corner showing you what the weather's doing, like if it's raining or in the middle of a sandstorm. (probably really helped the 'weather wars' to take off in addition to new abilities taking advantage of the weather like Sand Rush) In gen 6, the weather's effects are displayed affecting the bottom screen, like droplets of rain hitting it or sand blowing across it. And I like that in this generation, (or at least in OR/AS) once a certain weather peters out (like Hail ending) the natural weather for the area returns. I noticed this when I withdrew my Mega Rayquaza while battling the Ruin Maniac in the Route 111 desert. The strong winds faded, and the sandstorm returned.
I also enjoy how from gen 5 onward, you need only look at the bottom screen for a reminder of what the current weather is rather than be pestered with it at the end of each turn. In gen 5, you had a little picture in the corner showing you what the weather's doing, like if it's raining or in the middle of a sandstorm. (probably really helped the 'weather wars' to take off in addition to new abilities taking advantage of the weather like Sand Rush) In gen 6, the weather's effects are displayed affecting the bottom screen, like droplets of rain hitting it or sand blowing across it. And I like that in this generation, (or at least in OR/AS) once a certain weather peters out (like Hail ending) the natural weather for the area returns. I noticed this when I withdrew my Mega Rayquaza while battling the Ruin Maniac in the Route 111 desert. The strong winds faded, and the sandstorm returned.
ORAS is in my opinion better than Ruby and Sapphire, it missed a lot of the stuff Emerald improved on but if you liked Ruby and Sapphire by themselves you will probably love ORAS.
Speaking of that, I was super happy when I found out that the glass flutes were back with their original functions, having been useless in Generation V. Being able to save money on Awakenings and saving time having to switch out to heal confusion and infatuation is just nice to me. Hell, I had originally saved up a set of flutes to send forward to Generation V before I sadly learned that you couldn't send items forward.
One thing I liked about Unova was Routes 17 and 18. If you don't recall those are the two routes that require you to Surf to the left of Route 1. They dead-end and the only thing of real interest in BW is the P2 Laboratory and the Larvesta Egg. In fact, the screen in the gate at the entrance to Route 17 is off with the guide telling you that it's so refreshing because there's nothing going on. Going down those routes is one of the few times that you really feel you're going "off the rails" in the game since the rest of it is so linear. And it just feels extremely relaxing to go somewhere in those games just for the point of doing something.
If I had to think about what I like the most about the franchise, it would have to be the massive potentialto get creative. Hoenn and Sinnoh gives you a customizable base, Kalos allows you to dress however you want (aside from hatless), and there is the whole teambuild. For the more artistic, you got hundreds to humans to draw and even more for mons or even make a tailor made one. Hell, you could draw any city or landmark in detail. I could go on and on, but the sheer creative is just awesome in spite of being highly formulaic.
I know that, though who's to say both Red and Leaf can't exist? Here's another thing that I like: In the Gen V games the other playable character appearing in the Battle Subway if you choose to do tag battles. While they're just there to provide you a partner and don't talk, it's still nice to see them being used and even though we're not told anything about them in a way this does give them a bit of their own story. While we're going through the Unova League they're battling their way through the Battle Subway. Actually wasn't that what Twitch Plays Pokemon also concluded when you're forced to double battle Ingo and Emmet with the other playable character in BW2?
Adding in those pieces of character detail is always a nice touch. I don't remember them doing it much for Lyandre, but in XY I remember two cases of this. First is in
FUN FACT: Speaking of neat little things about the Looker Mission, the tourist who speaks Japanese? Well in the Japanese version of the games she spoke English!
Also wouldn't hurt to give them a Shiny version as well. One of my favorite things they did with the menu sprites is using them for Super Training and having them hit the punching bag an when they finish they have the sprite flip around like it's destroying the punching bag, lol.
I know that after seeing one had its function returned I made sure to pick up the rest. ;)
Now a new thing I like, hmm, have we mentioned ending credits yet? My favorite ending credits are the ones which sort of retell your adventure with it ending you back at home. HGSS did it with having the sprites of the important NPCs come out and doing mostly funny things though it ends with your mom walking on screen, you walking up to her, and both of you going off screen. BW2 showed you your adventure going home visiting the important NPCs, most notably Burgh throwing you a parade in Castelia City! Finally ORAS showed us snapshots of our battles with the important NPCs showing the Pokemon we used to win the battle against them (as well as the bike ride with May ending us stopping in front of the small pool where we first met to have a post credit battle).
I loved XY's ending credits! I always like looking at concept art of things and I really liked the music that accompanies it. The ones that retell your story are great, too.
ORAS had the best credits. Seeing things like my Makuhita and Pelipper really personalized it for me and it also reminds me of the Grezzo credits in Ocarina of Time 3D, the credits in New Super Mario Bros., and Super Castlevania IV (which is the only one on this list I've never beaten).