Unpopular opinions

[pika pal]

N can't be a well-executed character if he is a great rival, or a rival at all.

He unknowingly became the very thing he tried to fight off against well before the climax of the game.

If you say he challenges you to reaffirm that he's right I'll need to inform that based on his own philosophy, he's sacrificing the well-being of his own Pokémon to do so, making it seem as if he cared more about his selfish ideologies than he did about his Pokémon.

I feel that this is assuming N is the one who volunteers his Pokemon to do battle regardless of their input, which is getting into a lot of speculative territory, not to mention. observing his motivation only through the lens that Pokemon battling and risking harm to them are the extent of his principles and thus full cause for hypocrisy. He's presented as able to speak and understand their thoughts on an equal level compared to most people kind of inferring as we would from observing animal behavior and non-verbal communication signs from a distance.

A running implication throughout the game is that N's teams are composed of local wild Pokemon who join him for a battle and then are released, until the final battle where the team seems to be made up of Pokemon N bonded with in his sheltered upbringing as well as the opposite Dragon to yours. N's backstory puts forth that he was mainly exposed to abused or injured Pokemon to give him a very specific and biased perspective on how they interact with humans. Besides the player, it feels like this is his first time interacting with Pokemon who don't fit into the "Humans mistreated us, make them go away" mold, and compared to the more spontaneous battles with the MC, the Champion plan meant from the outset he would have to battle some figures openly. To get a bit more speculative, a lot of Pokemon species, much like animals, are described as competing in shows of strength if not direct rough-housing or combating each other in the wild, which would mean the problem is less Pokemon Battling than Pokemon being made to battle by humans rather than of their own choice, something N has the ability to discern from any Pokemon who battles for him.

N's battles feel more akin to things like disciplinary action or (to jump a bit up the scale) military response, in which no one necessarily wants to resort to violence or force but circumstances like the other party make it the option that results in the least trouble/suffering overall. N doesn't approve of Pokemon battling, but he and Team Plasma have to know they will be met with resistance by people who will battle, and if they do not battle in turn their plans simply stop and the status quo they protest goes on uncontested.

 

[Cobalt Empoleon]

N doesn't approve of Pokemon battling, but he and Team Plasma have to know they will be met with resistance by people who will battle, and if they do not battle in turn their plans simply stop and the status quo they protest goes on uncontested.

Yeah there's definitely something very uncomfortable about the "aha! you're being hypocrites therefore I win!" argument that the player character's allies regularly use in BW. No civil rights movement has ever succeeded by just modelling the correct behaviour and never interfering with the lives of the people upholding the status quo.

I also wanna dig into how N grew up exclusively around Pokemon that had been abused and hated humans as a result. This is framed as manipulative on Ghetsis' part, which it was for sure, but... those Pokemon were still abused, right? It's never said that their abuse was fabricated or inflicted by Team Plasma, so we're meant to understand that these Pokemon did suffer at the hands of their trainers or other humans. Sure, they're an unrepresentative sample of Pokemon as a whole, but similar stories are found throughout the Pokemon games. Even if it's not as bad as N was led to believe, it still seems like quite a serious and widespread problem, and yet there doesn't seem to be any kind of punishment or even identification of the abusers or any kind of system in place to prevent that harm from happening in the first place.

Obviously this is because these are kids' games with a setting that's framed as pretty utopian, but with a few problems for you to fix so you feel like you're doing good and helping people. It's heartwarming when you're able to rescue a suffering creature, but it's unsettling to explore the cruelty behind that suffering and acknowledge it as anything but an anomaly.

 

[QuentinQuonce]

Yeah there's definitely something very uncomfortable about the "aha! you're being hypocrites therefore I win!" argument that the player character's allies regularly use in BW. No civil rights movement has ever succeeded by just modelling the correct behaviour and never interfering with the lives of the people upholding the status quo.

I also wanna dig into how N grew up exclusively around Pokemon that had been abused and hated humans as a result. This is framed as manipulative on Ghetsis' part, which it was for sure, but... those Pokemon were still abused, right? It's never said that their abuse was fabricated or inflicted by Team Plasma, so we're meant to understand that these Pokemon did suffer at the hands of their trainers or other humans. Sure, they're an unrepresentative sample of Pokemon as a whole, but similar stories are found throughout the Pokemon games. Even if it's not as bad as N was led to believe, it still seems like quite a serious and widespread problem, and yet there doesn't seem to be any kind of punishment or even identification of the abusers or any kind of system in place to prevent that harm from happening in the first place.

Obviously this is because these are kids' games with a setting that's framed as pretty utopian, but with a few problems for you to fix so you feel like you're doing good and helping people. It's heartwarming when you're able to rescue a suffering creature, but it's unsettling to explore the cruelty behind that suffering and acknowledge it as anything but an anomaly.

I'm... not sure it is presented as a widespread problem though. At least that's not what I ever got from what the games implied. Whenever we do hear of people mistreating Pokemon, it's presented as something incredibly out of the norm and shocking because it's so unusual. Team Rocket's antics are admittedly very brutal, but a lot of that I think comes down to early installment weirdness - loads of NPCs in Gen I are depicted with whips, which was a design concept that was very quickly phased out, and no evil team in the handheld series has ever gone as far as they did.

Without leaning into real-world politics too much (ironic considering the other post I just made on a different thread) N's experience is convincing much like how radicalisation often happens IRL: people are presented with extreme cases which, while undoubtedly awful, are extreme because of their singularity. But they are persuaded into thinking that those instances are the standard and develop a warped worldview. N is a textbook example of this - Anthea and Concordia explain that Ghetsis only allowed N around Pokemon that had been abused; consequently, he is literally unable to conceive that any human could have a relationship with a Pokemon that isn't exploitative and unequal.

I actually always found it weird that N's Pokemon in B2W2 have maximum friendship when caught, likely to symbolise their attachment to him - uh, okay, fair enough, but I am not him, and you do not know me. I'm not even the protagonist from BW, who those Pokemon previously fought against. The idea that because they had high friendship with N they should have it with the player is like saying that I should be in love with a random stranger because I have a wife. Maybe their experience with N really did cause them to realise "humans are fine, actually" but it's still nonsensical for them to automatically bond to the first human that catches them when regular wild Pokemon don't do that.

We actually had a cat for several years who came to us at ~1 year old and it was very obvious that she had been shouted at and mistreated in her previous home. She was incredibly quiet and skittish and reacted poorly to noise and sudden movements, and never opened up fully try as we might. Even at her most relaxed moments - I used to rub her belly and brush her with tissues (she really liked the sensation of tissues, for whatever reason) and she would stretch out and look very luxuriated - she never seemed completely at ease. It was incredibly upsetting for me personally not to be able to get her full trust and love, but that's the effect abuse has on animals.

Part of this is, as you said, rampant gameplay and story segregation necessitated by the games' age rating. I wouldn't expect anything quite that dramatic, but it is curious though that the player isn't given the opportunity to catch the Pokemon he uses at the climax of BW - his Archeops, Carracosta, Klinklang, Vanilluxe, and Zoroark. Maybe these are the really damaged ones, who prefer to return to the wild rather than ever partner with a trainer again.

Idk, I may have forgotten details. God, it's been a while since I played the Unova games, I should revisit them...

 

[misterdarvus]

Pretty sure this is unpopular: so here you go: I really love the Gen 9 starters and evos and honestly all of Gen 9's new Mons in general. Yeah Gen 9 has flaws, but I love it in spite of those flaws.

Since SV is being gunned right now, I also want to add this unpopular opinion,

Gen 9 is the best pokemon game bar none... If only it didn't have performance issue.
Good Pokemon, good gameplay, good characters, great story.
Any critique like the pokemon design, or open world gameplay are non-issue, because its subjective.

I only understand a bit about developing a game. But I understand it need MUCH more polish. As long as this game is stable, this is the best pokemon game.

 

[Worldie]

Since SV is being gunned right now, I also want to add this unpopular opinion,

Gen 9 is the best pokemon game bar none... If only it didn't have performance issue.
Good Pokemon, good gameplay, good characters, great story.
Any critique like the pokemon design, or open world gameplay are non-issue, because its subjective.

I only understand a bit about developing a game. But I understand it need MUCH more polish. As long as this game is stable, this is the best pokemon game.

To be fair i think this is actually a pretty popular opinion.

 

[pika pal]

Part of this is, as you said, rampant gameplay and story segregation necessitated by the games' age rating. I wouldn't expect anything quite that dramatic, but it is curious though that the player isn't given the opportunity to catch the Pokemon he uses at the climax of BW - his Archeops, Carracosta, Klinklang, Vanilluxe, and Zoroark. Maybe these are the really damaged ones, who prefer to return to the wild rather than ever partner with a trainer again.

Idk, I may have forgotten details. God, it's been a while since I played the Unova games, I should revisit them...

If B2W2 are indeed part of the topic, I think N's Zoroark appears as sort of your guide to the ruins of the Castle for the event where you battle him to inherit his Dragon as a partner. A Vanilluxe is on one of his seasonal battle teams but none of the others appear in one so I think that's just coincidence. My impression was that several of those Pokemon were the ones N was specifically raised with and kept (like Ghetsis would introduce N to some abused Pokemon briefly and others would be kept as a constant presence and influence on his development), so they have a bond and don't want to leave him, but also don't want to engage with other humans in scenarios like battling or such, especially since N doesn't come across as comfortable with people even after the 2 years of soul searching following BW's ending. He understands his perception was wrong but he still clearly feels more at home with Pokemon than trying to hang with them, given you only see him in either the Climax isolated at Giant Chasm, or alone in his castle compared to where most other recurring battle trainers hang out.

 

[Arkm]

Hisuan Arcanine should have been a fire fairy type

 

[Ironmage]

I'm somewhat dissapointed Defog isn't absorbed by Wind Rider. With Goldengo being how it is, I want to see a mon that blocks Defog without having collateral for taunt/roar/major status/etc.. Brambleghast is so close. It's not like it wouldn't fit thematically, Defog's description has mentioned "a strong wind" since gen 5.

 

[Cobalt Empoleon]

I'm somewhat dissapointed Defog isn't absorbed by Wind Rider. With Goldengo being how it is, I want to see a mon that blocks Defog without having collateral for taunt/roar/major status/etc.. Brambleghast is so close. It's not like it wouldn't fit thematically, Defog's description has mentioned "a strong wind" since gen 5.

It's unfortunate that flavour reasoning only seems to take priority when it makes the Pokemon worse haha. Like I totally understand why Wind Rider doesn't prevent Defog from clearing hazards, given that the immunity is based on the move passing through the Pokemon unimpeded rather than being absorbed or redirected by the Pokemon, but it would be so sick if it did!

 

[Pikachu315111]

Tauros didn't needed a regional form.

Except it didn't get a Regional Variant.

That would be silly

It got three.

But you're right, they could have made them all a split evolution.

 

[Nitro Indigo]

I honestly thought Blaze Breed was an evolution when I first saw it.

 

[Pikachu315111]

Note this post is mainly in jest, and not sure whether this is the proper thread for it, but I just had to say this:

F*** Alfornada.
F*** it being early on (Paldea's west side) making you think it's early mid Gym Levels (Level-wise it's the 7TH).
F*** the convoluted path you needed to take to get their without the Double Jump/Climb power-up.
F*** the Wild Pokemon who all suddenly become mini-bosses and difficult to catch.
F*** the Trainers who made the previous Gym Leaders look like Youngers/Lasses.
F*** all the NPCs who they had jokingly said "boy was sure hard to get here, right?".
F*** the Gym Leader and her remarks of making us over (kinda weird that they still connect "magic" to the Psychic-type even though we have Fairy).

And yes, I defeated the Gym Leader, my Pokemon are now probably fully prepared for all future challenges.

"It's your fault. You saw the high-leveled Pokemon, that's what we call a "context clue" that you're not supposed to be there yet!"

Well, the thing is, my Starter was actually late 30s so, while I had a suspicion it might be for a bit later (especially since the obvious path needed the double jump/climb power-up), I didn't think it would be that later. Like, in my mind it was like how in the Gen I games you could do the middle Gym Leaders in different order than the "official" way. I didn't realize I was jumping form Lt. Surge to Blaine!

Oh, BTW, minor Scarlet & Violet spoilers, challenges don't level scale. They don't stop you from going anywhere but they certainly make sure you don't feel welcome in what they decided was late game locations (and aside from higher Level Pokemon and possibly path roadblocks, don't outright tell you).

 

[DrumstickGaming]

Note this post is mainly in jest, and not sure whether this is the proper thread for it, but I just had to say this:

F*** Alfornada.
F*** it being early on (Paldea's west side) making you think it's early mid Gym Levels (Level-wise it's the 7TH).
F*** the convoluted path you needed to take to get their without the Double Jump/Climb power-up.
F*** the Wild Pokemon who all suddenly become mini-bosses and difficult to catch.
F*** the Trainers who made the previous Gym Leaders look like Youngers/Lasses.
F*** all the NPCs who they had jokingly said "boy was sure hard to get here, right?".
F*** the Gym Leader and her remarks of making us over (kinda weird that they still connect "magic" to the Psychic-type even though we have Fairy).

And yes, I defeated the Gym Leader, my Pokemon are now probably fully prepared for all future challenges.

"It's your fault. You saw the high-leveled Pokemon, that's what we call a "context clue" that you're not supposed to be there yet!"

Well, the thing is, my Starter was actually late 30s so, while I had a suspicion it might be for a bit later (especially since the obvious path needed the double jump/climb power-up), I didn't think it would be that later. Like, in my mind it was like how in the Gen I games you could do the middle Gym Leaders in different order than the "official" way. I didn't realize I was jumping form Lt. Surge to Blaine!

Oh, BTW, minor Scarlet & Violet spoilers, challenges don't level scale. They don't stop you from going anywhere but they certainly make sure you don't feel welcome in what they decided was late game locations (and aside from higher Level Pokemon and possibly path roadblocks, don't outright tell you).

Yeah Alfornada is a load of nonsense. Felt impossible to get to, and when you finally find the path BAM level forty BAY BEE

I said in the impressions thread there is a certain thrill to this getting caught off guard, but I can also admit it's a little wonky at times. I think Mela is more egregious because she's the closest Team Star Boss near Mezagoza yet the Dark type guy is on the other side of the map and is ACTUALLY the first one you should battle.

As good as SV is, it definitely reeks of last-minute development changes in terms of where they placed the bosses.

 

[Hugin]

Yeah Alfornada is a load of nonsense. Felt impossible to get to, and when you finally find the path BAM level forty BAY BEE

I said in the impressions thread there is a certain thrill to this getting caught off guard, but I can also admit it's a little wonky at times. I think Mela is more egregious because she's the closest Team Star Boss near Mezagoza yet the Dark type guy is on the other side of the map and is ACTUALLY the first one you should battle.

As good as SV is, it definitely reeks of last-minute development changes in terms of where they placed the bosses.

I thought I'd try using the "Ask the Pokecenter where you should go next" option, since clearly that's intended. Nope, I think that just pushes you towards the closest objective, not the appropriately-leveled one.

It'd be better if there were some way in the overworld to judge levels. Instead you just have to save before entering fights and reset if they're way above you.

 

[DrumstickGaming]

I thought I'd try using the "Ask the Pokecenter where you should go next" option, since clearly that's intended. Nope, I think that just pushes you towards the closest objective, not the appropriately-leveled one.

It'd be better if there were some way in the overworld to judge levels. Instead you just have to save before entering fights and reset if they're way above you.

Yeah that’s another thing I don’t quite like. At one point the Pokémon Center direction feature told me to go to the False Dragon Trial which rocks mid-50s when I was mid-30s. It initially sounded like a great way to mitigate this partial guide dang it. It’s not, so you have to rely on online guides with the intended order.

It frustrates me because aside from this the game is so enjoyable, but giving you the illusion of an open world yet still kinda more or less forcing you down a set path if you don’t go off and grind is a little bothersome.

 

[Siggu]

Conclusion: It should have remained strictly linear.

 

[DrumstickGaming]

Conclusion: It should have remained strictly linear.

I wouldn’t say “strictly” linear as then we get Pokémon Sword and Shield, or as I like to call them, “One Path Only Ft. Garbage Story”

 

[QuentinQuonce]

I wouldn’t say “strictly” linear as then we get Pokémon Sword and Shield, or as I like to call them, “One Path Only Ft. Garbage Story”

It doesn't have to be either-or. The original BW were by far the most linear games the series had ever had at that point.

 

[DrumstickGaming]

It doesn't have to be either-or. The original BW were by far the most linear games the series had ever had at that point.

Yeah I’m fine with BW1 style games but if they are gonna go full open world then scale the levels or tell me where to go. Otherwise you get Paper Mario: Sticker Star levels of fake open world.

I still think SV was more or less the best way they could have done it without making the scaling an over-complex coding nightmare.

 

[Pikachu315111]

I said in the impressions thread there is a certain thrill to this getting caught off guard, but I can also admit it's a little wonky at times. I think Mela is more egregious because she's the closest Team Star Boss near Mezagoza yet the Dark type guy is on the other side of the map and is ACTUALLY the first one you should battle.

Don't get me wrong, it's actually been quite fun as I'm actually feeling challenged for a change. Well, not in the sense I suddenly went fighting Level 20-25 to Level 40 opponents, but often I would wander someplace where the Pokemon would suddenly be near the same Level as my Pokemon again and it feels like the game is actually keeping pace (granted these are off to the side places and normally the main path would still be under level but NORMALLY not by much... though obviously this isn't the case for me anymore). Like in Legends: Arceus, I'm having to USE my Items and spending money on getting more.

Wait, the Dark Star Leader (don't want to look up his name as I'm worried about seeing spoilers) was supposed to be the FIRST? And he's right before two of the stronger Titans? GF, how did you decide the Level Curve here? Did you throw darts at a spinning board with the Levels written on them? That's not even going to how where each objective is placed also feels poorly paced. West side has three of the Titans close to one another, and some Gym Leaders have no other objective between them so you gotto go out of your way to do a Titan/Team Star. And while Gym Leaders are kind of stuck having to be in cities/towns, the same isn't an issue for Team Star & the Titans so it just feels like poor planning.

I thought I'd try using the "Ask the Pokecenter where you should go next" option, since clearly that's intended. Nope, I think that just pushes you towards the closest objective, not the appropriately-leveled one.

... Which is something you can just see on the map. Either this was a result of two different groups coming up with an idea that caused one to be redundant; or they thought of the Pokemon Center Guide thing early on, realized it was easy to get lost where all the objectives were, so later just placed all the objectives on the map without getting rid of or re-purposing the Center Guide.

Conclusion: It should have remained strictly linear.

Conclusion: GF should stop being lazy and given each boss multiple teams/versions depending on how many of their respective Badges you had. That would be 8 teams for Gym Leaders, 5 teams for Star Leaders, and 5 versions of the Titans.

AND YES, this is an example of laziness of their part. I'll give them credit for making a boss for each of the Types (even if it means the bosses on each side is lopsided), and that there's 3 "kinds" of bosses (though all break down to just a normal Pokemon Battle with two having a SLIGHT gimmick) which at least gives a different experience. Also, I can overlook the odd placements of all the objectives, would like for each to be more evened out but I'll just take this at this being their first time doing this and they designed the region's overall appearance before deciding where to place the Titans & Team Star and ended up limiting themselves. HOWEVER, them not fully going with the "do anything in any order" idea, which THEY PROMOTED, by not level scaling via coming up with different teams/versions (which even I could do though don't want to at the moment to avoid spoilers) is just them throwing up their hands in the air going "that's good enough"!

And, no, I don't think this would be a programming mess. Nemona, Arven, and the Operation Starfall crew seem to be able to keep track of my progress which I assume means they're using "if than" flags.

 

[Hugin]

Yeah I’m fine with BW1 style games but if they are gonna go full open world then scale the levels or tell me where to go. Otherwise you get Paper Mario: Sticker Star levels of fake open world.

I still think SV was more or less the best way they could have done it without making the scaling an over-complex coding nightmare.

I don't think the level scaling needed to be that bad. The wilds and generic trainers can stay the same, they're avoidable and make the world feel lived-in.

But there's 3 paths, 18 badges, and a range of ~40 levels. The Titans are easy, level=15+(2.4*badge count). Gym battles and Star Base Grunts/Star Flood can be leveled similarly, no need to mess with the rosters, just the levels. If that means the player faces off against a fully-evolved mon because they rushed to the back of the map first, so be it. It's at least on-par levelwise, which is easier*, and the player deserves it for going out of their way.

And then you just give the Gym Leaders/Star Bosses like 4 teams, select one based on badge count, and then apply the level ratio. Like, I'm not saying it'd be 0 work, but it's not some massive undertaking either.

A player should be able to just pick a part of the map, clear it out, and then go to a nearby part of the map and repeat, and feel like the game wants to be played that way. Instead, they either expect you to bounce back and forth across the map, or else just grind regularly as you clear things out, then come back and sweep through a bunch of low-level trash you missed. Either is not ideal game design.

*I just tested this, a lvl 10 Venusaur has worse stats than a lvl 15 Bulbasaur.

 

[Celever]

I think the Dark-Type Team Star guy is the worst of the poor level balancing, and some of the gyms get wonky toward the end (with the pathing I took, which imo felt natural, I had to pass through the Ice-Type gym to get to the Ghost-Type gym and then was solidly overlevelled as the Ghost-Type gym is meant to be I think 6th? But if it's 6th why would the 7th be in Alfornada they're right next to each other and should definitely be sequential as a result) but I also just... don't mind it. If you try to run through the game with just 6 Pokémon those Pokémon are gonna end up overlevelled by the end of the game, so for me where I had a big roster of Pokémon I'd switch in and out based on what my next planned objective was gonna be, I ended up being a bit underlevelled at all stages of the game. IMO that's easily the optimal, and intended, way to play, and is part of why this game has been so fun for me.

While I would have loved active level scaling, there are pros and cons to it, especially when applied to the game we got. Titans with level scaling would have been pretty jank, do you make them the same level as your lead? Higher levelled? Also, while I'm not sure if it's happened yet, level scaling can interact badly with especially the late-game Unova Pokémon as they're so high levelled. If Game Freak wants someone's ace to be Hydreigon, they either need to have steep level scaling to get it to 64, or just say "screw it we'll evolve it into Hydreigon at level 45 and it can be Zweilous after level 30" which feels even worse. And evolution is another trouble with it -- there's no point fighting a level 50 Teddiursa if you do it last, so it should be an Ursaring by then, but because Pokémon evolve at different levels (and through different methods like stones which creates arbitrary "we'll do it after x objective" decisions) an optimal route would still be able to be mapped out. If you don't do Katy as the first objective the level cap probably exceeds 15, so her Tarountula would be a Spidops, and then if let's say the levels increase by 5 after each objective, you have the choice between Iono having a Kilowattrel at level 25 or Brassius having a Dolliv at level 25 depending on what your team's better against etc. etc..

Basically because of the nature of Pokémon even with level scaling, there would end up being optimal route mapping. You'd also likely be incentivised to handle all the gyms first, as they're the hardest objectives, before going back to do Team Star and then to do the Titans as the Titans would never evolve or anything. That would make the game way less fun that participating in the different types of objectives over the course of the game without feeling guilty that you're handicapping yourself.

With that said, the fact that the Pokémon Centre Lady doesn't tell you what the next objective should be based on level and instead points you to the nearest one geographically (yes ma'am I do have a map) is criminal. I'm also fairly skeptical about the map design -- the choice between east or west at the start of the game sounded good but what I figured would happen would be that levels would scale up and around the ring of the region. It feels like that was the intention, but they ditched it later in the game, most likely due to not getting enough time to let people with fresh eyes playtest the game in order to see how well their map design telegraphs what the next objective should be to the player. Then modifications could have been made. It sounds like everyone did the Fire-Type Team Star before the Dark-Type one, stuff like that would have been revealed in playtesting if Game Freak gave the devs enough time to do that.

 

[Blazade]

Yeah the only clue as to level is the little descriptions in the map, which you have to press + for, and are also very vague.

I personally enjoy fixed level encounters like this, done properly. Consider Octopath Traveler, where higher level towns, treasure, and encounters are within walking distance and it very clearly gets more dangerous the farther away from the center you go. Low level fights with hard bosses are fun and give you appropriate rewards to make you feel good about it. Single story speedruns basically have to do this. But when you have the flexibility to approach the game in your own way, the fixed encounters mean the gravity of a high level fight isn't cheapened by level scaling.

I'm not sure how Pokemon could handle an open world and scale it properly, but a nice start would be to just put the recommended level over the town like other modern RPGs.

 

[DreamPrince]

It's actually not a good thing that every mechanic since Z-moves has been usable with every mon. Every single one since has been problematic in competitive -- Dynamax got banned immediately, and Terastal looks like it's going to get banned pretty quickly (at this point probably just on the backs of people who made up their minds the moment it was announced). Realistically the same is true of any future mechanic they will ever release. Z-moves probably would have been banned if there hadn't been such a strong aversion to banning generational mechanics at the time; they're a major reason why late gen 7 OU was such a matchup meta because there were too many threats to feasibly have two checks to all of them.

Another factor on why Z-moves weren’t banned is because there was an opportunity cost for using them, in this case the item slot, unlike Dynamax and Testralization which it can happen at any time. Running four attacks with a Z-Move was weaker than using a LO with 4 attacks. From my experience, Z-Moves were best on setup sweepers since they can boost their offensive stats in the case the Z-Move can’t be used if they have already used the move.

I’m also surprised people in VGC like Wolfe despised Z-Moves, since in B03 you’d know if your opponent had a Z-Move or not based on the previous match.

 

[Worldie]

I’m also surprised people in VGC like Wolfe despised Z-Moves, since in B03 you’d know if your opponent had a Z-Move or not based on the previous match.

It's more due to the nature of VGC. In VGC losing a mon to a Z-move istantly puts you at a huuuuge disadvantage.
While Dynamax was also very powerful, it was mainly used as "extra setup tool" and still would let you recover by using it yourself right after. It also had a much bigger layer of utility that isn't present in singles due to setting up field conditions for the partner.
You couldn't really recover from one of your pokemon nuked by a feint + Z-move combo, and due to the Item clause in VGC, the "item slot cost" was much less restrictive than on smogon, since it's not like you could run multiple life orbs or leftovers anyway.