Did you think gen7 removing gyms was a good idea?

[PageEmperor]

I for one found it to be an excellent idea. The trials were fun and fit the theme of the region, and I was more than willing to see them shake up the formula. Seriously I don’t understand why they needed the same gym formula for so long. In fact I don’t even get why they still haven’t stopped doing type based gyms. (How about we get gyms based of battle strategies or weather?)

Altogether, I thought removing gyms was easily the best descision the series has ever made and am hoping to see future games going away from the old formula as well.

What do you guys think?

 

[Viridian Beedrill]

I thought it was a good experiment, and it made for an interesting story point of starting up a league in the region. But to be honest, I liked the trials less than Gyms and was glad to see the Gyms come back.

Probably one of my most unpopular opinions as a Pokémon fan is that I don't want Type-based Gyms to go away. Admittedly, it's pure personal preference...I think having an elemental affinity as part of a character design is fun. A particular "fan game" video series on YouTube removed the Type affinity of the Gym Leaders altogether and made the Gyms based only on battle strategies. It made the Gym Leaders easily my least favorite part of a creative work I otherwise enjoyed a lot. Per typical for Pokémon games, they didn't have a lot of plot relevance beyond fighting them once, and without a strong theme adding extra flair to make up for that, they just drifted into "generic NPC" territory for me.

And while, again, this is personal preference based on character design, I honestly don't see why Type affinity needs to be sacrificed for the sake of more challenging/interesting Gyms. Raihan and the Blueberry Elite 4 mixed up their teams with some off-Type members and unusual strategies while still maintaining a Type affinity.

 

[mastermind lissi]

I never played the alola games, but I think getting rid of them for the one region was a good thematic choice, and bringing them back for galar.

 

[skynerel]

They took me by surprise and it was a welcomed challenge after breezing over the easy Kalos gyms (sorry Kalos). I wouldn’t mind if they bring them back in some shape or form, just not as the main quest as I think that should remain unique to Alola.

 

[Hydrogenium]

I see the gyms with trainers specialised in only one type more as a part of the world building than a game mechanic. I think the gyms should be present in every region unless there's a good reason for them not to be, like in Alola, otherwise it would feel like "doing something new just for the sake of it" to me.

 

[colours]

there's an argument to be made that trials were essentially gyms under a different name, and while i certainly see that point... not having traditional gyms and having something that fits the "culture" more of alola i think was the right move. there's also more of a creative aspect to it in that each trial having different little prerequisites to clearing them. it made them a bit more interesting than going through normal gyms, at least.

there's also a bigger discussion to be had on whether traditional gyms should still be around period. i'd argue not in its current state but that's a separate conversation.

 

[Rachael]

Yes, I loved that about Alola! The challenges were fun, and there were still plenty of battles. I wouldn't mind seeing this sort of thing again, as long as it's not too often. The later gens have been fun, too, with challenges that come with the gym challenges.

But puzzles have always been a part of gym challenges, going all the way back to Gen I. And the Kahuna battles were kind of like gym battles--even playing the same music when you defeated them--so it didn't feel too much like we were missing out on the gyms. The Kanto-style "gym" in USUM was fun and hilarious, too. I loved the references to the buckets ("We have no idea what they're for, so we're using them to hold drinks!") and the "Kanto walk" (because trainers don't actually walk over to you in Alola).

 

[Norzan]

Probably one of my most unpopular opinions as a Pokémon fan is that I don't want Type-based Gyms to go away. Admittedly, it's pure personal preference...I think having an elemental affinity as part of a character design is fun. A particular "fan game" video series on YouTube removed the Type affinity of the Gym Leaders altogether and made the Gyms based only on battle strategies. It made the Gym Leaders easily my least favorite part of a creative work I otherwise enjoyed a lot. Per typical for Pokémon games, they didn't have a lot of plot relevance beyond fighting them once, and without a strong theme adding extra flair to make up for that, they just drifted into "generic NPC" territory for me.

I don't think Gym Leaders need to be made around types to be memorable because many of the Champions aren't single type and they are some of the most memorable characters in the series like Cynthia, Alder or Steven. If the Champions can be memorable while not being single type, why can't the Gym Leaders? And really, a lot of the time the single type affinity makes their character one note because it's most of the time "it's the rock guy" or "it's the karate girl", where if they weren't single type Gamefreak would have to write an actual character.

Me personally i find a lot of the Gym Leaders really forgettable like the Kalos Gym Leaders, so it's not like their single typing helped in making them memorable. You can quite easily design fun characters with teams made around strategies instead of single gym types. It's a genuine win-win situation because you make challenging gym leaders on top of good character designs, instead of what we have now where you blow through all gym leaders because their single typing makes them ridiculously easy to sweep.

 

[c la fet]

Totem Pokémon battles are lame, easy and laggy. I don't like them at all just like how I don't like trials because they're boring and some of them require you to hit innocent wild Pokémon.

 

[Juliyet]

Tbh, I didn't really like it. The trials and totem fights didn't have the same oomph and magnitude that the gym battles had for me.

I suppose it was fine for a one-time thing, but gyms are a really fun and integral part of the Pokemon experience for me and i don't want that to go away

And like more recent gens combined challenges and gym battles together and think that's a good merging of the two.

 

[Viridian Beedrill]

I don't think Gym Leaders need to be made around types to be memorable because many of the Champions aren't single type and they are some of the most memorable characters in the series like Cynthia, Alder or Steven. If the Champions can be memorable while not being single type, why can't the Gym Leaders? And really, a lot of the time the single type affinity makes their character one note because it's most of the time "it's the rock guy" or "it's the karate girl", where if they weren't single type Gamefreak would have to write an actual character.

Me personally i find a lot of the Gym Leaders really forgettable like the Kalos Gym Leaders, so it's not like their single typing helped in making them memorable. You can quite easily design fun characters with teams made around strategies instead of single gym types. It's a genuine win-win situation because you make challenging gym leaders on top of good character designs, instead of what we have now where you blow through all gym leaders because their single typing makes them ridiculously easy to sweep.

I would argue Champions have a boost in the memorability department due to (usually) having more plot relevance and screen time than the Gym Leaders...or, at the very least, the benefit of being framed as a climax of the player's journey. The Gym Leaders in the project I watched had the prototypical "battle the guy and move on" exposure. It's quite possible I would like the concept of Gym Leaders based around strategies if it was executed in a full game, as Game Freak has been giving more opportunities to see the Gym Leaders' story, background, etc. outside of battle as of late. If they're boss fights you never really see again though? I would rather one note played clearly than a more complicated song I'm not given time to listen to. Memorable designs certainly can be done without elemental theming, but when I saw Gym Leaders stripped of the Type distinctions and put alongside other non-elemental characters who got more exposure/plot importance (rivals, Champion, Evil Team Leader), the Gym Leaders just got lost in my brain. Character design will always be somewhat subjective, though...I'm sure some people who watched the same project found the Gym Leaders very memorable. It just wasn't my thing, and hence something I would personally prefer not to see in the real games.

Again, I'm also not convinced purging all Type affinity from the Gyms and Gym Leaders is the sole way to get more interesting battles. We've gotten some "compromised" Type specialists (including Steven) who offered more varied teams while keeping some elemental flair.

Back to the idea of removing Gyms altogether...I agree with Hydrogenium and Sheeer that Gyms have become a worldbuilding mainstay. Repeatedly explaining why they're not in the newest region would get a little weird, I think. Even if they change the execution, it seems smart lore-wise to keep the term "Gym" and the basic idea of it being a place where Trainers are challenged and victors receive some symbol of merit. I guess that's ultimately just semantics, but for the sake of consistency...yeah. Even if they change what it means, I'd vote to keep the "Gyms".

 

[Queen Of Space]

I quite liked the idea as it was fresh and unique with the great addition to the Alolan vibe and the lack of a leauge

 

[Pasio]

I've always been a really huge fan of the Totem Battles, since I've found them more fun and memorable than any region of Gym Leader fights on average and many of them (or in my case in USUM, all of them), required some form of planning or strategy to be made ahead of time in order to push through. I felt it was nice how these weren't just glorified regular trainer fights. Also really nice how the Pokémon got more spotlight here than in other games.

As for the trials themselves, they are similar to Gym Puzzles, and I don't really know how they could be made to be much different, but I never minded any of them except for the Electric trial in base Sun and Moon. Really glad USUM completely changed that one.

The Trial Captains and Kahunas were great additions to compliment the totems especially since you can still battle some of the trial captains anyway (you have to battle most of them USUM by Mina's trial), and the Kahunas were exactly like Gym Leader fights.

This whole system is underrated and imo would only need a little more polishing if people want more human trainers into the mix, like more Kahunas or ensuring you battle trial captains before Totems, etc. Maybe even combine the gyms with the Totem boss fights if that's feasible.

 

[Unovia]

The Island Challenge was a unique idea, perfect for the Region, though I like Gyms more, mainly because I am used to it more. I think the calling for allies in a Totem battle was a bit unfair. I liked the Gym that Ryuki or the Surge Badge was wanting to try to do, and I think it would have been interesting (maybe in an Alola revisit one day) to have a thing with having 8 Gyms and having the Island Challenge as well so players could take both on or do the one they prefer.
Just my two cents.

 

[lisianthus]

I remember playing Moon as a kid and being really surprised that was the case! I think I had lots of fun with it, though...

Gym challenges have been a part of the series since forever ago, so looking back on it now, to break from that tradition, Game Freak must have had to have been pretty confident in their idea. But it was warranted IMHO! For Alola especially, taking away the Gym Challenge made for a more dynamic experience, and honestly the more laid-back culture of the region in general arguably wouldn't have fit with a proper Challenge, too.

...Granted, I haven't played the Alola games in quite a few years, so some of this may be nostalgia goggles! But I do think it was the right call — this was further accentuated with Legends (sort of?) and S/V in showing that there are a few different paths to having a fun Pokémon adventure, I think. points at Contests, please make a comeback contests......