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Opinions on Poké Ride

What is your favourite Poké Ride?

  • Tauros Charge

    Votes: 15 41.7%
  • Stoutland Search

    Votes: 10 27.8%
  • Lapras Paddle

    Votes: 3 8.3%
  • Charizard Glide

    Votes: 10 27.8%
  • Mudsdale Gallop

    Votes: 4 11.1%
  • Sharpedo Jet

    Votes: 12 33.3%
  • Machamp Shove

    Votes: 3 8.3%

  • Total voters
    36
Joined
Oct 19, 2014
Messages
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We had a thread about Poké Ride before the games were released, but what are your opinions on it now? Do you think it's a good replacement for HM's and the bike? What is your favourite Poké Ride and which your least? Which one(s) would you replace with a different Pokémon? Etc.

I personally think it's a great replacement for HM's, not having to constantly make sure you have a Pokémon on your team with a certain HM to be able to progress through the game is one of the best improvements of the games ever imo. I prefer them over the bike too, riding a Pokémon is just way more fun.

My favourite is Sharpedo Jet I think, it's just really cool to race over the water like that. Also a big fan of Stoutland Search, gotta love running around on a big dog. I dislike Machamp Shove though, it's just awkward and creepy imo. Would've loved it to be a Bastiodon for example, which pushes the rocks with its head. And I think Charizard should be replaced with a Pokémon that actually appears in the Alola Dex, like Salamance or Braviary. Tropius would've been great too, but sadly it isn't in the dex.
 
I love it, but was too overdue. I'm annoyed on how it took this long to replace the HMs.
 
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didn't care for it: the theme for land usage stank; the saddle was a silly concept that stands out in a series that has never really invested too much time in the safety of the characters that inhabit it, not even mentioning how tacky the saddles look on some Pokemon (LAPRAS, Machamp); the outfit you wear is awful and makes no sense in a game where you can customize yourself; it came at the cost of having the Itemfinder removed (Stoutland is clunkier than just about any rendition of the Itemfinder since Gen 3, esp Gen 5 and 6's), the Bike, as well as revamping fishing into a Magikarp catching simulator and the clunky way of having to fish anyways (why did they even bother with the distinction of rippling vs non-rippling? the encounter rate for anything in non-rippling is so low on top of the fact that in virtually all of the non-rippling spots you're almost guaranteed a Magikarp anyways).

so yeah. PokeRide is a big 'ol boot from me. it didn't even solve the big issues of HMs anyways (not that there were really all that many issues with the HMs anyways, but i digress).
 
It solved the big problem I had with HMs (wasted move slots). Overall, I think it was okay. It did what I wanted it to do.

I did prefer the Dowsing Machine as it was in Gen V to Stoutland, and I wish that the Fly replacement was something in the Alola Dex (Braviary? It's certainly strong enough. There aren't any Gen VII introduced Flying types that seem fitting, unfortunately).
 
I had a lot of fun with the different riders, and it was certainly a relief to have HMs more accessible. Not only do they not take up moveslots, you can also switch your party around without worrying about HMs! (and heck, assigning them to the D-Pad has been a dream as far as flying goes)

But I agree with godiego, the appearance changes tended to be unnecessary and a bit silly (though I consider Machamp's a good silly), and Stoutland Search takes way too long. I'm not interested in hunting down hidden items if it takes me a day to make sure I've checked all of one map. (I don't like the fishing changes, either, but I don't think that's really tied to PokeRIde)
 
What is your definition of the issue of HM's? Cause I think for most people it was that they wasted move slots, which Poké Ride definitely solved.
i personally saw no major issue with HMs, them simply being an slightly annoying mechanic (something found in nearly every RPG), i guess i was more referring to others' complaints of them. of those i saw three big ones: 1) that HMs were the reason Pokemon games weren't sandbox-like worlds, which we know is patently wrong since SM demonstrates otherwise and NPC/Pokemon were bigger blockades to progression than HM ever were; 2) that it limits teams, which i thought was a bit silly since Nuzlockes are so popular and it's not all that different from another RPG being like "hey have a White Mage/Cleric/Healer" (ie., not uncommon for an RPG to limit your team options either directly or by suggestion); and 3) that it wastes move slots.

staying on three for a bit, that's a trickier answer. some of it stems from the fact that there doesn't quite seem to be an answer for what entails waste. then the follow up to that would be that if an HM were wasting a moveslot, then you the player must have an alternative that you would (100%) be using if you didn't have to have that HM and then on top of that your alternative must also not be a waste. (Fly is usually a good demonstration of this concept.) of course that also doesn't take into consideration with how easy the main campaign is you probably don't need four moves, let alone use all four moves efficiently anyways. hell, my Ninetails only ever used Ice Beam and Dazzling Gleam in the main campaign. similarly with my Incineroar or Primarina only using at most three out of their four moves. wasted move slots wasn't really a problem to begin with. now unwanted moves is a bit different and is its own mess to detangle, partially because you're bound to have at least one unwanted move and wanting a move doesn't necessarily preclude it from being a wasted (or redundant or inefficient) move. in short, i'm still stuck with wasted moves and i'm still stuck with unwanted moves meaning it probably wasn't a real problem of HMs (so much as something somewhat arbitrarily attached to them) and thus not fixed. i guess the only difference is now instead of blaming HMs for poor move choices, you'd have to blame yourself.
 
I personally think that it should become a new Pokemon staple. Having the convenience of a Pokemon to ride on, without the requirement of a rather weak move, was such a great change of pace. I love not having to need an HM slave, so I hope that they continue to use this new feature in Pokemon games. I think the only complaint I have is that it did take away items like the bicycle, which was always fun to ride, but they could bring that back.
 
I like it fine overall - whichever way you slice it, it's less admin than HMs and you need them with pretty much the same kind of frequency. I think some of the saddles were a bit overwrought - Lapras really does not need such a high saddle, I think Machamp was supposed to be funny but it didn't tickle me, put it that way. Sharpedo's is surprisingly nice, though.

There are some tweaks needed here and there. Stoutland Search has a habit of being really vague about where items are - given what's hidden, I just don't care enough about one Pearl to spend that length of time hunting it down. Lapras Paddle is altogether too slow and ungainly for my liking. Mudsdale Gallop rather feels like an excuse to have more of Mudsdale in, given that the broken terrain doesn't look much like an obstacle.

I could do without the very garish PPE, but what the hell, at least I don't have to look at it much
 
I'm glad to have it, but it was long overdue. But the simple joy of not wasting a move slot on a weak/useless move or forced to use an HM slave makes it very enjoyable. I do wish that they didn't do away with the Dowsing Machine, though, as it's much easier that Stoutland Search. However, if they keep doing something like this from now on, it'll make the games easier and more enjoyable. Plus, I will admit, Tauros Charge + Flame Body = virtually instant hatched egg is a REALLY nice perk.
 
Long overdue indeed, but i'm glad it's at least here. It fleshed out the rididng from Gen 6 and got rid of the problem of having to waste a party slot for an HM slave (or just having to waste moveslots for HMs in general). Plus riding a Tauros and Sharpedo is awesome.

Now it just needs to add Arceus to the list of rideable mons and it's a 10/10 feature.
 
I personally never had any issues with HMs. I just used them on Pokemon I was never going to officially add to my party and swap them in as I needed them. But Poke Ride is nice to omit making any trips to swap out Pokemon.

My favorite has to be Stoutland. I don't really use it to search, just to get to move faster than usual. I'm not to sure about a least favorite. Maybe Sharpedo. I kinda feel Lapras could have also taken on Sharpedo's role.
 
It's that kind of thing, you know? Where you say "EFFING FINALLY! TOOK'EM LONG ENOUGH"
Because I tried to be as much efficient I could be on some older games, as I waited to hype myself for SM, I ended up getting used on having a team of 5 pokemon, and I struggled a lot to find a sixth team member... And I didn't, really. Just threw in Solgaleo in there because why not.
I'mma be playing Pokemon Sun again, and will try to keep in mind that I can have six members, won't have to worry about switching in and out a member for a HM Slave.
My favorite must be Sharpedo Jet. So much fun to just swim around crazy fast. And by usefulness, Tauros Charge is the best, specially for hatching eggs.
My least favorite, and the least useful is Mudsdale Gallop. It's like Whirlpool; you use once, maybe twice and that's it. Really, it's ridiculously slow, and doesn't get much usefullness. That one must of have been a late addition, just to get six PokeRides on the menu and look pretty. It can be useful someday, on a future game. GF just need to do something more interesting with it.
 
I really loved the Pokeride. It was a great way to get rid of those pesky HMs, and some of them are lots of fun. Sometimes I just get on my sharpedo and spin around in the water. I also enjoy galloping through towns or along routes on Mudsdale being like "What up? Yeah I've got this horse" (I especially like to do this in Moon, because I actually have a Mudsdale on my team there.) And I adore the Machamp one. He just carries you, it's adorable. I now have a new found appreciation for Machamp because of this. Also, I do like how you can occasionally find good selling items when breaking boulders.

There were a couple things I dsiliked though. I'm not too fond of the Stoutland search, it's slow (yeah I know Mudsdale is slow too, but Mudsdale is a freaking glidesdale Pokemon, so I can make an exception), and I often find myself going right over the items, and then you have to search around forever to get that exact spot. I much preferred the Gen 6 ones.
I wish we had been able to really soar over Alola, but I can see why they didn't put it in. The games were already pushing how much the 3DS could take, we would have a lot of lag problems if we were able to soar.
The safety gear thing is kind of stupid as well. The only one nice thing about that is I change into a swimsuit when on Lapras or Sharpedo, but I don't like the helmet, and the life vest.
Also, I do miss the bike, as much as I enjoy Tauros it felt really weird to not have a bike.

Overall though, the Pokeride is a great feature ad I hope to see it, or similar be brought back in all the later games to come :)
 
Not sure why you'd need a Machamp to carry you like a baby. Other than that, they're all kinda fun.

After using Mudsdale to cross the Haina Desert, I can now say that I've been through the desert on a horse with no name. (And somebody had better get that reference.)
 
Best idea ever :)
As many of you point out. Soaring would be a nice addetion and maybe being able to use alternative pokemon for riding. So many water-types I would love to use instead of lapras. :) But a much needed change )
 
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