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(Little) Things that annoy you in Pokémon

Agree

Disagree

Maybe? Scyther to me always felt actually like it weirdly lacks a pre-evo

Misdreavus
HARD Disagree

Disagree

Murkrow, Rhydon, Stantler, Basculin, Ursaring, Girafarig, Bisharp, and Primeape
okay I just got like into the list and this is too long

disagree, agree, maybe, maybe, agree, agree, agree, agree

but also a lot of these 100% feel like one-stages to me IMO, and a lot of these that got evos feel like it fits. Mismagius is such a banger design and Misdreavus looks super pre-evo to me. It's small and looks like Ghastly in proportions and general vibe, like a wisp. A lot of Ghost type lines are wisp-ass-mfer -> more developed design and I think Mismagius line as is fits that exactly, it feels like Misdreavus is incomplete
 
i feel like archaludon is actually one of the very few times gamefreak actually considered stats and strength as motivation for a cross-gen evo and even then the main factor must have been that duraludon was clearly created with its gigantamax form in mind and without the mechanic it couldn't fulfill its lore raison d'etre properly anymore. both mega evolution and gigantamax prove that flavour and design come first for gamefreak for these things (with some of our issues really being the taste level - mega manectric remains a huge "how? why??" for me)

i echo the disagreements that a lot of previously one-stage pokémon mentioned looked fully realised - onix in particular with its "omg first tough boss" origin looks like he'd evolve and no wonder he did in the immediately next gen. sometimes mons don't evolve just because they couldn't come up with an evolution they liked instead of it truly being a fully baked standalone concept (some make this work without any gimmick even), and that's fine
 
The thing to get from this conversation is people's views on certain Pokemon (evolution specifically in this case) are very subjective.

Like to me nothing about Tangela or Onix feel "unevolved" at all. Their evolutions don't look out of place but nothing about the designs "screams" they should have evolved to begin with to me even with people's personal logic about it.
Likewise I don't think Duraludon loses something without its G-Max (in fact I'd argue that going from rail gun to Skyscraper kind of de-emphasizes the original aspect of Duraludon entirely). I see a lot of people think that the G-Maxes "complete" their lines but I don't agree with that either.

And so on. Aipom kind of sticks out but personally that's less on its design (I think it's fine to have a weird-cute little monkey) and more on it was just. Not good. And it would be nice if it could evolve into something more good.



Duraludon getting a pre-evo would be cute though, that I agree on too. I kinda doubt we ever get more pre-evolutions at this juncture though (honestly I'd prefer a few "mid-evolutions" for a few lines....), but hey who knows.
 
The thing to get from this conversation is people's views on certain Pokemon (evolution specifically in this case) are very subjective.

Like to me nothing about Tangela or Onix feel "unevolved" at all. Their evolutions don't look out of place but nothing about the designs "screams" they should have evolved to begin with to me even with people's personal logic about it.
Likewise I don't think Duraludon loses something without its G-Max (in fact I'd argue that going from rail gun to Skyscraper kind of de-emphasizes the original aspect of Duraludon entirely). I see a lot of people think that the G-Maxes "complete" their lines but I don't agree with that either.

And so on. Aipom kind of sticks out but personally that's less on its design (I think it's fine to have a weird-cute little monkey) and more on it was just. Not good. And it would be nice if it could evolve into something more good.



Duraludon getting a pre-evo would be cute though, that I agree on too. I kinda doubt we ever get more pre-evolutions at this juncture though (honestly I'd prefer a few "mid-evolutions" for a few lines....), but hey who knows.
Pretty much.

Duraludon is kind of an ugly, aimless design IMO, so it getting an evo or not is whatever to me. Granted, Arch is somehow worse, but it is what it is.

I guess it really was designed just around its gimmick of G-Maxing into a building.
 
You know, talks about design did helped me remind myself about why some designs from later generations didn’t clicked on me. I feel like the designs lately focused too much on theme / gimmick at the expense on good design.

It’s not exclusive to Generation 5-9 as Gen 1-4 also shared their own stinkers, but I do think we get too many gimmick-based, job-based and anthropomorphic Pokémon, or Pokémon with unnervingly human-like traits like Bruxish’s “lipstick-like lips”, and in either way, have a design that is too simple or too detailed.

With those in mind, it’s easy to see why people called later generations’ designs “lazy” given the feeling of uncanny seeping into some of them. In other words, the issues were in the beginning but became worse over time.

What do I mean? Let me make a list:
  1. Oversimplified shapes or details (i.e. Seel line, Eiscue, Flamigo, Indeedee, Oinkologne, Pawmi’s evolutions, Morpeko)
  2. The opposite problem, which are overly complicated or have too many extraneous details (i.e. Archaludon, Rhyperior, Zacian + Zamazenta, Quaquaval, Cinderace, Eternatus, Mega Rayquaza, Skeledirge, Volcanion)
  3. Overly anthropomorphic or uncanny human-like details (i.e. Conleldurr, Hitmonchan, Jynx, Bruxish’s lips, Palafin’s hero form, Gen 8 starters)
  4. Unfocused design that makes them feel uninspired or out-of-place (i.e. Trubbish line, Vanillite line, Sawk, Throh, Stonjourner, Okidogi, Monkidori, Coalossal, several Future Paradoxes, Mega Manectric, G-Max Gengar, G-Max Eevee)
  5. Overly gimmicky or focuses too much on the theme, coming off as tacked-on (Morpeko, Eiscue, Cinderace, Castform, Luvdisc, Squawkabilly, elemental monkeys)
  6. Severely unbalanced proportions, or proportions too realistic (Sobble line, Rhyperior, elemental monkeys, Hero form Palafin, Incineroar, G-Max Gengar, G-Max Eevee, Forces of Nature)
Likely because of more ambitious titles but not much more time or manpower, the design did saw a subtle degration and increased inconsistency in quality over time.
 
I don't think anything pertaining to development time/manpower/ambition/whatever matters here. I think even if every single game had a lovingly handcrafted, perfectly developed, well funded 5 years of game design, most likely the designs we got in a given generation would be about the same. You can only "refine" them so many times.

I think that -and again I am going to put aside the fact that this is again all extremely subjective on if any of that list accurately applies to everyone- any difference in design ethos generation to generation will just come about from there being decades worth of these things, with many many different artists taking the reigns, older artists just having their own styles change and develop alongside it, and probably just willingness to stretch what defines a "pokemon".
 
It’s not exclusive to Generation 5-9 as Gen 1-4 also shared their own stinkers, but I do think we get too many gimmick-based, job-based and anthropomorphic Pokémon, or Pokémon with unnervingly human-like traits like Bruxish’s “lipstick-like lips”, and in either way, have a design that is too simple or too detailed.
I generally agree with this, and I would go further to say that it is in part an issue with the number of Pokemon which are designed more like specific characters than like a species. A lot of the anthropomorphic Pokemon fit into this category, which further makes them too person-like. This can be a result of not just design but also with a Pokemon having too much of a specific story to feel like a species. Even in terms of humanoid/job-based Pokemon, I think there's a difference in the level of "specific character" design between "every Hariyama is a sumo wrestler" versus "every Incineroar is a heel in professional wrestling" or "every Cinderace is a uniform-wearing soccer player" or "every Palafin is an ordinary-looking citizen who becomes a superhero at the sign of trouble". To me, the latter three just don't work as a species, and if you were to, say, have a pack of 10 in the wilderness it would feel weird. Even a relatively humanoid Pokemon like Hatterene doesn't have this problem, because its design elements don't feel as specific to an individual.

I suspect that this trend has to do with marketing, where having a more specific story makes the Pokemon more appealing. Mimikyu is another example of this (even though I do like it), where it has the "aww, the poor thing wants to dress like Pikachu so people will make friends with it" story. And what do you know, it's astoundingly popular and it's been placed onto the teams of 3 Gym Leaders in a row. The first two at least make sense, since it matches with the "shy, spooky child" theme. Ryme has a very different personality and it's pretty obvious that it was just shoved there because it's popular. It feels like there are more Pokemon which are designed specifically to be the next Pikachu or Charizard or Lucario in terms of popularity, and a lot of them are "specific character" Pokemon.

The increased number of legendary/mythical Pokemon (which are usually also specific individuals and not an entire species) is also a symptom of this, where a lot of the time the "specialness" feels like just a way to increase popularity (even though a full 18/128 or ~14% of Gen 9 Pokemon, if legendary Paradoxes are counted, are legendary/mythical).

The problem is that having so many Pokemon all trying to be special and appealing makes the newer Dexes feel very saturated. It's basically the equivalent of dumping salt, sugar, and oil into every food product. Yes, ultimately every Pokemon is designed to appeal to people (and make money). I still think that it's way too blatant in recent gens, that there are ways to make Pokemon cute/interesting in more subtle ways, and that having so many Pokemon which don't work as a species is artistically unpleasing.
 
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Already nerd-sniped myself talking about one of these, might as well respond to the full list
Oversimplified shapes or details (i.e. Seel line, Eiscue, Flamigo, Indeedee, Oinkologne, Pawmi’s evolutions, Morpeko)
Feels weird to include modern pikaclones without also mentioning the reason why their designs all suck. Flamigo is an interesting case, though. The one gimmick it has to set itself apart from a normal animal (being partially a balloon animal) requires it to be made of very basic shapes, so I would argue that its problem is that it isn't clear enough on its own gimmick: it's neither the stereotypical quarduped balloon animal nor is its flying type unusual. At least it saves that design space for a Flying-type Eeveelution?
The opposite problem, which are overly complicated or have too many extraneous details (i.e. Archaludon, Rhyperior, Zacian + Zamazenta, Quaquaval, Cinderace, Eternatus, Mega Rayquaza, Skeledirge, Volcanion)
yeah this is just a preference, moving on.
Overly anthropomorphic or uncanny human-like details (i.e. Conleldurr, Hitmonchan, Jynx, Bruxish’s lips, Palafin’s hero form, Gen 8 starters)
I actually think Bruxish isn't that exaggerated. Triggerfish have different looking mouths than a lot of other fish because they're set up to crush shelled prey, with the lips ending up looking more human than with a good number of primates. Bruxish is mostly just smiling to show off the teeth behind them.
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Unfocused design that makes them feel uninspired or out-of-place (i.e. Trubbish line, Vanillite line, Sawk, Throh, Stonjourner, Okidogi, Monkidori, Coalossal, several Future Paradoxes, Mega Manectric, G-Max Gengar, G-Max Eevee)
Trubbish and Vanillite: Honestly, I think that objectmons have a higher baseline of inspiration than animal mons. If nothing else, their ecology is new rather than being copy-pasted from the source material.
Okidogi and Munkidori: the latter's fine, though I could see how Okidogi could be improved. The other two members of the Loyal Three have the locations of their Toxic Chains related to their wish (Munkidori wanted intelligence, its chain is around its head; Fezandipiti wanted beauty, its chain is prominently displayed on the chest) but I don't see a connection between Okidogi's desire for strength and its chain being attached to its neck.
Future Paradoxes: They're at least better than their equivalents. Regular evolutions already lean towards making mons larger and more bestial, which means the actual effect of most past paradoxes is that they run straight into the "too many extraneous details" issue above without any new substance to show for it. I'd say Sandy Shocks is the only good design in there.
G-Max Gengar: you know, if they didn't cut megas they wouldn't have needed to make Mega Gengar At Home.

Ran out of steam for the last two categories.
 
I generally agree with this, and I would go further to say that it is in part an issue with the number of Pokemon which are designed more like specific characters than like a species. A lot of the anthropomorphic Pokemon fit into this category, which further makes them too person-like. This can be a result of not just design but also with a Pokemon having too much of a specific story to feel like a species. Even in terms of humanoid/job-based Pokemon, I think there's a difference in the level of "specific character" design between "every Hariyama is a sumo wrestler" versus "every Incineroar is a heel in professional wrestling" or "every Cinderace is a uniform-wearing soccer player" or "every Palafin is an ordinary-looking citizen who becomes a superhero at the sign of trouble". To me, the latter three just don't work as a species, and if you were to, say, have a pack of 10 in the wilderness it would feel weird. Even a relatively humanoid Pokemon like Hatterene doesn't have this problem, because its design elements don't feel as specific to an individual.

I suspect that this trend has to do with marketing, where having a more specific story makes the Pokemon more appealing. Mimikyu is another example of this (even though I do like it), where it has the "aww, the poor thing wants to dress like Pikachu so people will make friends with it" story. And what do you know, it's astoundingly popular and it's been placed onto the teams of 3 Gym Leaders in a row. The first two at least make sense, since it matches with the "shy, spooky child" theme. Ryme has a very different personality and it's pretty obvious that it was just shoved there because it's popular. It feels like there are more Pokemon which are designed specifically to be the next Pikachu or Charizard or Lucario in terms of popularity, and a lot of them are "specific character" Pokemon.

The increased number of legendary/mythical Pokemon (which are usually also specific individuals and not an entire species) is also a symptom of this, where a lot of the time the "specialness" feels like just a way to increase popularity (even though a full 18/128 or ~14% of Gen 9 Pokemon, if legendary Paradoxes are counted, are legendary/mythical).

The problem is that having so many Pokemon all trying to be special and appealing makes the newer Dexes feel very saturated. It's basically the equivalent of dumping salt, sugar, and oil into every food product. Yes, ultimately every Pokemon is designed to appeal to people (and make money). I still think that it's way too blatant in recent gens, that there are ways to make Pokemon cute/interesting in more subtle ways, and that having so many Pokemon which don't work as a species is artistically unpleasing.
Cubone been out there since Gen 1 breh.

I get your point tho.
 
TIL Suicune no longer learns Aurora Beam in SwSh and S/V.

And Aurora Beam was not one of the moves that has been Cut.

As a guy who grew up with Crystal as his favourite game and Suicune as his favourite Pokemon, this is actually the worst. How do you take away Aurora Beam from the Aurora Pokemon.

I don’t know why this annoys me so much but it really does.
 
This may be the most minor of things to ever get brought up in this thread, and yet I am going to say it anyway:

The Pokemon Center website lets you use a Pokemon for an avatar. The avatars are pretty cute, they're all the Pokemon Center artwork cropped to their headshots. Some of the artwork even seems new (ie: dudunsparce & glarian zen mode darmanitan have different poses that dont line up with their full art)

What bugs me is the Hisui Pokemon just are not on there at all. You can select Pokemon by region but...there is no Hisui option. And unlike Meltan, which is placed with Alola, they aren't lumped with Galar. If you don't select anything you can just view everything all in one go but they aren't present at all.
Doubly weird because it's actually a very in depth selector. Not every form is present (Altered Giratina strikes me as the most glaring, and there's no megas and such) but all the vivillons, squawkabillies, furfrous...the hisui forms....Like there's even an avatar for the cell Zygarde and that thing didn't even get a sitting cutie.

What an odd oversight!
 
This may be the most minor of things to ever get brought up in this thread, and yet I am going to say it anyway:

The Pokemon Center website lets you use a Pokemon for an avatar. The avatars are pretty cute, they're all the Pokemon Center artwork cropped to their headshots. Some of the artwork even seems new (ie: dudunsparce & glarian zen mode darmanitan have different poses that dont line up with their full art)

What bugs me is the Hisui Pokemon just are not on there at all. You can select Pokemon by region but...there is no Hisui option. And unlike Meltan, which is placed with Alola, they aren't lumped with Galar. If you don't select anything you can just view everything all in one go but they aren't present at all.
Doubly weird because it's actually a very in depth selector. Not every form is present (Altered Giratina strikes me as the most glaring, and there's no megas and such) but all the vivillons, squawkabillies, furfrous...the hisui forms....Like there's even an avatar for the cell Zygarde and that thing didn't even get a sitting cutie.

What an odd oversight!
I'm sure that it's not there, but have you checked Sinnoh?
 
On the subject of missing Pokemon: Over a year after launch, Pokemon Sleep inexplicably does not have a single Unova representative. No, not even Munna or Musharna. You'd think raw probability would dictate the region with 156 Pokemon would get one chosen sooner or later, but I guess not?
I mean Drowzee and Hypno aren't available either, so that might be intentional.
 
On the subject of missing Pokemon: Over a year after launch, Pokemon Sleep inexplicably does not have a single Unova representative. No, not even Munna or Musharna. You'd think raw probability would dictate the region with 156 Pokemon would get one chosen sooner or later, but I guess not?
This got me curious who was in the game so....looking at the release schedule, it's not thaaaat odd.
Launch only had Gens 1-4 + Sylveon. And Sylveon's only there for Eevee's sake.
After launch they've been pretty lean -and somewhat scattershot- on Pokemon additions. First addition at all was 2 months later, the first gen 7 Pokemon were this January (Stufful & Bewear), the first (& currently only) non-Sylveon gen 6 was Dedenne in march, Cramorant is the only Gen 8 rep and that was in June, and the Gen 9 starters were all added for the anniversary.
Suppose it would have been easy to add something from chargestone for the new area, but it's hard to read much into their decisions. Not like they had they had the Nosepass line or numerous other rock,steel or electric types. First legends were the beasts...and those were spread across 6 months. They're just taking things very slowly, and grabbing a mix of popular things and things that strike their fancy, I suppose?
 
This got me curious who was in the game so....looking at the release schedule, it's not thaaaat odd.
Launch only had Gens 1-4 + Sylveon. And Sylveon's only there for Eevee's sake.
After launch they've been pretty lean -and somewhat scattershot- on Pokemon additions. First addition at all was 2 months later, the first gen 7 Pokemon were this January (Stufful & Bewear), the first (& currently only) non-Sylveon gen 6 was Dedenne in march, Cramorant is the only Gen 8 rep and that was in June, and the Gen 9 starters were all added for the anniversary.
Suppose it would have been easy to add something from chargestone for the new area, but it's hard to read much into their decisions. Not like they had they had the Nosepass line or numerous other rock,steel or electric types. First legends were the beasts...and those were spread across 6 months. They're just taking things very slowly, and grabbing a mix of popular things and things that strike their fancy, I suppose?
The new area's a power plant, Tyanmo, Joltik, and Klink don't live in those.
 
The new area's a power plant, Tyanmo, Joltik, and Klink don't live in those.
The gist of the area is electric and steel Pokemon. Since its an abandoned power plant with junk everywhere.
There's genuinely nothing saying that any of those Pokemon (Joltik in particular) wouldn't be right at home here, especially when the area can also have you encounter things like Mr Mime or the Paldean Starters.

Not like the Aron line is especially known to be near power plants either; closest it's come is that it was near the feugo ironworks via pokeradar.

Regardless, the point was they could have selected a good assortment of Pokemon, not just the ones from chargestone, but went with Aron, Shinx & Grubbin and there was probably not a specific edict to avoid gen 5 in particular in more than the other options they also had on hand.
 
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