Generation IV: A look back: An inspection of the now three-year-old fourth generation

[BulbaBot]

Generation IV: A look back: An inspection of the now three-year-old fourth generation

Three years. Three long years. The length of time between the period of Generation I and Generation II, and the length of Generation II itself. Now, Generation IV has reached this, and we await Generation V...

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[Slenderman]

Re: Generation IV: A look back: An inspection of the now three-year-old fourth genera

First. :sweatlol: No I don't do that.

 

[Cybersai]

Re: Generation IV: A look back: An inspection of the now three-year-old fourth genera

DP was basically GameFreak testing the waters of the DS for the first time. It almost felt like a filler generation, from what little we know, it looks like the BW games will actually push the DS further.

DP basically gave evolutions to a lot of the worthless Pokemon that didn't evolve like Aipom, Misdreavous and made them worthwhile.

Most important was online. Battling/trading online is what we always wanted to do with the franchise. It wasn't done perfectly but it was good enough.

 

[Trainer-c]

Re: Generation IV: A look back: An inspection of the now three-year-old fourth genera

Nice perspective. Gen IV has been one amazing ride, the three years (four years, counting from the Japanese release) seemed to just fly by. I know I will always look back fondly upon this generation.

 

[Lysandre]

Re: Generation IV: A look back: An inspection of the now three-year-old fourth genera

Man... we're LOOKING BACK at Gen IV now?

Stop making me and my Pokemon Snap Station feel old D:

 

[Jukain]

Re: Generation IV: A look back: An inspection of the now three-year-old fourth genera

I think this can be remembered as a small, but noteworthy, revival of pokemon's popularity. People that left two generations ago were returning, either to get into D/P/Pt, or to relive their experiences from the 2nd gen in HG/SS. I believe this is the closes we've gotten to everyone being excited about pokemon again. Unfortunately, with this high, we have also seen the largest batch of complaints ever seen in the fandom as well. The fifth gen has a tough act to follow, but at this point, I don't believe the fandom can ever truly be satisfied ever again. They might even outright reject it no matter what it does. Or at least the fandom as it is on internet forums. It makes little difference to me. I went an entire gen being alone in accepting things before, and I will gladly do it again.

 

[Olaf-symbiote]

Re: Generation IV: A look back: An inspection of the now three-year-old fourth genera

What a great editorial. I can completely agree on the fourth gen being a great and special era for Pokémon. The return of day and night, the Wi-Fi capabilities, the physical/special split (it was a huge thing!) the games becoming bigger than the third generation games and there being more to do, new things like important trainers talking at certain points of the battle (initially it felt a bit odd for me but after a while I realized it was a brilliant addition!) and trainer animations plus many other aspects I might not remember right now.

HG/SS revived Johto and made it even more badass. The best Pokémon games were finally revived and introduced many new things like Pokémon following you, Pokéathlon (I just love it!), more uses for apricorns and an awesome, customisable Safari Zone. I can easily call these remakes the best Pokémon games I've ever played.

I sure hope Generation V keeps these new additions and adds even more new ones. Generation III was more of removing established and popular features and replacing them with other good features. I don't believe they need to do that again. Just keep everything introduced now and expand even further on these functions and bring in some new aspects no-one would have thought of. If we're once again getting a generation that's notable of getting rid of awesome functions, I'll be a very sad panda...

PS: Now all we need is an editorial on Generation I and the set is complete. Remember: Gotta catch 'em all editorials!

 

[Del Rio]

Re: Generation IV: A look back: An inspection of the now three-year-old fourth genera

It's funny how I was all but ready to quit after Gen III. It's not that the games were terrible, its that I felt there was nothing left for me as a long time fan. I was completely out of the loop fro Diamond and Pearl aside from a few small things like some new Pokemon and the trainers designs. I ended up buying diamond a week after release because the commercial had made me interested and I wasn't disappointed.

Took me a while, but this was the region where I finally got into the competitive scene. The Physical/Special split made things simpler, and the number of new items and moves made strategy far more important than ever when creating a team. No longer was I just filling my team's moveset with the strongest attacks, I actually started planning stuff out and it helped because the Gyms and Elite Four of this gen felt like the hardest ones so far.

4th gen also holds some of my favorite Pokemon. Gotta love the starters, they're all dual types and very useful no matter who you start with. I didn't care for Roselia in RSE but Roserade made that line one of my favorite grass-type lines. Garchomp was also one of the few ubers I really wanted on my team. I wasn't too fond of the overload of new evolutions but the explanation about making them useable in the new environmant makes sense to me.

 

[Falconwing]

Re: Generation IV: A look back: An inspection of the now three-year-old fourth genera

It's a fair and well thought out editorial. I suppose it could go a bit deeper, but that may just result in dragging it on. As it is, it's good. I agree with quite a bit (especially the bell tower, though strangely I prefer that over tin tower).

I will be glad to wait alongside TTE in speculation season of Gen 5.

 

[Daxdiv]

Re: Generation IV: A look back: An inspection of the now three-year-old fourth genera

I agree that Gen IV did make me "get" the competitive scene, especially since the advent of Wi-Fi Battling with anyone I come across online, there's a reason to invest in it rather than back in Gen III. It also introduced some of my favorite Pokemon as well, like all the starters, Shinx line, Roserade, Starly line, Buizel line, Gible line, Weavile, Munchlax, Croagunk line, Carnivine, Electivire, Magmortar, etc. you know what I think it would be easier for me to name the Pokemon I don't hate from this generation, which is a small handful of them.

That and the whole split for what defines a special and physical attack is one of my favorite innovations this generation, love how someone like Gengar can do more damage with Shadow Ball and Sneasel can actually use moves like Faint Attack and Ice Punch and it does more damage compared to the past generations. Sure some of my favorite Pokemon got nerfed like Typhlosion, but I still like the system and hope it stays in Gen V.

Galactic will always remain my favorite villainous team ever. I felt that everyone there was developed well, including the admins this time around where I actually knew their names and cared for their involvement in the plot. Gym Leaders having more of a personalities in the games are also a plus for me as well, it was nice to see almost everyone outside their gyms this time around and get development out of them.

 

[Lt.]

Re: Generation IV: A look back: An inspection of the now three-year-old fourth genera

Ah, it seems so recent, yet were looking back?
It's been a good year
Not my favorite generation, but, not the worst
This is the gen that got me interested in Competitive play, mainly because of Wi-Fi
The Phys/ Sp split annoyed the crap out of me at first, I still remember, stadium 2, that old guy who was a teacher explained the Pys/Sp
I still remember
Fire, water,grass, ice, psychic,dragon, and dark and electric were sp
all others were Pys.
it's hard to forget what i was told 100 times over
But, it's alot better now that they have it

 

[Magmortar123]

Re: Generation IV: A look back: An inspection of the now three-year-old fourth genera

Wow, seems like just yesterday I got my DS and Pearl!

Anyways, as above mentioned, the phys/spec split was amazing (I didn't even know what types were physical and special).

And one last thing, the wifi edition is awesome for trades and battles though I do more trading than battling.

 

[Musashi]

Re: Generation IV: A look back: An inspection of the now three-year-old fourth genera

Gen IV is what got me into Pokemon in the first place, so it'll always have a special place in my heart no matter what the future generations may bring us. I can't really comment on all the new stuff since everything was new to me, but DPt were amazing games for me that I still don't tire of playing. After playing FR, Emerald, and HGSS, DPt still remain my favorite of the bunch. Not that I didn't love those other games, but DPt just felt like they had the most to do in them.

It's strange to move on to an entirely new generation, but I'm excited about what BW will bring us, along with many brand new Pokemon of course.

 

[PlatinumDude]

Re: Generation IV: A look back: An inspection of the now three-year-old fourth genera

Best. Article. Ever. TTE brought up a lot of good points and most of the ones he mentioned (like Pokemon getting new evolutions so that they could be usable) are the reasons why I like Gen IV.

 

[Laterna]

Re: Generation IV: A look back: An inspection of the now three-year-old fourth genera

I will admit that Gen IV has been my most played series, mostly because of a lot more accessability with the wireless and Wi-Fi functions, and even more-so with things like the Pal Park and Dongle method - it really allowed the old Gen III games to still be involved and apart of the franchise and, for me, that was a very important thing to do.

I for one had no problem with the Physical/Special split, but did find that some Pokémon weren't as good as before once transferred from my Gen III games, which I will admit was a huge disappointment. However, it was one I quickly got used to and, with a little extra work, they've since been made useful in other ways.

For me, the new Pre-Evos and Evos weren't about making older Pokémon any more useful and usable, I used Pokemon like Sneasel, Magneton, Lickitung, Nosepass, Dusclops, etc even before they evolved. That, however, does not mean their Evos were unwelcome at all - I probably am more inclined to use them more than their pre-evolutions now, not because they are better - they just look amazing ^.^

Platinum, I think, while absolutely amazing in it's own right, could've been so much better. I was a little disappointed by the changes and "improvement" made, but I think it was more the hype of all prior to its release in the UK and, to me, that made it seem more drastic with bigger and better changes than what there actually was. However, as with the Pre-Evos and Evos introduced, it did not make any of these changes any less welcome ^.^

HeartGold and SoulSilver are brilliant. I love more than anything the Pokémon following me and, to add that to the Pokéwalker, it really gives a sense of reality - it really makes me feel like I'm in the game and actually have the Pokémon in reality. However, I think HeartGold and SoulSilver could've incorporated many of the features that made Platinum as amazing as it was. To clarify, I think Platinum and HG/SS are just as good as one another and play them both to an equal extent because there are a lot of things in Platinum that are not in HG/SS. For example, if they had included a system like the Battleground, the Villa, the Underground and Contests, I think it would've been much better. However, I do understand why some features like the Underground were not included due to map complications and the Battleground due to, let's say, a new system of doing essentially the same thing (ie, the phone numbers and "hunting" the Gym Leaders). Maybe it's just me, but I missed Contests more than anything in HG/SS, but I do understand the decision to go with Pokéthlon instead, which is definitely a wonderful addition that I am completely hooked on ^.^ Part of me still thinks though, if they could include things like the Wi-Fi Plaza and Pal Park, why couldn't they have Contests? The villa? The Underground? I'm sure there would've been some way of working them in somehow.

As an extension on that, I think it seems odd to include the Pal Park but to remove the Dongle method, a feature I also miss. And the PokéRadar

I'm too down for *mwah* now...

 

[Ranger Jack Walker]

Re: Generation IV: A look back: An inspection of the now three-year-old fourth genera

I really liked Gen IV. My second favourite Generation. Some of the pokemon, according to me felt stupid but then many others were beyond awesome. Gameplay and Story were fun and the Team Galactic was great.

 

[kvark]

Re: Generation IV: A look back: An inspection of the now three-year-old fourth genera

DPPt were surrounded by much mystery and I really liked that. I've decided that Gen IV is my favorite so far.

 

[WallflowerCanyon]

Re: Generation IV: A look back: An inspection of the now three-year-old fourth genera

Reading through this editorial has got me even more psyched about Gen V.:awww: Platinum is my most favorite game out of all the other GBA, DS, Gamecube, and Wii games that I have right now. I thought most of the new Pokemon introduced in Gen IV were pretty kewl, and I give major props to the storyline... and they storyline is almost always my favorite part of any Pokemon game, let alone any game that I buy for any console.

 

[Faye Scarlet]

Re: Generation IV: A look back: An inspection of the now three-year-old fourth genera

A nice editorial indeed! One that doesn't take sides at all, a nice relief!

Yes, Gen IV was truly neat generation! I so hope Gen V can live up to it!

 

[Blazing Charmander]

Re: Generation IV: A look back: An inspection of the now three-year-old fourth genera

Nice write-up. Gen IV has definitely been enjoyable, and was probably my most easgerly anticipated as it was the first one where I followed the coverage from the start - since the silouhette of Gonbe/Munchlax emerged in 2004. I can't believe that it's being wrapped up very soon when I consider how short a time it feels like since CoroCoro released the first screenshots of D/P in 2006.

I got Diamond a year later in Summer 07, and I certainly wasn't disappointed. I loved the more user-friendly touch screen interface for menus and Poketch, and I was eventually able to get into the Wi-Fi and GTS features. My first team was Infernape, Staraptor, Luxray, Roserade, Floatzel and Mr Mime which in my opinion highlights how lacking the Sinnoh Dex was in D/P. This, along with the slow gameplay was one of the drawbacks that I found to D/P. Thankfully this was greatly rectified in Platinum, which was a game that I loved for all of its aesthetic and fundamental improvements to the first two games.

Sinnoh as a region was probably the most vibrant of the series so far. As much as I loved Kanto, Johto and Hoenn, I felt that this region had the most interesting characters and a history which tied in well to the main plot. It wasn't as aesthetically pleasing as Hoenn could have been, but I still found the region itself very fun to explore due to its diverse terrain. Meanwhile, I think that Johto and Kanto were shown up for their true flaws in this generation in that they are too small and compact in comparison to the full-fledged Sinnoh.

That said, I really welcomed HG/SS to the 4th Gen collection and I am proud to say that I never felt any doubt about them being made. I was shocked and disappointed when Platinum was announced in 2008 instead of GSDS, and was disturbed by the mocking from those who didn't believe that remakes would ever come. Thankfully they were proven wrong the following year. :-D There was slight disappointment from myself and other remake fans that not enough improvements were made from GSC (e.g. level curve and more Kanto Pokemon than Johto in Johto), but I can say that i'm really impressed by the remakes, and believe that they were well worth the long wait.