DP is sorta okay at boss design. I like how they designed Volkner and Flint around their limited options, but would've preferred if they did the same for Aaron given his unfortunate situation (or utilized the better Bugs in the dex). The choice between Maylene and Wake was cool given that you could challenge them in either order, meaning you weren't punished for exploring. Much has been written about Cynthia being incredible in DP as well. Platinum kinda failed at boss design though. The lack of type variety for Volkner and Flint removed much of the challenge surrounding their fights, Candice is now an evasion asshole, and the Maylene/Wake choice is removed. The nerfs to the Elite Four also sting, especially nerfing Cynthia, which was such an iconic fight that they made worse for no real reason.
Consider my jimmies rustled, but you’re off your rocker if you think DP’s bosses come remotely close to Platinum’s.
To start, I don’t agree with some of these opinions regarding Gym Leader teams losing their strategy in Platinum. Candice’s strategy was literally an ideal way to take advantage of her region’s mons, in comparison to DP where its just “LOL RANDOM MEDICHAM LMAO STRATEGY?? NO THANK U” Is this really more strategic than hail evasion?
You also say the Elite Four and Cynthia were nerfed, but given their teams, this is such a backwards claim that i can only assume you went off of level difference alone. Let’s go over those, by the way.
Aaron: This is a no-brainer here, Yanmega and Scizor outdo the Hoenn bugs by a regional mile.
Bertha: In contrast to the comparatively useless Sudowoodo and deadweight Quagsire, Gliscor shores up that Grass weakness and Rhyperior takes advantage of Sand’s Sp.Def boost far more efficiently than Sudowoodo ever could.
Flint: You actually mentioned Flint’s team alongside Volkner here, so i’m killing two birds with one stone.
On one hand, Flint’s monotype team in Platinum folds to even a semi-speedy Earthquaker/Surfer. On the other hand... DP Flint is just... sad. In comparison to Volkner, who can actually scare out a Ground type or two with Octillery, Flint has very little even with his non-monotype team. We have Steelix, which is useless against both Water and Ground types, Lopunny, who’s useless in general, and Drifblim. It is decently bulky and has a Ground immunity, but i’m skeptical of a mon whose only saving grace is cheesing with evasion and the stray all-stat boost from Ominous Wind. The only two Pokemon with moves that threaten Water types... are the Pokemon on Flint’s squad that are weak to Fire Types.
Now, does the Platinum squad still get dumped by a fast Water type? Yeah. But given Flint’s outright sadness in his DP team, why would you not just bite the bullet and stick to your monotype team? If you’re gonna lose to Water types regardless of team the same way Gardenia gets wiped by a Monferno, why is it necessary to diverge from your type for a worse team overall? Doesn’t really click for me.
Lucian: After that trainwreck, you’ll be happy to know that both Lucians are.. considerably evenly matched. Given his niche as the strongest of Sinnoh’s E4, both his teams are consistently powerful. Alakazam, Bronzong and Mr Mime are the same, so I won’t bother comparing those, but he replaces Girafarig and Medicham with Espeon and Gallade. On one hand, a Ghost Immunity is quite unique in comparison to Espeon’s quite common mono-Psychic. Medicham is also naturally powerful than Gallade too, and has valuable coverage like Gallade does. Speed is somewhat moot here, given that all but Espeon go beyond base 100s, and Medicham and Gallade even have the same speed tier. There is the benefit that Gallade and Espeon are FAR bulkier than them, though the distinction is made somewhat unnecessary by Screens from Mimey, though Psychics tend to last far longer than Flint’s Fires, given there aren’t a whole lot of Dark, Bug or Ghost types like they seemingly have a BILLION waters in the Sinnoh Region. I’ll put this in Platinum’s favor, but not by much.
AND FINALLY, THE MOMENT YOU’VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR... cynthia.
Her team is identical barring moveset changes and the switch from Gastrodon to Togekiss.
And I’m just gonna get it out of the way, Togekiss is better by a LONG shot. That team was OVERDUE for decent Flying offense, especially on account of how Torterra quaked this team so thoroughly, sans the speedy Milotic who can’t even switch in. In comparison, Gastrodon does thoroughly little outside of being a midground Milotic and Garchomp?? That’s it? That’s really unnecessary.
Next, let’s discuss the moveset chang- I’m
kidding, we’re not doing that. The changes are so inconsequentially menial that they make virtually no difference. Except for one. Garchomp. Cynthia’s infamous gutbuster, responsible for making little kids around the world know fear at the claws of “The Walking Shark Of Pain.” And with its dreaded Uber-tier stat distribution, carries the vicious moves of Dragon Rush, Earthquake, Giga Impact, and... Brick Break. Wait. Brick Break? Seriously? THAT’S what it used in Diamond and Pearl? Not the incredibly useful Flamethrower for trouncing things like Bronzong and the aforementioned Torterra? Not for fully shredding Abomasnow instead of letting it survive if it fame in at full like Brick Break would LET IT do?? Yeah, no, Platinum beats this team easily. And it’s apparently bested the other teams i’ve mentioned, too. So, that’s that.
(god damn if that whole post wasnt a fuckin mouthful)
