Honestly, not that bad. Assuming we get all the other Platinum mons + the DP version exclusives (Murkrow, Misdreavus, Glameow, Stunky) back in the regional dex, this seems like more than a fair tradeoff to me.I have looked at the encounter tables to find which Pokémon are unobtainable.
Excluding fossils, special encounters (e.g., Drifloon, Rotom), and gift Pokémon (e.g., Riolu), the following Pokémon do not appear in any encounter table, so the only way to obtain them would be via in-game gift (AFAIK there isn't a list for this yet), event (there was a Tangrowth event in D/P), and/or special mechanic (Feebas was only catchable in 4 fishing spots in Mt. Coronet):
Excepting Feebas, these Pokémon were not obtainable in the original D/P games. It makes sense to keep starters until Pokémon HOME compatibility allows transfers, but I am really puzzled by the exclusion of Tropius and (most notably) Tangela (who got an evolution in Gen IV)/Tangrowth (who we've seen in the trailers). Perhaps an oversight that will be fixed on the day-1 patch?
- Starters
- Tangela, Tangrowth
- Feebas, Milotic
- Tropius
I am also terrified at the prospect of Feebas being locked under the crazy fishing spot mechanic. I am guessing this feature is still in, but coded differently so it is not reflected on the encounter table. Oh my, back in the day I spent hours trying to catch Feebas and I never succeeded. The only one I ever got was hacked using an Action Replay. Ugh, this is the worst mechanic in the games.
On another note, I can't believe the roller coaster this game has already put me through. I went from cautiously optimistic and quietly rooting for this game. To my hope slowly degrading, starting to root against it out of spite (the Exp. All was the straw that initially broke the camel's back for me).
To now being more hyped for this game than I have been for a Pokémon game since Gen 5. I think this game will give Platinum a run for its money as the best in the series in my opinion.
What fascinates me is how a game marketed as this cute, cuddly chibi-art kid friendly game appears to be designed with one of the harshest, if not the harshest difficulty curve in a main series game ever. I can say with a fair bit of confidence that that third rematch Cynthia battle looks to be the best assembled NPC team I've ever seen in a Pokémon game, ultimately looking like the best final boss in the series in my view.
Just a fascinating 180 turn of events.