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Thoughts on generational gimmicks?

Should GameFreak continue to make new gimmicks each generation?

  • Yes

    Votes: 12 21.1%
  • No

    Votes: 39 68.4%
  • Undecided

    Votes: 6 10.5%

  • Total voters
    57
At risk of getting a little OT I think Primal Kyogre was, like base Groudon before it, simply a victim of type and weather interactions. The problem with the Ground/Fire and Water dichotomy is that it's never been mechanically balanced within the game itself - Ground and Fire might be associated with a diametrically-opposed philosophy to Water, but, well, Water simply beats it (as it should, mind). Desolate Land and Primordial Sea are perfectly logical extensions of the base abilities of both Groudon and Kyogre, it's simply that the former ends up being far more mechanically important due to Groudon's Water weakness.
That, and the boosts given to Primal Kyogre's stats were baffling to me. No boosting its speed and half of the Primal Reversion's 100 point increase were given to attack (to a pokemon that has a rather shallow attack movepool and its new signature move is special based). They are a reverse of Primal Groudon's stat increase because its special attack gets boosted by 50 points, which doesn't make Precipice Blades better because it's attack based, but here it hurts considerably less because it actually has a rather solid special movepool (Earth Power, Solarbeam and Fire Blast). Giving the right stats boost to Primal Kyogre would have been the better choice, instead of doing reverse stat boost because they are a duo.

But yes, Primal Kyogre and really normal Kyogre are still pretty broken regardless.
 
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Yeah I think these come and go too quickly, they kinda just blend together. I’m getting a bit bored of seeing them make new ones as well rather than developing old ones instead (like adding more megas). Moving forward I’d rather see them make more fundamental/long lasting changes to the game/formula (like the exploration, QoL features and story/side quests) rather than just giving us another new mechanic for a bit. Good to see that legends seems to be doing this so far.
 
Honestly? They should go. I get that they want to create new stuff for new regions in order to make them unique, but those that they have introduced, nah.

Megas were a great idea, but they had to give Megas to Pokémon that didn't need them and created some of the most busted Pokemon in history: Primal Kyogre and Groundon, Mega Rayquaza, Mega Mawile, etc.

Z-Moves were kinda of an good idea since it was imo more balanced and gave opportunities to everyone, but the fact that it was so tied to Alola made so that exporting those for any other region just fell flat on it's face.

And Dynamax is the worst. Seriously. You get double yout health, can release attacks that are strong as Z-Moves that can boost your stats and lower the opponents's, besides being able to set up terrains and weather by attacking, and there's absolutely no drawbacks. You don't get punished by using those in any way, shape or form. I have no idea why they even decided to create this one.
 
I think they should stop making new gimmicks but they should bring back mega evolution and expand on it. Mega evolution was the coolest concept (basically like 4th evolution) and a lot of Pokémon needed their mega evolutions to be good. They could always buff the Pokémon by boosting stats and such but giving them a whole new form is much cooler imo. If they bring back mega evolution, more Pokémon should get 2 mega evolutions, like mewtwo and charizard, how they had one mega evolution that was like an evolution of the original concept and another one that's radically different. Preferably Gen 9's starters and box legendaries would be the Pokémon to receive 2 mega forms that promote 2 completely different playstyles.
 
I don't mind Megas or Z moves, I don't like them but I also don't use them, so they don't bother me.

Megas are ok but the problem is that they gave them to fan favorites (at least the XY ones, i liked the ORAS ones better since most of those were mediocre, unpopular or obscure pokemon) who are, in lots of cases, too powerful to begin with. Gengar, Alakazam, Lucario, Garchomp., Tyranitar, Salamence etc didn't need megas. I also disliked that they gave a lot of Gen 1 pokémon megas, without a good reason other than "nostalgia". If mega evolution supposedly originated in Kalos then Kalos pokemon should have gotten them, not Kanto ones.

Z-moves are a bit better since any pokemon can do it, but again, a lot of those exclusive Z moves were given mostly to Alola mons so I don't complain.

And finally Dynamax, which I despise with all my being. It is the least interesting, and it bugs me. At least they were a bit more fair this time around and gave gigantamax to Galar pokemon, but still a lot of Kanto ones got them, I mean GF has been pandering to Gen 1 fans for years now but it's so tiring by now.
 
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Honestly, my opinions on the gimmicks are Mega evolution>Dynamax/Gigantamax>>Z-Moves (I'm not big on Z-moves at all)

I could also say the Distortion World, Pokéstar Studios, flying on Mega Latias/Latios, Contests, the Pokéathelon, Island Trials and the contest-like minigame in Gen 5 (forgot its name) could count as mid-generation/non-battle gimmicks, but I haven't played Platinum
 
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Well, the Megas are the only battle gimmicks I care for, as they helped many Pokemon, like Altaria, Charizard, Pinsir and Kangaskhan, become actually good in battle. That being said, a number of Megas are pretty ugly, such as Salamence, Heracross, Lati@s, Aggron, Slowbro, Garchomp, Scizor, Metagross and Swampert.
 
Hate to be a downer but I feel like the battling scene really fell apart after Gen 6 introduced Mega Evolution. The problem with these mechanics is the power creep, which can really suck the fun out of battles.

Mega Evolution is one of the reasons why the Gen 6 games are as easy as they are, alongside the infamous Exp. Share. Very few of your opponents have Mega Evolution (especially gym leaders and the Elite Four, which is utterly bizarre). There is absolutely no consequence in using Mega Evolution in either of the main stories. Chances are you'll still curbstomp most of your opponents with it, even with the Exp. Share off. Doesn't help that you get a free Mega Lucario or Mega Latios/Latias, who are all already powerful in their base forms.

Okay, thanks for making the PvE even easier, lol

Mega Evolutions also easily outclass legendaries, with their large boosts in base stats and access to a much more useful ability. It's no accident that the top competitive teams at the time have either Mega Kangaskhan, Mega Mawile or Mega Tyranitar in them. They're just THAT good at wrecking whole teams.

Next, let's give some legendaries Megas! Great idea! Now let's make Mega Rayquaza one of the most broken fighters in existence!

If Megas come back in some form, the mechanic needs some serious tweaks. Maybe a drawback that will turn it into a high risk-high return mechanic.

I'm okay with Z-moves. A meter that charges over time that lets you use a powerful attack? Nothing new in the RPG scene (Final Fantasy does this a lot).

Dynamax is probably the most dull mechanic to me, though ironically I find it more balanced than Mega Evolution in some respects. It makes a Pokemon extra tanky for three turns and grants them Max Moves, which are like Z-Moves on steroids. The main drawback is that it can only be used once per battle and its effects only last three turns. On top of that, you can only use it during gym matches and den battles.

From the PvE side, it's okay. You can only use it in places with power spots (most gyms). But the den battles? Ugh, they're dreadful. They drag out for too long and your AI partners are complete imbeciles. Between the DMax Pokemon having multiple health gates and even barriers that prolong their endurance, den battles are just NOT fun. They're far more tedious than they have any right to be.

I can't speak for Dynamax in competitive since I dropped Sword after the main story. I was just done with it, lol. But I haven't heard good things about it, so I'll just leave it at that.

Regional variants are fine. Those are a lot of fun. But I feel like some small tweaks need to be made. Like it doesn't make sense to call Alolan Sandshrew and Alolan Sandslash "Sandshrew" and "Sandslash" ir the types changed to ice. Just feels awkward.

I see compelling arguments made here in the name of lore and I can respect that. But Pokemon wasn't winning me over with its storytelling lately, so my interest in the lore thinned out. I wanted more engaging gameplay over lore.

If we're going to talk about "gimmicks," there's the Battle Frontier and the alternate battle rules to consider. Instead of changing the Pokemon, change the RULES to make them more interesting. And yes, that does require being experimental and coming up with some stinkers.

Like, Battle Royal is a disaster, lol. Not only laggy, but your opponents just love to gang up on you. Though there is that one battle mode (I forgot the name) where a Pokemon's resistances and weaknesses have been swapped to being the opposite. As in, Fighting moves being super effective against Psychics and Steel being resistant to Fire. Now I wish we get more of THAT.
 
If Megas come back in some form, the mechanic needs some serious tweaks. Maybe a drawback that will turn it into a high risk-high return mechanic.
This would just make the bad Megas even worse, and not do much to stop the broken ones. Meaning the mechanic itself isn't broken and it doesn't require tweaking, the problem is how it was handled. Buff the bad Megas and nerf the broken ones, simple as that.

Dynamax on the other hand is dead on arrival. The thing that even makes Mega Evolution have a chance to be balanced in any way is that it's a controlled enviroment - you give it to the ones that deserve it. Meanwhile Dynamax affects all regardless if they deserve it or not, meaning the gap between the strong and the weak remains the same. And even if you tweak it to make it more "balanced", the fact that it affects all won't do much to shorten the gap of power.
 
i'm more or less... "meh" on them? i think z-moves might have been my least favourite implementation of "gimmicks", but that's entirely because the z-move animations are quite frankly ridiculous and i wish Game Freak had done a bit of effort to fix those. @_@ mega evolutions and dynamax are honestly pretty tolerable; i liked megas for giving forgotten pokemon (ampharos, banette, gallade) a chance to shine once more, which i thought was pretty neat.

in general, i like more "form changing" gimmicks than anything else. i think mega-evos kinda made me wish more evolution methods were back, just so the more underrated pokemon can shine once more, which i think is nice.
 
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