Mechanics In Pokemon Legends: Arceus You'd Like To See In Future Titles

[Count Bleck]

Figured this would be be a nice discussion point while everyone is a buzz with Arceus. There are so many things Arceus is experimenting with, and a complete changelist from the traditional games are probably to numerous to even reasonably post! But with all that said, which mechanics would you guys want to see carry over to the "traditional" main series games? It can be anything from how the mons are caught to battle mechanics to even simple slice of life changes. Although I realize that this is a forum for competitive play, dont be discouraged from talking about non battle related stuff too.

For me, I gotta say I'm a huge fan of the additions of Forstbite and Drowsiness, and would outright like to see all instances of Hail replaced with Snow. Ice types and hail have been the butt of every weather war for generations, and only now in gen 8 have they gotten some sort of leg to stand on. Freeze and Sleep have always been debated as cheap tactics (although freeze is just super RNG based), and getting rid of both for more skill based ones while also incentivizing more hail/Snow based team is just what the doctor ordered.

I also think the change to poison is also very interesting.... There's no badly poisoned, but regular poison takes down 1/6th HP per turn, but also can be shaken off. This might put a damper on toxic stall teams in the future but it DOES incentivize taking poison more seriously as an offensive status. Getting poisoned off of attacks like Poison Jab or Cross Poison can now be a solid threat vs a mild annoyance, and in VGC poison was already a laughing stock, so buffing it might be a boon to stats such as Poison Gas or sludge wave.

 

[EldritchEcho]

Frostbite. Need I say more?

 

[Ironmage]

A single-player (and single-cartirdge) way of evolving trade evolutions.

 

[Goodra]

I'd like to see drowsy carried over. It gives walls that got screwed out of any form of recovery besides rest a new lease on life. I also like frost as an answer to Satk and an end to the frustrating frozen status. I enjoyed Spikes and Stealth Rock were changed to moves with strong DoTs attached though this would be contiguous to people who like hazards on stall and could mess with the who switching balance.

 

[KaenSoul]

Removing EVs and IVs and replacing them with rocks, but may add a way to get those rocks after battle instead of just releasing mons, much better than grinding bottle caps and vitamin drinks, you get both in the same item.

 

[R_N]

Frostbite's really interesting, I'd like to see that come back.

The field capture mechanics are much faster, if those could be brought forward in some fashion that'd be really great. Even if it was just limited to whatever the new "wild area" type spot is. Also they definitely tweaked SOMETHING with the capture formula, and while that was probably just because they need you to catch every Pokemon, I want that to continue because good lord it's so much better to catch just about anything within 4 balls on average.

I like the Pulse moves having perfect accuracy. Likely just done due to the influx of evasion mechanics, but still pretty cool and would be simple to add in without super breaking anything.

Removing EVs and IVs and replacing them with rocks, but may add a way to get those rocks after battle instead of just releasing mons, much better than grinding bottle caps and vitamin drinks, you get both in the same item.

You do get grit after battles, I stockpiled most of mine that way since I didn't release anything. Alphas and other stronger pokemon tend to drop them, but some randos will do so too.

Oh speaking of, I'd like it for item drops to be a thing. Held items yo ucan stela/catch can stay, but I think it'd add a little extra incentive if you could also roll for stuff when you grind or whatever. They could even do it like here where they can drop viatmin stuff or exp candy in addition to whatever they usually would hold.

 

[Magcargo]

I would like moves like the dodge roll, crouching, and throwing items to return. Part of what made the WIld Area in SwSh so boring is that the player character couldn't do anything outside of running and whistling to piss off the surrounding Pokemon (which was kinda funny the first few times but got old after a while). Exploring the world in Legends Arceus is a lot more fun since you have a lot more actions and moves that you can execute. The crafting system is also a good addition since it incentives exploration and battling wild Pokemon. Its a bit more fun to gather materials in the overworld to build something like an Ultra ball than just spending money for it. Seemless transition between overworld exploration and wild battles is another good change to make exploration more fun.

Alpha Pokemon having abnormally high stats when you are battling them is a great change. This makes them a massive threat that needs to be respected unlike in Sword and Shield, where the strong Pokemon in the overworld were less consistently challenging.

I am somewhat torn on the Pokemon amigos you get throughout the game, like Wyrdeer, Ursaluna, etc. Ultimately, I'd like to see them return, but maybe nerfed in a way where they aren't such an easy "get out of jail free" card.

I am neither for nor against Frostbite and Drowsiness replacing Freeze and Sleep, respectively.

This is moreso features than mechanics, but Photo Mode and Sidequest should return in future games. To my knowledge, Sword and Shield featured neither of these, which was a strange choice seeing as both features were in USUM.

I wouldn't mind Agile Style and Strong Style moves being featured in the main series Pokemon games, but the mechanics would need to altered slightly. If Agile style moves basically turned your attack into a priority move & strong style moves turned your attack into a hyper beam-style attack that requires a recharge (mechanics similar to how these type of moves work in Legends Arceus), then I think these changes would make competitive more fun by giving the player a lot more options. I think it would be really cool with the amount of mind games it could create. It very well could be broken, but it wouldn't hurt to try it out for one generation. At the very least, it would be a pretty cool idea for an OM (if it doesn't already exist).

 

[DHR-107]

I'll allow this thread to continue for now as you guys are talking about real mechanics which exist.

However, be aware that this is right on the edge of wishlisting for the main series, which we don't really allow. Make sure you keep to established mechanics.

 

[PrismEclipse]

Frostbite, I could see it being used for some Ice Type moves and actually it makes more sense realistically than being frozen in a block of ice, but if Freeze and Frostbite could both exist, but it would require adjusting. Also the Linking Cord should return, maybe as like a BP Item in future titles so that you still have the incentive of trade evolving in the first place.

 

[Rarycaris]

Strongly prefer freeze being replaced with frostbite. Freeze in its current state effectively gives ice moves a 10% chance of turning into a OHKO move, and they've had to balance it by ensuring there is no reliable way of applying it. Same with drowsy/sleep really -- the fact every serious meta has necessitated a massive sleep nerf in some form shows it's just not a good addition to the game, and Darkrai is still very potent without feeling quite so broken.

I do worry that frostbite might create a meta of special attackers intentionally getting burned to avoid frostbite, though I guess making Wisp a slightly riskier play isn't necessarily a bad thing. I like the way a new status can override an older one in PLA, and statuses are more potent but eventually wear off, but I'm not sure how I feel about that in the main game.

 

[Hugin]

I do worry that frostbite might create a meta of special attackers intentionally getting burned to avoid frostbite, though I guess making Wisp a slightly riskier play isn't necessarily a bad thing.

I doubt that will be a big thing. It's not like there's a whole lot of physical attackers carrying Toxic Orb unless they have some other reason to. And even if it does happen, that's the sort of cleverness that I want more out of in these games.

 

[R_N]

If they bring over the OW style captures AND ALSO if they bring over the tweaked catch rate system, I would likely them to go one step further and have legend fights (or most of them at least) retain brief OW sequenec where you have to do something to them.
While it was...annoying, mostly, in LA I liked that it still gave the LEgends a bit of extra "bite" to them without being overly tedious to actually catch. So you solve their shield puzzle (or whatever, it could work like the birds in the Isle of Armor instead) and then have a brief fight which will probably only last a few turns, everyone happy.

I doubt that will be a big thing. It's not like there's a whole lot of physical attackers carrying Toxic Orb unless they have some other reason to. And even if it does happen, that's the sort of cleverness that I want more out of in these games.

Also if you saw a burn coming and also wanted to use a switch on it to avoid and absorb the status wouldn't a special attacker already be a good idea because it means they're not dealing with something more annoying like Paralysis?

 

[Hugin]

If they bring over the OW style captures AND ALSO if they bring over the tweaked catch rate system, I would likely them to go one step further and have legend fights (or most of them at least) retain brief OW sequenec where you have to do something to them.
While it was...annoying, mostly, in LA I liked that it still gave the LEgends a bit of extra "bite" to them without being overly tedious to actually catch. So you solve their shield puzzle (or whatever, it could work like the birds in the Isle of Armor instead) and then have a brief fight which will probably only last a few turns, everyone happy.

Absolutely this. As you've pointed out, arguably the LoA Birds already have done that, but even more of a focus on a puzzle or challenge before catching the legendary, followed by a more reasonable catch, would definitely be better than the current "Walk up, hit it into red, para, spam 30 Ultra Balls until you overcome the Catch Rate of 3." It's a good way to make Legendaries special without making them a slog.

 

[R_N]

Absolutely this. As you've pointed out, arguably the LoA Birds already have done that, but even more of a focus on a puzzle or challenge before catching the legendary, followed by a more reasonable catch, would definitely be better than the current "Walk up, hit it into red, para, spam 30 Ultra Balls until you overcome the Catch Rate of 3." It's a good way to make Legendaries special without making them a slog.

They also experimented with it a little in Alola & Let's Go. The Ultra Beasts all had the ultra aura and beast balls as gimmicks. necrozma in USUM actually has a perfect 255 catch rate, likely to offset the fact that you just had one of the hardest fights in the series just before this. Let's Go had you knock out the legends (and, uh, snorlax) before you do the capture sequence. Even in SWSH, which otherwise didn't do this outside of the birds, had Eternatus perfectly solved the loop on "forced capture for hte plot" by making it a dynamax boss battle which ends in a guaranteed catch.

So I could see this actually being something they carry forward in some fashion.

 

[Samtendo09]

There’s agrement that Drowsy and especially Frostbite are far more loved than their previous counterparts, and I’m all for it for the two to stick around. Frostbite will especially helps with Ice-type’s defensive issue at least a bit by being able to naturally learn Frostbite-inflicting moves without relying on TMs / TRs / Tutors.

Sleep may stay for Rest, otherwise Rest itself would be overpowered or needlessly reworked if it inflicts Drowsy instead. Freeze itself may need to have a serious revamp if GF wants to keep it for some reason, by making Freeze always turning into Frostbite if the Pokémon fails to thaw out completely, as well as making only extremely few Ice moves to do that for example. Still annoying but definitely not overbearingly so.

 

[Germaniac]

The CTB itself. (or ATB as the game calls it iirc? I personally associate ATB to FFIV-FFIX, Legends' is more akin to FFX's CTB) People might say that it'll make fast Pokes broken, but I think it goes back to the balancing of Speed and the other stats. I don't like how in traditional turn-based, once you're faster than your opponent, any increase to your Speed means nothing, unlike any other stats.

 

[R_N]

The CTB itself. (or ATB as the game calls it iirc? I personally associate ATB to FFIV-FFIX, Legends' is more akin to FFX's CTB) People might say that it'll make fast Pokes broken, but I think it goes back to the balancing of Speed and the other stats. I don't like how in traditional turn-based, once you're faster than your opponent, any increase to your Speed means nothing, unlike any other stats.

On the other hand I want that old standard, because it was something you could plan around.
Here turn order is just eh whatever maybe sometimes you'll get the doubles or the triples or there will be no change at all.

It's just a mess and would only get messier with someone commanding the other side. Especially if they kept the "each pokemon takes turn as they come up, rather than both sides all at once"

I also picture doubles being an even bigger mess, where specific actions taken at specific times become extremely important.

 

[Worldie]

There's also the fact that this turn system completely destroys the strategic element of swapping as you aren't clicking a move without knowing what the opponent does, so "swapping in a immunity/resist" isnt a thing.

 

[Bakugames]

Does the pretty skybox count as a mechanic

 

[R_N]

Oh I thought I mentioned it here but guess not: I would like, and might even expect, the uhhh battle moves, i guess you'd call them, to remain in.

I suspect moving forward the "normal" games will probably not have the "battle in this actual spot on the actual overworld", but something I think would be very plausible is how the Pokemon do kind of move a little around their area. They wont stick near the pokemon they just hit, but if you idle long enough you'll see them adjust their position a little. It helps keep them lively and finally makes good use of those walking/running animations; though sometims it can get a little awkward like with Sneasler. The battle system can already handle up to 4 pokemon + 2 trainers at once so they kind of resolved that aspect from day 1, in more complex terrain.

 

[Samtendo09]

Does the pretty skybox count as a mechanic

Not technically a mechanic, but it is something we can agree that we want that to stick around.

One thing I do wish to stick around is the return of standard cross-gen evolutions, especially with how much spotlight Kleavor, Wyrdeer and Ursaluna gets.

Galar’s regional evolutions are more or less a teaser that the concept of standard cross-gen evolution might come back, and while I am not 100% certain that the Hisui introduced standard cross-evos could come back next gen (though considering Ursaring and the likes are already overshadowed, I would be pleasantly surprised if they do), there’s no surprise that demands for cross-gen evos and cross-gen babies are rising in full force, partly thanks to the success of Galar’s cross-gen evo.

It helps that Hisui proves that regional forms + regional evos and standard cross-gen expension can be co-created in the same game as well!

 

[Scorpio]

There’s agrement that Drowsy and especially Frostbite are far more loved than their previous counterparts, and I’m all for it for the two to stick around. Frostbite will especially helps with Ice-type’s defensive issue at least a bit by being able to naturally learn Frostbite-inflicting moves without relying on TMs / TRs / Tutors.

Sleep may stay for Rest, otherwise Rest itself would be overpowered or needlessly reworked if it inflicts Drowsy instead. Freeze itself may need to have a serious revamp if GF wants to keep it for some reason, by making Freeze always turning into Frostbite if the Pokémon fails to thaw out completely, as well as making only extremely few Ice moves to do that for example. Still annoying but definitely not overbearingly so.

This may be wishlisting, but something I think would be interesting is if Frostbite/Drowsy were to stack in order to turn into Freeze/Sleep. For example, if something like, say, Ice Beam got the lucky roll on a non-statused opponent they’d be Frostbitten, then if Ice Beam got another lucky roll against that Frostbitten opponent, it would become Frozen.

Also, keep the increased chances of getting Frostbite/missing while Drowsy under Hail. They need any boost they can get.

 

[Germaniac]

On the other hand I want that old standard, because it was something you could plan around.
Here turn order is just eh whatever maybe sometimes you'll get the doubles or the triples or there will be no change at all.

It's just a mess and would only get messier with someone commanding the other side. Especially if they kept the "each pokemon takes turn as they come up, rather than both sides all at once"

I also picture doubles being an even bigger mess, where specific actions taken at specific times become extremely important.

You call it a mess, but it's a controllable mess that you can also plan around. If you play FFX or any other game with CTB, planning around the turn order is an essential aspect of the gameplay.

 

[R_N]

You call it a mess, but it's a controllable mess that you can also plan around. If you play FFX or any other game with CTB, planning around the turn order is an essential aspect of the gameplay.

And none of that is present here at all, frankly. I just do not think it works with Pokemon systems.

I will take "speed is king" every single day of the week with Pokemon.

 

[Ironmage]

The big draw of the system in the mainline games is that, while the order in which moves resolve can change, all players/npcs select their moves at the same time. This allows for moves that require the opponent to have committed to a move of their own in order to accomplish anything (e.g. Protect, Counter, Teleport). Having a move being selected immediately before it resolves would require significant changes to those moves if they aren't removed entirely like in Legends. As a pretty big fan of a pokemon with a gimmick that relies on such a move, I can't say I'm excited for something that increases the likelihood of it being cut.