Unpopular opinions

[Bakugames]

I think one issue I have with SOS chaining is that it just felt too mindless for me... and not in a good way. It still required a bit of concentration, but for me, I found it too easy to lose focus when doing them.

I think that's the reason I like them. All shiny hunting methods are pretty boring, so the more I can just watch a movie or play another game while doing it, the better.

I also don't mind the enemy going 2v1 on you. I think it opened the window for good challenging totem fights and in the wild, it's easy to ignore since it doesn't happen that often (unless you adrenaline orb, which means you want it to happen all the time), you can run away from it too, so it really is a non-issue outside of the totems and made usum one of the hardest pokémon games (and very fun to play because of it).

 

[CPU]

I never actually did deliberate chaining for Shinies/Hidden Abilities/rare Pokémon through SOS calls, but I thought the concept was neat, only really hindered by the potential for continuous undesired calls in SM. USUM limited the number of calls without an Adrenaline Orb to 1, making it a lot more palatable and less annoying from a casual standpoint IMO.

 

[pokemon4eva]

Really Masters (EX), did you really have to pair one of the underage girls with (Mega) Lopunny and put her in a bunny outfit?

Yes I know it is not bad as I am making it out to be but still

Note her Sync Move is "Heart-Thumping Normal Impact".
Also it took seeing her EX clothes to realize she's wearing tights.

If you wanted to pair a girl with Lopunny to put them in a bunny outfit I would have gone with Whitney... assuming they wanted to stick with the Gym Leader's Type specialty.

Cause at the same time we're getting a rather dandy-looking Easter Burgh... partnered with Togepi. Huh. While I like how Burgh looks, at the same time if they're going to throw Togepi randomly on someone I think it would be one of the player characters (or, you know, Misty). Maybe instead of Togepi have the other Pokemon being Exeggcute. Lopunny Whitney for the fanservice, Exeggcute Elio so that it can later evolve into Alolan Exeggutor for the lols.

2 things:
- It's a gacha, what do you expect? They love doing this fanservice-y bs
- Isn't Whitney underage too? She is known as the "incredibly pretty girl".

As for the jump to 3D with XY, also two things:
- Not like Pokemon main games' jump to 3D is really game changing, as it's the case for other franchises like Mario or Zelda. It's mostly visually, and not one I particularly care for that much
- I dunno, RS was the first game in full colored environments running at 60 fps; DP was a solid beginning with the DS engine and a rich region; these two first steps in consoles hold up better than XY's imo, and that's without counting Emerald or Platinum.

 

[Pikachu315111]

- Isn't Whitney underage too? She is known as the "incredibly pretty girl".

She's at least an older teen, I would buy if she was 18.

 

[TheReturnerOfJuly]

="Pikachu315111, post: 8805942, member: 241311"]

Really Masters (EX), did you really have to pair one of the underage girls with (Mega) Lopunny and put her in a bunny outfit?

Yes I know it is not bad as I am making it out to be but still

Note her Sync Move is "Heart-Thumping Normal Impact".
Also it took seeing her EX clothes to realize she's wearing tights.

If you wanted to pair a girl with Lopunny to put them in a bunny outfit I would have gone with Whitney... assuming they wanted to stick with the Gym Leader's Type specialty.

Cause at the same time we're getting a rather dandy-looking Easter Burgh... partnered with Togepi. Huh. While I like how Burgh looks, at the same time if they're going to throw Togepi randomly on someone I think it would be one of the player characters (or, you know, Misty). Maybe instead of Togepi have the other Pokemon being Exeggcute. Lopunny Whitney for the fanservice, Exeggcute Elio so that it can later evolve into Alolan Exeggutor for the lols.

She's at least an older teen, I would buy if she was 18.

game freak

WHY

 

[Pikachu315111]

game freak

WHY

Actually GF probably had nothing to do with this. DeNA are the developers who are likely making the designs and the ones who are likely approving the designs is the quality management department in the Pokemon Company.

 

[TheReturnerOfJuly]

Actually GF probably had nothing to do with this. DeNA are the developers who are likely making the designs and the ones who are likely approving the designs is the quality management department in the Pokemon Company.

Oh, that's why. Thanks for clarifying.

 

[Yung Dramps]

Well I guess I got Kalos on the brain because I have another take about it to share with everyone. Before I do so though, I have to admit that what I'm about to say is to an extent hypocritical, as this is a problem that I have contributed to, and very recently at that. With that said...

I'm starting to get tired about every discussion about XY devolving into moping about Z.

We get it already. XY had very obvious loose ends and teasers that built up to nothing. Things that were not quite finalized, even.

But at the stage we're at, it's really starting to get tiring. It seems like you just can no longer talk about Kalos in any form without someone going "If only Z had happened" and derailing the entire thing into a pity party. And again, I will fully admit I have made this exact mistake in very recent times: in the end, I kinda regret doing so. It feels like in the past few days ever since I found that Japanese game popularity poll that had XY insanely high up I've kinda woken up to the fact that there are people who stand by these games, who love them just the way they are. I myself am finally feeling the spirit to revisit these titles that I haven't had for months now. So for their sake, regardless of your own thoughts, I think we should collectively do exactly that. This region shouldn't be overshadowed by a game that never came out. It shouldn't be a question of what they could've been, what they should've been, what they might've been, but what they are.

Quick addendum to this: Assuming it becomes a full-blown series, Legends Kalos would be infinitely superior to just releasing Z. I know that gunning for Kalos to be the next entry in that series isnt a hot take on its own (c'mon, imagine what they could do with AZ's story), but I think preferring it over Z is

 

[QuentinQuonce]

Quick addendum to this: Assuming it becomes a full-blown series, Legends Kalos would be infinitely superior to just releasing Z. I know that gunning for Kalos to be the next entry in that series isnt a hot take on its own (c'mon, imagine what they could do with AZ's story), but I think preferring it over Z is

Holy crap, yes. Give Zygarde the love it deserves, properly! (He says, assuming Legends will do just that for Arceus.)

Slight tangent but let me briefly share a story related to Zygarde's perpetual lack of glory. A few years back on Facebook some guy in a group I was in posted a poll where the options were Rayquaza/Giratina/Kyurem/Zygarde and the caption was something like "who would win?" I voted and flippantly commented saying "Zygarde, because the poor thing needs some love" and, lo and behold, some dreadful bore replied saying "sorry to break it to you, but Zygarde would not win simply because it needs love. It is statistically inferior, its typing is weak to the other three options, and it has a shallow movepool." He then went on to describe in great detail how Rayquaza was the strongest.

Yes, he genuinely seemed to think I was literally saying "Zygarde would win in a fight because it needs love". Every time I think I'm too pedantic or that I take this franchise too seriously, I remember that there are people like that out there. Moral of the story, Pokemon groups on Facebook are full of humourless mansplainers and god forbid you express any fondness towards a Pokemon generally accepted to be Bad, Actually.

(anyway have I mentioned Zygarde needs more love)

 

[Pikachu315111]

(anyway have I mentioned Zygarde needs more love)

But question is... can Zygarde understand love?

Take the parable of the also genderless Cryogonal that was taught Attract:

 

[Geodude6]

Hyper Beam in gen 1 not recharging if it kills was a beneficial mechanic that should return.

 

[Sonikku A]

Sadly it was technically patched as early as Stadium. GF did it to specifically nerf Tauros

Which till this day is garbage

 

[Geodude6]

Sadly it was technically patched as early as Stadium. GF did it to specifically nerf Tauros

Which till this day is garbage

"GF" stands for "get fucked"

 

[Blox]

I hate to break the news so suddenly... but the Chespin Line is the best starter line from Gen 6

 

[Snessy!]

posted this in the smogoff hot takes thread and tc directed me and War Incarnate here so

Sun and Moon (and by extension USUM) were great. A common criticism of Pokemon is that it keeps reusing the same 20 year old format over and over again. I do agree with this, but nobody mentions Game Freak changing it up with SM. The whole totem Pokemon thing is cool and fits thematically, and while the gimmick of the hour was just a lame attempt to bring Yo-kai Watch fans over to Pokemon (which didn't work Yo-kai Watch 3 is still the best 3ds game dammit), it could give some lesser-known pokemon a chance to shine. I'm also a big fan of the story in SM. The Aether Foundation is awesome and the battle with Lusamine-Nihilego was really cool. The Ultra Beasts are weird, but that's why I like them. There are just so many great ideas in these games, and it's really a shame that they went back to the gym format for SWSH.

That said, there are some bad parts. Festival Plaza is a good idea on paper, but it just ends up being annoying to use (hello showdown trailer). The dragon trial could've been so much better, especially with Vast Poni Canyon (the best "Victory Road" yet imo) leading up to it. MELEMELE ISLAND SUCKS. But even with those downsides, the games are still really enjoyable. I don't know why it was so disliked.

 

[Yung Dramps]

So after thinking about it for a while I've come to a pretty woke conclusion: Lysandre is the only decent character in all of XY

Don't get it twisted, he's still got some obvious problems. His actual boss fights are painfully underwhelming, the rest of his organization are jokes and his writing is about as subtle as an atom bomb. But in spite of those flaws, he's still the only character who actually felt like they had any sort of pulse or unique edge put into them by the writers and developers. He's a consistent presence all throughout the game, he's genuinely entertaining and memorable in spite of some of the aforementioned writing problems (for instance, his famous "Why are you crying? Pokemon" scene), don't forget actually alright battle animations, especially in the last one, as well as his killer battle theme, one of XY's best which so elegantly captures his genocidal god complex. And in the end... What does he really have for competition? The rivals who all have the charisma and development of a chair leg? The gym leaders who are barely more plot relevant than their Game Boy-era counterparts? AZ and Malva, who they completely and utterly failed to capitalize on despite their backgrounds having heaps of story potential? My point is that, more than anyone else in this dreadful cast, there is something there, which explains why he got it pretty freakin good in both the anime and the Pokemon Adventures manga. It's ironic considering his plan that he feels like one of the sole beacons of life when juxtaposed against the failures of recurring characters XY is mired with.

I retract literally almost every bit of this. Approaching the final stretch of my XY scramble playthrough and oh my god Lysandre SUCKS SO MUCH ASS what the hell was I thinking calling him "decent" he's undercooked traaaash. His dialogue isnt even funny bad, it's just hackneyed "THIS WORLD IS IMPERFECT" shit with no flavor or spice. Only thing that stands is the banger music and the "Why are you crying" scene but that's it, fuck this dude he makes Chairman Rose seem as complex and iconic as Heath Ledger Joker. At least he aint RSE Maxie/Archie or Archer i guess

Team Flare is imo the undisputed worst part of XY but that's for another time

 

[aegon the unlikely]

I never understood why Electivire is so hated in Gen 4 OU.

Game Freak are a LOT more receptive to fans than we often think or assume. Perhaps they're not on the same wavelength often, but if you think about it, they are in a good place at least. Gen 6 not having the weather wars of Gen 5, for instance, and Gen 7 nerfing Aegislash competitively. The fact they decided on a DPP remake for the anniversary instead of another Gen 1 remake, them making much better and more engaging characters in both ORAS and SM/USUM after XY fell flat in that area...HGSS, though I find it overrated, is literally fanservice galore.

Now they just need to nerf Stealth Rock, tired of seeing that move on every team almost...

 

[willempju]

Now they just need to nerf Stealth Rock, tired of seeing that move on every team almost...

They already did, it's called Heavy-Duty Boots.

 

[Siggu]

I retract literally almost every bit of this. Approaching the final stretch of my XY scramble playthrough and oh my god Lysandre SUCKS SO MUCH ASS what the hell was I thinking calling him "decent" he's undercooked traaaash. His dialogue isnt even funny bad, it's just hackneyed "THIS WORLD IS IMPERFECT" shit with no flavor or spice. Only thing that stands is the banger music and the "Why are you crying" scene but that's it, fuck this dude he makes Chairman Rose seem as complex and iconic as Heath Ledger Joker. At least he aint RSE Maxie/Archie or Archer i guess

Team Flare is imo the undisputed worst part of XY but that's for another time

Not to mention the terribly inconsistent characterization. In one moment he goes "Oh, I'm sorry [Xerosic] prevented your attempts to stop the weapon" and then, no more than 10 or 15 minutes later he cosplays Doctor Octopus, his team gains nearly 10 levels, and he's all like "I don't care you got rid of the power source, I'm firing the weapon anyways!" (And how does the Ultimate Weapon work, if you disconnected the legendary?)

His USUM incarnation, with way less screentime, looks like a masterpiece in comparison.

(Though I disagree in that RSE Maxie/Archie are worse than XY Lysandre - they might be more stupid, but their characterization is better and their stupidity is consistent)

 

[pokemon4eva]

I retract literally almost every bit of this. Approaching the final stretch of my XY scramble playthrough and oh my god Lysandre SUCKS SO MUCH ASS what the hell was I thinking calling him "decent" he's undercooked traaaash. His dialogue isnt even funny bad, it's just hackneyed "THIS WORLD IS IMPERFECT" shit with no flavor or spice. Only thing that stands is the banger music and the "Why are you crying" scene but that's it, fuck this dude he makes Chairman Rose seem as complex and iconic as Heath Ledger Joker. At least he aint RSE Maxie/Archie or Archer i guess

Team Flare is imo the undisputed worst part of XY but that's for another time

Serena: But what about the Pokemon?

Lysandre:

 

[ScraftyIsTheBest]

Lysandre just really suffers from X and Y's big, big problem of failing to portray its characters in a good way. I think he had potential to be an interesting antagonist given his backstory, but even that is not touched upon very well and it's unfortunate that the game did a poor job of expanding on its characters in a good way.

An NPC in Snowbelle who was an old friend of Lysandre describes his backstory: he was a benevolent man who only wanted to help others in need, but people repeatedly took advantage of his kindness and combined with his own limitations, drove him to insanity as he got mad at how greedy people were and was also frustrated at the fact that he as a person could only do so much for other people, which drove him to become a misanthrope and ultimately led to his own suffering in an ironic twist of fate, believing that the world was beyond redemption. That actually shows Lysandre in a much more compelling light: a kind, benevolent man who dedicated himself to helping others, and dreamed more than anything of making the world better, but eventually being driven insane because of the fact that 1. People took his kindness for granted, and 2. He had to face his own limitations as a person, because he alone could only do so much for the world.

In that sense, Lysandre was not only a well-intentioned man at one point, he dreamed of making the world better and in that sense was an idealist. But his inability to realize his ideals given his limitations drove him to insanity and ultimately attempting extreme methods to get his ideal world: essentially becoming a "the end justifies the means" character. Unfortunately, that aspect of him was only described in an offhand NPC dialogue that is very easy to miss, and X and Y did a poor job of showcasing that aspect of him otherwise.

 

[Siggu]

Lysandre just really suffers from X and Y's big, big problem of failing to portray its characters in a good way. I think he had potential to be an interesting antagonist given his backstory, but even that is not touched upon very well and it's unfortunate that the game did a poor job of expanding on its characters in a good way.

An NPC in Snowbelle who was an old friend of Lysandre describes his backstory: he was a benevolent man who only wanted to help others in need, but people repeatedly took advantage of his kindness and combined with his own limitations, drove him to insanity as he got mad at how greedy people were and was also frustrated at the fact that he as a person could only do so much for other people, which drove him to become a misanthrope and ultimately led to his own suffering in an ironic twist of fate, believing that the world was beyond redemption. That actually shows Lysandre in a much more compelling light: a kind, benevolent man who dedicated himself to helping others, and dreamed more than anything of making the world better, but eventually being driven insane because of the fact that 1. People took his kindness for granted, and 2. He had to face his own limitations as a person, because he alone could only do so much for the world.

In that sense, Lysandre was not only a well-intentioned man at one point, he dreamed of making the world better and in that sense was an idealist. But his inability to realize his ideals given his limitations drove him to insanity and ultimately attempting extreme methods to get his ideal world: essentially becoming a "the end justifies the means" character. Unfortunately, that aspect of him was only described in an offhand NPC dialogue that is very easy to miss, and X and Y did a poor job of showcasing that aspect of him otherwise.

So in the end he was Cyrus with an even worse sense of fashion.

 

[Yung Dramps]

Lysandre just really suffers from X and Y's big, big problem of failing to portray its characters in a good way. I think he had potential to be an interesting antagonist given his backstory, but even that is not touched upon very well and it's unfortunate that the game did a poor job of expanding on its characters in a good way.

An NPC in Snowbelle who was an old friend of Lysandre describes his backstory: he was a benevolent man who only wanted to help others in need, but people repeatedly took advantage of his kindness and combined with his own limitations, drove him to insanity as he got mad at how greedy people were and was also frustrated at the fact that he as a person could only do so much for other people, which drove him to become a misanthrope and ultimately led to his own suffering in an ironic twist of fate, believing that the world was beyond redemption. That actually shows Lysandre in a much more compelling light: a kind, benevolent man who dedicated himself to helping others, and dreamed more than anything of making the world better, but eventually being driven insane because of the fact that 1. People took his kindness for granted, and 2. He had to face his own limitations as a person, because he alone could only do so much for the world.

In that sense, Lysandre was not only a well-intentioned man at one point, he dreamed of making the world better and in that sense was an idealist. But his inability to realize his ideals given his limitations drove him to insanity and ultimately attempting extreme methods to get his ideal world: essentially becoming a "the end justifies the means" character. Unfortunately, that aspect of him was only described in an offhand NPC dialogue that is very easy to miss, and X and Y did a poor job of showcasing that aspect of him otherwise.

Of course, they give you this backstory after the story is already resolved and Lysandre is too, well, buried under tons of rubble to say or do anything concerning this revelation. Also, it's the same song and dance as Cyrus, meaning they made the same terrible writing mistake twice except for a worse villain who needed the context and build-up way more.

Why is Team Flare

 

[Fusion Flare]

Of course, they give you this backstory after the story is already resolved and Lysandre is too, well, buried under tons of rubble to say or do anything concerning this revelation. Also, it's the same song and dance as Cyrus, meaning they made the same terrible writing mistake twice except for a worse villain who needed the context and build-up way more.

Why is Team Flare

I actually want to hear your thoughts on team galactic as a whole, considering you said that cyrus and lysandre are quite similar

 

[Yung Dramps]

I actually want to hear your thoughts on team galactic as a whole, considering you said that cyrus and lysandre are quite similar

They good. Not exceptional, not mindblowing, but good. They provide a nice recurring threat, their appearances and actions are striking (e.g. the bombing of Lake Verity), 2/3 admins while kinda shallow personality-wise have memorably challenging boss fights, and Cyrus is an intimidating baddy, especially in Platinum which contextualizes the grunts by explaining how Cyrus sees them as dumbasses he's exploiting for his own gain. Flare felt like it was going for something similar with the whole "megalomaniac leader who wants to forcibly remake the world to suit their twisted ideal of superiority" thing except... y'know... worse in every way. It especially stings when you realize they're sandwiched in between the two games which are generally accepted to have the best stories in the series