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Post by Badly-Drawn Manchild on May 12, 2013 12:54:02 GMT
So they're finally adding character customisation to a mainline game... and it's EXTREMELY half-arsed. For [censored]'s sake, why can't they add proper character customisation to these games? It's just a minor complaint, and I'm not expecting Saints Row levels of making your own avatar, but what's the point of setting out to be the very best (that no-one ever was) when you have the same face as everyone else?
Also, what's the deal with Focus Punch? I've seen enemy Pokémon use it, and your guys can still use it if they were transferred with it, but to my knowledge there's nowhere in Gen 5 whatsoever that you can learn it. That's just odd.
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Post by Alex on May 13, 2013 17:30:06 GMT
There were Dream World/event Pokemon that knew it. You can also breed it with specific Pokemon if you trade in a Pokemon that learned it in Gen IV. It's not the only time a move has been 'lost' because of changing the TMs, though it's surprising it never wound up being a move tutor move in BW2. Anyway, since this apparently matters to some people, this picture may or may not show your character moving in a diagonal fashion:
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Post by ShayMay on May 13, 2013 18:19:50 GMT
Anyway, since this apparently matters to some people, this picture may or may not show your character moving in a diagonal fashion: If you're going to have the first 3D Pokémon game, on the first handheld with an analogue stick, I have no idea why you'd stick it on the same 2D grid that the series used back in 1996. It matters because if it is using that grid, it shows that Game Freak are somehow more lazy and uninspired than I thought. Sorry to go off on one here on what is a harmless comment, but there are Pokémon fans who genuinely defend the series' pervasive lack of imagination, and get defensive when it's challenged. I'm not saying Game Freak ought to re-invent the wheel, just change the tyre. Generation VI, by rights, should be a revolution, but it's looking to me to be fairly insipid; I hope I'm wrong on that one.
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Post by Alex on May 13, 2013 18:25:41 GMT
I honestly don't really see how moving or not moving in four extra directions implies anything about laziness or uninspiredness, but my point, really, was just that I don't really care one way or another - while some people are literally changing underwear over it.
I want a lot of new things and as much change in Gen VI as we can get (I'm pretty happy to see the idea of new types being well supported, as it would mean a pretty significant change to the core mechanics of the game), but honestly, being able to move diagonally isn't a concern one way or another for me.
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Post by ShayMay on May 13, 2013 18:44:43 GMT
It's not 4 extra directions I want, it's 356. Yeah, I'm sure they'll tweak the battle system, and if there is a new type it'll be interesting, and all this stuff, but to be honest I am getting sick of Pokémon. And I don't mean momentarily, I mean my interest has been waning since Black and White were released. I thought this would be the thing to restart my interest. But it looks exactly the same as it did in 1996. Yeah, sure, some of the nuances will be different, but what possible reason is there not to have fully-realised 3D environments at this point? And to drop the whole 'eight Gym badges, Elite Four, evil team sub-plot' story that it's been repeating since inception? There is no good reason besides laziness, and tweaking invisible battle mechanics doesn't count as a change.
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Post by Alex on May 13, 2013 20:32:01 GMT
I wouldn't label it laziness. I'd label it stubbornness, if anything. It's just a factor of Japanese development (and pretty much any major Japanese media product, for that matter). If you find something that works, take it and do it forever. Within this, relatively small changes like the more detailed plot in B/W or doing a 'direct sequel' in B/W2 are colossal changes because they're breaking with a self-established tradition.
It comes off as a glacial pace change for us, because we expect a lot more novelty and revolution, though we'd be kidding ourselves to imply that FPS games of 10 years ago are actually that different to what they are now. Western developers are just better at distracting us from the things that never change by making a bigger deal of the things that do and ever shinier new graphics.
The problem with the formula that makes up the core gameplay of the Pokemon games is that it is a good one. No matter what happens, GameFreak always delivers a very solid game, and each Generation serves to be better than the last - even if it's not by a massive distance. I'd love to see better and wider exploration of the concept, but I'll still always enjoy that 'eight Gym badges, Elite Four, evil team sub-plot' stuff alongside all the shinier newer things the new games bring.
No-one demands that you have to still want to be a part of it, but the unyielding stubbornness of the core game design isn't enough to turn me away.
(PS: A full 360 3D gameworld on the 3DS would be a shockingly terribad idea because Nintendo are too clueless to include more than one analog slider on their systems without asking you to pay more to defile your system with a massively ugly add-on. Maybe the stars will align for next time).
Anyways, there's one last bit of information from CoroCoro this week: The region (Karos) will be divided into three areas, each with their own Pokedex (like regional Pokedex/National Pokedex): Central Karos Pokédex, Coastal Karos Pokédex and Mountain Karos Pokédex. This may imply a few things. One is that the game world might actually be substantially bigger than first impressions give if each area is large enough to be considered that separately. The other is that with the game's Pokedex split up like that, we may actually get to see a game with all the Pokemon available in it (or a significant amount, excluding starters and legendaries, at least) in the wild within the main game.
That's something I've wanted to see played out for a while, especially with the increasing variety of Pokemon we now have. It'd also make a pretty nice (and rapid) departure from B/W's strategy of only featuring new Pokemon (which I liked, and worked well, but doesn't change that I'd also like to see this, too).
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Post by Alex on May 14, 2013 17:57:58 GMT
You can indeed move diagonally: More info here, but to sum up the Anglicised info: Region is called Kalos, features three distinct Pokedexes and has definite European-wide influences (including Stonehenge). The capital city is Lumiose City and seems to be quite large and picturesque. Your character can be customised throughout the game by getting new outfits to wear, as well as selecting your skin/hair colour when choosing gender. The new Pokemon names are Fletchling (the Japanese Robin), Helioptile (the electric lizard), Pancham (the panda) and Gogoat (the goat). Also, while I completely understand the tension in wanting a fully rendered 3D Pokemon world to explore, I can't not look at the screenshot above and think "damn, that's a really nice way of still looking like a Pokemon game, but doing the graphics entirely differently". I think it'll look great in action, and even better with the natural anti-aliasing effect and depth the 3D effect gives to games on it.
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Post by Badly-Drawn Manchild on May 17, 2013 11:26:17 GMT
So for the first time I'm having a go at a Wi-Fi competition, namely the May Spring Friendly. Won one and lost one so far, but both opponents fielded Legendaries (one of them even fielded Keldeo, which I thought was banned from events such as this, and surprise surprise my team got pulverized by that one Legendary alone). I don't care if it's legal to do so; as soon as you field a Legendary, you are automatically scum in my eyes. It's like with "snaking" in Mario Kart; while it's technically within the rules, it still feels like every loss to someone who uses such techniques feels unfair.
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Post by ShayMay on May 17, 2013 15:29:13 GMT
Snaking takes skill to pull off though (plus it's still fairly easy). You practise more to get a reward, I don't see the problem. Legendaries, though, I agree with. They should be banned from your average tournament.
As for Generation VI, latest trailer's coloured me interested again. It's... basically exactly what I wanted from the 3D environment. If they manage to keep the locations varied and interesting, I'm sold.
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Post by Badly-Drawn Manchild on May 17, 2013 15:54:21 GMT
Something else that should be banned are people that switch their console off before a win against them can be properly recorded in an online match, thus costing you the mark and the BP. Of course then there'd need to be a way to verify whether the connection was dropped deliberately or because of a technical hiccup, but under the circumstances of what happened to me earlier (combined with the fact that players online, almost as a rule, conform to the Greater Internet [censored]wad Theory) I'm more inclined to believe the former.
EDIT: How exactly are the BP you get from these Friendlies calculated? At first I thought it was dependent on how many guys you had left after winning a fight, but that doesn't seem to be the case.
Also, is a Speed-trained Tyranitar supposed to be faster than an Electivire or Lucario that's been Speed-trained? Going off base stats I shouldn't think that would be possible.
DOUBLE EDIT: And I'm now officially swearing off any idea of online Pokemon battling in Friendlies or anything like that, due to the sheer volume of utter [censored]s who field only Legendaries and disconnect the very second they lose their last Pokemon. The whole Friendly's been a painful reminder of why I normally refuse to play multiplayer games that don't consist of known entities.
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TheFatPanda
New Boomer
Bulging out of his t-shirt like a boss
Posts: 41
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Post by TheFatPanda on Aug 9, 2013 0:07:43 GMT
So how about them Mega Evolutions?
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Post by Feniiku on Aug 9, 2013 0:15:08 GMT
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Post by Alex on Aug 9, 2013 12:07:22 GMT
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Post by L. T. Dangerous on Aug 11, 2013 6:40:15 GMT
They look ridiculous.
That's all aesthetics, though, interested to see how the mechanic works.
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Post by Badly-Drawn Manchild on Aug 11, 2013 7:45:52 GMT
Seems I'm not the only one to whom Digimon came to mind when I learned more about this. I also feel they look pretty damn silly, but I might as well wait and see how it actually works before I pass judgement.
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Post by Alex on Aug 11, 2013 11:56:43 GMT
Really, they look like they'll be a significant kick up the ass to the series - and can essentially redefine some Pokemon in a significant way. Last night at World's, Masuda announced another Mega Evo - Mega Kangaskhan - which basically should turn Kangaskhan from an ok mid tier Pokemon with not much going for it to something pretty damn devastating on ability alone because it essentially mega-evolves the baby, it gets to attack twice - though we expect that the second, baby, attack will be somewhat weaker. But, that gives you two chances in one go for a status infliction, not to mention a power boost (and a stats boost from Mega Evolving in the first place), which opens up a huge amount of new potential for Kangaskhan that will likely lift it up a tier.
The more it settles in, the more I really like the concept. It has the majority of the benefits of evolution, but because it's not 'true' evolution, firstly, it means we can have stuff like Mega Blaziken, Mega Ampharos and Mega Mewtwo, which allows Game Freak to revisit those Pokemon, kick them up a gear and really shake up the meta game, but it should also allow them to do this kind of stuff (as they did extensively in Gen IV with many new evolutions - a few of which would likely have been Mega Evolutions instead now [looking at you, Rhyperior]) without stuffing the Pokedex full of them. Hopefully this will mean we'll get a load of these Mega Evolutions alongside a 100+ Pokedex of actually new Pokemon (and a few legit evos/pre-evos like Sylveon).
It should hopefully almost balance itself out too, as it seems that you can only Mega Evolve once per battle throughout your entire team - so a team of Mega Evolutions won't be a thing, and you'll really have to play it smart what you choose to do. You also, obviously, lose the ability for that Pokemon to hold a real item, which somewhat limits the potential of both the Mega Evolution and the normal Pokemon. Though, that might be small pennance for the fact that something like Mega Blaziken will be pretty damned broken (Speed Boost Blaziken is already banned as it is). Fortunately, the fact that each Mega Evolution requires a separate item means individual Mega Evolutions can be banned simply by banning the item - similar to how we currently ban Soul Dew - so it's been well put together in terms of bringing it into the competitive playing field.
I do, however, think it's a massive shame that Mawile gets a Mega Evolution instead of a real one, as its sorely needed for ages.
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Post by ShayMay on Aug 11, 2013 12:19:58 GMT
I think it is an opportunity for a kick up the arse, and I agree with all of Alex's points. I wonder if, with Mawile, what they're doing is trying to make it into a Pokémon that will be insanely powerful, but with drawbacks, which is why it gets a Mega Evo and not just a normal one. So, if it can survive the first couple of turns, there you go. It reminds me of the LV monsters from Yu-Gi-Oh! more than anything - monsters that you had to find a way to fulfil certain conditions to level them up to a force to be reckoned with.
So from a gameplay standpoint, it works. And I like that they're putting in effort by giving them a re-design, but I also can't help but feel that this might have been better as a "Mega Mode" or something. I know that sounds like a really arbitrary distinction, but let me waffle like a [censored]er for a couple of minutes to try and articulate why I think that. Basically, the main thing I could always, always say about Pokémon up until Generation V is that each and every monster has been well-designed. No matter how outlandish the concept, the design reflected the idea and abilities of the Pokémon perfectly, and they never relied on tacking on accessories such as spikes, stripes, or more hair to make the Pokémon seem unique (Digimon is far and away the worst culprit for this). Sure, Pokémon have had spikes and stripes, but it's never been a fundamental part of their design. Even in Generation V, the only problem was the alternate formes of Kyurem and Keldeo. But these Mega Evolutions... all of them, with the exception of Kangaskhan, seem to exhibit this. Just adding more hair, spikes, and stripes. It just feels a bit tacky to me, and I thought that the Pokémon series exhibited more... I don't want to say maturity, but more nuance than that.
That said, it'll definitely be interesting to see how this goes. I don't think it can do any sort of harm, certainly, and new designs do always get people pumped. I can see why they did it, I just think that perhaps having the same mechanics without the design change would have been a little more mature.
Edit: To try and get this across a wee bit better, imagine a genwunner came up and started moaning about how it's too complex and there are too many Pokémon. I sort of agree, for the Mega Evolutions. I doubt it'll be a core gameplay experience, but I think it does make the fundamentals of the game more complex than they really need to be? Am I making sense?
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Post by Alex on Aug 12, 2013 14:55:14 GMT
I think the idea behind at least some of the designs is that the extra power is effectively reflected in their outward appearance, well, effectively doing a Super Saiyan. It's a recognisable trope (in Japan, at least), so it's not that surprising they'd take that path. This only really seems to apply to Pokemon like Blaziken, Lucario and Ampharos, though. Mega Mawile's design is, well, more or less what I'd expect from an actual Mawile evo, while Mega Mewtwo is more akin to Mewtwo Speed Forme than anything else.
The Mega Kangaskhan reveal indicates that there's definitely no real pattern to the design of the Mega Pokemon, other than the fact that they're basically just alterations of the existing Pokemon as opposed to a radical change in appearence, because they're not true evolutions.
As for whether it makes the game more complex than 'it needs to be', I'd argue that it'll be little more than a novelty in game (though I expect at least one new Pokemon to focus on it as a feature of their design, and probably for the new Gym Leader to have one on their team), and exists primarily to expand the competitive game in a way that it really kind of needs.
If you paid any attention to Worlds this weekend, you'd probably notice a common theme: Cresselia, Trick Room and Genies. I think, possibly, the strongest thing about Mega Evolutions is that there, already, is a solid amount of incredibly dominating Pokemon coming out of it - but if you can only have one on your team, it significantly varies the amount of dominating-Pokemon-led teams. It really will redefine the competitive game - and if you can conflate variety with complexity in that context, I think you'd still be hard pressed to call it a bad thing.
But if it comes to in-game, it's hard to really brook any suggestions that it's too complex at all. Really, it's as complex as you feel like getting into. The actual main single player Pokemon game itself is literally easy enough for a 5 year old to beat by just hammering through it.
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Post by ShayMay on Aug 12, 2013 15:48:54 GMT
Yeah, I see what you're saying. I don't think it'll make them too complex to be understandable, like, but they do make it a bit more cluttered. Still, yeah, I doubt they'll be the focus of the game at all. It's a weird one. I don't think they'll hurt the game in any way whatsoever, but if someone asked me what changes I'd like to see made to improve the Pokémon experience, that would not be on the list.
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Post by The Shad on Aug 17, 2013 3:26:04 GMT
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Post by Badly-Drawn Manchild on Aug 17, 2013 7:04:28 GMT
Stealth anime reboot? Though I suspect that, much like the Mystery Dungeon movies, it's more likely going to be an hour-long advert rather than anything more substantial.
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Post by Hevs on Aug 17, 2013 8:47:09 GMT
I'm hoping it is more substantial though, it looks like it's taking inspirations from the manga which got pretty edgy at times. A less-tame look at the pkmn world is just what is needed. Seriously, watching pokemon now is painful, every episode is exactly the same but with different pokemon.
Maybe this will open up more story-driven stuff, hopefully it'll follow the manga. If so then it will definitely be worth watching, just as long as they don't PC it up for the kiddies and turn it into boring mushy drivel like the current anime.
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Post by Alex on Aug 17, 2013 11:25:20 GMT
It's just a special - not a new series. Though it does look pretty awesome.
It also looks as though there'll be a Wii U Pokemon battling game to go with X/Y, following a glimpse at something that can really only be that at the end of a sizzle reel for the demo that's now making the rounds at expos.
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Post by ShayMay on Sept 4, 2013 12:10:39 GMT
Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise to get Mega Evolutions - you can choose one starter in the game. Tough choice!
On a more disappointing note, apparently one has to pay a fee to transfer their Pokémon from 5th gen to 6th. [censored] that off.
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Post by The Shad on Sept 4, 2013 14:26:12 GMT
Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise to get Mega Evolutions - you can choose one starter in the game. Tough choice! How is it a tough choice? LOOK AT IT
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