That reason being called less detailed backgrounds and that the trainers are not shown.
-
Check out the relaunch of our general collection, with classic designs and new ones by our very own Pissog!
-
Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
(Little) Things that annoy you in Pokémon
- Thread starter BriarRose
- Start date
That reason being called less detailed backgrounds and that the trainers are not shown.
That giant empty bay on Route 21 in B2W2. It serves no other purpose than just to be a big space for the Plasma Frigate to dock at one point in the story. Just bugs me so much.
There has never, to my recollection, been an area in a game prior to this that just existed for no reason at all. Even places like the Altering Cave do have some point to them. But there's no hidden items to discover here, no rare Pokemon, no secret areas. It really does just exist to be a giant empty landing pad and then never get any use again. Why not have trainers populate this area after Team Plasma have gone, like Mt Chimney in RSE? Why not have rare items like Star Pieces spawn here? Why not... do something with it? Why bother having it be accessible at all?
There has never, to my recollection, been an area in a game prior to this that just existed for no reason at all. Even places like the Altering Cave do have some point to them. But there's no hidden items to discover here, no rare Pokemon, no secret areas. It really does just exist to be a giant empty landing pad and then never get any use again. Why not have trainers populate this area after Team Plasma have gone, like Mt Chimney in RSE? Why not have rare items like Star Pieces spawn here? Why not... do something with it? Why bother having it be accessible at all?
They put some additional Fishermen and Ace Trainers in the Lake of Rage after Team Rocket is cleared out in the previous generation, so I don't see why they couldn't do that here. Maybe have some Swimmers in the water who complain that the Plasma Frigate was taking up their favorite spot earlier?
Regular dynamax charizard has gotten more use sometimes. Solar Power Charizard can set up its own sun with max flare. G-Max can't do that.
Volcarona's shiny sprite replaces the red and orange parts of its body with yellow. It should be blue.
Well I think it's supposed to look more like our sun being yellow.
Fair, I just think blue would look better.
The commitment of the games to never preserving anything except mons from one game to the next. Alola had minibosses on a bunch of routes. They were optional, generally requiring you defeat every trainer on the route and then specifically talk with them for a battle. And they were hard, about as hard as it's possible for trainers to be, using items, strong mons, balanced teams, etc. And then they rewarded you, often with something you couldn't get any other way until post-game.
And then they were gone in SwSh. Like, it's not a big thing(I'd forgotten they existed until just now), but if you have something that works, why get rid of it?
And then they were gone in SwSh. Like, it's not a big thing(I'd forgotten they existed until just now), but if you have something that works, why get rid of it?
Those were the "Z Trainers".
In LGPE they had something similar, the "Coach Trainers", though you could battle them anytime however they were designed with better teams than the average route trainer.
I'm playing through Platinum again rn and while it's super fun and fixed a lot of problems with the OG DP, the one thing that still consistently irks me when playing it is the fact that for some reason, they still kept the slow saving time and the "Saving a lot of data..." text whenever you move mons in and out of the PC. I am positive absolutely no one liked that about DP amongst the many issues DP had, and considering HGSS afterwards fixed this issue, why they didn't do it sooner with Platinum to begin with is beyond me.
I'm glad Platinum fixed so many of DP's issues, but this is one that it didn't fix and they absolutely should have fixed it from the get go with Platinum, not just with HGSS that came afterward.
I'm glad Platinum fixed so many of DP's issues, but this is one that it didn't fix and they absolutely should have fixed it from the get go with Platinum, not just with HGSS that came afterward.
This rant is going to sound incredibly petty since it's not entirely GF's fault for this issue, but meh.
As a left-handed person living in a right-handed world, I'm used to coping with objects that are awkward for my handedness-I think most of us are. Moreover, most left-handed people are some degree of ambidextrous, so it's not too bad. But, one aspect that I can't adjust to is the tripod grip for writing implements (pens, pencils, and importantly in this context, styluses). It just feels awkward to use my right hand and I can't do it well.
In regards to Pokemon, that's almost never an issue. You generally only need to do one input at a time - moving, selecting an attack or a Pokemon, clicking through dialog, etc. If you want to use the stylus you can, or you can switch to the directional controls. Even when you might want to use both hands, you generally don't need to be precise - slamming the A button doesn't require you to be an Olympic athlete.
Enter Gen 6 Super Training, the fun mini-game where you can grind EV's without having to battle Pokemon. It's actually pretty useful for when you want to get specific EV builds, and comes with a nice ribbon (Training Ribbon) if you do all thirty possible matches and hit the target time. For someone who both A: raises competitive Pokemon and B: likes getting ribbons on said Pokemon, it's an important mini-game.
But...it's not so simple. See, you can't stay still, you need to use your directional controls as well as aim your shots on the bottom screen. Two inputs, no problem, you've got two hands. Except one of those hands needs to do precise aiming with the stylus. I'm not sure if the C-Stick can mimic the necessary functionality of the Circle Pad for Super Training, but that's moot: I have a first generation 3DS which doesn't have it.
So I have to use my left hand for directional inputs, while my right has to do the stylus inputs. And I can't do a good tripod grip with my right hand. OH BOY!
I recently finished getting the Training Ribbon for 5 new Pokemon. 30 Missions x 5 Pokemon (I had to do more than 30 for each, but whatever) = 150 painful mini-game matches where I have to awkwardly try and use the stylus with my right hand. My current solution is to hold the stylus like a claw, which gives me the necessary precision to actually do the mini-games, but it quickly hurts after a short while. Good times!
And yes, I know the Circle Pad Pro exists to rectify this issue, but I'm not going to shell out 100+ USD for this niche case. I'm not even sure Pokemon is supported for that device either.
Now, I can't entirely blame GF here: they didn't build the hardware. But, it's a really annoying design choice for such a minor element of Gen 6. Not much to do but suffer through it.
As a left-handed person living in a right-handed world, I'm used to coping with objects that are awkward for my handedness-I think most of us are. Moreover, most left-handed people are some degree of ambidextrous, so it's not too bad. But, one aspect that I can't adjust to is the tripod grip for writing implements (pens, pencils, and importantly in this context, styluses). It just feels awkward to use my right hand and I can't do it well.
In regards to Pokemon, that's almost never an issue. You generally only need to do one input at a time - moving, selecting an attack or a Pokemon, clicking through dialog, etc. If you want to use the stylus you can, or you can switch to the directional controls. Even when you might want to use both hands, you generally don't need to be precise - slamming the A button doesn't require you to be an Olympic athlete.
Enter Gen 6 Super Training, the fun mini-game where you can grind EV's without having to battle Pokemon. It's actually pretty useful for when you want to get specific EV builds, and comes with a nice ribbon (Training Ribbon) if you do all thirty possible matches and hit the target time. For someone who both A: raises competitive Pokemon and B: likes getting ribbons on said Pokemon, it's an important mini-game.
But...it's not so simple. See, you can't stay still, you need to use your directional controls as well as aim your shots on the bottom screen. Two inputs, no problem, you've got two hands. Except one of those hands needs to do precise aiming with the stylus. I'm not sure if the C-Stick can mimic the necessary functionality of the Circle Pad for Super Training, but that's moot: I have a first generation 3DS which doesn't have it.
So I have to use my left hand for directional inputs, while my right has to do the stylus inputs. And I can't do a good tripod grip with my right hand. OH BOY!
I recently finished getting the Training Ribbon for 5 new Pokemon. 30 Missions x 5 Pokemon (I had to do more than 30 for each, but whatever) = 150 painful mini-game matches where I have to awkwardly try and use the stylus with my right hand. My current solution is to hold the stylus like a claw, which gives me the necessary precision to actually do the mini-games, but it quickly hurts after a short while. Good times!
And yes, I know the Circle Pad Pro exists to rectify this issue, but I'm not going to shell out 100+ USD for this niche case. I'm not even sure Pokemon is supported for that device either.
Now, I can't entirely blame GF here: they didn't build the hardware. But, it's a really annoying design choice for such a minor element of Gen 6. Not much to do but suffer through it.
If I remember correctly, Scribblenauts turns the ABXY diamond into a second d-pad when using button controls. It's probably not as optimal a d-pad as the actual d-pad, and it's almost definitely not as optimal as using a circle pad in super training, but it's a clever way to let people hold the stylus in whichever hand they want.
This isn't that uncommon for high-production games that used primarily stylus and movement controls. Off the top of my head, Kid Icarus: Uprising and Wario: master of disguise did this as well. Super training was probably unfortunately too minor to put a good amount of attention into the controls. I suppose this helps explain why I sometimes prefer even the joycon directional buttons over the stick. (also the c-stick nub on the new 3ds is terrible at precision, in the one game I can make a direct comparison it was much easier to use the face buttons for camera controls instead)
"Fun" fact: it took me quite a while to realize that you can actually move using super training because I was using it left-handed.
Sadly, left handed people in Japan have been subject to discrimination for centuries (you can't write characters from top to bottom with a brush as you do in japanese with your left hand without smudging them, this lead to using your left hand being considered wrong)
thankfully this has been changing for the last 30 years but is still very prominent
So, sadly, Gamefreak was most likely not thinking about left handed people when they made Hyper Training
Last edited:
Very stupid and petty but I need to say it.
I cannot stand critical hits before Gen 7. 1/16 chance, which is a little under 6%, 2x damage. Seems fine yeah? And it probably is and I’m just overreacting. However playing through BW2 and Platinum again has taught me just how much I hate how they work. For me, it’s not even the 2x damage that annoys me, it’s the activation rate. 5.88% isn’t that much but for whatever reason critical hits hit so often that I feel like I’m cursed with being unlucky. I’ve never felt this hostile towards critical hits from Gen 7 and beyond but at the end of the day though, critical hits happen from the enemy’s side and from yours; you just have to deal with it.
TL;DR: Critical hits are dummy dumb pre-Gen 7.
I cannot stand critical hits before Gen 7. 1/16 chance, which is a little under 6%, 2x damage. Seems fine yeah? And it probably is and I’m just overreacting. However playing through BW2 and Platinum again has taught me just how much I hate how they work. For me, it’s not even the 2x damage that annoys me, it’s the activation rate. 5.88% isn’t that much but for whatever reason critical hits hit so often that I feel like I’m cursed with being unlucky. I’ve never felt this hostile towards critical hits from Gen 7 and beyond but at the end of the day though, critical hits happen from the enemy’s side and from yours; you just have to deal with it.
TL;DR: Critical hits are dummy dumb pre-Gen 7.
Last edited:
The main thing being the activation rate makes sense to me. Crits still get around stat changes regardless of whether the mutliplier is 1.5* or 2*, and that's the larger impact in my experience (but then, most of my older-gen experience with being crit involves trying to set up against a crippled opponent in the Frontier). 2* damage for one turn can usually be dealt with. 8* (assuming enemy has -6 attack) less so.
You thought the Johto starters, Ho-Oh, and Lugia having the same stat values as the Kanto starters and Mewtwo but rearranged was bad enough?
Well let's do the same thing, except with two starters in the same generation. Yes, behold, Snivy and Oshawott have the same stat values as each other, but rearranged, and the same goes for their evolved forms Servine and Dewott. At the very least Serperior and Samurott diverge, but this is almost hilariously annoying that they still did this many gens after 2, which at least arguably had some excuses for doing it, but Gen 5 certainly doesn't have any excuse to get away with doing it 10 years after GSC.
Never mind the fact that their final forms are single typed and have boring movepools and Emboar is the third Fire/Fighting starter in a row, giving two of the starters in a gen the same stat values with merely different arrangements comes off as phoned in.
Eh, maybe a little annoying with basic stage but don't think anyone would care with the middle stage. And it's possibly a little annoyance with the basic stage due to Little Cup... but even then it's not the same issue with Charmander and Cyndaquil. They have been rearranged where Snivy is faster and "bulky" while Oshawott is more attack-focused.
Honestly, what we should be complaining about isn't their stats are just rearrangements of one another's (the Eeveelutions are rearrangements and no one has a problem with them, heck I don't think anyone had a problem with Ho-Oh & Lugia being like that along with Mewtwo). It's how they did it. They tried to make a fast Grass-type BULKY? A Pokemon which uses its shell as its main weapon has a higher SPECIAL ATTACK? Snivy & Oshawott's stats should have looked more like this:
- Snivy: 45/45/45/55/55/65
- Servine: 60/60/60/75/75/83
- Serperior: 75/75/75/95/95/113
- Oshawott: 45/65/55/45/55/45
- Dewott: 60/83/75/60/75/60
- Samurott: 95/108/100/70/85/70
critical hits bypassing reflect and light screen is such a bad mechanic. screens can be a super interesting playstyle and it’s absolutely ridiculous for it to have to deal with crits randomly doing 3x damage instead of 1.5x against it, they just throw off the game so much
Do you... do you want to go into more detail, or
I feel the exact mechanics behind Critical Hits could use a little lookover. Now starting with Gen 7 they've made it so that, without the Move or something else boosting the Critical Hit chance, you have a very low chance of getting one (1/24 or 4.167%). Yes, they'd did also make it so if you increased the Critical Hit chance that number goes up fast where a +3 gives a 100% chance, but they did also lower crit damage from 2x to 1.5x. Still, I feel they could do more than just adjusting the the percentage chance & damage multiplier.
* First, how I would do the probability is as such: 0 stage = 1/19; +1 stage = 1/7; +2 stage = 1/3, +3 stage = 100%.
* Second, I think we should split Critical Hits into 3 types: Phasing, Painful, & Piercing
* Third, due to how offense focused Critical Hits are, I think if a Pokemon has an increased defensive stat, for ever +2 it has it counts against any Critical Hit chance increases if that's the defense stat being targets. To put it more simply:
* Second, I think we should split Critical Hits into 3 types: Phasing, Painful, & Piercing
- Phasing: This type of Critical Hit just ignores negative damage modifications: user's stat decreases, target's stat increases, Light Screen/Reflect/Aurora Veil, and maybe also add in some of the ignorable Abilities.
- Painful: This type of Critical Hit is just the 1.5 power boost.
- Piercing: Both effects combined.
* Third, due to how offense focused Critical Hits are, I think if a Pokemon has an increased defensive stat, for ever +2 it has it counts against any Critical Hit chance increases if that's the defense stat being targets. To put it more simply:
- If Pokemon A with a +2 Crit Chance uses a Physical Move on Pokemon B which has a +2 in Defense, it'll lower Pokemon A's Crit Chance by 1 so it now only has a 1/7th chance to crit instead of 1/3rd.
- If Pokemon A with a +2 Crit Chance uses a Physical Move on Pokemon B which has a +1 in Defense, it will not lower Pokemon A's Crit Chance by 1 so will still have a 1/3rd chance.
- If Pokemon A with a +2 Crit Chance uses a Physical Move on Pokemon B which has a +3 in Defense, it'll still only lower Pokemon A's Crit Chance by 1 so it now only has a 1/7th chance to crit instead of 1/3rd.
- If Pokemon A with a +2 Crit Chance uses a Physical Move on Pokemon B which has a +4 in Defense, it'll lower Pokemon A's Crit Chance by 2 so it now only has a 1/19th chance to crit instead of 1/3rd.
- Finally, if the defending Pokemon has a +6 in the targeted Defense stat, it essentially means it can no longer be Crit against.
