Jerry the great
Banned deucer.
Honestly, I don't blame you for wanting to do such.
So, next time I see any of you harass the developers, I'm sending this to you
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Unpopular opinions
- Thread starter antemortem
- Start date
So, next time I see any of you harass the developers, I'm sending this to you
Cresselia~~
Junichi Masuda likes this!!
You aren't losing any data though.
All your Pokemon can be transferred to Pokemon Home where you can pet them and interact with them.
They just can't go to Galar, that's all.
Jerry the great
Banned deucer.
THANK. YOUUUUU.
How do they give off an awesome feeling? Just want you to explain? I just like that 3D models are more tangible despite still being digital, and you can do cool tricks with them that 2D cannot, such as lighting and camera settings. People tend to lament that 2D is gone and that 2D has more "charm" (note the "ruined by 3D models thread"), but 3D's advantages are very obvious and favored over 2D's advantages.
Well, nvm. I didn't read CRoll's warning first and assume I would dangerously be going there.
I actually almost-liked the presentation (even though I don't really have much interest in the title per se).
At least we get to see Triples again in one way
Eh, I would leave passing Pokemon between files for post game, and honestly only transferring Pokemon from the New Game+ to the "main" file. New Game+ I feel is just there to give players a chance to play the main game different ways without having to restart their main file, and once done any Pokemon they want to keep (or records they got) can be transferred to the main file so they can restart the New Game+ file without feeling they lost what would feel the most important thing from that journey were.
Wouldn't want them to really change the story, like keep the Champion battle but allow us to challenge our HoF teams either as a bonus boss and/or as a potential Title Defense match.
And for Starter Pokemon just let us pick any number of base stage Pokemon from the dex, no need for them to be from eggs from the main file. Okay, sure, that may mean they won't have some helpful Egg Moves nor have their IVs be the way you want them (though I would make it so they're all Hyper Trained just to get a move on), but I feel a New Game+ re-play is more meant to be you trying out Pokemon you never used before instead of trying to blast through the game with a perfect team.
Now I'm not going to talk about you-know-what, but I have to at least respond to this post:
Wow, that's all sorts of insensitive.
"Hey, why are you so sad your dog died? Just get a new one!"
"Hey, why are you so mad the creators of your favorite show/game made a decision that ruined the franchise for you? Just find another one!"
"Hey, why are you so upset a thing you sunk years of your life into feels like it's being thrown way? Just go find something else to do!"
Not to mention the Pokemon franchise encourages you to get attached to your Pokemon. While they also certainly want you to make connections and find new favorites, up till now they never made it so you potentially couldn't use your old favorites.
How so?
If they were going to do a "spin-off", as it is widely claimed that Let's Go is, they might as well have gone further from a game that resembles main series so much. Gacha aside, Masters would've been so much better on the Switch. You still get the battle aspects, Pokemon growth, introduction to a lot of the characters, and the story line of aiming to become the champion.
As a "spin-off", Masters would've been way better than that other thing.
But they never said Let's Go was a side game, infact they originally planned on it being part of the core series until major backlash made them move it into being a parallel series which is what people said it should have been.
That all said, I personally am more interested in Masters then Let's Go and do wish it was it's own full side game rather then a gacha mobile game. But if it's successful maybe it would encourage them to do more things with past gen characters, like have another full-fledged Stadium game where we can battle all of these characters in 6-vs-6 battles.
Here’s a hugely unpopular opinion: Pidove is actually a halfway decent Pokémon in-game, at least for me so far in BW1.
Now, I know Pidove is far from a world beater and generally it’s one of the worse Flying types in BW1/2...on paper. You start out with Quick Attack and Air Cutter early on, which is not very great, and you clumsily have a bit of trouble sweeping Lenora even at +6 as a Tranquill (with the right stats Herdier doesn’t 2HKO with Take Down which you can exploit with Work Up and Roost). Things pick up a bit as you sweep Burgh rather easily thanks to the boost and heal combo, but aren’t as good for Gyms 4 and 5 due to Electric weakness and Clay having an Excadrill (who you can’t kill even at +4 Attack from Swagger as Unfezant).
Tranquill also has the distinct problem of being oddly slow (65 Speed means you can tie with stuff like Sandile, and it might be because I have a Speed reducing nature despite good Speed IVs) and fairly weak due to stats not built for Air Cutter. Return helps a lot around Nimbasa though, aside from major fights.
When you get Unfezant, you get an all around pretty decent Flying type, OHKOing quite a bit of evolved stuff that doesn’t resist STAB Return/Fly or have bulk (including Clay’s Krokorok and Palpitoad). You outspeed quite a bit now with your perfectly serviceable 93 base Speed. Most of the bulky stuff can also generally be cleaved through with Scope Lens (a pretty uncontested item you get early on in the Battle Company in Castelia City, with Super Luck causing Air Cutter to score critical hits frequently), making up for the line’s only modest stats in gen 5 (Unfezant’s highest stat is 105 Attack back then).
The next few gyms also go pretty well too. You OHKO all of Skyla’s mons with +1 Return, and she can’t do much of note to you. Brycen is tricky at first glance. Since Vanillish tends to go for Acid Armor, you can buff to +1 and 2 shot. Beartic is a bit tricky, but not when you realize you can abuse Substitute (gotten in winter in Twist Mountain) to get a free turn off of Swagger or a potential miss from Icicle Crash’s 85 accuracy. On some turns, you can Roost to make the damage from Icicle Crash less severe. But if Beartic uses Swagger, he will generally keep using it, letting you 2HKO. Cryogonal is generally OHKOed unless it goes for Reflect, and you can easily live an Aurora Beam.
Now comes the 8th gym, with bulky dragons, and it’s here you’d think: Unfezant isn’t so hot against bulky boosting mons, right? Well, it just so happens Unfezant gets Featherdance at 44, just in time for the gym. You use it on Fraxure, boost twice then everything dies. Since everything goes for DD or Dragon Tail you generally wont get hurt aside from Rough Skin. I’ve even swept without Featherdance at +1, too.
I’ve still got the League ahead of me, and I do have some pretty great IVs, but Unfezant has genuinely surprised me with how effective it is with a pool of about 6 viable moves (U-Turn is postgame in BW1). I’m not saying it’s the best Flying type, far from it, but it’s certainly useable once it gets both physical STABS online post-Driftveil, if a little unexciting. I know this could go in the underrated mons thread, but Unfezant sucking is so popular to believe (pretty much everyone save me and one other has said it’s D in our tier list) that I think the opinion that it is useable is a surprising one to most.
Now, I know Pidove is far from a world beater and generally it’s one of the worse Flying types in BW1/2...on paper. You start out with Quick Attack and Air Cutter early on, which is not very great, and you clumsily have a bit of trouble sweeping Lenora even at +6 as a Tranquill (with the right stats Herdier doesn’t 2HKO with Take Down which you can exploit with Work Up and Roost). Things pick up a bit as you sweep Burgh rather easily thanks to the boost and heal combo, but aren’t as good for Gyms 4 and 5 due to Electric weakness and Clay having an Excadrill (who you can’t kill even at +4 Attack from Swagger as Unfezant).
Tranquill also has the distinct problem of being oddly slow (65 Speed means you can tie with stuff like Sandile, and it might be because I have a Speed reducing nature despite good Speed IVs) and fairly weak due to stats not built for Air Cutter. Return helps a lot around Nimbasa though, aside from major fights.
When you get Unfezant, you get an all around pretty decent Flying type, OHKOing quite a bit of evolved stuff that doesn’t resist STAB Return/Fly or have bulk (including Clay’s Krokorok and Palpitoad). You outspeed quite a bit now with your perfectly serviceable 93 base Speed. Most of the bulky stuff can also generally be cleaved through with Scope Lens (a pretty uncontested item you get early on in the Battle Company in Castelia City, with Super Luck causing Air Cutter to score critical hits frequently), making up for the line’s only modest stats in gen 5 (Unfezant’s highest stat is 105 Attack back then).
The next few gyms also go pretty well too. You OHKO all of Skyla’s mons with +1 Return, and she can’t do much of note to you. Brycen is tricky at first glance. Since Vanillish tends to go for Acid Armor, you can buff to +1 and 2 shot. Beartic is a bit tricky, but not when you realize you can abuse Substitute (gotten in winter in Twist Mountain) to get a free turn off of Swagger or a potential miss from Icicle Crash’s 85 accuracy. On some turns, you can Roost to make the damage from Icicle Crash less severe. But if Beartic uses Swagger, he will generally keep using it, letting you 2HKO. Cryogonal is generally OHKOed unless it goes for Reflect, and you can easily live an Aurora Beam.
Now comes the 8th gym, with bulky dragons, and it’s here you’d think: Unfezant isn’t so hot against bulky boosting mons, right? Well, it just so happens Unfezant gets Featherdance at 44, just in time for the gym. You use it on Fraxure, boost twice then everything dies. Since everything goes for DD or Dragon Tail you generally wont get hurt aside from Rough Skin. I’ve even swept without Featherdance at +1, too.
I’ve still got the League ahead of me, and I do have some pretty great IVs, but Unfezant has genuinely surprised me with how effective it is with a pool of about 6 viable moves (U-Turn is postgame in BW1). I’m not saying it’s the best Flying type, far from it, but it’s certainly useable once it gets both physical STABS online post-Driftveil, if a little unexciting. I know this could go in the underrated mons thread, but Unfezant sucking is so popular to believe (pretty much everyone save me and one other has said it’s D in our tier list) that I think the opinion that it is useable is a surprising one to most.
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most of my opinions are unpopular so I'm just gonna list 10 of em >w<
1.) I think Tepig is the best starter design wise
2.) I don't like a single starter that came from gen 6 or 7
3.) Mega Manectric is the best mon that came from gen 6
4.) the SM plot focusing on Nihilego(the most generic and bland of the UBs) was a complete waste of potential when things like Guzzlord just looked amazing and Pheromosa was literally UB Lusamine
5.) I would've preferred Galar to go Unova style and have a completely new dex to work with. Would be nice to primarily have new mons but I'm sure they're gonna pander gen 1 like they did in gen 6 though(like how the first mon you see in-battle in Kalos is a Pidgey...when Fletchling exists).
6.) gen 4 is alright, I don't get the hype around the games besides the fact that people grew up with it. I didn't grow up with it and think nothing special of them
7.) Almost every human shaped pokemon is awful design wise, Braixen is literally the worst thing that has EVER happened in the series and I'd be so happy to see it wiped from the dex, Lopunny is a seriously close second place as worst mon though.
8.) Chimecho is my favorite psychic type, nothing else to add it's just really rare to see someone like the cute little wind chime lol
9.) I like friendly competitive rivals like Barry, Bianca, and Cheren the most, Silver was good cause he grew as a character and learned to be a decent human being, Blue can kiss my ass though.
10.) I didn't think the Emerald Battle Frontier was particularly enjoyable. Half of them(Battle Arena, Battle Dome, Battle Tower, and to an extent the Battle Factory) were pretty much the same exact facility with one small change(factory being the biggest change giving random teams) and Battle Pike and Palace are RNG. The Battle Pyramid was Gamefreak saying "Hey, y'know how every single player HATES wild encounters and they hate darkness. LETS MAKE AN ENTIRE DUNGEON BASED ON THOSE TOGETHER!!!!!" Literally the worst thing in the series, at least the Regis aren't that hard to beat so Brandon isn't a particularly hard challenge to overcome.
1.) I think Tepig is the best starter design wise
2.) I don't like a single starter that came from gen 6 or 7
3.) Mega Manectric is the best mon that came from gen 6
4.) the SM plot focusing on Nihilego(the most generic and bland of the UBs) was a complete waste of potential when things like Guzzlord just looked amazing and Pheromosa was literally UB Lusamine
5.) I would've preferred Galar to go Unova style and have a completely new dex to work with. Would be nice to primarily have new mons but I'm sure they're gonna pander gen 1 like they did in gen 6 though(like how the first mon you see in-battle in Kalos is a Pidgey...when Fletchling exists).
6.) gen 4 is alright, I don't get the hype around the games besides the fact that people grew up with it. I didn't grow up with it and think nothing special of them
7.) Almost every human shaped pokemon is awful design wise, Braixen is literally the worst thing that has EVER happened in the series and I'd be so happy to see it wiped from the dex, Lopunny is a seriously close second place as worst mon though.
8.) Chimecho is my favorite psychic type, nothing else to add it's just really rare to see someone like the cute little wind chime lol
9.) I like friendly competitive rivals like Barry, Bianca, and Cheren the most, Silver was good cause he grew as a character and learned to be a decent human being, Blue can kiss my ass though.
10.) I didn't think the Emerald Battle Frontier was particularly enjoyable. Half of them(Battle Arena, Battle Dome, Battle Tower, and to an extent the Battle Factory) were pretty much the same exact facility with one small change(factory being the biggest change giving random teams) and Battle Pike and Palace are RNG. The Battle Pyramid was Gamefreak saying "Hey, y'know how every single player HATES wild encounters and they hate darkness. LETS MAKE AN ENTIRE DUNGEON BASED ON THOSE TOGETHER!!!!!" Literally the worst thing in the series, at least the Regis aren't that hard to beat so Brandon isn't a particularly hard challenge to overcome.
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The same can be said for Barbaracle. I get that two pieces of rock interconnected by 7 limbs seems like a trashy design on paper, but in practice, it's quite cool, especially when Barbaracle's limbs have minds of their owns, of all things! Now that's what you call interesting!
I do not think that Mega Tyranitar and Mega Garchomp were wastes of time. Mega Tyranitar's design looks fricking awesome, and the lore behind it is AMAZING. Mega Tyranitar may not be able to hold an item, but I find that Mega Tyranitar's stats really mean that Tyranitar doesn't even need to hold an item. For Mega Garchomp, the speed drop isn't that important given Mega Garchomp's really, really, good bulk.
Latios is actual trash. Nuff said.
So is Decidueye. Everything about it is even worse than Latios - at least Latios is fast despite having poor bulk.
Meganium is actually pretty good. Anyone who says it's bad has likely never used it.
The same can be said for Deplhox and Mega Aggron, although not for the same reasons of Meganium.
Mega Glalie and Mega Abomasnow are actually really good. Froslass sucks, though. So does Snover.
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Wait, what? People hate Torterra's design? It's positively badass! It even is suggested to be based from historical folklore of turtles carrying the world on their backs. Its design is pretty damn unique (owing partially to being asymmetrical), the color scheme works well, and its design perfectly captures the essence of being hulking, imposing, and part of the earth.
Finally got around to playing Let's Go Eevee recently; loaned it from a friend. I stand by my criticism that for what it is, a pricepoint of around 20-25 makes a lot more sense (I'm starting to see it being sold at 30 most places round here, so that's good), rather than a full price Switch game. I also still definitely feel that bad motion controls being forced on you in TV mode is... awful, especially when the game's capture mechanics focus around you being precise. I exclusively played this game in handheld mode after trying and failing to deal with that mess.
Anyway, uh, aside from that I enjoyed these games a hell of a lot and feel they're the best games since BW2 (not that there's a lot of competition). A lot of the criticisms I see fade away when you actually play the game and see how they work, or they're just not that relevant. A grass-type being needed to enter Brock's gym, for example, is often touted as an example of how these games are made too easy or kiddy or whatever. In reality you're more than likely to actually have a grass-type anyway due to how the game encourages you to catch everything in sight, so this ends up just being a more explicit version of the gym guide already telling you what types Brock is weak to. At worst I just found it a bit pointless, really. You don't even HAVE to use the grass-type in the gym at all (though I did, because I love Bulbasaur and they deserve the world). Other things touted like the bosses having limited movepools or Pikavee's special move names being kiddy are either negligible or you just don't really care about. Do I think the name 'Sizzly Slide' would be a lot cooler if it was called 'Sizzling Strike'? Hell yeah. Does it matter? Not fucking really. It turns out it's not even that overpowered; I ended up not using Eevee as much as my other Pokémon.
Difficulty in general I actually found wasn't terribly different to past games, and actually had a couple challenges for me. Some of the coach trainers provide a legitimate battle that forces you to think about what you're doing on a similar level to gym leaders, and some of the ace trainers are certainly no slouch either. The lack of abilities and items brought things back to a simpler time but also meant I had to get into a different mindset about what I was doing (took me a bit to realise that, yes, it was okay to use physical attacks on the Pikachu because it doesn't have Static). I do still feel though that if they were removing those, for god's sake; also do the same for IVs? Come on. They've got no reason to be here.
There's all the little touches and changes that make these games great too. The kinder rival at first doesn't seem to jibe well with how he appears where the RBY rival did (WHY ARE YOU FIGHTING ME IN A GRAVEYARD???), but he does work out as his own decent character and I love how they tied the Cubone into his story as well; with it later appearing on his team. I love how the fossils are now actually goddamn usable as a big Aerodactyl fan who plays FRLG a lot; I love how the Gamblers now have a fighting style that's literally gambling by using very high-level pokemon with OHKO moves; I love that the TM list isn't afraid to be as bizarre and all over the place as it was in Gen 1; I love how gyms like Blaine's and Erika's are now completely different in a way that fits them! Giovanni's gym especially sticks out for making sense of why they didn't realise a mob boss was here, while that last room lighting up into a sinister control room is just so badass and villainous. This is just a really good Gen 1 remake that embraces the simplicity to go for a fun experience that places attention on detail. Hell, for a game that's often derided as being made easier for the kids; they increased the sequence breaking!!
My one extra criticism really would be that I would really, really like more content. I like that the aftergame has a lot more little things for you to do than RBY, but that's just it: little things. Perhaps if they done something like the Sevii Islands, or even let you explore a couple Johto routes and towns; that would have been a cool way to expand things and make the game a little longer. I'm also a bit disappointed that there's no Gen 2/4 evolutions (or Sylveon). They weren't afraid to add the Megas and Alolan Forms, whose presence is just awesome and makes things feel a lot more different and like a 'super' version of Gen 1's pool; so I wish they would have let us use Crobat or Kingdra or Leafeon. I believe the Gen 2 Pokémon had just been added to GO by the time LGPE was released, so it would have been fine.
Either way, uh, yeah; bloody good game whose main crime is being a bit overpriced and not having as much as it could. Not seeing the trainwreck here at all, this is the best Pokémon has been in a good while.
Anyway, uh, aside from that I enjoyed these games a hell of a lot and feel they're the best games since BW2 (not that there's a lot of competition). A lot of the criticisms I see fade away when you actually play the game and see how they work, or they're just not that relevant. A grass-type being needed to enter Brock's gym, for example, is often touted as an example of how these games are made too easy or kiddy or whatever. In reality you're more than likely to actually have a grass-type anyway due to how the game encourages you to catch everything in sight, so this ends up just being a more explicit version of the gym guide already telling you what types Brock is weak to. At worst I just found it a bit pointless, really. You don't even HAVE to use the grass-type in the gym at all (though I did, because I love Bulbasaur and they deserve the world). Other things touted like the bosses having limited movepools or Pikavee's special move names being kiddy are either negligible or you just don't really care about. Do I think the name 'Sizzly Slide' would be a lot cooler if it was called 'Sizzling Strike'? Hell yeah. Does it matter? Not fucking really. It turns out it's not even that overpowered; I ended up not using Eevee as much as my other Pokémon.
Difficulty in general I actually found wasn't terribly different to past games, and actually had a couple challenges for me. Some of the coach trainers provide a legitimate battle that forces you to think about what you're doing on a similar level to gym leaders, and some of the ace trainers are certainly no slouch either. The lack of abilities and items brought things back to a simpler time but also meant I had to get into a different mindset about what I was doing (took me a bit to realise that, yes, it was okay to use physical attacks on the Pikachu because it doesn't have Static). I do still feel though that if they were removing those, for god's sake; also do the same for IVs? Come on. They've got no reason to be here.
There's all the little touches and changes that make these games great too. The kinder rival at first doesn't seem to jibe well with how he appears where the RBY rival did (WHY ARE YOU FIGHTING ME IN A GRAVEYARD???), but he does work out as his own decent character and I love how they tied the Cubone into his story as well; with it later appearing on his team. I love how the fossils are now actually goddamn usable as a big Aerodactyl fan who plays FRLG a lot; I love how the Gamblers now have a fighting style that's literally gambling by using very high-level pokemon with OHKO moves; I love that the TM list isn't afraid to be as bizarre and all over the place as it was in Gen 1; I love how gyms like Blaine's and Erika's are now completely different in a way that fits them! Giovanni's gym especially sticks out for making sense of why they didn't realise a mob boss was here, while that last room lighting up into a sinister control room is just so badass and villainous. This is just a really good Gen 1 remake that embraces the simplicity to go for a fun experience that places attention on detail. Hell, for a game that's often derided as being made easier for the kids; they increased the sequence breaking!!
My one extra criticism really would be that I would really, really like more content. I like that the aftergame has a lot more little things for you to do than RBY, but that's just it: little things. Perhaps if they done something like the Sevii Islands, or even let you explore a couple Johto routes and towns; that would have been a cool way to expand things and make the game a little longer. I'm also a bit disappointed that there's no Gen 2/4 evolutions (or Sylveon). They weren't afraid to add the Megas and Alolan Forms, whose presence is just awesome and makes things feel a lot more different and like a 'super' version of Gen 1's pool; so I wish they would have let us use Crobat or Kingdra or Leafeon. I believe the Gen 2 Pokémon had just been added to GO by the time LGPE was released, so it would have been fine.
Either way, uh, yeah; bloody good game whose main crime is being a bit overpriced and not having as much as it could. Not seeing the trainwreck here at all, this is the best Pokémon has been in a good while.
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The motion controls were fine for me. I even think catching mons on tv in LGPE is pathetically easy compared to GO. It does feel a bit awkward, but it's not completely awfull.
I agree with the rest though. I also wish they did more with multiplayer.
Here's my hot take: Mewtwo looks so so so much better in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate than in the Pokemon games.
The shading on its render makes it look sleek and menacing; just like you'd want a legendary Pokemon to look. The official sprite in XY/ORAS/SM/USUM completely falls flat. It's just... white, and it looks boring.
The shading on its render makes it look sleek and menacing; just like you'd want a legendary Pokemon to look. The official sprite in XY/ORAS/SM/USUM completely falls flat. It's just... white, and it looks boring.
It's a bit better in Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee than the 3DS games. That model might be used for other Switch Pokemon titles if and when Mewtwo appears in them.
I do not like Lavender Town's theme and I don't get why it's fans' number 1 choice for creepy music, it's just irritating to listen than anything. The other creepy music that Pokemon has to offer such as Distortion World provide a spookier vibe than it.
Yung Dramps
awesome gaming
How the heck can ANYONE hate gen 7? They weren't perfect perhaps, but putting them amongst the worst in the franchise is complete and utter horseshit. In fact, I firmly believe the opposite: Sun and Moon are tied with Black and White 2 for my favorite mainline Pokemon games, with the mediocre postgame being the only thing holding them back from being better, because aside from that, they did every other conceivable thing right:
Region: Holy crap Alola is an amazing region. It's a radically different direction the point where I've seen people compare it to spin-off regions like Orre, and in my opinion it completely paid off. Unlike XY, GF fully took advantage of the leap to 3D this time around to deliver to us one of the most fleshed-out, visually varied regions yet, teeming with beautiful, interesting locales and bits and pieces of world-building.
Main Story Gameplay: Not super difficult, but far from the breeze that was XY. Some battles were actually really freaking tough: I picked Litten, and I still ultimately had to bank on potion spam to take out Totem Lurantis! Oh yeah, the totem battles are awesome. That's one of the things I love about SM: It shakes up the formula in various semi-subtle ways while staying true to the core structure of a Pokemon game. Trials over Gyms, multiple evil teams, multiple potential Champion fights, the E4 being composed of previously introduced characters to make the fights with them more impactful, probably other things I'm forgetting about.
The Story Itself: Considering how much of an Alola fanboy I am, it may come as a surprise that the story didn't capture me the same way it did others. That said, I can understand why some people love it so much, and I enjoyed some parts as well, more specifically Gladion, who fulfills the need for an asshole-ish rival people have been asking for while also having some great character development. Also his theme is likely a partial remix of a Pokemon Mystery Dungeon track, and any references to PMD make me a happi boye
Quality of Life Changes: Regardless of how you feel about recent games, you should at least be able to give SM credit for being the games that finally put HMs out of their misery in favor of the infinitely more convenient Pokeride system and derivatives in later games. Also Poke Pelago is great for making EV training less of a time waster, and I hope it returns in some form in SWSH.
New Pokemon: Look, you can think whatever you want about Sun and Moon. You can think I'm looking back on it too fondly, that none of the pros I listed make up for the cons assuming they are even valid at all, and that's fine. But I will forever stand by the belief that Alola is home to the best new Pokemon in any game period. I could make an entire post gushing about how much I love the Alola dex and everything it gave us, but the basic gist is this. XY saw the roots of a new trend for modern Pokemon games: A dramatically smaller list of new Pokemon compared to previous titles, opting for quality over quantity. While XY gave birth to this interesting idea, Sun and Moon took this concept to new heights. Every Pokemon in Alola does something brand new, something fresh and totally different from what came before, no matter how small. We've had Water/Psychic types in the past, but not a physical attacking one like Bruxish. We've had Regenerator Water types before, but not one with Poison immunity and hazard setting potential like Toxapex. Decidueye and Dhelmise are both physical attacking Grass/Ghost types, but they take that basic skeleton of a role and approach it from different angles, with neither truly outclassing the other in that function. Some do this better than others, but even the worst Alola mons have something to their name to where they can firmly say "nobody else can do what I do". Of course, the designs themselves are absolutely stellar, whether it be the noble, regal warrior Kommo-o, the unique blend of animal and profession the Starters take on, the totally alien and experimental Ultra Beasts and of course my beautiful baby boy Drampa, the perfect blend of cute and cool that the rest of the dex aspires to be. Oh, and by the way, Regional Variants are the best idea Game Freak has ever had, basically accomplishing what Mega Evolution tried to do on a smaller scale while feeling 100% natural and continuing to provide some sorely-needed revitalizations to old favorites, whether it be making Exeggutor an entertainingly silly meme icon or transforming Muk into a UU-level competitive threat. If these things don't return with new additions in Sword and Shield, I will honestly be pissed. I wouldn't even care much if it was Gen 1 only again, just please don't abandon this gold mine of potential Game Freak!
Wew, that was a long diatribe. Be warned though: you might see an even more nuclear take from me very soon on this thread, but right now it's late.
Region: Holy crap Alola is an amazing region. It's a radically different direction the point where I've seen people compare it to spin-off regions like Orre, and in my opinion it completely paid off. Unlike XY, GF fully took advantage of the leap to 3D this time around to deliver to us one of the most fleshed-out, visually varied regions yet, teeming with beautiful, interesting locales and bits and pieces of world-building.
Main Story Gameplay: Not super difficult, but far from the breeze that was XY. Some battles were actually really freaking tough: I picked Litten, and I still ultimately had to bank on potion spam to take out Totem Lurantis! Oh yeah, the totem battles are awesome. That's one of the things I love about SM: It shakes up the formula in various semi-subtle ways while staying true to the core structure of a Pokemon game. Trials over Gyms, multiple evil teams, multiple potential Champion fights, the E4 being composed of previously introduced characters to make the fights with them more impactful, probably other things I'm forgetting about.
The Story Itself: Considering how much of an Alola fanboy I am, it may come as a surprise that the story didn't capture me the same way it did others. That said, I can understand why some people love it so much, and I enjoyed some parts as well, more specifically Gladion, who fulfills the need for an asshole-ish rival people have been asking for while also having some great character development. Also his theme is likely a partial remix of a Pokemon Mystery Dungeon track, and any references to PMD make me a happi boye
Quality of Life Changes: Regardless of how you feel about recent games, you should at least be able to give SM credit for being the games that finally put HMs out of their misery in favor of the infinitely more convenient Pokeride system and derivatives in later games. Also Poke Pelago is great for making EV training less of a time waster, and I hope it returns in some form in SWSH.
New Pokemon: Look, you can think whatever you want about Sun and Moon. You can think I'm looking back on it too fondly, that none of the pros I listed make up for the cons assuming they are even valid at all, and that's fine. But I will forever stand by the belief that Alola is home to the best new Pokemon in any game period. I could make an entire post gushing about how much I love the Alola dex and everything it gave us, but the basic gist is this. XY saw the roots of a new trend for modern Pokemon games: A dramatically smaller list of new Pokemon compared to previous titles, opting for quality over quantity. While XY gave birth to this interesting idea, Sun and Moon took this concept to new heights. Every Pokemon in Alola does something brand new, something fresh and totally different from what came before, no matter how small. We've had Water/Psychic types in the past, but not a physical attacking one like Bruxish. We've had Regenerator Water types before, but not one with Poison immunity and hazard setting potential like Toxapex. Decidueye and Dhelmise are both physical attacking Grass/Ghost types, but they take that basic skeleton of a role and approach it from different angles, with neither truly outclassing the other in that function. Some do this better than others, but even the worst Alola mons have something to their name to where they can firmly say "nobody else can do what I do". Of course, the designs themselves are absolutely stellar, whether it be the noble, regal warrior Kommo-o, the unique blend of animal and profession the Starters take on, the totally alien and experimental Ultra Beasts and of course my beautiful baby boy Drampa, the perfect blend of cute and cool that the rest of the dex aspires to be. Oh, and by the way, Regional Variants are the best idea Game Freak has ever had, basically accomplishing what Mega Evolution tried to do on a smaller scale while feeling 100% natural and continuing to provide some sorely-needed revitalizations to old favorites, whether it be making Exeggutor an entertainingly silly meme icon or transforming Muk into a UU-level competitive threat. If these things don't return with new additions in Sword and Shield, I will honestly be pissed. I wouldn't even care much if it was Gen 1 only again, just please don't abandon this gold mine of potential Game Freak!
Wew, that was a long diatribe. Be warned though: you might see an even more nuclear take from me very soon on this thread, but right now it's late.
I find Lavender Town's theme to be more sad than creepy. The Strange House in Black/White 2 is much more unsettling, along with D/P/Pt's Old Chateau.
It's likely that Lavender Town's theme is so popular because of all the creepypasta surrounding it (which are known to be completely bogus).
Anyway, I have a possibly unpopular opinion: Pokemon X and Y are not necessarily any easier than previous titles. Yes, it probably will be if you leave the EXP Share on and battle everything you can along the way, but you can go into the bag and turn it off without taking a step past where Alexa gives it to you.