Unpopular opinions

Chingling is a pretty good Pokemon in Diamond, Pearl and Platinum.

Yes, it's not Abra. It's not Ralts. Heck it's not even Girafarig. But if you play to Chimecho's strengths, it's not too bad. Relatively early friendship evolution in the mid 20s with some Bicycle use. Most Pokemon fans would also be surprised that Chingling has base 65 Special Attack, which is rather good offense as far as unevolved Pokemon go. The Chingling line also is blessed with a Fast Exp Growth rate, which most of its competition can't say they have.

The cornerstone to making Chimecho good is level 25 Yawn. Combined with the infinite Protect TM from Veilstone Department Store, you more or less have a decently fast user of Spore that simply requires you to eat a hit (which, given Chimecho's decent bulk, is plenty plausible). Given Chimecho's only decent movepool, it has more than enough room for this combo, because it only really wants Psychic (sadly via TM, which you're basically forced to do because it is stuck with Confusion until...level 46 Extrasensory wow someone at Game Freak hated Chimecho, but I digress) for STAB. Yawn + Protect also combos nicely with the Dream Eater TM, which you get at Valor Lakefront with Rock Climb after seven badges, and that TM is so free it is basically uncontested. While Chimecho has an average Gym performance, it never outright feels like it was dragging my team down like actually bad Pokemon like Barboach do.

Don't believe me? Go look at the last episode of my Platinum LP. You too will become a Chimecho truther.
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LPBvgc said:
A bit of an addendum to this after some thinking and looking back to past fandom behavior.

With SwSh Revisionism ongoing, I feel like one of two things will happen regarding how the fanbase views the newer titles:

Either

The fanbase will revert back to a similar state it was pre-dexit, since SwSh is being seen more favorably, it would possibly lead to people seeing most of the games as good because claiming that BDSP was the start of the decline would be... Pretty stupid considering subsequent games like both Legends Games and SV.

Or

Hisui Revisionism where people begin to bash Legends Arceus. Just like the first outcome, it would be because of people starting to see BDSP as the start of the decline.
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A second addendum, but with WiWa's announcement and mostly positive reaction even from the jaded fans, I feel like the former is now more likely (which I at least hope is the case).
 
Ironmage said:
I think the Legend Plate would be fun in a mainline game, but only if the logic can't handle Abilities or other edge cases. I want to see the ultimate form of The Creator still need to run coverage just for Eelektross.

Okay, practically speaking it'll be for Groudon-Primal, but still.
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I also want Ultra Necrozma back too. I’m looking forward to hopefully seeing it in Champions
 
Krockodile said:
Thanks for the clarifications regarding Thick Fat and Shock Wave's accuracy, I do want to clarify a few things:

I agree that Swampert's Earthquake can be solid considering its good attack and there are very few trainers with mons that resist or are immune to Earthquake. However, when I was earlier stating that Swampert isn't S Material, the mons that would be placed there to have a more consistent advantageous matchup against the opponents, not neutral matchups. Its ground typing does not provide a advantageous matchup in the lategame against trainers like Juan, Glacia or Wallace when considering it loses its Water and Ice Resistance.


I should have clarified that when I mentioned Gyarados using Earthquake, I was referring specifically to sweeping Phoebe, where Return doesn’t work because their immunity to Normal Type moves. After Dragon Dance, Earthquake is simply the better option there. Outside of that matchup, Return is usually the main sweeping tool.
My point wasn’t that Gyarados is better overall, only that Swampert’s Ground typing stops being defensively helpful in the late‑game, while other Water types happen to line up better into Water/Ice‑heavy teams.
Whilst Gyarados doesn't resist Ice, but imo resisting Water is just as great and being able to be self sufficient with Dragon Dance can give it useful edge over Swampert.


Wailord has a speed stat of 60 like Swampert is. Plus even if Wailord's Water Spout would be weakened due to not being in full health it can still use Surf.


Yes, Magikarp and Tentacool contribute less early on, and that’s exactly why I emphasized Swampert’s strength in the early‑mid game. Mudkip’s immediate usefulness is a big part of why it’s such a strong starter. I didnt state that Gyarados, Tentacruel, or Walrein outperform Swampert overall — only that they offer more favorable late‑game matchups due to their typings, especially against Juan, Glacia, and Wallace.
Swampert is still one of the best pokemon to have in Emerald, it's that is relative advantage of having an Electric immunity is neutralised after the mid-game where you would have to face Water and Ice attacks from Juan, Glacia or Wallace.

I will mention that if grinding is a concern, you can use the exp share you get from Mr Stone after delivering the letter to Steven or leave them at the Day Care Center, so I believe training them can be manageable and the investment would not be tedious.

There is one pokemon that the player can get before taking on Juan, Staryu which can evolve into Starmie. It's also a late game mon and is frailer compared to the other entries but it makes it up by learning Thunderbolt to take care of the late water types, Recover (though it needs a heart scale to learn it), hits harder than most unboosted because of its good special attack and is very fast.
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If you want to state that Swampert is not S-tier material (in your opinion), then I think you should provide an example of what mon is definitively in your personal S-tier/better than RSE Swampert overall in order to give a baseline for comparison. At the least I also disagree with the opinion that a neutral matchup is not a consistent or advantageous matchup, because simply having higher raw stats and doing more damage to the opponent than they do to you is a net win in my opinion.

My main counterpoint to the argument in these posts about Water/Ice resistances being relevant in Emerald's lategame starting with Juan, is that Pokemon Emerald gives you access to a Level 70 Rayquaza encounter right before Juan. Rayquaza may have a 4x Ice weakness, yet in practice it is largely irrelevant in this fight because Rayquaza can OHKO Juan's whole team with Outrage off of pure raw stats and a huge level lead (with no EXP investment required from jointime).

The issue of the role of picking up a dedicated Juan/E4 killer in Emerald is that it natively has to compete with base Endgame Rayquaza for an investment/team slot, unless you purposely limit yourself from using it for any arbitrary reason, which is justifiable but you need to specify the criteria under which you evaluate these mons against each other/in tiers. To me, it stands that being a lategame joiner/Juan counter is not as niche a role to fit in as being a Wattson counter with much less flexible/viable picks, and so a mon that excels in the earlygame when things are more limited and difficult (like Mudkip/Swampert) is of more value to allow you to open up the later parts of the game in the first place.
 
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Mr. Uncompetitive said:
Been talking about this with Cryo and Gato, and it seems like Drumstickgaming also brought it up in this thread recently, but I think BW2 is insanely overrated and a mess to play through.
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Nothing but facts.

Azery said:
i don't think the 'requiring TMs for STAB worth a damn' is actually a fault at all and is more just a preference in game design tbh.

for that matter, i think both single-use and reusable tms have solid arguments in favour of them, and I think the recent trend of single-use craftable tms or BDSP's awful 3-tms-a-pop thing all fucking suck. Either make using one a choice that sticks or make them reusable. This in-between shit fucking sucks because all the game-modes attached to it are godawful.
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Realistically, TMs should be single-use for in-game purposes, but all of them should be infinitely rebuyable post-game so you don't end up in situations like having to replay the whole game for another EQ TM.

QuentinQuonce said:
The question of whether FRLG will get Home support when they're released on Switch reminds me of something that's long annoyed me about Game Freak: for once, could they just say "it'll be released on [specific date]"? Everything's always "coming soon!" or, just as maddeningly, "early/late [year]".

I know, I know that things like game updates and DLCs are actively being worked on when they're announced and it's not always certain that things will be ready in time for a desired date but that's still not an excuse. I literally work in tech and we have an upcoming product release with a fixed date announced. Just say "March" or "June" or "November" ffs, and if you then have to announce a delay then fine, whatever!
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Or even... stop with the amateur hour nonsense and just drop Home support with the games? Tf? Even if they want to have players not transfer mons before completing the story, they can literally do just that.

CynicalGiant said:
also honestly even as a fan of open world games, I don't think the wild area is enjoyable. of all the playthrus of Sword/Shield I've done I think the ones where I spent the least amount of time in the wild area were a lot more fun and memorable.
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You know, I might as well use that to transition to my unpopular opinion of the day.

Catching Pokémon in the mainline games sucks. It's just boring and after the Legends' games, it's really hard to go back to it.

The Wild Area with LZA catching mechanics would be infinitely more engaging. As it stands, there's... really not a lot to do there.
 
tentaghost said:
Id perfer just arceus catching mechanics tbh, ZAs felt kinda janky at points like how the pokeballs sometimes disappear.
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yeah the guy who retrieves your lost pokeballs outside of every single pokecenter being read as like "wow nice qol" by the community and not "the devs knew the catching mechanics were flawed" lol

arceus catching mechanics + turn based battles that are seamless is what I want out of gen 10, but I am concerned that battles are becoming less and less of a thing in general. in scarlet/violet the actual combat was almost entirely optional, and the exp system made it kind of irrelevant to ever engage in battles outside of the actual mandatory boss fights. maybe this is what the audience wants but it is a bit of a bummer.

maybe they need to change the exp formula again if you can catch pokemon as easily as you could in legends arceus or even in ZA so you aren't just insanely overleveled at all times unless you are using like 40 party members
 
I honestly am very fed up with the "aim Pokeballs" mechanic, keep that away from the main series, lemme just select a ball rather than engage with real time micromanaging.

I am fucking tired of people who cannot stand turn based stuff due to brainrot.

And I am fucking tired of people wanting EVERYTHING to be a revolutionary change, when they will drop the game they praise after bashing through the main story.
 
CynicalGiant said:
arceus catching mechanics + turn based battles that are seamless is what I want out of gen 10, but I am concerned that battles are becoming less and less of a thing in general. in scarlet/violet the actual combat was almost entirely optional, and the exp system made it kind of irrelevant to ever engage in battles outside of the actual mandatory boss fights. maybe this is what the audience wants but it is a bit of a bummer.
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I don’t really agree that combat is “almost entirely optional” in Scarlet & Violet; the game has tons to battles throughout the storyline and the DLC (Gym Leaders, Team Star bases, Titan Pokémon, Kieran and Carmine, the BB League, and the actual climactic bosses of each story arc like Nemona, Arven, Penny, Sada/Turo, Ogerpon, and Terapagos). Not to mention, the game’s main form of multiplayer / post-release content is high-level Tera Raid Battles that require good strategies.

I’d say Legends: Arceus is what a Pokémon game with “almost entirely optional combat” looks like —relatively few major story battles throughout, Pokémon bosses where you can almost circumvent having to battle them at all by just pelting them really hard, virtually no random Trainers out in the world, and a catching system that greatly rewards and encourages jamming and stealth tactics rather than direct combat.

Where I think Scarlet & Violet does lack, where it does feel like combat is “optional,” is with the regular NPC Trainers out in the world, but I suspect that’s probably a symptom of Game Freak trying to figure out their approach in a fully open-world game. I would guess that they probably couldn’t figure out a good (or technically viable; lord knows with SV) way to have regular Trainers initiate battle with the player, and decided to just make it the player’s decision — I think you can see them trying to incentivize seeking these skippable Trainers out via the suits at the Pokémon Centers who offer a prize for defeating x amount of Trainers, but of course that’s not a perfect solution.

I’d be surprised if they didn’t eventually iron out the kinks, but it’s GF, so it will probably take some time and some trial-and-error. As an example, Z-A didn’t really de-emphasize battling; it created a bespoke ecosystem for it via the Z-A Royale. Which isn’t to say the Royale itself is a perfect approach with no room for improvement; just that it is something I think they’re thinking about.

Eriorguez said:
I honestly am very fed up with the "aim Pokeballs" mechanic, keep that away from the main series, lemme just select a ball rather than engage with real time micromanaging.

I am fucking tired of people who cannot stand turn based stuff due to brainrot.

And I am fucking tired of people wanting EVERYTHING to be a revolutionary change, when they will drop the game they praise after bashing through the main story.
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I agree with you that not every game needs a revolutionary change, but I think it’s odd to go at people who dislike turn-based battles on the grounds of “brainrot” while preferring the comparatively brainless RNG diceroll approach to catching Pokémon over a system (speaking moreso of Arceus’s than Z-A’s here) that actually gives the player a more proactive role in the process.

I like turn-based battles (though I also enjoy Z-A’s spin on battling), as one of the great things about Pokémon’s battling system is its surprising depth and strategic complexity. But consequently, I think it’s a good thing for GF to try to find a way to make the other major pillar of the series — catching and collecting Pokémon — into something that is also surprisingly deep and fun to engage with, and something one can meaningfully develop skills with beyond “get a Smeargle with False Swipe, Soak, and Spore.” “Clicking ‘use’ on a Poké Ball until the computer decides that you’ve won” is not a system that I’d say fits that bill. It’s fine, but I think they can stand to aim higher on that one.
 
Eriorguez said:
I honestly am very fed up with the "aim Pokeballs" mechanic, keep that away from the main series, lemme just select a ball rather than engage with real time micromanaging.

I am fucking tired of people who cannot stand turn based stuff due to brainrot.

And I am fucking tired of people wanting EVERYTHING to be a revolutionary change, when they will drop the game they praise after bashing through the main story.
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lmao saying people want the Legends catching mechanics because of "brainrot" is an insane take. People want it because it's a much funner way of catching pokemon than just pressing a button and hoping the RNG gods bless you. At least this way has a bit more going on and there are things that help make it less tedious like being able to throw a ball at them when they aren't looking or the catch window after defeating them in battle. It's still not perfect to say the least but it's a lot better than just throwing balls over and over again for an entire half hour even after already doing everything you can to maximize the catching chance and just praying you get lucky. I'll take the new system over what is genuinely one of my least favorite video game mechanics in any game I've ever played any day of the week.

But no, clearly if anyone has a different viewpoint than you then they just feel that way because they have brainrot.
 
its not something i feel terribly strong about either way, but aside from real time catching stuff (which i think is kind of boring outside of spinoff stuff like legends designed with it in mind), what other substantial alternatives are there to just selecting and using a ball from a menu? or benefits for that matter? how can you be certain that giving the player more agency in the success of catching pokemon won't make the uncommon bad roll feel even worse by extension? this is a thing that is present in the legends titles to a smaller degree especially when staring down a mon that really does not like to go into a pokeball. additionally, the rng aspect makes things like beast ball shinies a lot cooler, and there are a lot of ways to swing the odds in your favor if you just want to catch the mon without any bells and whistles that do not require too much effort

regardless on what you, the reader's view on the matter is, i don't think this is as clear cut and simple of an issue as "yeah rng checks suck we need a catching system overhaul"
 
You guys are aware that the Legends catching system is identical to normal after you actually hit the Pokémon right? Like the surprise/backstrikes exist but the Legends games lower the normal catch chances so those don't so much boost the chance as return it to something resembling normal. Having to do extra busy work every throw for less chance of actually catching the target is not more engaging.
 
Ultimately, I feel like the False Swipe/Spore Smeargle is pretty good by the standards of getting things out of minor encounters in JRPGs. It's using the core battle system for something other than slamming attacks to get it done with as fast as possible, and Pokemon already has issues with that being too prevalent. Adding another combat system for catching which is still going to be solved by next competitive season while removing a use case for niche options in the main one just seems counterproductive.
 
Honestly, it might be interesting if they just eliminated the RNG aspect of pokeballs but kept the mechanics mostly the same and just gave you a yes/no of "will the ball work" based on all the stuff that currently affects odds.

Because, yes, "Get the Legendary under 1/4 HP, apply Paralysis, then spam Dusk Balls and occasional Hyper Potions for 10 minutes until the RNG allows a catch while watching TV" is miserable. It's not fun and does not show any skill, just your in-game pocketbook and out-of-game willingness to reset saves. So picture a game where common mons can be caught with any ball and <100% health, every time. But quickly the requirements increase, forcing health lower and lower for catches, making status more mandatory and the closer you can keep them to 1 hp, the better.

Under those rules, catching a Legendary is almost a puzzle. How do you get them low enough for a False Swipe mon to apply the final blow, without running out of HP on your sleep inducer?
 
Ngl. This all kind of feels like reinventing the wheel, especially because you get a decent False Swipe user then it’s not that difficult too win.
Personally I do like the more recent attempts at making legendaries into actual boss fights like in ZA. Makes it more interesting I feel
 
Castersvarog said:
Ngl. This all kind of feels like reinventing the wheel, especially because you get a decent False Swipe user then it’s not that difficult too win.
Personally I do like the more recent attempts at making legendaries into actual boss fights like in ZA. Makes it more interesting I feel
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You mean like SV, ZA's legend fights were awful cause they were exactly the same as normal just with extra tedium of having to run around doing nothing for like a minute every 4 balls or so because of that stupid enrage mechanic. SV's were boss fights, ZA's were worse versions of the normal method.
 
AztecCroc said:
You mean like SV, ZA's legend fights were awful cause they were exactly the same as normal just with extra tedium of having to run around doing nothing for like a minute every 4 balls or so because of that stupid enrage mechanic. SV's were boss fights, ZA's were worse versions of the normal method.
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Eh, I'm pretty dissatisfied with SV's boss implementation as well. The main part of the challenge being to the KO means there's less incentive to break out the debuffs, and that's assuming the devs would even let you status at all.
 
They have all these raid mechanics and general boss battle ideas in the games nowadays. Is it too much to ask to actually have legendaries be raid-like battles?

Getting a Smeargle or what have you with False Swipe + Spore or other non-optimal options until it's time to say "Ok, RNG, take the wheel" is just... lame.

tentaghost said:
Id perfer just arceus catching mechanics tbh, ZAs felt kinda janky at points like how the pokeballs sometimes disappear.
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I won't lie, I don't remember the differences, but I vaguely remember that PLA had the option to sneak on a mon and just try to catch it, and also the option of throwing your own mons at them to start a battle as usual.

I don't quite remember if you could get the jump on them by targeting them with a move before, but that's also great and should be an option.

The fact that Wild Pokémon can be aggressive and just try to nuke you on the spot is also very good and makes the whole "Wait, don't go into the tall grass, are you crazy!?" rants justified. It also forces you to actually engage with the world. They could even bring back Repels as a de-aggro item to allow players to slip by non-Alphas if they'd like it.

What isn't great is how SV did it.

Run into one of those tiny "true-scaled mons" like Joltik? Battle transition.
Wanna catch a mon? It HAS to be through fair, honorable, time-wasting combat.

It just felt like a step back. It's good to have different options and approaches.
 
One of my takeaways from Pokopia's roaring success is that the idea of an RPG set in a world of talking Pokemon with a well-developed story like PMD urgently needs to be revisited. The unpopular opinion is that I don't think a full-bore PMD5 would work, I want a reboot/spiritual successor franchise with modern 3D graphics and a gameplay loop more palatable to the general gaming public.
 
Volt-Ikazuchi said:
They have all these raid mechanics and general boss battle ideas in the games nowadays. Is it too much to ask to actually have legendaries be raid-like battles?

Getting a Smeargle or what have you with False Swipe + Spore or other non-optimal options until it's time to say "Ok, RNG, take the wheel" is just... lame.
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SV plays with this a bit in the DLC, with Terapagos using Raid mechanics like Tera charging and a Shield to break, plus Type/Barrier changing ala a more traditional RPG. This plus Ogerpon having a multi-phase battle makes me hope they're experimenting more with "Boss Battles" vs Traditional Captures for the main series mechanics, given the Legendaries just being Legendary Pokemon doesn't have the same oomph on existence after 3 decades.
 
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