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What "little things," details, small flourishes, etc. did you appreciate?

Esserise

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I'm always impressed by the smaller touches that they add in. For instance, XY let us sit on benches and chairs, and it had Sudowoodo appear in Trevenant hordes. These aren't game-changing features, but they really make the games feel more alive.

What sorts of details did you notice/like in SM?

I can think of a few off the top of my head - primarily, there's one that I noted in the Alola Region thread. On Route 3, you can find Bagon on the cliff's edge, with a 1% encounter rate. But directly beneath that edge, in the patch of grass in Kala'e Bay, you can find Bagon with a 10% encounter rate. And if we look at Bagon's Pokédex entries, we can find this piece of information:

> "Bagon has a dream of one day soaring in the sky. In doomed efforts to fly, this Pokémon hurls itself off cliffs. As a result of its dives, its head has grown tough and as hard as tempered steel."

When I realized this, I was floored. Bagon are more common at the bottom of the cliff because they jump off the top! They actually integrated the detail about Bagon jumping off of cliffs into the area's layout and distribution - I can't remember the last time they did something like that. Not to mention that it's also a really cool use of the vertical dimension of the area.

I also love that our responses in the Po Town Pokémon Center change from "Yes/No" to "Sounds good, yo/No thanks, yo". Actually, Team Skull in general are a good source of these. :D
 
I didn't even knew that about the encounter rate, but that's brilliant. I agree on what you say about Team Skull, Po Town in general was in a weird way a hilarious part of the story. It should be this dark and sinister hole, but those grunts sort of mess it up. Actually paying for healing my Pokemon was a nice little touch as well.

Another little thing I noticed (which is more aesthetic I suppose) is that you see the PC searching with Stoutland rather than just sit on his back. If you look closely you'll see the PC also ''sniffing'' for stuff. really cool detail.
 
Well, a big one for me is that now everyday NPCs can use other types of Poke Balls besides the standard model. I mean, why should the PC be the only one with access to higher grade balls? Especially if we consider trainers like Veterans and Ace Trainers, who are supposed to be high-level, but even lower-level Trainers use other types of Poke Balls. Heck, even Team Skull uses different balls on occasion, and they're not exactly the type to just walk into a Pokemon Center, step up to the Poke Mart, and purchase a few Great Balls and such. That small little detail really adds some realism to the games, because if other types of Poke Balls are available to everyone, then why should the PC be the only one to get them? That little detail adds a lot to me.
 
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I do miss being able to actually interact with furniture this time round, perhaps more than I should ... but anyway, I prefer the night palette on these games. I don't think it's much darker than XY, but it certainly feels more like night. The Kalosian night was just too bright
 
There's a part right at the beginning of the game where Rotom-dex takes a picture of the player, Hau, and Lillie. Right after that scene, I was disappointed that we didn't get to see the photo taken. However, at the end of the credits, it was nice to see that very photo on the desk. It just made me happy.
 
The fact that you can actually catch a Salamence is pretty neat. Same applies to Dragonite and Kommo-o.
 
I've been liking most of the "little things" I've noticed so far. Let's see....

Combat related:
- Able to review current buffs/effects on the field
- Poke Ball selection available directly from the menu
- Poke Refresh available upon winning a battle
- Specific NPC trainers using Z-moves (nuzlockes beware!)
- Level-relative XP gains again (the XP Share is still too powerful, but this alleviates it somewhat)

Menu related:
- Able to set markings at any time, not just from the PC
- PC storage system removed its front-end menu (deposit/withdraw/move) and goes directly to the current Box listing
- Pokedex marks time specific sightings with day/night icons

Various:
- Beverage items no longer grossly superior to Potions
- I kinda liked the use of field moves in previous games, but at the same time, Poke Ride is a lot of fun in its own right.
- I didn't discover this myself, but you can finally TAKE OFF THAT HAT.
 
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Mareanie in general is just a stellar, adorable-in-an-evil-way Pokemon, but the fact that it sneaks up on injured Corsola when they call for help is just creepy and beautiful. More Pokemon should show up as predators in SOS battles, it just kills me. Very true to biology. If you yell out for help when injured, predators notice, too.
 
Of course there's the favorite: hearing the cries of Pokemon on the Route you're traveling~ Just makes the game feel more lively. I also agree on the NPCs using Poke Balls other than just the basic one.

Similar to XY, I liked that foreigners use Pokemon that have Alolan Forms in their regular forms to indicate that they aren't from that region (also cute is that the females are taking a selfie when they lose X3)

My biased favorite thing would have to be Mimikyu's Room; where it has drawings of Pikachu all over the place as a reference to it wanting to be popular like Pikachu. It comes off as creepy and obsessive~

OH, I like that some Pokemon in-game tend to "speak" For example: in a certain Pokemon center, a Veteran explains Merciless and how it always Crits when the opponent is Poisoned and says "that's so mean!" If you talk to the Stufful next to her, it says "Meeeaaaann!". I just found that so cute!
 
-Pet beds in houses. So wonderful!
-Motels scattered about. I thought it was so cool.
-Trainers are looking for battle. Now I know who's gonna fight me and who's gonna say "isn't this ledge spooky! you can jump off it!"
-I can lay on my bed (and most other beds too, hilariously. Except the giant bed in Po town (you guys know the one if you been there). IT IS JUST GIANT AND I WANT TO LAY ON IT GAMEFREAK.
-Gladion telling you to get out when you talk to him in the room he's staying in.
-Pokemon that drop items after battles. I like that. I just really like it.
-Hearing pokemon cries outside of battle on routes. The world feels alive!
-Pokeride instead of HMs. It's such a beautiful thing. It's a small change really but when I realized I didn't *HAVE* to keep a bird in my party to travel I was really happy with my party. And not needing surf, cut, rock smash, strength... speaking of:
-Machamp carries you bridal style. It's hilarious. I love it. Those arm gloves too. I died.
 
Rather than refacing the Champion you just dethroned, you get to defend your title against challengers. It actually feels like you are the Champion of Alola.

This. I am going through the elite four right now for the second time, and this simply amazed me. The fact that you sit on your throne and somebody comes to challenge YOU, the champion, for your title, is brilliant. I hope this is something Gamefreak will continue to incorporate in future titles, because I appreciate the hell out of this.
 
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