Gotta Catch 'Em All! - Pokémon Thread

Glitch said:

If you're wondering where the tenth doctor Looker is, consider the business with the Ultra wormholes in SuMo (or likelier still USuMo) and his amnesia on the beach of Battle Resort in ORAS. Maybe that'll be a dlc: an excursion to Battle Resort and bring the Ultra Beasts to Gen IX, they'd be drawn to Looker like they are fallers such as Anabel from SuMo (herself coming from Pokemon Emerald aka the gen 3 through 5 universe where mega evolutions didn't exist).

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Yeah, I'll admit it's a little weird that they haven't followed up on the Looker subplot for the entirety of the Switch generation. He showed up in almost every game after Gen 4. But, nothing since USUM. Maybe Gamefreak considers his story "over"? Maybe he's too tied to one specific director for the games who retired or something when they moved over to the Switch? But, it's not like the Fallers story is ended, as that was a minor focus in Legends Arceus. Looker has been conspicuous with his absence. Maybe Gamefreak just isn't ready to do more with the Fallers subplot just yet? I do hope he shows up again, sometime. Outside of Masters EX.

Then again, I also thought that Rainbow Rocket Giovanni would have made another move by now. And maybe he will, someday. But, who knows when? It would be kind of fun to see Rainbow Rocket version of Silver, at some point.

And then there's Mr Bonding. But...I could see him never coming back. I don't think he's as beloved as Looker, or even RR Giovanni.

Pokemon has a lot of little hanging subplots that they've never bothered to actually finish.

I only started at Alpha Sapphire. So I've had some exposure to the Looker, but never really dove too deep on the lore.

But, I mean, it looks like he at least got some exposure in ZA with his protege showing up.

Very minor Z-A spoilers about the Fallers subplot.

EDIT:

And now for a bit of comic relief. I just wanted to share these.

Well, I'm in the post game. I won't give any spoilers. But overall, I'm happy with this game. I mean, look, I totally agree that the graphics could and should be better. And I know I'm part of the problem consistantly buying these games anyway. But you know what, I still had a lot of fun here. I do think the vitriol this game has gotten is rather disproportionate.

Anyway, it's well past bed time. Just know, my overall grade, I'll give it an A-. I necessarily have to dock it some because in this generation of games, as expensive at buying games are, there's really no excuse to be lazy on graphics like this. BUT, it's a fun game and I'm not going to pretend that it isn't. While I do want Gamefreak to do better, I'm not going to pretend they killed my dog and stole my car. It was a fun game and I do foresee myself spending a lot of time in post-game.

Maybe they could have given the game a cel animated look as a callback to gen VI.
I know I'm going on a bit but really I'm with Caldwin in that they don't detract from enjoying the game.

I know the games just been released but I do wonder what is next, gen X obviously but this game features six new mega evolutions for gen V Pokemon, I wonder if there's some foreshadowing there. I was one of the ones disappointed by BDSP but think Legends Arceus was what Gamefreak intended on the grounds they pushed ORAS a bit beyond with episode Delta. Gen V could be commemorated in many ways: another Let's Go game, a Legends game set in future Unova, a remake of the originals with new fusion Pokemon.

Honestly? I don't think LZA actually looks that bad. It could look better. But, I feel like it's mostly on par with other "anime" inspired JRPGs, like the Tales games or the Legend of Heroes games. I mean, is it disappointing that some buildings look like they copied and pasted a jpg multiple times as "wallpaper"? Sure. But, I really don't care about that when I'm actually playing the game. A lot like with Sword and Shield's tree's, it's not really a problem, it's just something people hyper-focus on. (And I feel like they almost passive-aggressively addressed that in the DLC with a lot of the unique and detailed trees you'd find in the Crown Tundra.)

I think the biggest problem with the graphics is actually one of art direction. They're kind of trying to be "realistic" and "anime" at the same time. It's leading to a effect somewhat like Pixar's The Good Dinosaur, where the environments are "realistic" but all the characters are "cartoony", causing a dissonance. I feel like they really should more embrace the "fantasy" element of this world, and give us some crazier environments. But, that's a personal preference, I guess.



Y'know what? Let's get into my own complains about the game so far. I'm REALLY early on in the game. I'm not sure I'm even out of the "tutorial" yet? I haven't even made it to that Mega Absol fight that I know is coming pretty early in the game. I don't think the main story has kicked in for me, yet. But, here's some early impressions.

So, far, I think I personally have a bigger problem with the battle system. It's not bad. But, it's not quite the slam dunk that was Legend Arceus's catching mechanics, either. Catching things and just throwing everything just instantly felt like a upgrade there. It just felt good to do. Here, the battles are a little awkward. And I think with a few tweaks it could have been a lot better. I think I wish they just let us control the Pokemon directly, rather than have us be the trainer issuing commands. I get what they were going for, but it just leads to a partial-second delay when you're fighting that otherwise wouldn't be there if you were controlling things directly. Plus, I'm finding it hard to have my Pokemon dodge attacks in normal battles, which would probably be easier if we WERE the Pokemon, rather than the trainer issuing commands. And I feel like they were tinkering with this idea with SV's Synchro Machine. But, I do see how being the Trainer at all times feels more like Pokemon. It's a more unique gameplay mechanic. And maybe the "Synchro Machine" idea just didn't work out for the battles for some reason behind the scenes, I don't know. I just think the end result is a little more awkward than just controlling the Pokemon directly would.

I'm also not a fan of the little "introduction scream" the Pokemon do whenever you switch between Pokemon in battle. It means you can't use a move until that "scream" is over. And I get it, they were trying to simulate the extra "turn" you would lose when you switched between Pokemon in the turn-based games. It's a attempt at a way to balance the game. But, I don't like it. Just get rid of that and let us use a move right away when we switch Pokemon. I think that would also help make the battles feel a little more smooth. I think that would make things feel a little quicker and it'd give things a better "flow". And it'd probably be easier to dodge incoming attacks when you switch. I know it's a conscious design choice, but I just disagree with it.

I also think this game lacks that nice gameplay "flow" that LA had. And that's down to how you interact with the environment. In LA, you just chucked a Pokemon at a item and it'd automatically farm stuff for you. Fast and simple. It allowed you to multitask and you could keep moving all the time, you really never had to stop. In LZA, you have to have the Pokemon you want to use already out with you, then target the item you want, then you have to select the specific move for it to use. It's just a lot more steps. And, yes, this does give you a lot more options. You get a lot more ways to interact with the environment. But, it comes at the cost of that "flow", and I'm not sure it was worth it. I think I prefer the way LA did it, even if it is a lot simpler and you can't actually do as much.

But, that kind of leads into another complaint. This game...kind of never tells you how else you can interact with the environment, after you get Rock Smash. This game is so hand-holdy for most of the intro, I just assumed they'd explain more once I got farther into it. I'd see these piles of Sludge and Brambles while I'm playing the game. And I'd just assume "Well, I guess I'll probably get another TM that can deal with those later." I assumed they were just bringing HMs back as TMs. But, then I'd see more and more of these overworld obstacles and still nothing, making me wonder if I missed a NPC or something. I finally looked it up and...it's not even that JUST Rock Smash can break rocks, it's ALL "crushing" Fighting moves. Sludge is cleared by any water move. Brambles are cleared by any "burning" fire move. The game...just never mentioned ANY of that. Which just feels like a oversight, to be honest. Maybe it's MY fault for not experimenting more, but it's weird.

In general, I'm not sure if this game is really good at "introducing" things to the player? Canari gets a mention really early on, but we never get to see a short video of hers or anything until much later. We don't really learn what the Mega Shards or Colorful Screws are used for until much later. This game railroads you so much, but it fails to mention some pretty basic things until a lot later. Again, weird choice. It kind of makes things feel..."unpolished" in a way. Like they didn't quite think some of these things through, or maybe didn't have time to change a few things around.

I do miss crafting my own Pokeballs. I know that's probably going to stay exclusive to games set in the "past". But, it was nice to be able to get Pokeballs anywhere, if you had the materials on hand. It's a minor complaint, but still.

I'm not sure if I like having the whole thing set in a city? It all just feels a little "cramped". All these side streets and tall buildings everywhere. Even the Wild Zones feel pretty small. And the rooftops, while better, still feel a little cramped, since you can fall off (Thank goodness there's no fall damage in this game, though. I will give Gamefreak credit for that.) I mean, they lean into it. The "cramped" feeling even extends to the obstacle courses around town, where you have to navigate VERY narrow pathways precisely. It's a conscious design choice. I can't fault them for that too much. But, I'm not sure if I like it. Maybe I'll get more used to it in time, though.

So for right now...I think I like Legends Arceus a little better than this game, if I'm being honest. This game isn't bad. It's still fun to play. But, I'd still say LA is more interesting. Because of the unique setting and concept. And maybe the better experience. Because it felt like it had the concept behind it's mechanics nailed, which LZA doesn't quite with it's battles. Time will tell. Again, I'm REALLY early in the game. So, maybe I'll feel differently once I get my permanent team together and the real story finally kicks into gear.

Glitch said:

I know the games just been released but I do wonder what is next

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*AHEM* Well, actually, we kind of know what the next 5 or so years will probably look like from the latest leaks. Look back to the bottom of page 67 if you really want to see. But, unless there's a big surprise coming, I think we already basically know. And um...I wouldn't hold out too much hope for Unova anytime soon, I'll say that much.

Glitch said:

a remake of the originals with new fusion Pokemon

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You know, I'd like them to do that. Extend Kyurem's Absofusion gimmick to the rest of Unova. But, I feel like there's no way Gamefreak can make something better than that Pokemon Infinite Fusion fan-game. And I think that fan-game's popularity might be enough to stop them from trying. Unless they can think up their own spin on the concept. Maybe "Equipable" Pokemon that basically work like Armor and Weapons for others? Like Mini-Cons for Pokemon? Or something less like "fusion" and more like just creating brand new Pokemon from two different ones? Symbiotic evolution? Maybe instead of "fusion" they do "fission" instead, and split a known Pokemon into two new ones, instead? I don't know. They could probably do something unique with it.

I mostly like the battle. I love that PP was replaced with cool-down. Like, even in the future if they go back to turn-based, I wouldn't mind seeing PP going away for good.

The only two things I'd say I didn't like about battle, like you said, getting the Pokemon to move to where they won't get hit is a practice in futility. I mean, I know they have to take hits. Otherwise the game's too easy. But either a way to more directly control them, or at least a little bit better AI so they can avoid at least some of the more obvious hits, would be nice.

But really, my other thing is selecting Pokeballs. Now I don't know how they can fine tune this in a real-time setting. But I don't like how it'll just cycle through your pokeballs while you fight. Like, I only want to use regular balls. Don't cycle to my Ultra-Balls for these lvl 1 canon fodder. It makes me scared to death of getting the Master Ball when the time comes. I'll use the Master Ball to catch a Magikarp and not even mean to.

But overall, I'm liking real-time far more than I thought I would.

I would rather they just give you some kind of thing to aim where you are commanding them to go.

Even if it's a range so they don't go exactly.