Literally Smeargle in VGC:
The addition of the movies Darkrai theme makes this way better the expected.Literally Smeargle in VGC:
I think if you had told kid me that the silly painting beagle would be a competitive menace it would've been the funniest thing ever.Now, as for the Smeargle example, I understand its gimmick but I still don’t necessarily like it because the way Smeargle is optimized encourages people to run the same moves on it almost every single time. Which to me seems like the exact opposite of the point of the Pokémon in the first place.
I think this is two separate complaints, Signature Moves should remain signature, and movepools need to be more restricted.I would like to present a newer opinion I’ve been giving a lot of thought to lately. In most situations, I don’t think signature moves should be given to other Pokémon in later generations. Sometimes there may be some cool lore reason for it, like Entei getting Sacred Fire, or maybe it just makes way too much sense for a newer Pokémon not to learn a certain move, like Hitmonlee getting Blaze Kick. But unless otherwise specified, I think signature moves were cooler in the generations where they were stronger moves exclusive to weaker Pokémon.
Giving new moves to older Pokémon is completely fine, but signature moves are often made with their Pokémon in mind- going back to the Sacred Fire example, Ho-Oh loves Sacred Fire’s high burn rate because it has higher Special Defense than physical- this comes with the drawback of breaking the balance of the game if other Pokémon with different traits gain those moves. See Breloom, the first viable Spore user. See Smeargle committing war crimes with Dark Void. See Spikes on Cloyster and later Skarmory. You get the picture. Attack move examples are less common for this kind of thing, I’d say, but the idea that strong moves should be made available for weaker Pokémon still exists, because there is no reason that many Pokémon should be able to learn Close Combat even if it never was a signature move.
Edit: Bulbapedia has it fixed now, but Spikes was never a signature move for Pineco and Forretress. I thought it might have been on Day 1 of GSC but multiple Pokémon got it on level-up.
It was the signature move of Pineco and Forretress in GS (Smeargle notwithstanding), Cloyster and Qwilfish only got the move in Crystal.Edit: Bulbapedia has it fixed now, but Spikes was never a signature move for Pineco and Forretress. I thought it might have been on Day 1 of GSC but multiple Pokémon got it on level-up.
Cool idea in theory, but kinda bad in practice. Old Pokemon are needed to fill out the dex, as doing what BW did (151 new Pokemon) isn't sustainable and frankly put even then 151 is honestly too small of a Dex to have types fairly represented. We saw what happened with that in sinnoh. It also means you have to address how tf do you make evos for old mons, as those are a big part of Pokemon. You could do regional forms, but part of the fun is seeing these old Pokemon getting that Evo, not an off branch. I also try to use the new Pokemon (with some exceptions such as using venomoth in Sv mainline story since it was the first game it had been available since GSC and the shiny luxray I found 5 minutes into the teal mask) but only using new Pokemon is not sustainable. Bw prob shouldn't have done it, though at least they tried something new.since it's the 15th anniversary of Pokemon Black and White in Japan...
I think having a new roster of pokemon every generation would've been a better design scope decision than constantly bringing back old pokemon. Granted, I don't think having a new roster of pokemon required them to rehash the design concepts of a lot of gen 1-4 pokemon which I think was a big part of why people reacted negatively to the Unova dex.
Obviously I know this is unpopular because they immediately made BW2 with old pokemon again, XY which recreated viridian forest and had nostalgia bait with giving the player the gen 1 starters again. I also know how unusual it is to have your favorite generation be one that wasn't your first one or one you grew up with. I played BW1 and BW2 when I was in high school but started with Pokemon on Stadium as a kid.
As a player when I'm playing a generation I always use the pokemon of that generation and don't use any of the old pokemon, unless they got a new form or evolution. I know I'm very much in the minority on this. Friend of mine has used Gyarados in literally every game its available.
Only problems I've had with it are in Gen 2 and Gen 6 because the former doesn't have that many that are actually obtainable in Johto and the latter just doesn't have very many new pokemon. Didn't have any issues using an entire team of new pokemon with varied types in any of the other gens.but only using new Pokemon is not sustainable
I mean Unova and Sinnoh not having enough Ice or Fire types respectively isn't a problem inherent to their dexes, they chose not to make enough of either for whatever reason.Old Pokemon are needed to fill out the dex, as doing what BW did (151 new Pokemon) isn't sustainable and frankly put even then 151 is honestly too small of a Dex to have types fairly represented. We saw what happened with that in sinnoh
Well again, I have to point to gens 1 and 4. The orginal 151 are great and all, but where tf are the ghosts and dragons. Those types have one line max. And this is with 2 types that don't exist (no darks even in something like FRLG and only one steel line, fairies are unironically not horrible since a decent few gain the typing). Gen 4 (specifically the sinnoh games) has 151 as well, and there are 2 fire type lines. And if you don't pick chimchar, you are stuck with ponyta and you will like it. Like, again, you can use only new pokemon, but do you give the player options they can use amongst types? I would say that is a very difficult thing to do. BW is the only gen that even remotely came close to getting it right. And again, creating 151 pokemon per gen is not something you can really do constantly, so smaller (60-80) is what you prob what you can realistically do, and that would not create a balanced dex.Only problems I've had with it are in Gen 2 and Gen 6 because the former doesn't have that many that are actually obtainable in Johto and the latter just doesn't have very many new pokemon. Didn't have any issues using an entire team of new pokemon with varied types in any of the other gens.
Well, thats kinda a problem you run into, lets do some math. Let's ignore fairies for now (since while that only excarebates the problem, they weren't available at the time). 17 types, and lets say the dex is 150 (round number and close enough to the actual dex number). 150 divided by 17 is 8.823.... around 8-9 Pokemon you can have for each type. Not evo lines, individual pokemon. Lets take fire types for example, after the starter line, you have max, 6 pokemon to work with. If you do another 3 stage line (which you prob want), then you are down 3 pokemon. So you can maybe squeeze out a single evo and a two stage. That leaves you with 4 different pokemon fire type lines for said region. See the issue here? If every type is represented equally, there just are limited options for each type. Some types have to be under-represented to make sure the other types have more options (like normal for example, which you kinda want there to be). So in fact, you kinda can't have enough lines. And this isn't even counting legendaries, theres around 3-10 per game, which cut even further into the already limited dex (typically put aside from maybe the box legendary, you won't use them in your party, SS and SV straight up didn't let you until post game).I mean Unova and Sinnoh not having enough Ice or Fire types respectively isn't a problem inherent to their dexes, they chose not to make enough of either for whatever reason.
I mean you don't have to have a fire type to beat sinnoh, they should have made more new fire types but I never found it a deal breaker for team building.And if you don't pick chimchar, you are stuck with ponyta and you will like it.
I mean I never said that was the requirement for having a dex of entirely or almost entirely new pokemon? you could construct a dex of entirely new pokemon with lower than 151 and have it represent most if not all types fairly and have variety but it would still probably be incredibly unpopular because Game Freak has built the brand on nostalgia and the promise of always having your favorites from a decade ago available.And again, creating 151 pokemon per gen is not something you can really do constantly
Reposting so its easier to see/respond to.I mean Unova and Sinnoh not having enough Ice or Fire types respectively isn't a problem inherent to their dexes, they chose not to make enough of either for whatever reason.
You simply cannot, its going to have incredibly limited amount of lines. If we did 80 dex with 18 options, you have 4-5 mons for each type. If you do water types, you have 1-2 mons after the starter line.... So basically the rapidash/chimchar situation again. That is going to be really, REALLY awkward to make it diverse. It is literally impossible to make a balanced dex.I mean I never said that was the requirement for having a dex of entirely or almost entirely new pokemon? you could construct a dex of entirely new pokemon with lower than 151 and have it represent most if not all types fairly and have variety
They have other issues, yes, but part of it is the limited dex size. You need 250 or so pokemon to try to even get anywhere near a diverse range of pokemon.151 mons is sufficient if you want type diversity in a completely new dex. Gen 1 and base DP very clearly have a ton of game design issues that permeate their being and lead to their lopsided type distribution. I don't think Kanto needed to have 33 Poison-types and 32(?) Water-types, for instance.
I think you are sticking way too strictly to the formula, there's no reason to discount dual types17 types, and lets say the dex is 150 (round number and close enough to the actual dex number). 150 divided by 17 is 8.823.... around 8-9 Pokemon you can have for each type. Not evo lines, individual pokemon ... You ofc have dual types, but that can only do so much, since some types are going to need to be single type.
none of this math you are doing is adding upYou simply cannot, its going to have incredibly limited amount of lines. If we did 80 dex with 18 options, you have 4-5 mons for each type. If you do water types, you have 1-2 mons after the starter line.... So basically the rapidash/chimchar situation again. That is going to be really, REALLY awkward to make it diverse. It is literally impossible to make a balanced dex.
I think this only makes sense if you are working with an insane amount of unique pokemon options as being acceptably diverse. The number of unique team combinations you could have in early gens even with entirely new pokemon was still really high. I'm obviously wanting it to be higher than that, but obviously you will never be able to reach 10+ different options per type that modern games have.You need 250 or so pokemon to try to even get anywhere near a diverse range of pokemon.
Sure, you can add dual types, but 1. There does need to be single types, so sometimes some slots do need to be taken up by them. This is because they can allow other Pokemon to thrive, for every seaking that may seem boring, it allows a starmie to thrive more. And 2. That at max, doubles it. Realistically it adds like 3 Pokemon to the list, giving you maybe one 3 stage more. Still not too great.I think you are sticking way too strictly to the formula, there's no reason to discount dual types
72/18 = 4. And not lines, Pokemon. If you say, make every Pokemon dual type, then that's 8 Pokemon max (and again, you prob are going to have only 5-6 counting mono types). So like, realistically how are you going to represent every type while making them unique? How are you going to make a special attacker, physical attacker, wall and support Pokemon for each type? It's just not realistic. If you again, assume 6 Pokemon, if we do for fire types, you have 3 Pokemon that can try to fill the 'remaining roles' after the starter line. So again, you kinda need old Pokemon to give you more options.it only takes 72 slots of a new dex for every singular type to have 4 fully evolved options that arent legends, and that's not even counting that dual-types do exist. this is more than some types get in new pokemon every gen, and obviously some should get more than this depending on which types are planned for gym leaders or elite four for that particular gen.
But here's the thing, we ain't in new gens. We have 1000 Pokemon, you need to make new designs and ones that are unique.I think this only makes sense if you are working with an insane amount of unique pokemon options as being acceptably diverse. The number of unique team combinations you could have in early gens even with entirely new pokemon was still really high. I'm obviously wanting it to be higher than that, but obviously you will never be able to reach 10+ different options per type that modern games have.
Okay well, 1. The people who said there wasn't enough options are insane, I do agree on that. ATP those people are just greedy. And 2. Implementing old Pokemon isn't really too time constraining, realistically they will take a lot of the work from old gens and implement it into the new games with some changes. Maybe you add a few moves to there moveset or change a few stats, but isn't a massive task.My whole point was that I don't think that's a reasonable goal if they want to actually develop these games in a reasonable scope. There being 10 to 31, depending on the type, possible fully evolved choices in Sword and Shield is absolutely insane to me, even more insane that people were upset this wasn't high enough. I don't think this is sustainable and I'm surprised the games even run with the amount of work that is.
most of the task is that a lot of the pokemon, new or old, have bespoke animations and behavior for being in the 3D overworld. shout out to the goat, nosepass always facing north. every new or old pokemon you add has to be QA'd and bug tested rigorously even if you aren't adding anything new to them. It also takes time to plan which old pokemon you are adding, where they are going, the lore justifications for it (since we know they do this).And 2. Implementing old Pokemon isn't really too time constraining, realistically they will take a lot of the work from old gens and implement it into the new games with some changes. Maybe you add a few moves to there moveset or change a few stats, but isn't a massive task.
I posted it as an edit above but I don't think it's unrealistic. They got fairly close with the new Paldean pokemon.So like, realistically how are you going to represent every type while making them unique? How are you going to make a special attacker, physical attacker, wall and support Pokemon for each type? It's just not realistic.
also I want to admit that as any pokemon fan is, I'm also greedy. Pokemon spoils us, lol. I may be less greedy than the Dexit people but like Digimon and Shin Megami Tensei add far fewer new digimon or demons every iteration than even the least amount of new pokemon we have ever had in XY. This series since day 1 is like the scope creep crapshoot miracle series that other devs look on in confusion and horror. 1000+ individual models being ported in every generation more or less every 3-5 years sends chills down the spines of a lot of other developers and for good reason. It's insane in both a good and bad way that Game Freak is not only successful but they haven't burned themselves out.Okay well, 1. The people who said there wasn't enough options are insane, I do agree on that. ATP those people are just greedy.
whiscash getting overshadowed by the water/ground starter was very mean of them lolHow many people have, for example, used Barboach on an in-game team in it's debut generation?
yeah a good middle ground can exist, I guess I'm just bummed out when I see new player playing gen 9 for the first time and not a single new pokemon is on there. yeah all 1000+ pokemon are new to anyone starting with that gen, but it feels like a lot of new pokemon get overshadowed by the old pokemon either intentionally or unintentionally.I'm not saying that GF needs to do a region composed entirely of returning mons(although...), but stuff like the BW1 dex feels very limited, while something like XY allows a lot more choice when building my teams and I appreciate that.
Yes, but a lot of these they can transfer quite easily across gens. For example, you could transfer Pikachu roaming around pretty easily I would assume, as the majority of its animations are mostly similar. There are ofc going to be general model changes, but I don't think for a team like game freak they would have that much of an issue.most of the task is that a lot of the pokemon, new or old, have bespoke animations and behavior for being in the 3D overworld. shout out to the goat, nosepass always facing north. every new or old pokemon you add has to be QA'd and bug tested rigorously even if you aren't adding anything new to them. It also takes time to plan which old pokemon you are adding, where they are going, the lore justifications for it (since we know they do this).
Okay well, there's an issue with stuff such as ice, bug and dragon. Ice you have the cetitan line and baxcalibur line, so if I don't want to have to go through the slog of grinding up the pseudo, then I kinda just have cetitan. And if I say, really really like ice types, then I have at max, 2 runs where I could use unique ice types. You could easily do 3 runs (to test out each starter and play with as many of the new critters as possible), so that could be an issue. If I choose dragon, I have two really late game options in tatsugiri and baxcalibur, with only cyclizar as my option for a dragon that is going to contribute to the majority of the game. For bug, I have spidops, lokix and rellor. Not really amazing options tbh.43 fully evolved new Paldean pokemon type distributions (not counting Legends, Paradoxes, or DLC)
2 - Fairy, Ground, Ice
3 - Bug, Electric, Rock, Dragon
4 - Fire, Fighting, Flying, Poison
5 - Grass, Dark, Psychic, Steel
6 - Ghost, Water
8 - Normal
if you count some of the paradoxes you can get before the post game like the Donphans, Not-Misdreavus, and Not-Jiggly it makes Ground and Fairy go up to 4.
This basically. Having new Pokemon is fine, but to balance them out, you do need old Pokemon.The thing about "I only use new pokemon in my in-game teams" is that there's a bunch of mons which may not be new to the series, but are new to me. How many people have, for example, used Barboach on an in-game team in it's debut generation? Axew? Meditite? It's certainly possible, but for various reasons it's not easy. Bringing mons back in later gens isn't just a chance to let Gyarados sweep 6/8 gyms for the 10th straight region, it's a chance to let players experience mons they might have overlooked while fixing problems(movepool, availability) that put people off originally.
I'm not saying that GF needs to do a region composed entirely of returning mons(although...), but stuff like the BW1 dex feels very limited, while something like XY allows a lot more choice when building my teams and I appreciate that.
eh that kind of slog doesn't really exist anymore, you can find the middle stage of that line very easily and the existence of the exp items and exp share always on makes grinding basically opt-in. I used one and it didn't require any special attention whatsoever.so if I don't want to have to go through the slog of grinding up the pseudo, then I kinda just have cetitan