Unpopular opinions

[Yung Dramps]

I've yet to see a difficulty hack that doesn't immediately sprint into the pitfall of Showdown-style bosses. National Dex hacks are also tear-inducingly boring. You can accurately tell if a hack will be garbage just by reading what it's about. Aimless, boring, uninspired projects can't result in good design.

Just once, just freaking once I want to see someone do a series of difficulty hacks that actually stick to the original games' regional dexes and try to stay at least somewhat flavorful instead of bloating all the encounter tables and wheeling out nonsense like Champion Blue with Eternatus and Arceus (THIS IS WHAT RADICAL RED FANS ACTUALLY PLAY).

 

[Sonikku A]

How do you guys feel about having starters catchable in the wild?

Like, most hacks won't have wireless multiplayer/trading, much less a fangame

I feel early route mons need to be buffed to not feel inferior if one were to catch all immediately for early game, or they can be made to be a route's rare superboss

 

[Cobalt Empoleon]

How do you guys feel about having starters catchable in the wild?

Like, most hacks won't have wireless multiplayer/trading, much less a fangame

I feel early route mons need to be buffed to not feel inferior if one were to catch all immediately for early game, or they can be made to be a route's rare superboss

I definitely appreciate it when a fangame/hack is truly single-player, even if it has trade functionality. If you're aiming for the classic main series feel, though, making starter Pokemon available early kinda kills that vibe instantly, because in an official-style game your rival's starter is supposed to be one of your most threatening opponents. I think having them available in postgame for the sake of 'dex completion is a good way to balance things.

With a more difficult and/or 'NatDex' game, it's more complicated. In the context of a game that genuinely challenges the player, a lot of starters aren't actually very strong (at least not in the same 'mash A' way that they are in the official games). They should still be treated as special and rare, but I think the ideal way to utilise them is to make them sidequest/exploration rewards, staggered appropriately throughout the game depending on how generically good they are.

 

[TailGlowVM]

Although it's not a full hack, EisenTree is a difficulty hack that tries to be flavorful and keeps reasonably close to the original.

It's a mod of the Battle Tree that tries to make it more like VGC and Doubles OU, with more competitively-minded movesets, worthless abilities eliminated, and some of the more prolific Tree players represented as AI trainers, often using the same species as they did in their real teams.

 

[sg pokemon]

Just once, just freaking once I want to see someone do a series of difficulty hacks that actually stick to the original games' regional dexes and try to stay at least somewhat flavorful instead of bloating all the encounter tables and wheeling out nonsense like Champion Blue with Eternatus and Arceus (THIS IS WHAT RADICAL RED FANS ACTUALLY PLAY).

I believe the series of "Kaizo" hacks made by SinisterHoodedFigure is exactly what you're looking for, then. Now, before people start panicking at the mere sight of the term, I feel like some misconceptions need to be cleared up:

1. Yes, all of the games of the series are very tough and intentionally made to feel unfair, be it through map design, stronger teambuilding for both bosses and even generic trainers alike, and through stricter emphasis of resource management. However, through sufficient game knowledge (and persistence, especially for the nastier map designs....), the games are very much beatable; after all, they're still within the confines of Pokemon when it comes to aspects like the turn based combat, 4-movement grid, etc.
2. The above point is further emphasized by the fact that the games do not add/change ANY of the actual games'/gen's mechanics/mons*; they merely make use of what's available to their fullest extent (including stuff like rby's glitchiness, the way certain turn based interactions work in battle in the earlier gens, etc) (technically speaking, emerald kaizo also adds a few "new" moves from later gens, to diversify the mons' learnsets with the increased dex size).
3. An additional layer of difficulty from them comes from scaling difficulty curve; weaker mons/moves are available as early as it makes sense for them to be, while stronger ones are available later in the game/possibly even postgame. This may seem like basic game design logic, but it really helps put the spotlight on mons you might've not considered using on a playthrough otherwise, especially with their buffs. This goes hand in hand with the steeper level curve of the games encouraging you to switch up members often, adding mons obtained from newer areas to keep pace with the general surroundings (though if you want, nothing's stopping you from sticking with some mons of your choice for longer periods of time, especially if you're willing to invest in them via tms). This also adds an additional layer of nuance to resource management; yes, you could use this tm to help out your current mon, but what if said mon appears in the wild later on already knowing the tm move/possibly an even better alternative? This also makes even wild pokemon a challenge of their own, be it from them being tougher opponents than expected (random ai notwithstanding), or becoming a pain to catch by using recoil/suicide/phasing moves to make catching them a greater chore (on top of whatever catch rate they might have....).
4. No, the games don't change the story at all, however the aforementioned map changes -frustration notwithstanding- can still make going through them like a whole new experience, especially with them utilizing new ways to make use of hms- you need fly to access the pokecenter of certain cities as it's blocked off by ledges otherwise, and jasmine in crystal kaizo's fought 7th due to her lighthouse being blocked off by a whirlpool, which you need to beat pryce to get past (he's also always fought 6th, iirc because of the aforementioned fly thing? Been a while since I last played). You may also need dig/escape ropes to get away from some caves' cut off doors.

Things like this, and many more, are what make the games worth exploring, once the stigma of their shared term is overcome. I definitely recommend them to anyone wanting to even just study some more meticulous game design choices towards a certain goal!

For reference, the games in question are: Blue/Crystal/Emerald/Dark Rising Kaizo, Intense Indigo (there's also an "easy version" of it, Indigo Lite), Magma Ruby 202, Stadium Kaizo, and Kaizo Colosseum. Platinum Kaizo's supposedly also in the works, but nothing's been heard of it in ages.

*However, several pokemon within each of the games themselves DO receive buffs/reworks, be it in terms of stats, movepool additions, or simply better availability/earlier evolution level. Because let's be real, they need it, whether to make them more worth using in general, or to make better additions for opponents' rosters.

and also, because I just know it might get brought up

I'm actively choosing to omit/not bring up the fact that Emerald Kaizo's been all too popularized by the various Nuzlocke challenges of it, creating a...particular viewpoint about how it/games of its ilk are meant to be played. Firstly, no, the above mentioned games were never meant to be nuzlocked; there's nothing to stop you from doing so ofc, but just...know what you're getting into, is all. Secondly, I've got....mixed feelings about the fact that this has since caused a whole genre of "tough games meant to be nuzlocked, inspired by Emerald Kaizo" to emerge now. Most prominently represented by hacks like Vintage White, Run and Bun (though apparently its dev has stated it's not meant to be nuzlocked after all? Idk), and also "trashlocke" games like Garbage Green, Garbage Gold (the latter being the first HGSS hack on the new romhacking engine made for it!!...and it's a trashlocke game with super peculiar design choices), etc.
Perhaps I'm just being too influenced by the opinions of some of my friends here, but it feels like if a game's designed to only be challenging as a nuzlocke, if you then remove said nuzlocke restrictions and play through the game normally, the game might not feel as challenging as normally intended, which might be upsetting to those wanting to play through the game itself, but not with the nuzlocke restrictions (the games themselves might still pose a challenge though). And...this whole genre continues to become more and more popularized to this day, and....yeah.

 

[Ironmage]

I think that Natdex makes sense as the default for a more challenging hack. I know when I'm making teams for characters to use I don't like any regional dex restrictions, so if the idea is for the challenge to be fair the player should also have that breadth of options when facing those teams. The only reason I think my creations could potentially work in a restricted format (built around them) is that they generally aren't optimized so the player shouldn't need to have everything at their disposal. .

 

[Volt-Ikazuchi]

How do you guys feel about having starters catchable in the wild?

Like, most hacks won't have wireless multiplayer/trading, much less a fangame

I feel early route mons need to be buffed to not feel inferior if one were to catch all immediately for early game, or they can be made to be a route's rare superboss

It's fine for post-game/very late-game

Read: I know Viridian Forest is the best fit for Bulbasaur, but don't make it wild there before Brock dammit!

Just once, just freaking once I want to see someone do a series of difficulty hacks that actually stick to the original games' regional dexes and try to stay at least somewhat flavorful instead of bloating all the encounter tables and wheeling out nonsense like Champion Blue with Eternatus and Arceus (THIS IS WHAT RADICAL RED FANS ACTUALLY PLAY).

I'll let you know if I ever finish a hack lmao

I think that Natdex makes sense as the default for a more challenging hack. I know when I'm making teams for characters to use I don't like any regional dex restrictions, so if the idea is for the challenge to be fair the player should also have that breadth of options when facing those teams. The only reason I think my creations could potentially work in a restricted format (built around them) is that they generally aren't optimized so the player shouldn't need to have everything at their disposal. .

I understand where you're coming from, but to me, that kind of messes with the identity of a region.

 

[ant4456]

Idt y'all GET Radical Red:

Radical Red is a game about exploration and boss fights that just happens to be in Kanto. For most of the game, the player is expected to explore and look for encounters and counters to the next boss fight around the region, and potentially swap out the ones you like the most later to other threats.

Nuzlockes for instance will often use a lot of Kanto's exploration potential before Surge to get a ton of encounters that help a lot. Keep in mind, most play with No Grinding Mode so EVs and IVs don't exist, and rare candy cheats are allowed even on the official Discord server's Hall of Fame.

It's definitely not the deepest experience, but Radical Red is a fun game because it leverages one of the facts of Pokemon: The balance is extremely lopsided in the player's favor. A game with zero mechanical skill to display. A game where the trainer has one team that won't change, and the player has all the options in the world. The only real question is how much the player will explore to curve out that advantage, or how little of a team advantage they can accept.

RadRed basically takes this and because of the difficulty, encourages every player to explore for most of the game. Around the 5th gym, the gyms are less about one type or so, and you start using the pool of Pokemon you caught throughout the game to really have a core team.

It's also more fun to explore to find all the buffed Pokemon and see what they can do!

Here's an interesting example from my times of Nuzlocking 3.2: Early game has a very fun strategy that was satisfying every time. There's two really common encounters before Falkner, Phanpy and Sandshrew (both versions IIRC), and both have the combination of Defense Curl Rollout which should win the fight pretty easily.

This is a strategy I'd literally never use in a main series game because I'd have to be assed to feel the need to have a set strategy to fight Falkner, even if I have Chikorita I will be using Tackle several times thank you very much.

The battle's difficulty is circumvented by having correct strategies. Brock on the other hand is not so easily fucked up by one strategy, but by using good switches and good management of HP, many of my runs had no deaths to Brock.

Similarly, Appletun with Thick Fat is a very good pick for both Misty and Surge and it's usually at a fairly consistent Dynamax raid, so I got it most of the time.

One of my favorite things in difficulty mods is being forced out of my Pokemon comfort zone and having to try stuff I'd never care to before. It's what I like about Reborn's early game where Poochyena and Trubbish are the top tier encounters.

Only towards like the 7th gym do the bosses really start to run stuff like Ultra Beasts and Mythicals. After the 8th gym there are legendaries around the region (beyond the Kanto birds), but you'll never be able to get the cover legends. All in all, RadRed's trainers only start to get balls to the wall crazy with legendaries at the time the player can start to get many legendaries.

But also, in classic Pokemon fashion, that isn't required or even necessarily optimal.

(from the Discord)

Meganium RadRed is awesome, it has Triage and Fairy so it's the best Dracovish counter, and basically checks so much shit. Cool Pokemon

I think RadRed was definitely way worse when it came out. The devs seemed to be up their ass, the game wasn't even that hard or well-balanced, but over the updates and really ever since the 3.0s the game just feels really solidly balanced.

I'm not one to replay a difficulty hack over and over, but I don't think I could really get entirely bored of RadRed if I were in a prison and had to play one fangame over and over. I mean even if I did every challenge run for Normal, there's Hard Mode where the entire game is rebalanced, practically a second difficulty hack in the same game, randomizers, etc.

RadRed is p cool

 

[Lontra Assassina]

Ironically, one of my favorite romhacks is Emerald Rogue, which completely drops the pretense of being an RPG (aside from the mechanics of course) and fully commits to the idea of being a boss rush meants to be played over and over again

 

[pokemon4eva]

I think ppl are exaggerating a bit too much about the difficulty of RR when in reality, the game gives you a lot of tools you'll need. It's not like say, the Dark Rising games, where you're at a constant disadvantage against the CPU in both levels and pokemon available.

Ironically, one of my favorite romhacks is Emerald Rogue, which completely drops the pretense of being an RPG (aside from the mechanics of course) and fully commits to the idea of being a boss rush meants to be played over and over again

Emerald Rogue has been one of my fav romhacks of the last years, and while I couldn't get into the bigger 2.0 update, I'm also enjoying Pokerogue. Wild to see 2 different directions of the rogue sub-genre applied to the Pokemon formula.

 

[Cobalt Empoleon]

I rarely like fanmade buffs to individual Pokemon. I like being able to rely on the instincts I've developed as a longtime Pokemon player and it's really jarring when a opponent's Pokemon has way more bulk or power than I'm expecting because it got some absurd stat buff. I don't think I should have to study a changelog before playing your fangame/romhack! Plus, a Pokemon's obvious flaws are often part of why I like it in the first place. If it gets a Dragon or Fairy typing slapped onto it with a 50-point stat buff, a crazy ability, and a bunch of new moves that don't really fit its design or flavour, it becomes a fundamentally different Pokemon to me.

 

[Samtendo09]

I rarely like fanmade buffs to individual Pokemon. I like being able to rely on the instincts I've developed as a longtime Pokemon player and it's really jarring when a opponent's Pokemon has way more bulk or power than I'm expecting because it got some absurd stat buff. I don't think I should have to study a changelog before playing your fangame/romhack! Plus, a Pokemon's obvious flaws are often part of why I like it in the first place. If it gets a Dragon or Fairy typing slapped onto it with a 50-point stat buff, a crazy ability, and a bunch of new moves that don't really fit its design or flavour, it becomes a fundamentally different Pokemon to me.

Especially if the buff(s) were given to a Pokémon is already considered as good on it’s own and doesn’t have a counterpart that vastly overshadow it. At this point, any numerous buffs beyond a boost to one stat is better off as a new evolution - if the Pokémon is single or second staged - or a new form akin to Mega Evolution or even regional form. That way you don’t have to worry about, for example, Ledian suddenly hitting hard on the physical side… Because it just happen to have a new fan evolution with a big boost to Attack instead, so that way, the Pokémon is directly buffed without changing it’s own core identity.

Inversively, I rarely like fanmade nerfs to individual Pokémon due to either being arbitrary, or just doesn’t do enough to prevent it from being so obnoxious or overpowered to fight against without deliberately gimping the movepools used by the NPCs. It’s fine to leave a non-legendary Pokémon a cut above the rest, as long as both the player and NPCs have access to it, but that’s when it get to the point not having that Pokémon presents a massive disadvantage in both in-game (if frequently used by lategame NPCs or when used as a raid boss) and / or PvP that it becomes a serious issue. I have yet to see a fangame that grants a sensible nerf to the most blatantly overpowered standard and Legendary-level Pokémon.

It’s even worse if fangames with Fakémons ended up doing a power creep on their own with obnoxiously overpowered newcomers instead of taking the issue seriously, or did the opposite and grant too many duds that feel unhelpful to use unless it’s an BW-styled Pokémon (though that might expose their weaknesses even more), so it goes to show that fans doesn’t always know better than the official devs.

 

[Samtendo09]

Pardon the double posting, but there’s no new replies since Sunday, so I’ll give a big one.

I, unlike many, don’t think a Pokédex consisting of only new Pokémon would work, especially with Dexit or pseudo-Dexit into consideration, unless such dex is huge with 200-250 (or more) new Pokémon regarding fangames.

It’s not just because of personal preference either. While the upsides does make a new-only Dex tempting and can make for an unique experience, there are noticable pitfalls that must be taken into consideration and not use it just for sake of it.

• Quantity over Quality: Unless there’s a Quality Assurance team, a higher amount of new Pokémon also means a risk of a higher amount of repeats, mediocres and stinkers, be it design-wise, battle-wise or worse, both. It can hurt the reception of the dex a lot if the stinkers ended up being used a lot and / or are front and center.
• Making the Region feels overly isolated: The lack of previously introduced Pokémon, until the postgame at best, can make the region come across as overly isolated to the point of discomfort when you think about it. Unless there’s a lore reason like border patrol or that the region is truly far away from the others, I find it hard to believe that a region will only consist of Pokémon not found anywhere in the region. It’s part of why the BW1 Unova Dex is still criticized to this day.
  • Note I haven’t mentioned cross-gen additions like regional forms, Baby mons or cross-gen evos ‘till now, and that’s plainly because an all-new-mons Dex doesn’t allows those by default. Not a bad thing by itself, but can emphasize the overly isolating feeling.
• Type Imbalance: Not just by number, either. It is expected that we get plenty of new Water-types to cover the water routes, but other than that, we can end up having too many new Pokémon of a type, especially if there are some serious overlap. This can lead to poor variety, and can limit a Gym Leader / Elite Four’s options too much unless they aren’t themed around a Pokémon Type. This issue is hardly exclusive to BW Unova, as DP Sinnoh and RBY Kanto are arguably worse, but do take this pitfall into consideration nonetheless.
  • Replayability is one thing that can make a Pokémon game more enjoyable than the other, especially regarding challenges like Monotype. Too little new Pokémon of a type can end up hurting it, especially if even fewer were viable in-game.​
• Forceful Expies: They say that limitations breed creativity. But no amount of limitation justify poor creativity by “forceful expies”, in other words, using too many old Pokémon - not archetype, actual Pokémon - as inspirations to the point of the new ones comes off as a rip-off, or just plainly uninspiring. This criticism does apply for a few Unova mons like the Timburr line (vs Machop line) and, at least back then, the Zorua line (vs Riolu line).
  • Poor Diversity in General: Continuing from the above two. Just because the previous Pokémon aren’t there doesn’t mean the new Pokémon won’t be compared to the previous ones, either favorably or unfavorably. It’s already redundant at this rate with early route Bug-types, single-staged Pikaclone and pseudo-legendary Dragon-type, so if you want your region dex to stand out, avoid the common Pokémon tropes if you can. The Fire-Grass-Water starter concept may stay, unless you thought of a good alternative triangle.
• New Gimmick: If there’s a new gimmick, then it might feels wrong that the old Pokémon won’t be able to use it in-game, worse if they aren’t available at all even in the postgame. If the new gimmick does refers the old Pokémon in a way or another, it may help soften the blows.

Nothing truly stops you to make an all-new-only dex, but do kindly take these pitfalls into consideration if you want to make it an enjoyable and memorable experience.

 

[ant4456]

I want Legends ZA to only give Kalos Pokemon new Megas, and I want the starters to just be the Kalos starters with new Megas.

Kalos was already fucked over. I think it deserves dedicated focus. People talk about power creep all the time but outside of the Megas and the small number of legendaries, of which Diancie was the only one to get a Mega of course, Kalos' dex is dogshit competitively, with so few actually being even remotely good. Most of the best Fairy Types were Megas or old Pokemon given Fairy type.

Kalos deserves to have more of its lines being way better, and really only its lines getting better. Also full on evolutions to 2 stage Kalos Pokemon would also be appreciated.

 

[Yung Dramps]

I want Legends ZA to only give Kalos Pokemon new Megas, and I want the starters to just be the Kalos starters with new Megas.

Kalos was already fucked over. I think it deserves dedicated focus. People talk about power creep all the time but outside of the Megas and the small number of legendaries, of which Diancie was the only one to get a Mega of course, Kalos' dex is dogshit competitively, with so few actually being even remotely good. Most of the best Fairy Types were Megas or old Pokemon given Fairy type.

Kalos deserves to have more of its lines being way better, and really only its lines getting better. Also full on evolutions to 2 stage Kalos Pokemon would also be appreciated.

I hope we get plenty of Kalos megas just as much as anyone else (MEGA MIMI FOR EMMA CMOOOOOON) but I am also Alola Shill Supreme and am therefore humbly requesting at least a share of the love. Mega Mimikyu, mayhaps?

 

[DrrT]

I understand the sentiment since the Kalos starters were replaced on their own game by the Kanto ones which is ridiculous, and the Kalos dex is one of my favourites design wise. But that would kind of feel like a waste if we end up with just "the Megas we should have gotten back in the day". Give some love to newer generations too, things Z could not have done back when it was going to release. Be it Megas or brand new evos, or convergents, I don't mind- personally I can't be hyped about megas anymore when they can be cut any moment and I don't see them as cool as when I was a preteen.

 

[Bakugames]

I'm late to the fangame talk but emerald rogue and pokerogue suffer the same fate of original released roguelikes to me: Why should I play this when I can just crack open slay the spire (and more recently balatro has been added to that criterium). which is pretty unfair but sts truly is the peak and i dont see the point in playing worse, grindier roguelikes just because they got pokemon in them. I tried both and they just feel Fine, which means I engage for a while and then go play slay the spire instead

 

[Ironmage]

I understand the sentiment since the Kalos starters were replaced on their own game by the Kanto ones which is ridiculous, and the Kalos dex is one of my favourites design wise. But that would kind of feel like a waste if we end up with just "the Megas we should have gotten back in the day". Give some love to newer generations too, things Z could not have done back when it was going to release. Be it Megas or brand new evos, or convergents, I don't mind- personally I can't be hyped about megas anymore when they can be cut any moment and I don't see them as cool as when I was a preteen.

At some level, "could be cut at any moment" applies to any mon, there's no way to know from the first appearance whether you've found the next Glameow. I do get how it can be a pretty big damper on hype, especially since defaulting to caution with something that may be attempting to abuse FOMO is generally the right choice. Makes it that much easier to get invested in fan projects (showdown included) that keep the full dex around, I suppose.

 

[ant4456]

I'm late to the fangame talk but emerald rogue and pokerogue suffer the same fate of original released roguelikes to me: Why should I play this when I can just crack open slay the spire (and more recently balatro has been added to that criterium). which is pretty unfair but sts truly is the peak and i dont see the point in playing worse, grindier roguelikes just because they got pokemon in them. I tried both and they just feel Fine, which means I engage for a while and then go play slay the spire instead

because, for me at least, I don't like roguelikes where I don't get the game already. I don't wanna spend 20 hours learning the ins and outs of slay the spire so that then I can have fun trying to play optimally in runs, I want to know how the game works and have the roguelike elements mix it up

to me roguelikes as a formula is a great way to remix a game i already know but having to learn a game i dont know on top of a roguelike frustrates me. because i dont have all the context of everything thats happening i dont feel like i am making informed decisions and i dont know if what im doing even makes sense

 

[Yung Dramps]

I understand the sentiment since the Kalos starters were replaced on their own game by the Kanto ones which is ridiculous, and the Kalos dex is one of my favourites design wise. But that would kind of feel like a waste if we end up with just "the Megas we should have gotten back in the day". Give some love to newer generations too, things Z could not have done back when it was going to release. Be it Megas or brand new evos, or convergents, I don't mind- personally I can't be hyped about megas anymore when they can be cut any moment and I don't see them as cool as when I was a preteen.

I guess that's my big Z-A hot take, that new Mega Evolutions are the things I'm least excited for. I have a vague desire for new ones, I'm sure whatever they produce will be cool especially after an additional decade of experience designing new forms, but I just... care about other stuff more, ya feel? The things that interest me about the Z-A premise are questions like "How do you design a single-city sandbox Pokemon game?", "What sort of story will they tell with Zygarde as the epicenter now that they aren't burdened by the dismal foundation of XY's narrative?", potentially even "Which cast members from the original game will return and how will they be used?". The new Megas will happen when they happen, that's all I can say. The only one I have some vested interest in is the aforementioned Mega Meowstic, a request which has nothing to do with any affection I have for Mega Evolution as a concept or even that particular Pokemon and everything to do with my stupid, immature obsession with a character from a postgame sidequest nobody played

 

[Volt-Ikazuchi]

The only thing that interests me about Megas is whether or not they'll retcon Mega Gallade's ability to Sharpness.

With that said... there are so many questions about Z-A that I can't imagine why they specifically tied the Kalos Lumiose revisit to the Legends brand.

I don't expect any kind of Isekai, nor as little trainers as PLA had because modern Kalos already has trainers. Megas without PvP would be hilariously sad too. Agile and Strong styles would be bananas in PvP though. And then there's how the whole game is supposed to take place in Lumiose City.

PLA felt so detached from a regular Pokémon game experience that I honestly don't know how exactly a modern Legends game is supposed to be like.

 

[Yung Dramps]

The only thing that interests me about Megas is whether or not they'll retcon Mega Gallade's ability to Sharpness.

With that said... there are so many questions about Z-A that I can't imagine why they specifically tied the Kalos Lumiose revisit to the Legends brand.

I don't expect any kind of Isekai, nor as little trainers as PLA had because modern Kalos already has trainers. Megas without PvP would be hilariously sad too. Agile and Strong styles would be bananas in PvP though. And then there's how the whole game is supposed to take place in Lumiose City.

PLA felt so detached from a regular Pokémon game experience that I honestly don't know how exactly a modern Legends game is supposed to be like.

Tbf, this uncertainty would apply no matter what unless they revealed it with some gameplay. As game 2 of this subseries it's Z-A's job to solidify what the minimum prerequisites to be called a Legends title are. I think it's gonna be a series centered around player movement and action, the catching mechanics being emblematic of this and a recurring mainstay, but there's literally no empirical evidence for this. For all we know the "Lumiose Redevelopment Plan" could be way more central than we think with a huge focus on city builder elements that don't have much of anything to do with Arceus, Legends therefore being literally just the catch-all brand name they're gonna use whenever it's time to make a new game in an old region. I don't think this is remotely likely, but again there's no proof for either conclusion until potentially Pokemon Day 2025.

Speaking of things that aren't likely, don't forget that we don't even know with 100% certainty whether this game is even set in modernity. I mean, I would think the reveal trailer being a sci-fi hologram with synth music featuring NPCs using smart devices and a map with stadiums and modern Pokeball iconography is pretty unambiguously present-coded but there seem to be a lot of people who just insist this isn't the case and that it's all just the futuristic visions of people in the Poke1800s so what do I know?

 

[Volt-Ikazuchi]

Speaking of things that aren't likely, don't forget that we don't even know with 100% certainty whether this game is even set in modernity. I mean, I would think the reveal trailer being a sci-fi hologram with synth music featuring NPCs using smart devices and a map with stadiums and modern Pokeball iconography is pretty unambiguously present-coded but there seem to be a lot of people who just insist this isn't the case and that it's all just the futuristic visions of people in the Poke1800s so what do I know?

Pokémon Fans try to not find patterns in anything (Impossible)

Honestly, that's one of the few things the teaser was very upfront with.

No, we're not going to ancient Kalos. We're not going to see AZ crashout. This game is set in a setting where at least Lumiose is not only well-developed, but its being redesigned and expanded. If anything, that points to Lumiose post-XY.

I can't front, the lack of information really got people in a chokehold for this game. Brutally effective marketing. Since no one knows what to expect besides Megas, speculation has been rampant and it's keeping LZA on people's minds.

 

[Yung Dramps]

I can't front, the lack of information really got people in a chokehold for this game. Brutally effective marketing. Since no one knows what to expect besides Megas, speculation has been rampant and it's keeping LZA on people's minds.

To partially copy-paste something I said on Bulbagarden: An underrated problem of BDSP through SV's super-congested, breakneck release schedule was making the experience of new mainline Pokemon game information feel increasingly dull, rote and routine. Good marketing requires a certain degree of making consumers miss your product, with overexposure being a very real issue. This is a big part of why the MCU post-Endgame has been struggling, they dumped too many projects too fast to the point of oversaturating and devaluing the brand.

 

[Lontra Assassina]

My opinion (which admittedly is only based on vibes) is that the Legends series will be the place for experimental concepts and mechanics so that the devs can flex their creative muscles more without alienating people who want a traditional Pokémon experience. PLA focused a lot on movement for sure (I affectionately call the game a ball pitching simulator), but most of its mechanics were in service to its setting, so I'm not even counting on these to return