(Little) Things that annoy you in Pokémon

Pikachu315111

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Well then there's the reverse argument of the only male short-shorts being some sort of stupid kneepad thing, and I want my male character to rock short shorts. It's a real lack of customization, really, and I guess they just felt that the time spent making knee length shorts could be better spent elsewhere. We'll just have to see what they do in future generations
Alright, I see no reason boys couldn't wear short-shorts. Honestly pants and shorts are gender neutral clothing.
 
If they were going to stick to kanto-only for the Alolan forms, I am really annoyed they didn't go for Arbok. Aside from it fitting some of the conditions the other Alolan forms fit - a Kanto Pokémon that isn't particularly good and is usually forgotten and swept under the rug; this is something I actually really like about the Alola forms in that they pick underdogs like Grimer and Sandshrew - it would have been a huge opportunity to visit the every-region-has-a-different-pattern gimmick expressed in early gen sprites. They could have built upon that and done something really cool with it and maybe actually made Arbok good and... man. All I was doing is looking at Arbok on Serebii's RS Pokédex to see how it'd be in a FRLG run and now I am extremely sad they dropped this concept and didn't revisit it when they were giving region-specific forms to Kanto Pokémon.
 

Pikachu315111

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If they were going to stick to kanto-only for the Alolan forms, I am really annoyed they didn't go for Arbok. Aside from it fitting some of the conditions the other Alolan forms fit - a Kanto Pokémon that isn't particularly good and is usually forgotten and swept under the rug; this is something I actually really like about the Alola forms in that they pick underdogs like Grimer and Sandshrew - it would have been a huge opportunity to visit the every-region-has-a-different-pattern gimmick expressed in early gen sprites. They could have built upon that and done something really cool with it and maybe actually made Arbok good and... man. All I was doing is looking at Arbok on Serebii's RS Pokédex to see how it'd be in a FRLG run and now I am extremely sad they dropped this concept and didn't revisit it when they were giving region-specific forms to Kanto Pokémon.
We could make an entire list of mons who could have gotten Alolan Formes, so I'm just gonna stick to how annoying it was that they didn't make any more for USUM. Yeah, we got new Ultra Beasts and new Mythical, but considering how some older gen Pokemon actually became viable thanks to the slight changes done to them by giving them an Alolan Forme you'd think they would have done more. And there was plenty of opporunity, even if they stuck to just Gen I Pokemon (which is half understandable, though only half since people from Johto also moved to Alola so why no Johto Pokemon getting Alolan Formes). Surely there must have been some other types that needed more mons you could have filled.
 

Codraroll

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Yeah, I too find it really weird that they just dropped the concept of Alola forms. It was a concept with great expansion potential, there are dozens of evolution lines out there that would benefit greatly from a little makeover. It appeared to be a counterpart to Mega Evolution in the previous generation, where some were introduced in the base games and some more in the follow-up. Or like the follow-up-game form differences that have been around in some fashion since Gen III. One pair of games lay down the framework, the following games expand on it. The concept had a solid framework, it had potential, it had opportunity... and it was not followed up.

USUM broke precedence by providing a small handful of new Ultra Beasts and three new moves, but the obvious concept to expand on was not addressed. A bunch more Pokémon were included in the Alola dex, but new forms weren't made for any of them, nor were they for Pokémon already in the dex for that matter. I find this particularly puzzling since I highly doubt that the designers implemented every idea they had for Alola forms from when S/M were created. When designing creatures, it seems illogical that they had no more than 18 ideas, yet ended up taking all of them into the final game. There has to be a drawer full of discarded Alola Form concepts somewhere in the Game Freak headquarters, several of which could have been implemented in USUM if they so had wished. Just like I staunchly believe they had Mega Evolution ideas that were left unused after ORAS (just look at instances where one part of a counterpart pair/group got a Mega while the other didn't).

Something similar goes for Z-moves. They were the Shiny New Toy of this generation, the Next Big Thing meant to take over the attention previously directed at Mega Evolution. SM brought 18 type-specific Z-moves, 11 signature Z-moves and a whole bunch of Z-status moves. USUM brings ...six. Half of which go to the cover legendaries. SM gave us a great framework to support a whole mountain of epic cinematic moves, then USUM built a molehill on top of it (and, as mentioned, neglected to build anything on top of the Alola Form framework). Contrast ORAS adding 20 Mega Evolutions to the existing group of 28 - another concept which was introduced to great fanfare and subsequently dropped, by the way.
 

Karxrida

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Just like I staunchly believe they had Mega Evolution ideas that were left unused after ORAS
I'm pretty sure it was confirmed that GF tried to give a Mega to Flygon in both XY and ORAS, but they couldn't come up with a satisfying design. I also think Mega Metagross was originally intended for XY.

There's no way they didn't come up with a bunch more Alolan formes that were left on the cutting room floor. The bizarre thing is that they either didn't think to make more for Ultra SUMO or continued to be unsatisfied with what they had.
 
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Pikachu315111

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Something similar goes for Z-moves. They were the Shiny New Toy of this generation, the Next Big Thing meant to take over the attention previously directed at Mega Evolution. SM brought 18 type-specific Z-moves, 11 signature Z-moves and a whole bunch of Z-status moves. USUM brings ...six. Half of which go to the cover legendaries. SM gave us a great framework to support a whole mountain of epic cinematic moves, then USUM built a molehill on top of it (and, as mentioned, neglected to build anything on top of the Alola Form framework). Contrast ORAS adding 20 Mega Evolutions to the existing group of 28 - another concept which was introduced to great fanfare and subsequently dropped, by the way.
I think the problem with the Z-Moves if that GF is thinking too inside the box. They made a Z-move for every type and than the rest of the Z-Moves are Pokemon specific (with some Z-Crystals letting multiple Pokemon share it). But, there's still other ideas they could do. There's plenty of Pokemon who are grouped together in ways that would be interesting to see a Z-Move for:

Fossil Pokemon
Ultra Beasts
Body Shapes (you can get 14 more Z-Crystals from that)

"HOLD UP! Those are varied Pokemon. What's going to be the activation move for them all?"

Simple, just any old STAB move. Just like how the elemental Z-Crystals can use any move as long as it's matching type, Z-Crystals covering varied Pokemon of different types could just require the activation move being a move that gets STAB and applying the same power scale (but maybe a bit stronger or with a unique effect) as the elemental Z-moves.

Speaking of which, why not make Z-Moves that are specific to a certain Moves and Abilities:

Punching Moves / Iron Fist
Biting Moves / Strong Jaw
Increased/Guaranteed Critical Hit Moves / Super Luck
Pulse Moves / Mega Launcher
Weather summoning Moves / Ability
Recovery Moves
Protection Moves
Sound Moves
Maybe even specific moves like Metronome getting a Z-Move all its own.

They could also make Z-Moves which require a certain effect like increasing a certain stat of afflicting a certain Status Ailment.


There's plenty of directions they could go instead of just Pokemon specific. And while there's nothing wrong with Pokemon specific and I would like to see more, I thought one of the points of the Z-Moves was so that all Pokemon could use them and not just fully evolved. And yes, we have Z-Moves exclusive to some pre-evolved Pokemon like Eevee and Pikachu, though those are unique cases as proven by all the other Pokemon specific Z-Moves being for fully evolved Pokemon.

Though question is, does GF care about Z-Moves anymore? As we've seen with Mega Evolution, new toys lose their shine and looks like GF might have gone as far with Z-Moves as they wanted (they sort of accomplished their goal, having something that effects all Pokemon instead of fully evolved via the elemental Z-Moves) so time for the next toy for the next generation (I'm betting on super Abilities). Oh, sure, they could go back and maybe resolve the issue they had with Mega Evolutions being too strong and releasing more Mega and Z-Moves... but it's not likely.

EDIT: Hey, the USUM forum is gone, does that mean we can talk about the USUM annoyance I want to talk about now (I'll keep it in a spoiler tag)?
 

Pikachu315111

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Then I guess it's time:

Ultra Recon Squad:
What. A. Waste. Waste of time, waste of interesting characters, and overall a waste of potential. Let's take this one thing at a time:

1. Who Are They?: We encounter two members of the Ultra Recon Squad many times during the story, go to their home world where we meet two others, and then a couple more scenes in the post game. And despite all this, we know very little about them, I'd argue we knew as much about them when they were revealed. They have one note personalities and each of their encounter is essentially the same conversation/observation. Apparently their motives are suppose to be different in each verion, one wants to stop Necrozma and the other wants to control, but I watched all their cutscenes and you can BARELY tell this.

"Alright, we've had characters like this before like the Team Flare scientists. It's nothing new."

First, that's not an excuse. You gave these characters a unique design and role in the game that tells me they're suppose to be someone who I'm suppose to pay attention to more than your average cut & paste NPC trainer. Why bother if you're going to do nothing with them, like the Flare Scientists might as well have just been the generic Flare Admins and it would change nothing in the story. Same with the Ultra Recon Squad, they might as well have been another organization with generic grunts who we encounter all the time for all the difference that it makes.
Second, if this was the initial paired games they may have had some leeway, like they're more being set up to get further explained later (though even that is still a cheap thing to do). But this is the subsequent paired games, the games that are supposed to be more developed. There was no leeway, these characters had to come with all they're personality, back story, and development. And they didn't, we only got the bare minimum about these interesting characters who were advertised to be central to USUM's story... and they're just glorified side characters.
Questions pertaining to the Ultra Recon Squad members specifically: What are their relation to each other (Phyco and Soliera have the same hair color so are they related? Is Zossie one of their little sisters/daughter/niece? If not, why is she part of the Ultra Recon Squad and allowed in Ultra Sun to go on this dangerous mission when Phyco and Soliera were available)? Did they know about the other duo's goal that might have conflicted with each other? Why does Zossie act so energetic and enthusiastic while the others are very logical and robotic in their behavior and manner of speaking?

2. Culture: Actually that last question goes into this next topic. If the Ultra Recon Squad was the only thing of Ultra Megalopolis than it would be understandable there would be mystery about them. But no, we go to Ultra Megalopolis, and we STILL learn nothing else about them! We see no one else (even when we return post game, you know, when the danger is over so no reason for people to be hiding inside) and we're restricted to just one street and the Megalo Tower (which is just a roof platform). Do I even need to explain why this is a let down?
And it's not like we can say Ultra Megalopolis is just an alternate Pokemon world. They made it very clear the culture is very different there, they are people who live in a world of darkness (and it must been for generations as they physically changed to having pale blue skin), rely heavily on technology, and don't capture Pokemon. That last point is a MAJOR one, while they do have the Poipole and somehow acquired assistance from a Solgaleo/Lunala, they only just now discovered the Poke Ball (yet apparently Poipole are considered the Starter Pokemon there? Did the idea of Pokemon training spread that fast?). Their relation with Pokemon would have been different, at least in how they would work together (if they even did).
We want to learn about this new culture which is alien to Pokemon (and us as well). How have they adapted to a world without light? What technology do they have? What is their "norms" (social life, personal life, work life, education, behaviors, traditions, taboos, etc.)? Are the Ultra Recon Squad proper representation or are they a special group and the people of Ultra Megalopolis act, dress, and behave more casually? We also want to explore Ultra Megalopolis, to see all the interesting buildings and how they've structured their city (which would reflect on how they live).
Also, considering how they treat Necrozma like a deity, you'd think going back to Ultra Megalopolis with Necrozma would trigger something, but no, only reason to ever to return to Ultra Megalopolis if you said no to getting Poipole the first time there. Thinking off the top of my head, considering they're using the excess light from the time they captured Necrozma to light up the city, maybe give us a weekly event where the Megalo Tower runs out of light but if we bring Necrozma they can light it up again for a week (maybe even battle the Ultra Recon Squad members in Ultra Megalopolis). The reward for doing this many times would be having more and more of the city open up to you, learning more about them, and the people becoming more friendlier and giving you items.

3. Boss Battles: But hey, maybe they could provide us a few good boss battles, especially since they use an Ultra Beast, right? Well, even here they fall short in both providing a challenge and maybe tying in some storytelling.
First, what they gave us. The first battle is alright, though it's one Pokemon it can still be a tricky battle due to the Pokemon they use and also gives us a bit of story: after observing the Pokemon World's culture they develop their own Poke Ball and are trying it out. Second battle is where I feel problems start but we'll overlook my complaints for now to focus on it being the first time using their Ultra Beast, Poipole. Okay storytelling, they've moved onto using a Pokemon they feel comfortable using. But then after that it falls flat, the next two battles just being against a higher level Poipole. And since Poipole is a pre-evolution with stats matching, they're not difficult battles. Also, we never get to battle them using Poipole's evolution (do they even know it can evolve?), heck we don't battle them ever again after the main story!
So, how could they have done things? Well, more gradually than what they did. They were so eager to get to Poipole that they completely missed an opportunity for good storytelling. First, have them use a normal Poke Ball, showing their interest in Pokemon training. Next battle, have them use like four Pokemon all in different Poke Balls, showing them learning about different kind of Poke Balls (you could also give Dulse and Soliera different teams that reflect on their personality). Then when we battle them at Aether Paradise, not only have them use the five Pokemon they previously used but then introduce the Beast Ball and Poipole. By doing this, not only do you let Nihilego coming out of the Ultra Wormhole being the first (and more effective) encounter with an Ultra Beast, but also have Poipole be more of a threat now that it has a party backing it up and the player not knowing what to expect from it. When they challenge the player at the Alter to see if they're ready to face Necrozma, then have us battle Naganadel. Finally, post game, have the ones we battle appear in the Battle Tree, maybe even letting the one who didn't battle also now battle.

4. Taking Away Development: Going back to something I said, had this been the initial Sun & Moon than the Ultra Recon Squad would have some leeway to their mystery with expectation it'll be expanded upon in the subsequent game. While this isn't a factor for the Ultra Recon Squad, it was a factor for some other characters:

  • Plumeria (& History of Team Skull): You can just tell Plumeria has an interesting backstory for not only herself but also the formation of Team Skull. She's a skilled trainer, can use Z-Moves, highly respected by all Skull grunts who she considers her little brothers and sisters, and dangerously competent and strategic. Yet, we only get a few glimpses of her; she doesn't even have any interaction with Gladion or Guzma (it's only during USUM's credits do we see her and Guzma on screen together, and it's a silent scene of Guzma addressing the grunts that he's disbanding Team Skull). With what little we know about Team Skull's formation, did she have a part in it? Did she know the former Kahuna whose followers would become Team Skull? Was she a Trail Captain or something chosen by them? Speaking of whom, what did that Kahuna do to get Tapu Bulu to get rid of him and attack his followers?
  • Kahili (& Golf Course): Kahili needed a post game thing with the golf course, or maybe even something during the main game with the golf course. I get not having her involved until you battle her as an Elite Four member (unless you get the Flyinium Z where she shows you the pose before vanishing), but post game they still have her doing nothing. And it's annoying because the game has a golf course location except we never can go there, making it feel like wasted space. Instead of just finding the Flyinium Z in a random canyon wouldn't it have been more interesting if Kahili hired us as her caddy, going through the golf course, maybe doing some battles along the way to get her ball back, and after all that she gives us the Flyinium Z. And during the whole ordeal we learn a bit about her too?
And these are just the main two major examples, all the other characters could have been expanded upon a little more too. I'd would have liked to learn more about Acerola and her family. What's gonna happen to Po Town now that Team Skull is no longer around? All things left open and without answer all due to them cramming in these new characters and adding in little side quests which many I feel were pointless and unneeded if the result was taking away development from the characters we cared about.

... That all said their battle theme is awesome.

What's So Ultra About USUM?
But can't blame every problem with USUM on the Ultra Recon Squad. Thinking about it, I realized that USUM did something that no previous subsequent version ever did: removed things. Or, at least, changed things so that it felt less than what the initial games gave us:

  • Story Changes: The changes to the story did not mesh well and at times felt like it expected you to know what happened in SM. Major point of contention is Lusamine's development. This is still the same crazy Lusamine from SM, but the Ultra Recon Squad's problem with Necrozma shifted her focus to a "nobler" cause than her original selfish desires. This is a problem as it hurts Lillie's and Gladion's backstory as, when you finally hear about Lusamine's plans, you could agree with her that if the only thing that needs to be done to stop a major threat is sacrificing Nebby than maybe it should be considered. Lusamine also shows a bit of remorse for having to do it and still says she'll protect Lillie and Gladion along with the rest of Alola even if they reject her love. This makes Lillie and Gladion look like the selfish and ungrateful ones, which isn't the intent as they then had to have the Ultra Recon Squad to come in and tell you how selfish Lusamine is being. And then there's them also taking out Lillie's "You're terrible" speech to Lusamine.
  • Ultra Beast Hunt: One of the more notable removals. No longer are we helping Looker and Anabel hunting for Ultra Beasts. Apparently that was replaced by Team Rainbow Rocket because... GF thinks we don't deserve to have two post game side stories? And, okay, sure, we have the Ultra Space Ride now so can visit the Ultra Beasts home worlds to capture them, but that's not quite the same as a post game side story. We get to see scenes of the Kahuna and other characters battling the escaped Ultra Beasts, but apparently that's all taken care of off screen. And yet, Looker and Anabel still appear near the Battle Tree for no reason other than because they didn't want to remove them from the Battle Tree. They could have linked the Ultra Beast Hunt to the Ultra Space Ride, like now that we could catch the Ultra Beasts in their home world they could have made the Ultra Beast Hunts just be a boss battle and upon defeating them they fade back to their home world which we could then visit via the Ultra Space Ride.
Not only that, but it also felt lacking in some additional stuff previous generations did:
  • No Additional Rematches: The way to challenge/re-challenge the Captains, Kahuna, and some other notable NPCs can not only be roundabout but also done only once. Hala went from being an Elite Four member to a once only pose game battle. Faba isn't a Title Defense match anymore, replaced by Lusamine and Guzma (who no longer has his post game battle where we learn he was a student of Hala; and he's still a version exclusive Battle Tree character for Moon and Ultra Moon). During Mina's Trial we get to battle some of the Captains and Nanu again but unless they appear in the Battle Tree that's it for them (and some battles are still version exclusive, WHY IS THAT STILL A THING?!). Why can't they just have the Captain, Kahuna, or other NPC just be standing in a location where we can walk up to them and have a battle with them on a certain day? Is that too much to ask?
  • Lacking New Opponents: So the only new Battle Tree opponents are Lillie and Giovanni. You could have brought in other past Champions, Rivals, Elite Four, Gym Leader, Frontier Brains, Villain Bosses/Admins, etc..

But then again, this is just me assuming that the "Ultra" in Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon meant I was going to get the experience of Sun & Moon but more added to it. Silly me.

Necrozma's Formes:
Alright, I'm now in a nitpicky mood. So here's a little one: what's the point of the names of Necrozma's forms?

When we were first told about Dusk Mane and Dawn Wings we were curious what it could mean that they were named after the passage of time which ended their period of the day (Lunala representing the moon & night and Solgaleo the sun & day). But in the games it means nothing, they could have been named Dawn/Solar Mane and Dusk/Lunar Wings and it would have just as much meaning.

Trainer Classes Individualism:
A random thought separate from USUM. Now that we've moved onto using models instead of sprites, why not make it so that not all trainers within the same Trainer Class look the same? While obviously limits they can do, still I don't see why they can't at least change skin color, eye color, hair color and style between trainers. Maybe even create several outfit assembles a trainer class can wear and poses they could be in (maybe even give the player a way to acquire those clothing and poses too).
 
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Pikachu315111 You realize the Ultra Beasts get a "totem" aura boost anyway, right? Like, Nihilego's Special Defense rises two stages before battle begins, as does Kartana's Attack and Stakataka's Defense, for example. (heck, you still get to "hunt" Stakataka or Blacephalon) How much more of a "totem" boost do you want?
 

Pikachu315111

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Pikachu315111 You realize the Ultra Beasts get a "totem" aura boost anyway, right? Like, Nihilego's Special Defense rises two stages before battle begins, as does Kartana's Attack and Stakataka's Defense, for example. (heck, you still get to "hunt" Stakataka or Blacephalon) How much more of a "totem" boost do you want?
Huh, I totally forgot they got Totem Boosts. I'll correct my post.
 
About the Ultra Recon Squad, I'm more pissed that from their first interaction where Dulse said "so this is what they call a festival" I was able deduce the ENTIRETY of the plot involving Necrozma with 100% accuracy and no spoilers given to me cause I had fallen out of Pokemon again after a few months in sumo. ONE SENTENCE FROM URS AND I DECONSRUCTED THE ENTIRE BLOODY PLOT BLIND! ...Game Freak got really predictable.
 

Pikachu315111

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About the Ultra Recon Squad, I'm more pissed that from their first interaction where Dulse said "so this is what they call a festival" I was able deduce the ENTIRETY of the plot involving Necrozma with 100% accuracy and no spoilers given to me cause I had fallen out of Pokemon again after a few months in sumo. ONE SENTENCE FROM URS AND I DECONSRUCTED THE ENTIRE BLOODY PLOT BLIND! ...Game Freak got really predictable.
What were you able to figure out about Necrozma from that line?
 
What were you able to figure out about Necrozma from that line?
My exact train of of thought was: "These guys don't know what a festival is, so they clearly are not from this world. Given Necrozma is the cover legendary, these guys must have come from a world where Necrozma absorbed the light and they are trying to stop it, but naturally something will go wrong leading to the fusions and we have to go try and fight Necrozma. And since Z-moves are the Shiny New Toy, and Necrozma is all about light, they'll make Z-moves tie into Necrozma somehow."

That one line started the entire train of thought that brought me to the exact plot. The only changes I couldn't see coming was Lusamine being... crazy but noble??
 

Pikachu315111

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My exact train of of thought was: "These guys don't know what a festival is, so they clearly are not from this world. Given Necrozma is the cover legendary, these guys must have come from a world where Necrozma absorbed the light and they are trying to stop it, but naturally something will go wrong leading to the fusions and we have to go try and fight Necrozma. And since Z-moves are the Shiny New Toy, and Necrozma is all about light, they'll make Z-moves tie into Necrozma somehow."

That one line started the entire train of thought that brought me to the exact plot. The only changes I couldn't see coming was Lusamine being... crazy but noble??
Ah. I don't know how, maybe I was spoiled or I already convinced myself of a theory, but I knew (or thought I knew) they were from another world in Ultra Space so the other gears in my head didn't connect anything else. Also I was hoping they would have changed more of the story than they had so I also didn't want to try to predict what was gonna happen next (and I was left disappointed).

Also, while you predicted right, I think you did so by accident because they do know what festivals are:

Ultra Sun - Dulse & Zossie at Iki Town said:
Dulse: "That was a most mysterious event... A festival to celebrate drawing forth one's full power..."
Zossie: "You looked like you were enjoying the show. Did you want to take part in the battles, too?"
Dulse: "Don't be silly... We are here to investigate and learn. Even with all of our technology, we cannot control the Blinding One's light... Thus we are left with no choice but to try to stop it by force! And yet it seems that the humans of this Alola can wield powerful auras."
Zossie: "Yeah, what'd they call that thing? A Z-Power Ring? Its aura readings were off the chart! Do you think that's why they can control auras like that? Alola is definitely an amazing place! Let's go check the next site!"
Ultra Moon - Soliera & Phyco at Iki Town said:
Soliera: "Captain... I was able to detect high levels of aura at this full-powered festival."
Phyco: "I suppose you would... According to our earlier research it seems that the Z-Power Ring and this Tapu Koko creature are bathed in a great deal of light. Alola overflows with the light that was released by the Blinding One... I find myself rather envious."
Soliera: "I wonder if we can't find some way to use the great power that fills Alola for ourselves..."
Phyco: "That is precisely what we, the Ultra Recon Squad, are here to make clear. Onward! There is still so much of Alola we have not seen, and we must investigate it all!"
 
Ah. I don't know how, maybe I was spoiled or I already convinced myself of a theory, but I knew (or thought I knew) they were from another world in Ultra Space so the other gears in my head didn't connect anything else. Also I was hoping they would have changed more of the story than they had so I also didn't want to try to predict what was gonna happen next (and I was left disappointed).

Also, while you predicted right, I think you did so by accident because they do know what festivals are:
Hmm... When i first encountered Dulse in Sun outside Iki Town, he said "So this is what they call a festival." But i can't find any reference to it on Bulbapedia. Hm...
 
Hmm... When i first encountered Dulse in Sun outside Iki Town, he said "So this is what they call a festival." But i can't find any reference to it on Bulbapedia. Hm...
Uhm... which version did you play? Because I think they said that in spanish...
 
My exact train of of thought was: "These guys don't know what a festival is, so they clearly are not from this world. Given Necrozma is the cover legendary, these guys must have come from a world where Necrozma absorbed the light and they are trying to stop it, but naturally something will go wrong leading to the fusions and we have to go try and fight Necrozma. And since Z-moves are the Shiny New Toy, and Necrozma is all about light, they'll make Z-moves tie into Necrozma somehow."

That one line started the entire train of thought that brought me to the exact plot. The only changes I couldn't see coming was Lusamine being... crazy but noble??
Granted, if you're looking for deep plot, you're not likely to find it in Pokemon. Plus, you know, the player's going to get the cover Pokemon eventually, so those can't really be "evil" now can they?

Now, a minor annoyance today is the cards for the legendary Pokemon codes this year. (assuming they're all going to be distributed in store) These things are freaking enormous! Did they really need to make them so big just to show off the legendary Pokemon's artwork?
 

Clouds

False Pretenses
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Plumeria (& History of Team Skull): You can just tell Plumeria has an interesting backstory for not only herself but also the formation of Team Skull. She's a skilled trainer, can use Z-Moves, highly respected by all Skull grunts who she considers her little brothers and sisters, and dangerously competent and strategic. Yet, we only get a few glimpses of her; she doesn't even have any interaction with Gladion or Guzma (it's only during USUM's credits do we see her and Guzma on screen together, and it's a silent scene of Guzma addressing the grunts that he's disbanding Team Skull). With what little we know about Team Skull's formation, did she have a part in it? Did she know the former Kahuna whose followers would become Team Skull? Was she a Trail Captain or something chosen by them? Speaking of whom, what did that Kahuna do to get Tapu Bulu to get rid of him and attack his followers?
The thing that bothered me with Plumeria was the final scene with her on Ancient Poni Path. It was kinda an 'I'm not such a bad person like you may have thought' scene, but the scene itself was longer than all other encounters you have with her combined, so what would've been nice is some earlier character development.

Kahili (& Golf Course): Kahili needed a post game thing with the golf course, or maybe even something during the main game with the golf course. I get not having her involved until you battle her as an Elite Four member (unless you get the Flyinium Z where she shows you the pose before vanishing), but post game they still have her doing nothing. And it's annoying because the game has a golf course location except we never can go there, making it feel like wasted space. Instead of just finding the Flyinium Z in a random canyon wouldn't it have been more interesting if Kahili hired us as her caddy, going through the golf course, maybe doing some battles along the way to get her ball back, and after all that she gives us the Flyinium Z. And during the whole ordeal we learn a bit about her too?
I truly expected Kahili to have a trial in USUM, and figured it would be golf related. I think that's a missed opportunity too because there are so many possibilities for her trial. With that said, I guessed Mina would get a trial too, and at least GF followed through with that hope.

Story Changes: The changes to the story did not mesh well and at times felt like it expected you to know what happened in SM. Major point of contention is Lusamine's development. This is still the same crazy Lusamine from SM, but the Ultra Recon Squad's problem with Necrozma shifted her focus to a "nobler" cause than her original selfish desires. This is a problem as it hurts Lillie's and Gladion's backstory as, when you finally hear about Lusamine's plans, you could agree with her that if the only thing that needs to be done to stop a major threat is sacrificing Nebby than maybe it should be considered. Lusamine also shows a bit of remorse for having to do it and still says she'll protect Lillie and Gladion along with the rest of Alola even if they reject her love. This makes Lillie and Gladion look like the selfish and ungrateful ones, which isn't the intent as they then had to have the Ultra Recon Squad to come in and tell you how selfish Lusamine is being. And then there's them also taking out Lillie's "You're terrible" speech to Lusamine.
I was really annoyed by this too, mostly the change in emotions between Lillie and Lusamine. If this was with the assumption that the first encounter between them already happened, the changes would be appropriate.

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I prefer sequels of games to have a new story that plays as if the events in the previous games have already taken place. Like how in B2W2, it was 2 years after BW. Now I know that Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon aren't necessarily as much 'sequels' as they are 'improved versions' of Sun & Moon, but there's not much fun about playing the same story for the first half of the game almost exactly identical to that of the story in the previous games. If they had gone about these games as they did B2W2, I think these story changes would have made a lot more sense and would feel more authentic.

Trainer Classes Individualism:
A random thought separate from USUM. Now that we've moved onto using models instead of sprites, why not make it so that not all trainers within the same Trainer Class look the same? While obviously limits they can do, still I don't see why they can't at least change skin color, eye color, hair color and style between trainers. Maybe even create several outfit assembles a trainer class can wear and poses they could be in (maybe even give the player a way to acquire those clothing and poses too).
Was a little confused here; did you intend to say 'why can't they look different?' If so I totally agree, this would be a really neat feature and with the advancements made within the games, there's no reason this couldn't be done. It would make the trainers feel more authentic and add more character to them.
 

Deleted User 400951

Banned deucer.
not about the games themselves but w/e

i really dislike how the gen 7 games were data mined before they actually got released. it's honestly no fun when all the hype just ends before the games actually come out and there aren't any surprises left by the time it does.
unfortunately this does not look like it'll be getting any better. As it is more and more people seem to want these leaks and a lot of people who want to go without that don't get the chance cause it is everywhere. I'd strongly recommend that if you don't, just take a break from Smogon itself (PS! you might not need to) and most social media platforms. Old advice but it's really the best we have at this point.

but do note that hype is subjective - some people genuinely are hyped for the leaks and care about them more than going into the game without knowing it. The problem is how they ruin it for people who want to be left unspoiled, often against their wishes.
 
My main complaint about the story in USUM is that they didn't fix what was wrong in Sun and Moon's story.

And by "what was wrong", I mean "Lillie".

Ms. Purity Sue still shows no real character development (the added "I'm now going to be a trainer" part feels like it was pulled out of nowhere), she still hogs the first half of the game with irrelevant cutscenes (out of which only two or three actually have something to do with the game's plot), she's still shilled by other characters for things she doesn't do, she's a huge letdown in the RR Episode (she looks like she will be a major ally but she immediately goes back to Medic and Damsel in Distress)... and the "Lillie runs past some Murkrow" scene (what I consider the worst cutscene in this generation) was kept. Oh, right, and the only moment in the game the player could actually feel like they are on her side in SM was removed (her calling out of Lusamine in the Ultra Deep Sea).

When Ghetsis orders the player to put down their Pokeballs, lest he would hurt Lillie, I wanted to ignore both of them, but alas, the game doesn't let you do that.

(At least this time the plot does not 'force' you to help Lillie even if you don't want to, to have the Pokemon League unlocked)
 
Ultra Wormhole. Merciful Arceus above, the Ultra Wormhole.

First of all, I'll be perfectly honest and say that I don't like the minigame that much. Sure, it's fun the first few times, but then it just gets stale and repetitive. It feels really shoehorned in, like Game Freak was looking for an excuse to add a minigame in order to differentiate USUM from SuMo. I feel like it actually had the potential to be great - for example, have the rings and sparks give and take stamina instead of speed, and if it drops to zero, your travel path destabilizes and you get tossed into a random Ultra Space (or back to Alola). That way, it would theoretically be possible to go on forever, instead of eventually getting to a point where rings never appear, so there's nothing you can do.

More than that, though... is that all of the legendaries are gated behind it. This adds, in my opinion, such an unnecessary layer of RNG, where you have to a) find the right colour wormhole; b) get lucky enough to encounter a legend at all; and then c) have it be the one you were actually looking for. You could argue that point b is negated by the level 4 wormholes being guaranteed encounters, but finding one of those that's the right colour pretty much never happens. Personally, while looking for Landorus, I found 1 L4 Red in 20 runs.

In addition, while the Wormhole is fantastic for finding the Ultra Beasts (since it actually makes sense), Legends being encountered through the wormhole suffers from a flavour point of view as well, in my opinion. All of them are encountered in exactly the same way; and just like in ORAS, there's zero buildup. Go through the wormhole to a near-featureless area and listen to the Pokemon's cry. Is it the one you were looking for? Yes? Good. No? Soft reset.

How could Game Freak have done Legendaries instead? I've got an idea. In Emerald, you caught Kyogre and Groudon by going to the scientist in the Weather Institute and hearing that there's heavy rain or harsh sun in an area; then, if you go there, you can find the corresponding legend. They could do the same thing again - have random daily events in Alola, and if the player investigates them, they would encounter a Legendary after a (brief and skippable) cutscene. A few examples:

"Mt. Hokulani is unusually cold/stormy/hot." -> Articuno/Zapdos/Moltres

"Poni Island is being swept by rain/ash clouds/cold wind" -> Raikou/Entei/Suicune

"We've had to evacuate Wela Volcano because of sudden volcanic activity" -> Heatran

"There's a massive whirlpool in Kala'e Bay" -> Lugia

"I've never seen a more brilliant moon over Malie Garden" -> Cresselia

"A Pokemon is searching for worthy opponents in Ula'Ula Meadow, but it's one I've never seen before." -> Cobalion/Terrakion/Virizion

Some could also be Version Exclusive or require the player to have certain Pokemon in their party when the day ticks over, the ones requiring certain Pokemon always being chosen first. Every day the random event changes, and if one of them is defeated it simply goes back into the pool. This would make finding Legendary Pokemon so much more immersive, and even feel more rewarding, since it's like the player is, as the new Champion, defending Alola from them.
 
Ultra Wormhole. Merciful Arceus above, the Ultra Wormhole.

First of all, I'll be perfectly honest and say that I don't like the minigame that much. Sure, it's fun the first few times, but then it just gets stale and repetitive. It feels really shoehorned in, like Game Freak was looking for an excuse to add a minigame in order to differentiate USUM from SuMo. I feel like it actually had the potential to be great - for example, have the rings and sparks give and take stamina instead of speed, and if it drops to zero, your travel path destabilizes and you get tossed into a random Ultra Space (or back to Alola). That way, it would theoretically be possible to go on forever, instead of eventually getting to a point where rings never appear, so there's nothing you can do.

More than that, though... is that all of the legendaries are gated behind it. This adds, in my opinion, such an unnecessary layer of RNG, where you have to a) find the right colour wormhole; b) get lucky enough to encounter a legend at all; and then c) have it be the one you were actually looking for. You could argue that point b is negated by the level 4 wormholes being guaranteed encounters, but finding one of those that's the right colour pretty much never happens. Personally, while looking for Landorus, I found 1 L4 Red in 20 runs.

In addition, while the Wormhole is fantastic for finding the Ultra Beasts (since it actually makes sense), Legends being encountered through the wormhole suffers from a flavour point of view as well, in my opinion. All of them are encountered in exactly the same way; and just like in ORAS, there's zero buildup. Go through the wormhole to a near-featureless area and listen to the Pokemon's cry. Is it the one you were looking for? Yes? Good. No? Soft reset.

How could Game Freak have done Legendaries instead? I've got an idea. In Emerald, you caught Kyogre and Groudon by going to the scientist in the Weather Institute and hearing that there's heavy rain or harsh sun in an area; then, if you go there, you can find the corresponding legend. They could do the same thing again - have random daily events in Alola, and if the player investigates them, they would encounter a Legendary after a (brief and skippable) cutscene. A few examples:

"Mt. Hokulani is unusually cold/stormy/hot." -> Articuno/Zapdos/Moltres

"Poni Island is being swept by rain/ash clouds/cold wind" -> Raikou/Entei/Suicune

"We've had to evacuate Wela Volcano because of sudden volcanic activity" -> Heatran

"There's a massive whirlpool in Kala'e Bay" -> Lugia

"I've never seen a more brilliant moon over Malie Garden" -> Cresselia

"A Pokemon is searching for worthy opponents in Ula'Ula Meadow, but it's one I've never seen before." -> Cobalion/Terrakion/Virizion

Some could also be Version Exclusive or require the player to have certain Pokemon in their party when the day ticks over, the ones requiring certain Pokemon always being chosen first. Every day the random event changes, and if one of them is defeated it simply goes back into the pool. This would make finding Legendary Pokemon so much more immersive, and even feel more rewarding, since it's like the player is, as the new Champion, defending Alola from them.
I can't agree with this enough. It got to a point where a couple exceptions aside - Latios and Xerneas - I ended up deciding that it just wasn't worth going after all these Pokémon with intent to use them, and instead I just caught them to 'get them out of the way' so that it would be easier to track down those two specific Legends I mentioned, and so that I may pursue and even shiny hunt the non-legendary Pokémon you can find through this method. After all, I still have Omega Ruby; where I can find the majority of these Pokémon much easier and they're not in the way of anything. In fact, if you weren't able to find legendaries through the ultra wormhole and it was just these non-legendaries? I would have little to no problem. I'm actually having a fair bit of fun hunting down a Shiny Drapion and Yanmega with decent IVs and just loving the concept of being able to soft-reset in front of a shiny. That's cool! I love that! And so while the minigame itself I have criticisms of, I certainly can't find myself hating it that much when it's just for a cute extra thing like that, and sometimes even Ultra Beasts. The Ultra Beasts are also cool in that they have areas unique to them, they're relegated to their own particular wormhole, and the only one that's a pain in the ass to find is... Guzzlord. The worst one nobody wants.

But I want to make this particular part clear. Hunting down a Legendary Pokémon; something that should be seen as an awesome challenge to get you these mythical incredibly strong beasts; some of which can be considered gods... just turned into an obstacle. A thing I wanted to get over and done with so I could progress with the game and have a feature unlocked to me. That's it. When I found Regirock, or Virizion or even friggin' Mewtwo? 'Good. That's another one I can tick off the list'. This is an end result that was probably inevitable but nonetheless worrying with the huge increase in Legendary Pokémon we've seen since Gen 4 -- the status of Legendary Pokémon being dragged down into a commodification, and even an annoyance.
 

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