Unpopular opinions

[Coronis]

I like how Hisuian Samurott is so much better than the original.

Just moving from Unova to GOAT Region Sinnoh made it better

I’m still not sure exactly how I feel on the Hisuian starters overall. I definitely prefer OG Decidueye, but prefer Hisuian Typhlosion/Samurott. But those 2 having such small/subtle differences just makes me feel a lil weird for liking them and adverse to praising their designs fsr.

 

[Eriorguez]

I do think that Bottle Caps and Mints should outright change the IVs and Natures, rather than giving an override. Lemme bottlecap a Ditto and pass that down, the layer of overcomplication is something that can be done without.


Regional-only evolutions are meh; I don't mean stuff like Perrserker or Clodsire, but like Sirfetch'd and Overqwil. Just evolve the perfectly fine 'mon.

Hisuian Sneasel was a really bad move. Weavile debuted in Sinnoh, Sneasel is most abundant there, and there was a perfectly fine Fight/Poison 'mon there that shouldn't be throughly outclassed. Just give Sneasel a split evolution, like Scyther did in that very game. Could even had been our first Ice/Poison 'mon.


I utterly dislike the concept of Ursaluna, and the love it keeps getting. Ursaring was basically a Normal type Machamp. That's a fully evolved 'mon. Leave that be, make a fucking Mega (which are far better than the broken gimmicks we have been getting instead) if you want to expand on the design. Oh well, better than Donphan, being overshadowed by derivative designs masquerading as legendaries.

 

[AztecCroc]

I do think that Bottle Caps and Mints should outright change the IVs and Natures, rather than giving an override. Lemme bottlecap a Ditto and pass that down, the layer of overcomplication is something that can be done without.

Bottle Caps originally didn't change IVs outright because of Hidden Power. Which was probably kept afterward for Unown.

 

[Samtendo09]

I do think that Bottle Caps and Mints should outright change the IVs and Natures, rather than giving an override. Lemme bottlecap a Ditto and pass that down, the layer of overcomplication is something that can be done without.


Regional-only evolutions are meh; I don't mean stuff like Perrserker or Clodsire, but like Sirfetch'd and Overqwil. Just evolve the perfectly fine 'mon.

Although I disagree with the two other things, the one you pointed out, especially the first one. Game Freak have a bad tendency to overcomplicate things despite their aimed audience being children.

While Bottle Caps are forgiving considering what AztecCroc pointed out, Mints’ case wasn’t excusable.

Things like those tells me that Game Freak doesn’t even know their audience that much despite their insistsnce.

 

[Eriorguez]

Tera types would be a damn better alternative to Hidden Power determination. Or the way Legends goes with it.

 

[Ironmage]

teal mask

I can't help but feel that the attempt to subvert who was the antagonist falls flat given the designs and typings of the mons in question. Maybe it relies on familiarity with the inspiration story that I don't have? In any case, I feel like it would work better at breaking expectations if the small Grass type was actually malicious and the more imposing Poison types were actually benevolent.

 

[Cobalt Empoleon]

teal mask

I can't help but feel that the attempt to subvert who was the antagonist falls flat given the designs and typings of the mons in question. Maybe it relies on familiarity with the inspiration story that I don't have? In any case, I feel like it would work better at breaking expectations if the small Grass type was actually malicious and the more imposing Poison types were actually benevolent.

Teal Mask

Maybe I'm misremembering, but iirc you don't see the Loyal Three in their more obviously evil true forms until after you already know the real story. Before that point, you only see their (more benign-looking) statues. The online promotional material for the DLC gives it away I guess, but it's not like we have a consistent pattern of 'evil-looking Pokemon are always evil' to extrapolate from.

In any case, I don't really see this as an attempt to subvert the audience's expectations. There's no real sense of betrayal or deception, because you never meaningfully side against Ogerpon or act on the belief that the Loyal Three are good guys. Heck, Kieran is telling you right from the start that he doesn't think Ogerpon is as evil as the story says.

Whether it's a deliberate choice or just not bothering to include that extra layer in the writing, I actually really appreciate that Pokemon hasn't fallen into the same trap as modern media generally, where 'twists' are considered the most valuable narrative currency and being unpredictable is seen as more important than telling a satisfying story.

 

[Bakugames]

teal mask

I can't help but feel that the attempt to subvert who was the antagonist falls flat given the designs and typings of the mons in question. Maybe it relies on familiarity with the inspiration story that I don't have? In any case, I feel like it would work better at breaking expectations if the small Grass type was actually malicious and the more imposing Poison types were actually benevolent.

teal mask

The subversion isn't on the game itself. You're told pretty explicitly through character design and npcs that the story seems sketch and quickly proven correct. The subversion is on the meta narrative, transforming the ogre into the good guy you protect and the momotaro allies are the guys you need to beat up.

Another game example is hollow knight. radiance and the light aren't twist villains, you're told from the start this light is an infection and while the game has very deep lore, radiance is never posed as an ally or protagonist that then turns on you, you know you gotta kill her. The subversion is meta, that light is an evil force, and the shadows and void are deeply linked to the protagonist and while not "heroes", theyre much more sympathetic.

 

[Ironmage]

teal mask

The subversion isn't on the game itself. You're told pretty explicitly through character design and npcs that the story seems sketch and quickly proven correct. The subversion is on the meta narrative, transforming the ogre into the good guy you protect and the momotaro allies are the guys you need to beat up.

Another game example is hollow knight. radiance and the light aren't twist villains, you're told from the start this light is an infection and while the game has very deep lore, radiance is never posed as an ally or protagonist that then turns on you, you know you gotta kill her. The subversion is meta, that light is an evil force, and the shadows and void are deeply linked to the protagonist and while not "heroes", theyre much more sympathetic.

Spoiler

So, funny thing is, I've always struggled with light=good since my autism can result in some sensory issues. Sleeping comfortably can take a lot of effort in ensuring things are dark enough. I honestly have a pretty bad track record when it comes to aligning with the motifs I'm 'supposed to' in media. Within the context of Pokemon, I ended up championing Poison after the mechanics changes in gen 8 while I'm generally not a fan of mons designed to be cute (the clearest exception being a Poison-type UB used by some initially suspicious folks). At some level, I was frustrated about being given hope about having 'uglier' Posion-types in a positive spotlight which didn't pan out. I don't really care about the story itself that much.

 

[Sultan]

Although I disagree with the two other things, the one you pointed out, especially the first one. Game Freak have a bad tendency to overcomplicate things despite their aimed audience being children.

While Bottle Caps are forgiving considering what AztecCroc pointed out, Mints’ case wasn’t excusable.

Things like those tells me that Game Freak doesn’t even know their audience that much despite their insistsnce.

Mints do have the advantage of letting you run a nature like Hardy underneath the preferred nature so you don't get affected by the confusion-inducing berries

 

[Cobalt Empoleon]

I honestly think there's a good reason to not have Mints and Caps override the actual nature/IV, although it's definitely debatable whether that reason is worth the added complication. Theoretically, we're still supposed to care about our Pokemon as individuals, and letting their stats change without needing to change their ~character~ or ~genetics~ (or however we're supposed to characterise these traits) lets players still feel connected to their Pokemon as they were when they caught or received them.

Personally, I'm not sentimental enough to care if my Quaquaval is still a Sassy boy after using a Jolly Mint on it, but I imagine it matters to someone out there.

 

[Volt-Ikazuchi]

I do think that Bottle Caps and Mints should outright change the IVs and Natures, rather than giving an override. Lemme bottlecap a Ditto and pass that down, the layer of overcomplication is something that can be done without.


Regional-only evolutions are meh; I don't mean stuff like Perrserker or Clodsire, but like Sirfetch'd and Overqwil. Just evolve the perfectly fine 'mon.

Hisuian Sneasel was a really bad move. Weavile debuted in Sinnoh, Sneasel is most abundant there, and there was a perfectly fine Fight/Poison 'mon there that shouldn't be throughly outclassed. Just give Sneasel a split evolution, like Scyther did in that very game. Could even had been our first Ice/Poison 'mon.


I utterly dislike the concept of Ursaluna, and the love it keeps getting. Ursaring was basically a Normal type Machamp. That's a fully evolved 'mon. Leave that be, make a fucking Mega (which are far better than the broken gimmicks we have been getting instead) if you want to expand on the design. Oh well, better than Donphan, being overshadowed by derivative designs masquerading as legendaries.

I disagree with pretty much all of this tbh.

Bottle Caps and Mints not straight-up overriding mons' characteristics is great for flavor since you can optimize your team while also having it be unique instead of the same old Jolly/Timid everywhere.

Regional formes introduced solely to lead into an evo suck, I agree. Sirfetch'd is blatantly the worst example of this.

Ursaluna is great and Megas for mons that still could've gotten another evo is downright criminal. A "Mega Ursaring" would've left it in shambles like Mawile. And Ursaring wasn't turning any heads since day 1, I might add.

 

[Coronis]

Teal Mask

Kitakami people are just weird imo.

Like Ogerpon was considered scary or whatever before the masks allowed it to roam freely and not be bullied but look how cute it is without the masks! Whereas all the masks (besides maybe Wellspring) make it look even more menacing…

 

[Pikachu315111]

Teal Mask

Kitakami people are just weird imo.

Like Ogerpon was considered scary or whatever before the masks allowed it to roam freely and not be bullied but look how cute it is without the masks! Whereas all the masks (besides maybe Wellspring) make it look even more menacing…

Yeah, I'm going to wait till I complete the story to give my full opinion (before you ask, I like exploring, I'm taking my time; by the way there's TON of items, both in Poke Balls and especially glittering hidden spot, so yeah I'm picking all those up as I go along), but the ancient Kitakami people sound like just the worst.

 

[Esserise]

Teal Mask

Kitakami people are just weird imo.

Like Ogerpon was considered scary or whatever before the masks allowed it to roam freely and not be bullied but look how cute it is without the masks! Whereas all the masks (besides maybe Wellspring) make it look even more menacing…

Spoiler

To be fair, Ogerpon and its partner came down from the mountain wearing the masks during the Festival of Masks, a time when everyone would have been wearing masks with various qualities and artistic characterizations to them. Going into the event, there’s a layer of artifice that everyone is aware of — it’s that time when everyone in town puts on masks, so even if you saw someone with a mask resembling a scary oni, you’d know it was just your neighbor and your response would probably be along the lines of, “Oh, that’s a cool mask!”

Shunning the man and Ogerpon initially had less to do with them being considered ugly or scary-looking in particular, and more to do with them simply looking different from the Kitakamians at all. Just pure xenophobia.

What gets me is more that the villagers at the festivals… couldn’t tell it was Ogerpon anyway? Like, even with the mask, I feel like it’s hard not to recognize the distinctive cloak and wooden legs of a creature you’ve already shunned once. As effective disguises go, it’s on the level of Dexio and Sina as the Masked Heroes.

Maybe the locals were just always getting hammered on apple cider come festival time.

 

[Pikachu315111]

Spoiler

What gets me is more that the villagers at the festivals… couldn’t tell it was Ogerpon anyway? Like, even with the mask, I feel like it’s hard not to recognize the distinctive cloak and wooden legs of a creature you’ve already shunned once. As effective disguises go, it’s on the level of Dexio and Sina as the Masked Heroes.

Maybe the locals were just always getting hammered on apple cider come festival time.

Backstory spoiler video

From what I understood, after coming to festivals with the masks on the people of Kitakami knew they were the strangers they originally shunned, but they got cool masks now so they're okay now.

What gets me is that, after the Loyal Three, Pokemon that as far as I understand just showed up and never interacted with the village at all, we beaten up by Ogerpon the villagers SOMEHOW made up a story the three were defending the village from Ogerpon (which only seemed to have attacked the three and went away). And then when the Mask Maker, the only true friend the stranger and Ogerpon in the village, tried to explain what happened, the people ridiculed him!

I haven't finished the story yet, but does it mention anywhere the Loyal Three did ANYTHING with the villagers to make them trust them before going to steal Ogerpon's masks? Because the ancient Kitakami people made a huge jump in assuming these random Pokemon Ogerpon went after was protecting them... and then refused to change and fiercely defender their viewpoint.

 

[pika pal]

Spoiler

To be fair, Ogerpon and its partner came down from the mountain wearing the masks during the Festival of Masks, a time when everyone would have been wearing masks with various qualities and artistic characterizations to them. Going into the event, there’s a layer of artifice that everyone is aware of — it’s that time when everyone in town puts on masks, so even if you saw someone with a mask resembling a scary oni, you’d know it was just your neighbor and your response would probably be along the lines of, “Oh, that’s a cool mask!”

Shunning the man and Ogerpon initially had less to do with them being considered ugly or scary-looking in particular, and more to do with them simply looking different from the Kitakamians at all. Just pure xenophobia.

What gets me is more that the villagers at the festivals… couldn’t tell it was Ogerpon anyway? Like, even with the mask, I feel like it’s hard not to recognize the distinctive cloak and wooden legs of a creature you’ve already shunned once. As effective disguises go, it’s on the level of Dexio and Sina as the Masked Heroes.

Maybe the locals were just always getting hammered on apple cider come festival time.

Backstory spoiler video

From what I understood, after coming to festivals with the masks on the people of Kitakami knew they were the strangers they originally shunned, but they got cool masks now so they're okay now.

What gets me is that, after the Loyal Three, Pokemon that as far as I understand just showed up and never interacted with the village at all, we beaten up by Ogerpon the villagers SOMEHOW made up a story the three were defending the village from Ogerpon (which only seemed to have attacked the three and went away). And then when the Mask Maker, the only true friend the stranger and Ogerpon in the village, tried to explain what happened, the people ridiculed him!

I haven't finished the story yet, but does it mention anywhere the Loyal Three did ANYTHING with the villagers to make them trust them before going to steal Ogerpon's masks? Because the ancient Kitakami people made a huge jump in assuming these random Pokemon Ogerpon went after was protecting them... and then refused to change and fiercely defender their viewpoint.

Note: These cover the entire Teal Mask in case anyone's still in-progress with the story.

Teal Mask

My theory is that Ogerpon's cloak was not something it wore until the two of them started living secluded on the Mountain, so it wasn't recognizable when they visited the festival as the other discernible feature outside the masks, and since it changes with the mask I assume it's, if not clothing, at least a feature she has the means to alter. The backstory says they were shunned as outsiders, so it would make sense as another disguise so Ogerpon wasn't recognizable at a glance if she went out for something and was seen, even without interacting with people. Even when your character and Carmine see her at the festival, they assume she's a presumably human child until after she loses the mask and leaves.

My issue moreso is that Kitakami's people feel a little fickle with the story. They shun Ogerpon and her trainer as outsiders, but hail the Loyal Three as Heroes because they die fighting what they thought was a vicious Ogre (I assume from the story drift that they don't know these two to be the same creatures). Centuries later, these long dead heroes inexplicably return to life (we have speculative bases but no one in-universe has a clue how that happened) and are immediately given the old masks (when in the story they were taken to weaken the Ogre they fought rather than doing them any good) along with a bunch of motchi. All this to say the people of Kitakami still seem to put a lot of stock in the legend such that they don't question strange going-ons involving the Loyal Three at this stage.

I can sort of get the hailing of the Loyal Three coming as a consequence of opposing Ogerpon, who's scary, powerful, and carrying a big stick while they hadn't even seen the Loyal Three much until now, so their first impression is "die fighting big monster and then monster leaves" so they filled in the gaps. This again assuming they don't know Ogerpon to be both this shunned foreign Pokemon and the Monster in question (does the text suggest they assume the Ogre to be a Pokemon or just a straight up Beast?)

And yet within the day people are not only convinced just at Kieran's insistence that the Loyal Three were rogues, but they get past their fear of Ogerpon as the Ogre and Prejudice as an outsider (despite Carmine implying the sentiment still exists even if not as intense centuries later). It feels like a very fast turn-around for a deep-seated cornerstone of their culture and folklore, and I honestly think Ogerpon choosing to go with you makes more sense under the lens that she doesn't want to stay in Kitakami even if they claim to accept her now.

 

[Apolo123]

Showdown needs rules to be revised.

I love the battle system and I love pokemon, but this game is absolutelly toxic.
The misses aren't random. If you are in a winning strike, the chance of missing increases.
Teams should be balanced in random battles. Its common to confront a team with 6 legendaries when you have a Delibird.

Showdown is supposed to be funny, but every time that i play, i regret myself :/

 

[Esserise]

Backstory spoiler video

From what I understood, after coming to festivals with the masks on the people of Kitakami knew they were the strangers they originally shunned, but they got cool masks now so they're okay now.

What gets me is that, after the Loyal Three, Pokemon that as far as I understand just showed up and never interacted with the village at all, we beaten up by Ogerpon the villagers SOMEHOW made up a story the three were defending the village from Ogerpon (which only seemed to have attacked the three and went away). And then when the Mask Maker, the only true friend the stranger and Ogerpon in the village, tried to explain what happened, the people ridiculed him!

I haven't finished the story yet, but does it mention anywhere the Loyal Three did ANYTHING with the villagers to make them trust them before going to steal Ogerpon's masks? Because the ancient Kitakami people made a huge jump in assuming these random Pokemon Ogerpon went after was protecting them... and then refused to change and fiercely defender their viewpoint.

Spoiler

Hmm. On the first point, you may be right — I can sort of see it both ways. I think the way it’s said that the intention was for them to “secretly” join the festival suggests that the idea was for the villagers to not know who they were, and that they just figured them to be passers-through with ornate masks. But, at the same time, it still doesn’t seem like it would be hard to do the math. A foreign man and ogre show up > they get shunned and move to the nearby mountain > two strangers with unusual masks start appearing at the annual festival. In all the subsequent discourse and fascination about the pair, it’d be pretty easy for the villagers to ask among themselves who those two could have been, and to then rule out each of their neighbors as candidates.

On the second point, I think it was less about anything the Loyal Three actually did, and more about Ogerpon’s rage feeding into the villagers’ confirmation bias. Even if they did know that the masked pair were truly the man and the ogre and were willing to have them walk around at the festival, discovering that the ogre had suddenly run wild and beat three random Pokémon to death would probably make at least a few people think something along the lines of, “See, I suspected it all along! It was just a matter of time before the ogre showed its true colors!”

Note: These cover the entire Teal Mask in case anyone's still in-progress with the story.

Teal Mask

My theory is that Ogerpon's cloak was not something it wore until the two of them started living secluded on the Mountain, so it wasn't recognizable when they visited the festival as the other discernible feature outside the masks, and since it changes with the mask I assume it's, if not clothing, at least a feature she has the means to alter. The backstory says they were shunned as outsiders, so it would make sense as another disguise so Ogerpon wasn't recognizable at a glance if she went out for something and was seen, even without interacting with people. Even when your character and Carmine see her at the festival, they assume she's a presumably human child until after she loses the mask and leaves.

Spoiler

The only problem I see with this theory is that the backstory video shows Ogerpon wearing its cloak at the very start. I agree that the villagers might have, as Carmine did, assumed that it was just a full costume, but it still seems a little too conspicuous to me. Maybe the villagers just shunned the man and Ogerpon so quickly that they didn’t remember much of what they actually looked like?

Spoiler

My issue moreso is that Kitakami's people feel a little fickle with the story. They shun Ogerpon and her trainer as outsiders, but hail the Loyal Three as Heroes because they die fighting what they thought was a vicious Ogre (I assume from the story drift that they don't know these two to be the same creatures). Centuries later, these long dead heroes inexplicably return to life (we have speculative bases but no one in-universe has a clue how that happened) and are immediately given the old masks (when in the story they were taken to weaken the Ogre they fought rather than doing them any good) along with a bunch of motchi. All this to say the people of Kitakami still seem to put a lot of stock in the legend such that they don't question strange going-ons involving the Loyal Three at this stage.

I can sort of get the hailing of the Loyal Three coming as a consequence of opposing Ogerpon, who's scary, powerful, and carrying a big stick while they hadn't even seen the Loyal Three much until now, so their first impression is "die fighting big monster and then monster leaves" so they filled in the gaps. This again assuming they don't know Ogerpon to be both this shunned foreign Pokemon and the Monster in question (does the text suggest they assume the Ogre to be a Pokemon or just a straight up Beast?)

And yet within the day people are not only convinced just at Kieran's insistence that the Loyal Three were rogues, but they get past their fear of Ogerpon as the Ogre and Prejudice as an outsider (despite Carmine implying the sentiment still exists even if not as intense centuries later). It feels like a very fast turn-around for a deep-seated cornerstone of their culture and folklore, and I honestly think Ogerpon choosing to go with you makes more sense under the lens that she doesn't want to stay in Kitakami even if they claim to accept her now.

Spoiler

Yeah, I definitely come out of it with a sense that the Kitakamians are a very fickle bunch. Granted, prejudice isn’t rational, so it doesn’t exactly strike me as implausible up until, as you said, Kieran managing to change the villagers’ outlook in the space of an afternoon. I think that’s a result of combining pure narrative expediency with the series’s generally extremely optimistic outlook.

 

[Sugarbear]

Open team sheets is brilliant. It makes the game much more skill based, rather than trying to catch your opponent off guard with gimmicks.

Focus Sash is a bad item in 6v6 singles. There is just too much passive damage flying around for it to be consistent. Unless you’re a suicide lead (or your name is Alakazam I guess) there are always better items to use.

Baton Pass never should’ve been banned.

I genuinely do not understand why people enjoy using stall teams. What is fun about switch switch switch, protect, recover, toxic, switch switch switch? 1 wall is all you need on your team.

 

[Ironmage]

Open team sheets is brilliant. It makes the game much more skill based, rather than trying to catch your opponent off guard with gimmicks.

Focus Sash is a bad item in 6v6 singles. There is just too much passive damage flying around for it to be consistent. Unless you’re a suicide lead (or your name is Alakazam I guess) there are always better items to use.

Baton Pass never should’ve been banned.

I genuinely do not understand why people enjoy using stall teams. What is fun about switch switch switch, protect, recover, toxic, switch switch switch? 1 wall is all you need on your team.

I have the weird thing in that I like having defensive teams that don't deal a lot of direct damage (often excepting a late-game finisher), but also much prefer staying in and progressing the board state than switching back and forth until the opponent runs out of offensive resources. That progress just takes the form of status, damage-over-time, and hazard stacking.

I personally don't get the appeal of Hyper Offense, since it feels like games are over before you can do something interesting with them.

 

[pika pal]

As someone who doesn't play them myself, I feel the appeal of defensive/stall teams in Comp Pokemon is that you have to be able to read and respond to the opponent repeatedly to maintain that advantage long enough, whereas Hyper Offense is based around needing to get one or two good reads/predictions/lucky shots and then ride that momentum as long as they can. In that regard, it feels like it rewards engagement and knowing not just the team, but your opponent specifically and what they will do very frequently.

Hyper Offense in that regard reminds me of Turf War in Splatoon: It can be fun when everyone's throwing shots around, but it becomes very easy for it to just snap to a clear winner without feeling like you pushed for it so much as got lucky/unlucky on a key moment (EX: The Sniper picks you guys off and now you can't get past the advancing guys to remove said Sniper and thus break back to fight for the center).

 

[Volt-Ikazuchi]

I liked when all mons could cap all stats more tbh.

 

[Coronis]

I liked when all mons could cap all stats more tbh.

You mean Gen 1/2?

 

[Karxrida]

I feel like some Yugioh players would disagree about "quickly" sending broken stuff to the banlist.

Konami killed PePe format after like a week, so Yu-Gi-Oh does get fast bans sometimes. Once every blue moon when it lands on a Thursday in December. But it happens.

Uhhhhh so this isn't a one-liner: a decent chunk of the Unova Pokédex is kind of lame? And I don't mean easy targets like Garbador, I mean the Pokémon that are clearly stand-ins for "staple" roles (e.g. Pidove as the generational Pidgey equivalent) and their overall battle prowess. This is a problem with early game BW in particular, and it feels extra bland to me for some reason because of it.