The dancing part was fun, but the dressing one is very random and you cannot tell how good each prop is, you just have to know. The appeal part was essentially the same, but now moves are different, and after getting used to contests in gen 3, having to learn everything again in gen 4 is tiring and not worth the effort. Unless they lock something good behind these super contest in BDSP, I ain't going to bother. (if I get the games, that is)
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- Thread starter antemortem
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The dancing part was fun, but the dressing one is very random and you cannot tell how good each prop is, you just have to know. The appeal part was essentially the same, but now moves are different, and after getting used to contests in gen 3, having to learn everything again in gen 4 is tiring and not worth the effort. Unless they lock something good behind these super contest in BDSP, I ain't going to bother. (if I get the games, that is)
I think my issue is just that it felt very disconnected. Maybe if there were stuff like cool/cute/smart etc moves or combos you could do. I know it was the ds with a 2d pixel game but you could just make it have very simple animations, or even just something like a "COOL!" bubble whenever you do a cool move. So you had to balance getting the most fitting moves while also tripping your opponents.
Who is this in response too? More specifically the second sentence, the first sentence I'm guessing are to the so called "dudebros". I guess I can sort of see how the second sentence is also targeted toward them, though its written in a way that throws me off a bit, I can't quite explain.
SacredAlmighty said when Pokemon posted on Twitter a post supporting Black Lives Matter which was Ash & Kiawe sharing a fist bump, he said the responses to the post had a lot of bigotry (most being "Pokemon shouldn't be political" because apparently not being racist is a political statement...).
One thing in SacredAlmighty's video that stood out to me was he mentioned how, while he's glad there's finally a black skin color, he still struggles making the player character's hair (and to an extent exact skin color) to his preference. It is still one place Pokemon needs improvement in, while it's fine they want to have the default portraits for those who don't care, I do think they should also have a more indepth character creator at the start. Not saying it should be something like Western RPGs where you can adjust every single facial bone and muscle, but I think something like this would help players be able to more put themselves in the game:
- Gender: Male, Female, Non-binary (default appearance kept androgynous)
* If they want to go the extra mile, they can include an option where the player is asked what pronouns they identify with: Male (he/him/his), Female (she/her/hers), or Genderless (they/them/their). - Skin Color: Use Von Luschan's Chromatic Scale. Maybe even use the console's camera to take a picture of yourself and pinpoint your skin color that way.
- Hair:
* Color: Just let the player pick the hair color they want from a color wheel (maybe let them enter a hex/RGB code).
* Style: And let the player choose the hair they want to start with. - Eyes: Like with Hair Color, can pick from a color wheel with option for hex/RGB code.
Also, once they have a more complex character creator, they can use it to also adjust the NPCs so that not all people in the same Trainer Class look alike. I mean, heck, it was just learned that Nintendo actually used the Mii Creator to generate all the NPCs in Zelda: Breath of the Wild, why can't GF do the same?
That said, should also address his complaint that they need to have more variety for each hairstyle, his specific example being cornrows. While I'll admit I'm a bit confused about his "white people hairstyles" since hairstyles are divided by gender (which is a whole other topic we won't get into) and "White people" usually have generic hairstyles, I do agree GF should still look into more types of hairstyles and variations of them. Obviously they can't put in every type but a quick look through Wikipedia and Google should give them enough variations that should satisfy most people (heck, maybe they can even have someplace people can give feedback and requests for customization like hair styles and clothes and add them in via DLC).
Yes they're different but they both have social troubles that can be comparable. Heck, you can say both are facing problems from different sides, racism is more coming from the "justice" side of things while LGBT have politicians & bigot celebrities aimed toward them as of late.
Let me ask you this, would this video be any different if it was a LGBT person saying there was homophobia/LGBT discriminations instead of it being a person of African descent saying there was racism? Not really, so while both issues aren't the same they do share similar struggles. I think that was more Celever was getting at (especially in Japan where I think there's more LGBT discrimination than racism).
Speaking of Seabreak Path, can we talk about Navel Rock too?
TOP
TIER
DUNGEON
DESIGN
2004
Don't worry, it feels shorter than it looks.
Of all the "side content" I think Contests are the ones that either should have stayed or been more active coming back more often. Like I think Kalos and Galar should have had Contests, Kalos major theme was beauty and Galar was competition, so where is the beauty competition?
The same dudebros who defend anything TPC/Nintendo does, even when it borderlines on discriminatory/racist. Makes it seem like they're being bribed to do so
The main thing really is that racism and LGBT topics are in very different developments, and while they're both social troubles, lumping them isn't that useful.
Japan's prefectures are slowly (very slowly, like snail pace) removing things like discrimination of marriage, and while the country def has a lot of issues, there's feasible progress happening. Of course, homophobia and transphobia are still rampant there, but we've seen movements to change it
Meanwhile, Japan has barely tried to stop the ethnocide against the Ainu, only approved the law that recognized them as indigenous people in 2019 and god knows when they're going to crack down on discrimination laws. There's also a lot of imperialist racism that might be a little too much to talk about here. All of this goes ignored by the Japanese population, most don't care about it, find it "too political to talk about".
Both issues are important to speak about, I think it's not my place to say which is worse since I'm Japanese but not from Japan, but I find they both deserve separate discussions to focus on if it makes sense.
Gamefreak hates me in specific and doesn't want to see me have fun
My experience with bigotry in the Pokémon fandom begins and ends with a certain horrible video about Bulbapedia that I gave up watching after two minutes.
On a lighter note, what was the point of Kalos Route 1? Why couldn't they have given you a starter in the first town?
On a lighter note, what was the point of Kalos Route 1? Why couldn't they have given you a starter in the first town?
Going 2 be honest this comment fills me with dread.
Flexing the 3d camera, obviously
Didn't that Temtem game did with the pronoun? I don't think that's not the Nintendo way. For games with selectable gender, Nintendo used to ask "what gender are you?. Now they ask "which one you want to be like?", that's the Nintendo style (see Animal Crossing New Horizon and Splatoon 3 recently. Looks like Nintendo want to compromise with gender identity thing with more subtle way.[/hide]
Rescue Team DX asks the gender question exactly that way.
Not that these aren’t good ideas in isolation (which they are), but with all the complaints throughout recent generations about lack of content (especially postgame), and based on GF’s track record in general, is this really what needs focusing on specifically right now? I mean sure in an ideal world I could create a perfect avatar of myself in every video game I wanted but I’d rather they focus on creating actually more stimulating game content rather than perfectly customizable player characters (and lets face it, you know if they improve one thing another will suffer). I mean, most of us play Pokemon for the actual gameplay, the collecting, trading and battling aspects, not for the graphics (which have never been a major selling point). Anyway I thought the character customisation options in SwSh were more than adequate for a Pokemon game[/hide]
A lot of things in Pokemon needs focusing in on, you can honestly say that about any wanted feature.
- More dynamic idle & battle animations during battle. "Aren't there other more important things to focus like content?"
- Including post game content on a level at least equal to previous games. "Aren't there issues with the main game we should be focusing on?"
- Writing a better story, character arcs, & interactions. "Not everyone plays Pokemon for the story we need to focus on the visuals"
- Improving the graphics so they don't look like they're from the PS2/XBox era. "Improving the graphics isn't going to help the stilted battle animations which need focusing on!"
- (And the cycle repeats)
This I definitely agree with. I myself have always thought that they should spend more time on the games, even if it takes longer (obviously). The problem with that is that a large amount of the fanbase would never be happy with any improvements. People need to realize that they cannot always have everything they want. I think the main problem is that the fanbase is so divided, therefore making it harder to get what the majority of people actually want. I think most everyone could agree that the battle animations and idle poses could use some work, so instead of making Game Freak ignore everyone because they are technically the minority, we really need to agree on something to somewhat "campaign" for, therefore giving them a solid and clear view of what we as a fanbase want.
sorry if this sounds jumbled and weird
I think we should just go back to one "trainer avatar" basis (like gen 1 red and early gen 2 ethan/gold) but just let us pick any clothing or hair, no matter if its feminine or masculine. Make the default trainer look more androgenous and just let people decide how they want to present.
Its even easier in the japanese version since japanese doesn't use pronouns other than first person, and if you want the main character to talk, it does have neutral sounding pronouns (自分), though they wouldnt be common with kids but neither is fighting gods lol
For other languages with gendered pronouns, you'd could either have a screen to pick them from the standart he she they set or just assume ambiguity and go with they/them only. I prefer the first one but the second one is more discrete if higher ups don't want to "politicize" the game or whatever buzzwords company use nowadays
Its even easier in the japanese version since japanese doesn't use pronouns other than first person, and if you want the main character to talk, it does have neutral sounding pronouns (自分), though they wouldnt be common with kids but neither is fighting gods lol
For other languages with gendered pronouns, you'd could either have a screen to pick them from the standart he she they set or just assume ambiguity and go with they/them only. I prefer the first one but the second one is more discrete if higher ups don't want to "politicize" the game or whatever buzzwords company use nowadays
This makes me think of Pokemon Unbound, I think they did it smartly. You don't need a ton of different ways to customize. You get a choice of 2 base sprites, a couple skin tones, and then a hair recolor and clothing recolor. I could see it working well with just a singular base avatar and then like 5 hair styles and recolors. This could be a simple way for them to make it have better graphics due to the simplicity of it, and could make multiple people happy.
But wait - there's more! Japanese does have gendered third-person pronouns, but they're not used very often. Plus, there's a lot more to someone's speech pattern in Japanese than which first-person pronoun is used (how polite they are, if they have a funny accent, etc.), especially when the subject of a sentence is optional.
Does anyone know the PMD protagonists' Japanese speech patterns?
Iirc those are more used in literature/old stuff right? I cant even remember their readings bc they're so rare to find.
I didn't really go for this since pokemon protags are on the quiet side and most personality is given by how the two options you get (yes/no) are worded. Though if they want to give the mc lines we could probably pull from characters who are already gender ambiguous/non binary in other jpn media or try to pick the type of speech that has the less weighted gender
HMs were the best, most immersive way to create roadblocks in the series. It's crazy to me that they are so universally reviled when their downsides are so easy to work around and the alternatives so bad. I hated the gen 7 rentals - why the fuck do I have to use these random mons - and I especially hated the all-terrain bike in SWSH. Having interactions with pokemon in the field is IMO the single most immersive feature in the game. I attribute the success of following pokemon, visible encounters, Pokemon Camp, Dexnav, and rideable pokemon in LGPE to it. It really adds to the feeling of adventure and I personally find I get much more attached to 'mons the more I can interact with them outside of battles.
It's also frustrating because the downsides (having too many HMs of the same type or just plain too many HMs, gimping your party members with substandard moves) are so easily addressed. The Eon Flute was basically perfect in ORAS: I never carry a flyer in those games since Soaring can be accessed even when Lati@s is in your PC. Just give the player the ability to assign flavourful "field moves" to Pokemon that can effortlessly be summoned from your PC and don't take up a moveslot.
It's also frustrating because the downsides (having too many HMs of the same type or just plain too many HMs, gimping your party members with substandard moves) are so easily addressed. The Eon Flute was basically perfect in ORAS: I never carry a flyer in those games since Soaring can be accessed even when Lati@s is in your PC. Just give the player the ability to assign flavourful "field moves" to Pokemon that can effortlessly be summoned from your PC and don't take up a moveslot.
Honest question: whats the workaround? Every game with hms has something i hate about it, and I dont really know how fangames do it other than just making rental-esque systems
I feel like though HMs did add more possibilities to the games, like RSE-ORAS Diving, which I actually found kind of fun, having to bring a Pokemon out of your PC (aka running back to the last town and having to crawl through the stupid route two times rather than one) was just plain dumb. Most HMs aren't even very good, honestly the only good ones that are still competitive are Surf and Waterfall. That means that whatever dumb mule you have is now basically worthless, since the move forget guy isn't even available for the first five to eight gyms. The only reason I ever used my HM mule for anything was to use them as death fodder when I needed to heal an actually powerful Pokemon.
I do want to add, though, that the HMs added more opportunities for fun post-game only areas, like using waterfall to re-explore meteor falls and diving underwater to find Super Secret Base areas was fun, but I would prefer that you do this without the HMs themselves.
I do want to add, though, that the HMs added more opportunities for fun post-game only areas, like using waterfall to re-explore meteor falls and diving underwater to find Super Secret Base areas was fun, but I would prefer that you do this without the HMs themselves.
I never found HMs immersive. A small flash screen with my pokemon showing and then the cut/rock smash/etc animation isnt exactly the pinnacle of immersive gameplay and doesn't exactly compensate the fact you're either dragging an useless pokémon just for hms or have a bunch of pokemon in your party with basically 3 moves because the fourth is a useless hm
Honestly, I feel the same way. Graphics should be better than 64 bit, story shouldn't be storyboarded by 10-year-olds, and the Pokemon should have some cool, powerful, cute, beautiful, gimmicky ones mixed in. That's about it. People have complained about bad story, graphics, and Pokemon, so what do I care? Well, I do care, but as long as it's fun, I really don't care that much.
Yeah, I had a lot of problems with beating the league when I realized that half my moves were under 60 power.
Pretty much the issue is they were behind for all since Gen 3, and the switch to 3D was only when people noticed
BW is a jump in quality.....for GF standards. For standard RPGS, it's incredibly mediocre
The Fanbase failing to realize this (and putting GSC/HGSS on a stupidly high set standard despite its many issues) ultimately led to GF cutting corners and never properly growing later gens, and becoming woefully unprepared later as a result once Gen 8 hit
It's honestly extremely sad for company to be in this state.
That said, I do have some hope for the landscapes and overworld improving, despite Gen 8 and some of Legends's teasers. Outsourced dev help is becoming more involved again as noted for the remakes
Everything else err, yeah I dunno
There's not any real reason for certain HMs to be Pokémon-locked (stuff like Rock Climb, Flash, and Cut, though Nintendo probably doesn't want Pokémon protags walking around with a machete or even a pair of shears) aside from "Pokémon are our friends and they help us! :)" I have enjoyed stuff like Fly being attached to Pokémon that are just there to help since I rarely use Flying Pokémon in my games.
Surf and Strength (all the Water HMs, honestly) are probably the biggest ones that Pokémon, or an outside resource, should handle. The all-terrain bike in SwSh was actually very nice for this IMO!
From a game design standpoint, I agree that using HM obstacles as roadblocks is the most organic, and best represents actual progression in a video game. Cut and Strength in particular have been handled nicely in recent gens (Cut being required is reduced to no more than two uses, and Strength is used to make shortcuts once you've completed an area). They're definitely better than having NPCs block your path for no real reason, but even NPCs can be handled well (the guard blocking Mt. Silver in Gen 2, any actual villainous team obstructing you) when there's an actual story/progression reason for them to move. Game Freak has had poorly-handled NPC roadblocks since Gen 1, and they wouldn't be so tiring if they didn't call attention to this tendency basically once every generation.
Anyway, going back to my first paragraph, if you're looking for immersion while exploring the world, maybe start by letting the player character do more than just walk and run on foot. Getting stopped by the start of an incline that's not even 6 inches high at its peak is very tiring. Heck, even Animal Crossing has the player character jump or sidle a little when confronted with the appropriate terrain, and that game isn't even about exploring!
Surf and Strength (all the Water HMs, honestly) are probably the biggest ones that Pokémon, or an outside resource, should handle. The all-terrain bike in SwSh was actually very nice for this IMO!
From a game design standpoint, I agree that using HM obstacles as roadblocks is the most organic, and best represents actual progression in a video game. Cut and Strength in particular have been handled nicely in recent gens (Cut being required is reduced to no more than two uses, and Strength is used to make shortcuts once you've completed an area). They're definitely better than having NPCs block your path for no real reason, but even NPCs can be handled well (the guard blocking Mt. Silver in Gen 2, any actual villainous team obstructing you) when there's an actual story/progression reason for them to move. Game Freak has had poorly-handled NPC roadblocks since Gen 1, and they wouldn't be so tiring if they didn't call attention to this tendency basically once every generation.
Anyway, going back to my first paragraph, if you're looking for immersion while exploring the world, maybe start by letting the player character do more than just walk and run on foot. Getting stopped by the start of an incline that's not even 6 inches high at its peak is very tiring. Heck, even Animal Crossing has the player character jump or sidle a little when confronted with the appropriate terrain, and that game isn't even about exploring!
Nothing wrong with having two models with one being more boyish and the other girlish; though I do agree with letting either gender have any hair style and clothes (Animal Crossing lets you do it).
That I feel that's a step back. The complaint is that they're lacking in customization to make the player properly feel like they're playing a character which represents them.
And no, them having to design many hair style and clothing has NOTHING to do with them not being able to make the graphics look better. Infact the environmental graphics and the customization graphics are probably done by different teams. The issue with graphics is lack of engine optimization and making better looking textures.
Aren't these similar though? Like, while you do need to first be given the Lari@s so technically its your Pokemon, even if you release it or trade it to another game whenver you use the Eon Flute it appears so its essentially like a Ride Pokemon. And you could only do it with the Lati@s you're given, can't use it with any other flying Pokemon, not even if you get the other Lati@s.
Another option is that you don't need to teach the Pokemon the HM, if an HM capable Pokemon is in your party you can just select to "use" the HM and then select the Pokemon you want using it if there's more than one.
Though my personal idea/preference is still just making the HMs Poketools Key Items; make it so it's the extension of the player character rather then what Pokemon they just so happen to have on them. Your Pokemon already does so much in your name, feels like doing the thing humans do best and use tools to get around obstacles is the least you can do.
Yeah, not to mention if a game gives Surf early is pretty much is the only Water-type move your gonna use which could feel boring. Personally I think they should have had the HMs have a mechanic where they increased in Power/effectiveness the more Badges you get. Like this is what I came up with:
- Cut:
* Power: Starts with 40; 1 Badge=45, 2=50, 3=55, 4=60, 5=65, 6=70, 7=75, 8=85.
* Additional Effect: Copy of Brick Break's effect of lifting screens. - Fly: Power starts with 55; 1 Badge=60, 2=65, 3=70, 4=75, 5=80, 6=85, 7=90, 8=100.
- Surf: Power starts with 45; 1 Badge=50, 2=55, 3=60, 4=65, 5=70, 6=75, 7=80, 8=90.
- Strength:
* Power: Starts with 40; 1 Badge=45, 2=50, 3=55, 4=60, 5=65, 6=70, 7=75, 8=85.
* Additional Effect: In Double battles forces target to swap places with an adjacent ally. If you do so before a target had attacked they now aim for the other target. - Waterfall: Power starts with 40; 1 Badge=45, 2=50, 3=55, 4=60, 5=65, 6=70, 7=75, 8=85.
- Rock Smash: Power starts with 30, 1 Badge=35, 2=40, 3=45, 4=50, 5=55, 6=60, 7=65, 8=75.
- Flash:
* Chance of decreasing Accuracy by 2 stages instead of by 1: Starts at 0%; 1 Badge=10%, 2=20%, 4=25%, 5=30%, 6=33%, 8=50%.
* Additional Effect: Having 3 Badges will have it target all adjacent opponents instead of one (the chance of decreasing Accuracy if individually rolled), having 7 Badges has it so if one target's Accuracy is decreased by 2 then all are. - Whirlpool:
* Power: Starts with 35; 1 Badge=40, 2=45, 4=50, 5=55, 6=60, 8=70.
* Additional Effect: Having 3 Badges will have it target all adjacent opponents instead of one (Accuracy is rolled individually), having 7 Badges has it so if one target is hit all of them are. - Dive: Power starts with 55; 1 Badge=60, 2=65, 3=70, 4=75, 5=80, 6=85, 7=90, 8=100.
- Defog: Chance of only clearing your side of the field of Hazards: Starts with 0%; 1 Badge=10%, 2=15%, 3=20%, 4=25%, 5=30%, 6=35%, 7=40%, 8=50%.
- Rock Climb:
* Power: Starts with 65; 1 Badge=70, 2=75, 4=80, 5=85, 6=90, 8=100.
* Additional Effect: Having 3 Badges will increase chance of Confusion to 50%, having 7 Badges will make it 100%.
I'd also would have given Cut, Strength, and Rock Climb the property of changing into certain Types if the user would have gotten STAB from that Type:
Cut: Flying, Rock, Bug, Steel, Grass, Ice, Dragon, Dark
Strength: Fighting, Ground, Rock, Steel, Dragon
Rock Climb: Fighting, Ground, Rock, Bug, Steel, Dragon
Or main game, that's pretty much what Gen V did (though I think in B2W2 you did need Surf to get through Victory Road). But yeah, having hidden paths & maybe even caves/locations you don't need to go to & need HMs to access I think is a better way to implement the HMs because, as you said, it would make it feel like you're adventuring rather then the HM just being a fancy key to a roadblock.
I also think they should do more puzzle involving them, or at least had a side feature where you had to use HMs to solve puzzles. They sort of did that in the Hoenn games with the Trick Master but even then it was still pretty basic and at some point he just stops basing his puzzles on HMs.
Well, wasn't going to mention my idea for what the HM tools would be like...
- Cut: Laser Cutter (A limited-range laser beam made to effortlessly cut through thin trees and tall grass but not people, Pokemon, or non-plant material)
- Strength: Hover Handle (A handle that attaches to large and heavy objects and uses anti-gravity technology to make it easy to push)
- Flash: Lantern (A LED-covered lantern that brightly lights up the surrounding area)
- Rock Smash: Sonic Breaker (A hand held speaker that causes certain rocks to crumble apart with a high noise frequency most can't hear)
- Rock Climb: Extend Ladder (A collapsible ladder that fits into a cliff indentation and extends high to the top)
- Defog: Fog Fan (A high-powered fan with propeller blades made to create a clearing gust of air)
- Surf: Surf Scooter (A diver propulsion vehicle made for traversing through water)
* Whirlpool: GPS Navigator (A navigation system designed for the Surf Scooter to navigate it through rough waters. Needs to be used alongside the Surf Scooter)
* Dive: Scuba Set (A wet suit and breathing device that lets the wearer explore underwater with their Surf Scooter. Needs to be used alongside the Surf Scooter)
* Waterfall: Turbo Boost (A super charged set of propellers that attaches to the Surf Scooter allowing it to go up waterfalls. Also makes the Turbo Scooter go as fast as a Sharpedo on the overworld. Needs to be used alongside the Surf Scooter)
BTW if any of these items sound a bit out there, note that the character I imagined inventing and giving you these items being a mad scientist, lol. "Sure, I'll have a kid test out my exploration inventions. They're *mostly* safe. Just don't point them towards yourself".
I don't think the two models are that different body-type-wise, other than the girls having more chest. You could have one model and just give the options that both the boy and the girl character would have (and probably expand a bit. I'm not saying we need every type of hair and clothes available from the start, but just a bit more variation would be good, especially with black people's hair). Also, expand on the skin tones tbh. Make it one of those sliders and we're probably set