(Little) Things that annoy you in Pokémon

[Sonikku A]

Rui is funny cuz she was definitely added late in dev. Barely any prerelease ads have her. She deadass just serves as a detector

As for Wes, I sincerely think not much was planned outside "former x team".

edit, false(The fact in XD dev they considered having him evil as a boss feels incredibly off with what you do in Colo. They didn't know what to do with him really).

At least Mirror B got style

I find it mediocre overall

Unrelated: His internal name is Ken. Japan final he's Leo, Eng Wes

 

[bwburke94]

The fact in XD dev they considered having him evil as a boss

That isn't actually true, to the best of our knowledge. That was Chuggaaconroy unknowingly parroting satire.

(Didn't think I'd be talking about Chugga any time soon...)

 

[Sonikku A]

Ah, my bad

 

[Karxrida]

It's been like a decade and I'm still not over the fact that the only Gen 5 Pokémon to get a Mega was fucking Audino of all things. The fact that it sucks ass in battle doesn't help any.

 

[AztecCroc]

The fact that you can't toggle online on from within the raid menu in SV when you could in SwSh.

 

[DrrT]

This is more on the fandom side and Pokemon is obviously not the only one where it happens but people pretending a character does nothing wrong because they like them can get annoying. Like no, Drayton was manipulative, he says so himself. You can still like a character that is a jerk.

Also, and I say this as someone who wants Johto (favourite region) or Unova (favourite games back in the day) as the next games, it's ridiculous how everything is turned into a clue about the next games being there. Some are reasonable, others just try to argue Kitakami represents Johto and the Loyal Three represent the Beasts,etc. There are lot of things that could become those so-called "clues" as far as LA, you know, the new approach to Sinnoh. If you want it enough, you start seeing it everywhere.

 

[R_N]

With the whole stuff about the eshop looming, I decided fuck it, let me try and get in some of those Challenges in Home that require Contest stuff. Spent all this time in ORAS getting 5 Pokemon up to Max contest stats, one of them being the Shiny Metagross that I took through all the contests so I could eventually get the twinkling star ribbon, because it's significantly easier and faster to do that in ORAS than BDSP or the earlier games.

Now turns out I needed 10 Pokemon with maxed stats. That's on me, I should have double checked before hand before sending up everything but whatever. The thing that got me was that none of the Pokemon counted towards the Max Sheen challenge.

Turns out that ORAS didn't just uncap the Sheen mechanic (the amount you can feed a Pokemon Blocks/Poffins), it just didn't interact with it all. As such all these Pokemon have maxed stats and 0 sheen even if placed into BDSP, and now I am faced with the horrors of poffin making once more if I want to bother with the dumb challenge.

But also, it's just fascinating that the challenge exists. There's certainly plenty of "drag from the old games" challenges, but in this context Sheen stands out a lot. ORAS was a (comparatively) more modern game you could grab contest stats out of and if you dug around the GTS or got lucky you could get old gen 3 & 4 legends for those challenges but before BDSP the only games where you could interact with sheen were RSE and DPPt. All for a fairly obscure"stat" you can't check outside of those games

 

[DrrT]

I really wonder what was going on inside the head of whoever decided BDSP should have close camera angles (weird zoom ins when someonr is talking). Got reminded of it by a random Cyrus shot and he looks ridiculous.

Also something that I don't see often mentioned regarding the game that bothers me a lot is the characters' hands. They have full fingers and it looks really bad. Really as an artist BDSP in general baffles me

 

[R_N]

Shout outs today to: Platinum's Poffin Store

I originally just went with this to fill in the "Sheen" challenge in Home, since it was a source of Poffin that did not involve terrible time consuming minigame (in addition to time consuming berry management) but those things are kind of absurd? If you focus on one combination of flavors, you will guarantee to max out 2 of the 5 stats, even if the Pokemon in question hates it, and still have enough Sheen left over to get some decent points in the other flavors. They're somewhat expensive and you can't buy in bulk, but wow what a life saver; and means great way to evolve Feebas back then too that I just never really acknowledged.

What an underrated addition!

And this observation is just one more for the pile of "they really needed to bring in stuff from Platinum" complaints about BDSP.


Also in both Gen 4 & 8 I just really...really hate Poffin making. The PokeBlock machine from gen 3 could be hit or miss (literally), but ultimately it was just a rhythm game and was fairly straight forward. But something about the mixing minigame (& I think Gen 4 had a microphone cooling portion...?) just never felt right; it's really strict on how long you can leave the mixture alone to the point where sometimes I've taken mistakes just from switching directions that it told me to go to and it's really easy to just spin too quickly too soon. And I've not pulled out comparison footage of Block vs Poffing but I am pretty sure it feels like it takes way longer to make Poffin.
I can't say I appreciate both doing a lot of rapid spinning on a touch screen (in fairness, this was a sin a lot of DS games did...Pokemon Ranger hello) OR the rapid spinning on my pro controller's joystick.

 

[DrumstickGaming]

bayleef's platinum sprite is hideous bro

that pose makes it look like a dog playing fetch instead of the incredibly cute dinosaur it is, so derpy

 

[Sonikku A]

Glances at anime
I mean...

Ignoring that, Gen 1-3 sprites of it have it playfully leaping as such, even wiggling tail for Crystal. Not surprised DPP made it closer to a "dog"
Then HGSS is just a stomp, while Gen 5 is Tpose

 

[DrumstickGaming]

Glances at anime
I mean...

Ignoring that, Gen 1-3 sprites of it have it playfully leaping as such, even wiggling tail for Crystal. Not surprised DPP made it closer to a "dog"
Then HGSS is just a stomp, while Gen 5 is Tpose

Oh yeah Bayleef did tackle Ash I suppose and now that I checked yeah Bayleef does have several jumping sprites. It was a very in the moment "wut" reaction.

 

[ant4456]

It's been like a decade and I'm still not over the fact that the only Gen 5 Pokémon to get a Mega was fucking Audino of all things. The fact that it sucks ass in battle doesn't help any.

Audino is one of my favorite Pokemon and a lot of that is due to its Mega. So many Mega Pokemon designs are fucking ass, if you removed Mega Audino I'd actually have to rate Megas as my least favorite gimmick. So don't you dare.

 

[Karxrida]

Audino is one of my favorite Pokemon and a lot of that is due to its Mega. So many Mega Pokemon designs are fucking ass, if you removed Mega Audino I'd actually have to rate Megas as my least favorite gimmick. So don't you dare.

Frankly if other Gen 5 Megas existed I wouldn't have cared. But GF, in their infinite wisdom, decided that the Pokémon that's only good for being an EXP piñata should be the sole Unovan recipient of a super form instead of the long list of cool mons that are popular but not competitively relevant. We have gotten Mega Chanedure, Mega Krookodile, Mega Galvantula, etc. The fact that Mega Audino is arguably worse than base form (wanna give up Regenerator for a useless Doubles-only ability lol) on top of that is extra insulting. Piece of shit.

Also, as long we're talking about subjective design aspects, I think Mega Audino looks like ass.

 

[Ironmage]

Frankly if other Gen 5 Megas existed I wouldn't have cared. But GF, in their infinite wisdom, decided that the Pokémon that's only good for being an EXP piñata should be the sole Unovan recipient of a super form instead of the long list of cool mons that are popular but not competitively relevant. We have gotten Mega Chanedure, Mega Krookodile, Mega Galvantula, etc. The fact that Mega Audino is arguably worse than base form (wanna give up Regenerator for a useless Doubles-only ability lol) on top of that is extra insulting. Piece of shit.

Also, as long we're talking about subjective design aspects, I think Mega Audino looks like ass.

In fairness, I wouldn't have called any of those examples irrelevant in gen 6. UU is honestly pretty respectable (and where several Megas of mons that really needed it ended up). Galvantula was lower in gen 5, but Sticky Web more than made up for it.

Now Klinklang, there's a mon that could use help.

 

[AztecCroc]

In fairness, I wouldn't have called any of those examples irrelevant in gen 6. UU is honestly pretty respectable (and where several Megas of mons that really needed it ended up). Galvantula was lower in gen 5, but Sticky Web more than made up for it.

Now Klinklang, there's a mon that could use help.

Ah, yes, attach even more gears and hope for the best.

 

[DrumstickGaming]

It’s not really related to its Mega, but people tend to forget Audino is actually a respectable choice in the original BW. It ended up in C tier in our list.

Audino has way more coverage than most of the cast, which it can actually use thanks to Work Up, gets Secret Power at the good level of 20 unlike most other Normals who have to use lol Retaliate until Nimbasa, gets dual screens and Thunder Wave via TMs there, and is just generally good enough until the very end of the game. Yeah, it pales in comparison to stuff like Stoutland, but if you want an different option that can still be effective you could do a lot worse than Audino.

It’s not so lucky in BW2 though. The power creep hit it hard and left little room for a slow boosting tank with 60 offenses to be viable…which oddly let Lopunny of all things basically replace Audino.

 

[pika pal]

Ah, yes, attach even more gears and hope for the best.

I'm imagining something like Stronghold the Moving Fortress from Yugioh where the Gears slot in to turn on a giant robot, and now I wish this was a lore thing, even if not a mechanics one, with Golurk or something, akin to Shellder and the Slowpoke evos.

 

[ant4456]

Frankly if other Gen 5 Megas existed I wouldn't have cared. But GF, in their infinite wisdom, decided that the Pokémon that's only good for being an EXP piñata should be the sole Unovan recipient of a super form instead of the long list of cool mons that are popular but not competitively relevant. We have gotten Mega Chanedure, Mega Krookodile, Mega Galvantula, etc. The fact that Mega Audino is arguably worse than base form (wanna give up Regenerator for a useless Doubles-only ability lol) on top of that is extra insulting. Piece of shit.

Also, as long we're talking about subjective design aspects, I think Mega Audino looks like ass.

Audino is the fucking GOAT.

 

[Omastar68]

the stats, would be perfect for me if it had at least ok stats

 

[CPU]

Ah, yes, attach even more gears and hope for the best.

Mega Klinklang, anybody?

 

[Axiemeister]

the level curve in RSE's elite four is so annoyingly steep. there is a NINE level gap between sidney and steven(/wallace), considering both weakest and strongest mon. and you got one or maybe two individual level ups after each fight. other than sinnoh (specially in platinum, strangely enough) no other fixed order elite four has it this bad.

in my current ruby replay, i was basically on par with the opponents' levels the entire game after brawly (another weird moment in the level curve btw) and gradually became underleveled while fighting the elite 4. i can't wait to replay emerald and platinum, he says with absolute dread.

 

[Cobalt Empoleon]

the level curve in RSE's elite four is so annoyingly steep. there is a NINE level gap between sidney and steven(/wallace), considering both weakest and strongest mon. and you got one or maybe two individual level ups after each fight. other than sinnoh (specially in platinum, strangely enough) no other fixed order elite four has it this bad.

in my current ruby replay, i was basically on par with the opponents' levels the entire game after brawly (another weird moment in the level curve btw) and gradually became underleveled while fighting the elite 4. i can't wait to replay emerald and platinum, he says with absolute dread.

Ahh it took me a second to understand what you meant by "considering both weakest and strongest" but yeah I agree. While the first four gens have basically the same ace level progression (+2/+2/+2/+3 for Gens 1, 3, and 4; +2/+2/+1/+3 in Gen 2), the 'lowest level' progression is at least as important for assessing difficulty/unfairness.

I actually wrote a post in this thread a while back looking at 'average level' progression of a couple of different E4s, which I think does the best job of illustrating your point (although I was praising the level jump back then haha):

The Johto E4R2 levels are interesting, because they're sort of a bridge between the old-school style, where there's a clear hierarchy in the Elite Four and they're faced from weakest to strongest, and the new style, where they're equally strong and you can choose the order.

Will's ace is level 62, while Koga's, Bruno's, and Karen's are level 64 (Karen and Bruno actually have two aces each). There's still a sense of progression, but instead of it being based on the ace's level, with the levels of other team members also increasing overall but less sharply, their levels just get more bunched up around that 64 'cap'.

Will:
58, 59, 60, 60, 61, 62
Average = 60

Koga:
60, 61, 62, 62, 63, 64
Average = 62

Bruno:
61, 61, 62, 62, 64, 64
Average = 62.3333

Karen:
62, 62, 62, 63, 64, 64
Average = 62.6667

Lance:
68, 68, 72, 72, 73, 75
Average = 71.3333

The approach in a game like Platinum has a similar effect in terms of having a big jump from the E4 to the Champion, but it's much more subtle and feels very different because the aces are climbing levels at the classic +2, +2, +2, +3 rate:

Aaron:
49, 49, 50, 51, 53
Average = 50.4

Bertha:
50, 52, 52, 53, 55
Average = 52.4

Flint:
52, 53, 55, 55, 57
Average = 54.4

Lucian:
53, 54, 55, 56, 59
Average = 55.2

Cynthia:
58, 58, 58, 60, 60, 62
Average = 59.3333


Still, an 11-level gap between Karen's ace and Lance's is pretty wild lol.

Looking at RSE, we have:

Sidney: 46, 46, 48, 48, 49 Average = 47.4

Phoebe: 48, 49, 49, 50, 51 Average = 49.4

Glacia: 50, 50, 52, 52, 53 Average = 51.4

Drake: 52, 53, 53, 54, 55 Average = 53.4

Steven/Wallace: 55, 56, 56, 56, 57, 58 Average = 56.3333

This is the most consistent increase we've ever had, I think, and while the Hoenn E4 has other elements that maybe compensate for this (notably, Glacia and Drake having NFE Pokemon), it definitely feels like a very steep curve.

Looking at my old post, I don't think I agree with past me that the Platinum curve was done particularly well. They could have pushed it further so that the average level didn't jump up quite so much, while still maintaining a clear sense of progression with the aces.

EDIT:
Just for fun (and since I was making the post more compact anyway) here's GSC, which I think does quite a good job:

Will: 40, 41, 41, 41, 42 Average = 41

Koga: 40, 41, 42, 43, 44 Average = 42

Bruno: 42, 42, 42, 43, 46 Average = 43

Karen: 42, 42, 44, 45, 47 Average = 44

Lance: 44, 46, 46, 47, 47, 50 Average = 46.6667

Damn those E4 averages are so neat that it feels deliberate. Non-ace levels increase so gradually that it doesn't feel unreasonable, but you still have the aces as an anchor that makes the player feel like they're taking down this succession of increasingly scary opponents.

 

[Axiemeister]

This is the most consistent increase we've ever had, I think, and while the Hoenn E4 has other elements that maybe compensate for this (notably, Glacia and Drake having NFE Pokemon), it definitely feels like a very steep curve.

this is exactly what makes it annoying - their levels grow quicker than yours, but phoebe uses 2 dusclopses and a sableye which aren't offensively strong, glacia uses two slow NFEs and two glalies, and drake is a bit harder but everything BUT the NFE is quad weak to ice, so it's all about having ice beam (or even blizzard) on something, which are reasonably accessible TMs.

the jump in difficulty from drake immediately to steven was staggering, and the original games don't have the new busted exp share to actually make you gain levels quicker in these fights, which is probably why i hadn't registered this sooner, since i haven't touched them since the remakes came out (!).

these averages are fascinating, thanks for reposting - the johto rematch does have a wild level jump from karen to lance but also rematches feel like they have more freedom with this since there isn't really an actual level curve in a pokémon post-game anyway. the johto E4 actually has the E4 with the smallest level increase from beginning to end in the first matches!

 

[ant4456]

IMO I don't think the E4 members should even be different levels. I know there is kind of a tradition that the 4th is the one that is the strongest, but I really liked approaches like Gen 7's where you can simply pick which order of E4 you do. It gives the player some agency, and the levels are more neutral.