What are your thoughts on Gen 3 Gatr having a fat ass
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Unpopular opinions
- Thread starter antemortem
- Start date
tbh I think there's a bigger example of this for me personally, and that's Nidoking.
Feels like he's lost a lot of that wild, aggressive vibe.
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my dream pokemon aesthetic that isnt just Doing A New Style would be the design work of modern gen mixed with gen 1-2 roughness in the art. I really enjoy how monstery gen 1 feels but i cant enjoy it Too Much because I dont actually feel anything for the design thats being drawn 90% of the time. change 0 things about baxcalliburs overall design and just stylize it like gen 1 and itd be probably my favorite pseudo of all time
I love original Nidoking so much it looked so tough
my first introduction to Nidoking was actually Stadium since I played that before Gen 2 or Gen 1, and Nidoking in stadium is ANGRY
also needs some of the wacky posing and styling too, like this red/blue poliwrath doing a super sentai pose
original poliwrath in red/green and red/blue had eyes that were more distinct from its body, not sure if I like it or dislike it?
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ok actually quick addendum. do all of this still but make one crucial change: start drawing pokemon with teeth. i know its cartoony stylization but the way theyre so insistent in some of these guys ever only showing 4 teeth ever is stupid as hell to me. kids arent going to be scared that a dog has dog teeth i prommy
I swear, something was just lost in Nidokings transition to 3D.tbh I think there's a bigger example of this for me personally, and that's Nidoking.
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Feels like he's lost a lot of that wild, aggressive vibe.
Like it’s not just the posing, which is pretty dull but sadly nothing new, but even its design just lost something. Like the spikes on its back that made for a menacing outline just shrunk down way to much and the beer gut is on full display now
Spikes didn't shrink, 3D model just can't cheat and lengthen them to always stay in view regardless of angle.
They're not angled right though.
tbh I think there's a bigger example of this for me personally, and that's Nidoking.
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Feels like he's lost a lot of that wild, aggressive vibe.
Nidoking is a very special case because he's always felt like The Kanto Pokemon to me. There are obviously a multitude of more famous guys, hell he's not even the most popular Kanto Poison, but in some spiritual sense it feels like he never actually left Gen 1. It's not just the visual downgrade, it's the fact he doesn't appear in any other regional dex besides Johto or Kalos and isn't associated with any other trainer besides Giovanni. His kaiju mishmash look feels so distinctly of its time, not that they ever stopped doing kaiju references (Baxcalibur was just brought up) but there's something about the way it's done for him specifically. His whole line and its two base forms are inexorably tied to mechanics RBY was missing compared to later entries
Yeah he's like. I wouldn't say iconic because he's never really shilled, but he's THE Kanto Pokemon outside of the usuals like Charizard, Pikachu, Eevee, Gengar, Dragonite, Mewtwo
This took me down a rabbit hole. No pun intended given male Nidoran are somewhat based on rabbits.
I think that icon in the screenshot representing the Nidorans is most visually reminiscent of Nidoking and Rhydon. Probably Rhydon. It always felt more linked to Nidoking for me though. You can obviously get Nidoran much sooner in all three games. But all three members of the line are also represented by this icon. Whereas Rhydon merely adopted it after Rhyhorn was originally represented by the one for Rattata in that screenshot. Interestingly Rhyhorn is one of only three Pokemon (the others being Slowpoke and Magikarp) to change their icon upon evolution in RBY.
Anyway that monster icon represents 59 total Pokemon in RBY. No other icon represents more than 15. And you do tend to see these icons a fair amount - to switch your party order, swap Pokemon in battle, check stats, teach TMs/HMs, use HMs in the field, use potions/vitamins, etc. It even represents Mewtwo in Cerulean Cave in the overworld as a pseudo "final boss". Also represents other icons like Charizard, Gengar, and Snorlax (also in the overworld).
So you're seeing this icon a lot. Which kind of subliminally (if unintentionally) drives Nidoking home as an iconic Kanto Pokemon. He's almost by definition iconic to RBY.
I think the most iconic part would be their use in the Gyms in Gen1/2
True, I forgot about that.
As part of the rabbit hole I came across a better screenshot:
My (I guess) unpopular opinion is this is why Red and Blue will never lose their appeal. This level of goofiness is too damn charming.
Kingler with two massive claws depicted as a Kirby with fins. Exeggcute with one massive egg as a plant. Starmie as a shellfish. Pinsir as a wasp. Arcanine as a cow.
Just absurd stuff all around. But in the best way possible.
There's a level of charm you just can't match when you're doing a lot with a little. Sometimes constraints really can be one of the best assets for creativity.
And imagination just needs so little prompting. One thing I've always liked about NPC overworld sprites in GSC, for instance, is that while there's a lot of reuse there's also a lot of colour variation. Like, it's not much at all but it goes such a long way to making those different NPCs feel individualised. Even something like a Black Belt with a different colour backpack or a Pokemon Centre nurse with different coloured hair is enough of a difference to make them stand out.
Another charming aspect is the move names, too. I don't care what later games reformat them to, I'll always call them "Thunderpunch" and "FeatherDance" and "Doubleslap" and "Dragonbreath" and "Hi Jump Kick".
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til the Magnemite family also had the Pokeball symbol
TIL Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar had the monster symbol, that's a new one on me.
Also I always forget just how many different menu icons Gen II had - it obviously introduced a bunch more "category" sprites like the animal, the humanshape psychic and so on, but it's funny how a bunch of random species get a custom menu icon all to themselves. Basically anything that gets a doll correspondingly gets a custom menu sprite for its evolutionary line except for Onix (poor thing), but Voltorb, Clefairy, Gengar, Weedle, Grimer, Jigglypuff, Machop, Magikarp, Oddish, and Shellder all have to share their icon with various other evolutionary lines; only Bulbasaur, Charmander, Diglett, Geodude, Pikachu, Poliwag, Squirtle, Staryu, Tentacool, Unown, and Snorlax have icons exclusive just to them. And, uh... Zubat's line also gets a custom sprite for some reason. Slowpoke, Sudowoodo, Ho-oh, Lugia, and Gyarados also get their own menu sprites since they're overworld encounters (well, Slowpoke isn't but it's significant enough to GSC's plot to warrant a unique sprite), as does Lapras, but it shares its menu icon with Seel and Dewgong and has a separate sprite for its doll. Disappointingly Suicune, Entei, and Raikou don't get to use their modified overworld sprites as menu icons in Crystal, instead retaining the generic "animal" icon. Fun fact, another kid I knew who had either Gold or Silver genuinely thought the Nidoran in Celadon Mansion was a Suicune when he first saw it since iirc they're given the same blueish tinge.
I must have gone through much of the games without ever seeing some of those: as a kid I always thought the dragon sprite was just a thing for Lance's Dragonite and not an actual menu sprite. Figures since I don't think I ever had a Charizard or Dragonite back in the day and certainly never a Kingdra.
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Not the first time that happened. In gen 1, Snorlax had a unique sprite for its overworld encounters that just wasn't used in the party for some reason, and Bulbasaur, Oddish, Jigglypuff, and Chansey had all had new overworld sprites made for them in Yellow that they didn't get as menu sprites.
It's also kind of odd that, despite reusing other completely eyeless, seemingly inanimate sprites as menu sprite that they didn't reuse the strength boulder for the Geodude line.
The Dive Ball is better in every conceivable way than the Net Ball and all true men of culture know this to be so
At this point I think being positive about Modern Pokemon Discourse is the actual unpopular opinion, Scarlet and Violet / Legends Z-A are a lot of fun and show the franchise still has good ideas (even when crunched to oblivion).
But you can't just LIKE modern Pokemon anymore because if you do you'll be branded as braindead slop-eating consumer sheeple and that's very bad!!! You can't enjoy things that are rushed!!!!
Just saying.
But you can't just LIKE modern Pokemon anymore because if you do you'll be branded as braindead slop-eating consumer sheeple and that's very bad!!! You can't enjoy things that are rushed!!!!
Just saying.
Damn right!
I am a part of that currently growing audience of fans that grew up with the modern games, it feels like older fans see people like me as worse than "The Mustache Man" just because I prefer the games that are different than the ones they personally grew up with or I have a nuanced take on the modern games.
I've said stuff like "Gen 5 fans are the new Genwunners" or "the DS Era is the new Gen 1" but I think the real "new genwunners" have to be the ex-Pokémon fans as a whole. They are just so blinded by hate and rose-tinted glasses that they will send literal DEATH THRATS to the people that enjoy the games even if they are aware of the issues.
Remember that thumbnail I showed to use as an example for why Anti-Pokémon videos are all the same? Well the guy made another video that can be summarized as "autistic people ruined the franchises I grew up with, we need to bully them more". Hell I can even remember DistantKingdom, the OG ex-Fan, making some fucked up remarks about trans peopke at one point.
I'll take it a step further and say that ex-Pokémon fans and grifter fanboys are WORSE than genwunners.
Look, as someone who has been playing the old games since Emerald, those old games ain't perfect.
Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow/FRLG: Some fans go "the other games do a much better job" but TBH I think the originals still MOSTLY hold up when you take it into consideration they were massive for Game Boy games. Yeah some mechanics are wacky (permanent freeze) and the movepools are zany and there's no Move Deleter in RBY but I dunno, these games are okay.
Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal/HGSS: I straight up don't really like these games. I've posted about it numerous times in the past, but it boils down to everything being insanely inconvenient and being relatively unpolished. Following Pokemon in HGSS means nothing to me if the game is a chore to play.
RSE/ORAS: Solid games that smoothed out most of the jank from prior installments. My main problems are that HMs become outright problematic here and the Pokemon roster on the whole is relatively average. Pokemon also still rely on TMs for movepools quite a bit.
DPPT: Platinum is a good game that shows the issues of pre Gen V streamlining. Eight HMs, still some movepool issues, saving a lot of data. Plenty of Pokemon still want TMs for STAB worth a darn.
BW1: Top to bottom great games, I'm just not a fan of the revised anti-grinding EXP system.
BW2: Hot take but this game is insanely long in the tooth. After six badges the pacing turns into pure vomit. It's honestly my least favorite game in the series after Gen 2. Still a great game, just my least favorite.
Also ignore what longtime fans tell you. You can enjoy the modern games and don't have to agree with the hive mind mentality! Leads to boring conversations.
I will point out that BDSP, the game regarded as the worst overall, fixes most of this and then some.
While on the subject of modern Pokemon I'm gonna say this:
Pokemon doesn't need to be an insanely difficult franchise that older fans always want it to be. I like that I can use unusual or lacking Pokemon to form my own difficulty. I don't want official Pokemon games being ROM hack hard, and Emerald and Platinum get close to that at points already. I just want a fun experience with lots of experimentation and a decent enough story.
I also don't think Pokemon needs to inherently grow with its audience to remain appealing, even if I really like base SM and SV's darker stories. That's just older fans (I myself as of this writing am 28) wanting it to be something Pokemon never was until about Gen V, which was a solid 15 years after its debut.
Kid-friendly doesn't mean adults can't enjoy something, and adults should ignore somebody looking down on you simply because kids are the primary demographic of something they like. Nobody cares about that stuff past high school anyway. Look at The Powerpuff Girls (1998), among other shows. The primary demographic is indeed children (despite its prototype name LOL), but even adults can appreciate the fun character dynamics and solid humor.
Pokemon doesn't need to be an insanely difficult franchise that older fans always want it to be. I like that I can use unusual or lacking Pokemon to form my own difficulty. I don't want official Pokemon games being ROM hack hard, and Emerald and Platinum get close to that at points already. I just want a fun experience with lots of experimentation and a decent enough story.
I also don't think Pokemon needs to inherently grow with its audience to remain appealing, even if I really like base SM and SV's darker stories. That's just older fans (I myself as of this writing am 28) wanting it to be something Pokemon never was until about Gen V, which was a solid 15 years after its debut.
Kid-friendly doesn't mean adults can't enjoy something, and adults should ignore somebody looking down on you simply because kids are the primary demographic of something they like. Nobody cares about that stuff past high school anyway. Look at The Powerpuff Girls (1998), among other shows. The primary demographic is indeed children (despite its prototype name LOL), but even adults can appreciate the fun character dynamics and solid humor.
I think they should just add difficulty settings so that people can play it with whatever difficulty they want. That solves this issue for everyone.
Really, just more toggles in general, like having actual difficulty options like you mentioned, and ones for the exp share and Set/Switch battles would do a lot for peoples issues for the modern games.
Like, we’ve all been playing these games for decades, I wouldn’t mind having to actually try a little harder to win against something like a gym leader