Unpopular opinions

[The Avalanches]

The Gen IV games are amongst absolute favourites. The return of the day/night cycle, the more extensive post-game, Drifloon, the more detailed cities and the excellent music Sinnoh had make it such a cool region to me.

I kinda liked the music from RBY and RSE a lot less. I have a list of my favourite 100 songs from the games, and aside from a rare few (Emerald RSE Battle Frontier: #2, Champion Blue: #3, Sealed Chamber: #21) I find very few tracks enjoyable.

Gen V's Pokemon are far and away the best they ever made. The fact only one has a Mega Evolution is a travesty.

Swirlix's concept is genius.

Qwilfish needs more love.

 

[Disaster Area]

everything I post is unpopular :(

but also

RBY metagame is very fun and very competitive and not very haxy

does that fit the thread?

 

[DragonAscent]

I enjoyed PMD Red and Blue rescue teams a lot more than Time, Darkness, or even Sky. Don't shoot me.
While I'm here, I never liked fennekin and loved froakie before we knew about greninja. Er....assault vest steelix is pretty good. Stall sucks, 'viable strategy' arguments or not. I always picked squirtle. Mega camerupt is shit. I like rapid spin more than defog. Mixed mega sharpedo is the way to go. I guess that's it.

 

[Fireburn]

everything I post is unpopular :(

stop

Anyways I have some:

• I enjoy each new game in the series just as much as the last one, just because I love Pokemon.
• Mega Evolutions were a great idea, are fun to use, and help keep things fresh
• While I agree Pokemon Colosseum/XD are harder than the main series games, I think their difficulty is a bit overstated sometimes. Colosseum is very easily beatable by using the decent mons you get early (Espy, Umby, Gatr, Amph, Entei, Hariyama can handle the entire game and those are all early captures - heck Eeveelutions will carry you to the Relic Stone if you spend a bit of time leveling them). Jumpluff is also amazing in both games due to being fast, immune to Earthquake, resistant to Surf, and having Sleep Powder - it just trolls the enemy while your offensive partner takes care of business
• All my favorite Pokemon are legendaries
  
• I really love the fact Game Freak made Talonflame and Diggersby, who would otherwise be written off as early game throwaway mons, competitively viable (and good!)
• The new designs for Team Magma and Team Aqua are awesome
• I would love a Pokemon game with an involved plot as long as it was interesting
  
• My least favorite Pokemon is Purrloin

 

[Arcticblast]

My least favorite Pokemon is Purrloin

last gen I'd be mad at you

but then

 

[DragonAscent]

last gen I'd be mad at you

but then

I......I'd never seen purrlion in X and Y. That's terrifying. I had no idea.

 

[Norne]

I completely dislike sinnoh as a region till platinum made it bearable, gen 5 homage pokemon are amazing, freaking trubish and vanillite lines always carry their weight on the team.

Also gen 5 organic procedure felt so nice on self imposed challenge runs made the game felt so fresh and unique for an rug, despite some other popular opinions.

 

[mido_128]

Agreeing that Platinum is the only bearable Gen 4 game.
HG/SS is overall the best game in the series.
From a game mechanics perspective, XY is actually the best, although the characters and story suck hard. Trainer customisation is great though.
XY starters are also the best in terms of conceptual lore followed by Gen V starters.
Black and White 1 sucks, however Black and White 2 is actually very good and is everything the first two should have been.
Purrloin standing up is just about the cutest thing ever (nice try but still doesn't beat Garbador.)
And on that note, Game Freak deserves a medal simply for managing to make a garbage bag the cutest mon ever.
Gen V and Gen VI pokemon designs are the best.
Mega Evolution as a concept is fine, however the execution is average. Seriously Game Freak get it right. Just make them all overpowered like Mega Kanga, Salamence, Mawile and Gengar. The're called 'Mega' for a reason.

 

[Millky95]

I enjoyed Gen 4 but they didn't age well
Gen 5 is the worst gen ever.
PMD had a wonderful story and making to play
XD was also awesome, dying for a WiiU XD style game
Gens 1,2 and 6 are the only ones where all 3 starts are decent design wise.
Might not be unpopular but I find the levelling curve awful in most games.

I'm sure I'll think of more soon

 

[Litra]

I have an odd standard on which mons I see as adorable: Giratina, Hydreigon, Garchomp, Gengar, and Magnezone fall into that but Azumarill and Clefable are ugly.

I never understood Cynthia's popularity. She doesn't look that impressive, is worse than the other champions in regards to handling the crisis via unlucky preteen, and her anime counterpart felt dull.

I see the Eeveelutions as a feature similar to the Pikaclones and not too fond for most of their designs.

I like the idea of Mega Evolution since it gives a bit of spice to competitive battling (wish Kangaskhanite wasn't a thing though).

That should be enough of my opinions.

 

[Millky95]

I never understood Cynthia's popularity. She doesn't look that impressive, is worse than the other champions in regards to handling the crisis via unlucky preteen, and her anime counterpart felt dull.

Have to agree. Never found her hard either. Never understood how people had a problem with her

 

[Gokuzbu]

I hate how all the gym leaders now have to be nice and perfect. Having mean or evil gym leaders like Giovanni was cool.

The idea of gen 4 remakes is ridiculous to me. I have 0 nostalgia for it and the mechanics are still perfectly fine unlike the first 3 gens where a remake really helped.

Hoenn had the best legendary Pokémon.

 

[VaporeonIce]

The Battle Maison is the best and isn't haxy at all. I'm glad it came back unaltered so I could try the new megas in my old stomping grounds. I hax the AI there more than they hax me, even with "imperfect" teams.

...but yes, of course I wanted a Battle Frontier. Just...in addition to the regular Maison.

 

[viperGTS]

I find Generation I to probably be the most boring and bland of all the generations; not really sure why they're given such high regard. Sure, it's the original, but that certainly doesn't mean it's the best.

Generation IV is probably the best in my opinion, followed closely by Gen V and Gen VI. The first 3 simply pale in comparison.

Aegislash has to be one of my favorite new pokemon, both for its design and how it actually simulates a shield and sword fight in a battle.

Mega Evolutions are probably my favorite battle mechanic change.

Also, for anyone who thinks Garbodor and Vanilluxe are "unoriginal"; HAVE YOU SEEN VOLTORB, BUTTERFREE, or BEEDRILL LATELY

 

[Kurona]

Also, for anyone who thinks Garbodor and Vanilluxe are "unoriginal"; HAVE YOU SEEN VOLTORB, BUTTERFREE, or BEEDRILL LATELY

Well, to be fair, Beedrill is a Bee with drills for hands. Still, I understand your point.

 

[viperGTS]

Well, to be fair, Beedrill is a Bee with drills for hands. Still, I understand your point.

True. Point is, it's a rather uninspired, obvious design, in the same way that Garbodor and friends might seem!

 

[Codraroll]

More unpopular opinions!

- I actually like movie 7 the best of the bunch. Mainly because the world isn't at stake in it, there's no "the chosen one" or magical macGuffins, and there are no "standard boring evil" villains in it. It's all about Deoxys causing a misunderstanding, leading Rayquaza on a rampage towards a city, and our friends trying to survive/solve the chaos (without having done anything to set the plot into motion). A disaster movie, if you like. It also illustrates the effect extremely powerful Pokémon moves have on a weak target - Deoxys, strong as it was, was knocked out for four years by a point-blank Hyper Beam, yet was fresh and strong as ever once it woke up by itself. A perfect illustration of the should-have-been-better-known term: "Pokémon never die in battle".

- Related to the previous sentence, I kind of hate fanfics depicting Pokémon killing each other/humans/other animals. The rules of the franchise seem to imply a Pokémon can't cause permanent death, only knock out for shorter or longer periods of time (and this presumably extends to Ash in the first movie - him turning to stone was a side-effect of a strong attack, that would have worn off eventually - the Pokémon tears merely accelerated the process).

- I think Garbodor and Vanilluxe have inspiring designs, but they were horrendously executed. Garbodor was stuck in an awfully derpy pose, its eyes were botched (serously, try copying a Garbodor artwork and change the eyes a bit - you clearly see where GameFreak messed up) and its animal features way too underplayed. Think of it as a toxic troll and not a torn garbage bag, and it actually becomes quite the badass. As for Vanilluxe and its family, they made an ice cream vaguely resembling an icicle, it'd be a lot better the other way around.

- I think Tyranitar (and most 'mons with the same body type) look a little silly. The placement of their knees are totally nonsensical, and it's hard to even imagine how those legs would work in motion. The design works only when the Pokémon stay still. Venusaur's hind legs cause a similar problem, as it's designed to walk like a four-legged dinosaur, but lacks a tail. The result is a rather awkward butt.

- I despise forced Legendary encounters during a game's story. I think the original idea for Legendaries worked the best: Yes, they're out there, but they require you to go off the beaten path, explore the depths of optional dungeons and prepare for a tough battle. The effort required to catch them make them seem all the more elusive and mysterious. It's not quite the same to have them handed to you for free just around the middle of the game.

- I dislike the idea of continuity between Pokémon games. It's obvious GameFreak made no attempt to establish any coherent timeline, apart from vague throwaway lines and shout-outs to older games. Coherence is simply not meant to be a feature of the franchise.

 

[Lady Vader]

Here's some more:
Garchomp is easily my least favorite pseudo-legendary, even if it didn't take any glory from Flygon*.
The Assault Vest is the coolest hold item. I didn't say the best, just the coolest (I love the concept and effect. That and it makes my Goodra, Excadrill, and Exploud amazing).
Speaking of, Exploud is awesome. Especially with the Generation VI model showing off how it looks with its mouth closed to more people**.
There are problems with Sylveon's design that causes it to be my least favorite Eeveeultion. Mostly that the eyes do not match the rest of the evolutionary family. It just feels wrong.
I tend to love the Pokémon that no one loves. Farfetch'd, Delibird, Dunsparce, all of which are cool, if very weak, Pokémon.

And here is the real unpopular opinion:
Generation I has problems, but was amazing for the time. Yeah, it had no post game, but at the time, that didn't matter. We were too busy trying to catch 'em all. Yeah, they are bugged up the ass, but in a way, that makes replaying them years later fun since we can try to hunt down all those faults. Yeah, there was severe balancing issues, but what isn't it just the beginning? If they did everything perfect in Generation I, what would be left for later Generations?
People either are blinded by nostalgia or are so annoyed by genwunners that they go to the other extreme. Actually, I find this too often in this fandom with every element (the popularity of Pikachu, the competitive vs casual debate which shouldn't even be a debate since there isn't one way to play Pokémon, etc.), but that is a rant for another time and place.
What I am trying to say is that the real unpopular opinion about Generation I isn't that it is the worst or the best, but that it is the most important and that even with its many flaws, it is fun. (I don't see the world in black and white, but rather in shades of B2W2...uh, I mean Kyurem...screw it)

*For being a Dragon/Ground-type. I know Flygon isn't a pseudo-legendary.
**It had been seen in other media and likely other games outside the main series.

- I despise forced Legendary encounters during a game's story. I think the original idea for Legendaries worked the best: Yes, they're out there, but they require you to go off the beaten path, explore the depths of optional dungeons and prepare for a tough battle. The effort required to catch them make them seem all the more elusive and mysterious. It's not quite the same to have them handed to you for free just around the middle of the game.

- I dislike the idea of continuity between Pokémon games. It's obvious GameFreak made no attempt to establish any coherent timeline, apart from vague throwaway lines and shout-outs to older games. Coherence is simply not meant to be a feature of the franchise.

I fully agree with you on these. Especially in reference to the Latis in ORAS.

 

[Millky95]

- I despise forced Legendary encounters during a game's story. I think the original idea for Legendaries worked the best: Yes, they're out there, but they require you to go off the beaten path, explore the depths of optional dungeons and prepare for a tough battle. The effort required to catch them make them seem all the more elusive and mysterious. It's not quite the same to have them handed to you for free just around the middle of the game.

To a point, I agree. Only the box legend should be a mandatory plot encounter, because I believe, at least you would never see that legend if it wasn't for the plot. If you weren't the protagonist and just Cool Trainer Nick, you could still, in theory see some legendaries if you looked hard enough. I mean:
Gen 1: Everything other than Mewtwo you could still find, but no plot encountered Legends
Gen 2: Wouldn't see Lugia / Ho-oh, might see the Beasts once they are released
Gen 3: Wouldn't see Groudon / Kyogre. Maybe see the Latis. Could find the Regis if you were determined like the Ruin guys.
Gen 4: Wouldn't see Dialga / Palkia. Maybe see Pixies before the protagonist would get there. If you managed to beat the E4 you could find the rest
Never played gen 5 so eh
Gen 6: Could find the Kanto birds.

I agree about getting the Lati in ORAS. Was silly

 

[Xen]

-Gold/Silver were among the worst games in the series. The level curve present in the game was borderline retarded, Kanto was stripped down from it's R/B glory (which was already bare-bones to begin with), Team Rocket went from a badass mob to running around like headless chickens trying to get Giovanni back, and while I do like most of the Gen II Pokemon, 100 species with most of them being evos/pre-evos and trash Pokemon like Unown made the games feel more like DLC to Red/Blue, which compared to the story, always made me feel like GSC were riding on the coattails of R/B's success instead of being an entirely new game (which is actually understandable for this point of time, but still..)

-Sinnoh has my least favorite set of Pokemon in the series (with some badass exceptions such as Yanmega and normal Rotom), and the region itself felt too bland.

-Team Galactic is my favorite villainous gang in the franchise. They actually felt like a legitimate threat throughout the games (holding the Windworks worker hostage, bomb threats, etc) and Cyrus's sociopathic, god-complex persona made him out to be an intimidating adversary. The final fight with him in the Distortion World was also one of the most memorable battles in the franchise imo.

-Red/Blue aren't perfect, but they have their place in the franchise. It always seems like fans lean far too left on the "genwunner" side, or far too right on the "Red/Blue sux" side. As someone who started with Gen I, I can acknowledge their faults such as the broken balance, large amount of glitches, admittedly simplified Pokemon designs, etc., but they were still revolutionary games for their time, and the sparce Pokemon movepools, broken balance, and the exploitable glitches still make the games fun to play. The glitches themselves make Red/Blue the only games in the franchise where you can actually complete the Pokedex 100% without having to trade with another game, which is unique since trading partners with game boys & link cables are a dead breed now.

-I think I'm one of the few people that actually liked Game Freak's decision to include Gen V-only Pokemon throughout the main narrative of Black/White. The unfamiliarity with all the Pokemon and easy level grinding with Audino promoted experimentation with all the new Pokemon instead of "I know (insert old Pokemon here) is good, so I'll use it over (insert Gen V Pokemon here)", which made me enjoy B/W more than any other game in the franchise up to this point.

-Charizard and Blastoise are overrated; real men use Venusaur.

Edit: forgot one, I think I'm one of the few people who actually likes Jynx. She was pretty good in-game and competitively for quite some time, and contrary to popular belief, she IS NOT a racial stereotype, but is based off a Japanese mythical creature who's name I don't remember, but is supposed to be a snow demon in the form of a female that lives among snowy mountains in Japan.

 

[tehy]

Gen 3 has the deepest story.

No, seriously. Let's say you are a elementary school kid, you get, say, Sapphire. In it, Magma is good and Aqua is bad; nothing really complex about it-those bad guys want to do evil things and those good guys want to stop them. Black and White!

And at some point, you talk to someone who has Ruby or watch them play (since everyone plays it on the playground, at least when I was a kid, it's a distinct possibility.) Then, you see that it's reversed- aqua is good and magma is bad.

This is pretty nice grey morality-based on random circumstance, one team is 'good' and one team is 'bad'. It's nothing spectacular, but it's certainly an interesting idea-that ideals most kids think are set in stone are really malleable. Look at the rest of the generations:

Gen 1: Team Rocket was evil, period. Giovanni was a gracious loser, i guess?
Gen 2: same here.
Gen 4: After a recent playthrough of platinum , i concluded that any depth to anything Cyrus says is total nonsense. he wants to destroy sentiment because it's bad. why is it bad? he has no explanation.
gen 5: ghetsis uses good ideals to manipulate people into doing his evil biddings. Close, but no cigar.
gen 5 BW2: they're just evil? didn't play it, seems from what i've read that same thing
gen 6: destroy the world so it will be beautiful.

Sure, gen 3's motivations are dumb, but at least they're something more out of the ordinary than 'i want $$$ or power', which only gen 6 really diverged from (in a much dumber way, since magma and aqua very clearly wouldn't destroy the world to achieve their goals, considering how their leader repents after Groudon / Kyogre is released and fucks up the world's weather.)

Also, looker in platinum needs to be... i'd probably get infracted for saying it. Hurt, certainly. Made to feel intense quantities of pain, preferably. thrown out of the game is a start.

 

[Lady Vader]

-I think I'm one of the few people that actually liked Game Freak's decision to include Gen V-only Pokemon throughout the main narrative of Black/White. The unfamiliarity with all the Pokemon and easy level grinding with Audino promoted experimentation with all the new Pokemon instead of "I know (insert old Pokemon here) is good, so I'll use it over (insert Gen V Pokemon here)", which made me enjoy B/W more than any other game in the franchise up to this point.

I am completely with you on this. It was fun to go through it and use Pokémon I've never seen before.

Edit: forgot one, I think I'm one of the few people who actually likes Jynx. She was pretty good in-game and competitively for quite some time, and contrary to popular belief, she IS NOT a racial stereotype, but is based off a Japanese mythical creature who's name I don't remember, but is supposed to be a snow demon in the form of a female that lives among snowy mountains in Japan.

At least from my experience, Yuki-Onna tend to be very beautiful, not Jynx.

 

[Norne]

I am completely with you on this. It was fun to go through it and use Pokémon I've never seen before.

This, that's the main reason I loved this gen, not known disc one nukes, just sheer team exploration trough streamlined yet interesting routes with good diversity, even ice types early in the game.

 

[Xen]

At least from my experience, Yuki-Onna tend to be very beautiful, not Jynx.

Ah, that's what it's called.

But hey, never said Jynx was a looker, just that she's decent in battle (although the physical/special split in Gen IV kinda messed up her level up movepool), which makes up for the oddball design imo.

 

[PSDuckie]

I think that GSC is the worst generation, but that HGSS fixed the problems with GSC.

Speaking of GSC, I stuck with GSC for a while even after RSE was released.