US/UM Trailers and News Discussion

[Rosalia R]

It's probably yet another thing that I'm overanalyzing, but did anyone else find it odd how the trailers showed the totems and trial sites of both Kiawe and Mallow's trials but nothing from Lana's? I think everyone considered those three to be strongly associated with each other - Lana even showed up alonside Kiawe for Mallow's trial - and it's kind of strange how those two s bunch of screentime but Lana was barely acknowledged.

(Maybe you could make the case that Kiawe and Mallow are their own pair within the trio, since you battle Kiawe in Sun and Mallow in Moon, but you still got to battle Lana in a similar sort of fashion, albeit in both versions, so she still has that strong association with them.)

If this was an intentional choice and not just the marketing team being arbitrary, I think we can conclude that Lana's trial is either exactly the same or even more changed than the other ones we've seen. I've seen a lot of people suggest that Brooklet Hill is dried up now, and while I think that's just a lighting thing on the map, I think there is a good chance that something will change.

Actually, now that I think about it, Lana's trial is the only one we haven't seen. Kiawe's, Mallow's, Sophocles's, and Acerola's were all shown in the montage as we all saw, Mina's in particular was highlighted as new, and while we didn't see much of Ilima's we know Verdant Cavern will still be a trial site in USM thanks to this scene (you can tell it's Verdant Cavern because of the ferns in the background).

I don't feel like they'd straight up replace Lana's trial and only Lana's, so maybe this all means nothing, but it's still strange nonetheless.

 

[Kallyle]

It's probably yet another thing that I'm overanalyzing, but did anyone else find it odd how the trailers showed the totems and trial sites of both Kiawe and Mallow's trials but nothing from Lana's? I think everyone considered those three to be strongly associated with each other - Lana even showed up alonside Kiawe for Mallow's trial - and it's kind of strange how those two s bunch of screentime but Lana was barely acknowledged.

(Maybe you could make the case that Kiawe and Mallow are their own pair within the trio, since you battle Kiawe in Sun and Mallow in Moon, but you still got to battle Lana in a similar sort of fashion, albeit in both versions, so she still has that strong association with them.)

If this was an intentional choice and not just the marketing team being arbitrary, I think we can conclude that Lana's trial is either exactly the same or even more changed than the other ones we've seen. I've seen a lot of people suggest that Brooklet Hill is dried up now, and while I think that's just a lighting thing on the map, I think there is a good chance that something will change.

Actually, now that I think about it, Lana's trial is the only one we haven't seen. Kiawe's, Mallow's, Sophocles's, and Acerola's were all shown in the montage as we all saw, Mina's in particular was highlighted as new, and while we didn't see much of Ilima's we know Verdant Cavern will still be a trial site in USM thanks to this scene (you can tell it's Verdant Cavern because of the ferns in the background).

I don't feel like they'd straight up replace Lana's trial and only Lana's, so maybe this all means nothing, but it's still strange nonetheless.

Personally, I think there's a chance the Totem Marowak isn't associated with an official island trial. Why? Because of the Hiker thing on the top of the volcano. Sure, that was actually promotion for the hiker poll, but Game Freak might have actually implemented Totem Pokémon for all of the Z-Crystals this time around just to surprise us and give us more content.

 

[Niyuura]

To be fair, I never expected Lillie to be retconned into participating in the Island Challenge if that's what you're implying. I just think she might carry a couple of Pokémon on her like Alolan Vulpix and occasionally battle us in order to let her Pokémon get some exercise.

nope, was not implying that...i just think lillie has 0 pokemon just like in SM because all current footage points to that sadly I do think it's possible she becomes a trainer after the plot is over, though..or later than the alolan victory road part of the game

 

[Cookies and Creme]

All of you guys are saying Mantine Surf and stuff, and I'm just happy that Lillie Z-Powered Form is her main outfit.

 

[Bolt Strike]

Maybe if Mantine Surf allowed you to visit the islands in whatever order you want that'd be interesting, but knowing Game Freak they'll probably have some BS way to keep you from going through the islands out of order. "Nice surfing brah! Now GTFO".

I swear, this game has so much potential and foregoes just about every opportunity to make it legitimately interesting.

 

[Kallyle]

nope, was not implying that...i just think lillie has 0 pokemon just like in SM because all current footage points to that sadly I do think it's possible she becomes a trainer after the plot is over, though..or later than the alolan victory road part of the game

Actually, given the Alolan Vulpix scene in the trailer, I think Lillie might at least pick that one one up as an homage to the Anime. Come to think of it, I think that's where people got the idea of Lillie being a trainer from.

Still, one Pokémon doesn't equal trainer, so you point most likely still stands.

 

[Desdar300]

Maybe if Mantine Surf allowed you to visit the islands in whatever order you want that'd be interesting, but knowing Game Freak they'll probably have some BS way to keep you from going through the islands out of order. "Nice surfing brah! Now GTFO".

I swear, this game has so much potential and foregoes just about every opportunity to make it legitimately interesting.

That's the case with just about every Pokemon game no?

 

[Bolt Strike]

That's the case with just about every Pokemon game no?

Maybe every 3DS game, but not really every game.

 

[Desdar300]

Maybe every 3DS game, but not really every game.

I mean all in a sense that there's a scrpited path. Usually there's something blocking the way or it requires some HM? Even the two sole exceptions were oversights and didn't accommodate your team if you did so.

 

[Bolt Strike]

I mean all in a sense that there's a scrpited path. Usually there's something blocking the way or it requires some HM? Even the two sole exceptions were oversights and didn't accommodate your team if you did so.

Eh, not really. The older games (before 5th gen) were a little more lenient in letting you choose how to complete the game.

 

[Desdar300]

Eh, not really. The older games (before 5th gen) were a little more lenient in letting you choose how to complete the game.

I concur in the sense that there were destractions ( random caves and such) but overall you still had a set path the game nuged you in. Like i couldn't skip Cerulean and go straight to vermilion. I recall accidentally skipping Brawly in Emerald but that ended up screwing me over. Maybe the Switch game will allow you to do such fantastic things but we'll have to wait.

 

[Bolt Strike]

I concur in the sense that there were destractions ( random caves and such) but overall you still had a set path the game nuged you in. Like i couldn't skip Cerulean and go straight to vermilion. I recall accidentally skipping Brawly in Emerald but that ended up screwing me over. Maybe the Switch game will allow you to do such fantastic things but we'll have to wait.

Again, not really. The older regions did have situations where you could skip gyms and go to different areas. In RBY you could do any gym after Cerulean in just about any order (the only restrictions being you needed to beat Koga to get to Cinnibar and you needed to beat the first 7 gyms to fight Giovanni). GSC let you choose between Cianwood, Olivine, and Mahogany. In RSE, Winona was entirely skippable until the Pokemon League. DPPt gave you some choice between Veilstone, Pastoria, and Hearthome. It was only BW onward that started heavily restricting your progress and forcing you to do every gym in order.

 

[Desdar300]

Again, not really. The older regions did have situations where you could skip gyms and go to different areas. In RBY you could do any gym after Cerulean in just about any order (the only restrictions being you needed to beat Koga to get to Cinnibar and you needed to beat the first 7 gyms to fight Giovanni). GSC let you choose between Cianwood, Olivine, and Mahogany. In RSE, Winona was entirely skippable until the Pokemon League. DPPt gave you some choice between Veilstone, Pastoria, and Hearthome. It was only BW onward that started heavily restricting your progress and forcing you to do every gym in order.

I mean, it's true that the game lets you face the Olivine and Fuschia gyms in the order you like, but you're still actively driven to one of the options by the game, the game has an intended order, just because they didn't enforce it, I wouldn't call it non-linear.
That's just my opinion however.

 

[Isaac Gravity]

that music during the mantine surf part of the trailer has me really hyped up!
also yay improved trials. They were so god-awful

True, but Kiawe's, Lana's & Mallow (in that order) were pretty enjoyable. Esp. Kiawe (damned hilarious) and Lana's (her trolling).

And the trailer (both eng and jp)... I watched that clip for Mantine surfing and just screamed out: "Damn that's so cool!" Character-wise they seem to be shaking things up though I'm honestly more interested in what they intend to do with Hau than Lillie.

Also, oh look, let's add Pokemon who actually have business in a tropical region in a tropical region.

 

[Mitchman]

I mean, it's true that the game lets you face the Olivine and Fuschia gyms in the order you like, but you're still actively driven to one of the options by the game, the game has an intended order, just because they didn't enforce it, I wouldn't call it non-linear.
That's just my opinion however.

After Goldenrod the level curve is pretty flat because despite the given order, you could do Gyms 4-7 in any order, and in Gen 1/FRLG Gyms 4-6 are also open despite the trainer card gym order. Same thing with Hoenn and Sinnoh, badge order is more set in stone, but you can jump ahead for a while in the middle as well. Gen 5 did indeed put us on a set path, its not really up to debate or a matter of opinions.

 

[Harryghost]

Mantine's Surf looks so awesome; I'm getting impatient for the game to come out.

I don't know but Mina having a trial in USUM kinda screams sequels to me than alternate versions. I mean, there is the possibility of Mina having a trial in an alternate timeline, but somehow, this idea doesn't quite appeal me. After all, she did state that she wishes to create a trial for her challengers in the near future.

Again, not really. The older regions did have situations where you could skip gyms and go to different areas. In RBY you could do any gym after Cerulean in just about any order (the only restrictions being you needed to beat Koga to get to Cinnibar and you needed to beat the first 7 gyms to fight Giovanni). GSC let you choose between Cianwood, Olivine, and Mahogany. In RSE, Winona was entirely skippable until the Pokemon League. DPPt gave you some choice between Veilstone, Pastoria, and Hearthome. It was only BW onward that started heavily restricting your progress and forcing you to do every gym in order.

I don't know about pre-Gen IV games since I didn't quite play them, but as far as DPPt is concerned, the choice between the Gyms is still more of an inter-game thing than within a single game. In Platinum, you still have to follow a pre-decided route (Hearthome -> Veilstone -> Pastoria) for challenging the Gym Leaders in the game, even if the order of the Gyms may be different from DP.

 

[Niyuura]

Actually, given the Alolan Vulpix scene in the trailer, I think Lillie might at least pick that one one up as an homage to the Anime. Come to think of it, I think that's where people got the idea of Lillie being a trainer from.

Still, one Pokémon doesn't equal trainer, so you point most likely still stands.

For that to be related to Lillie:

-she has to have a different story (which she apparently does not) in which she isn't avoiding aethers like the plague because she stole nebby from there
- if it happens, it has to happen after her change of appearance and after the entire poni island fiasco (in which case, my point stands that if she becomes a trainer, it's very late in the game and may hardly be more relevant than treating you to a battle with her after the main story or something)

I mean in the end from what we've seen, they're either trolling us hard making us think her story is the same with all the identical footage or the other 2 things are just irrelevant

@Sir Cookie
it's not her main outfit, she still has her old clothes until the same point as where she changed outfit in SM

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

I personally prefer Lillie's Nihilego outfit, but I can don’t mind the other one.

 

[Soki]

Man I preferred when these trailers were announced beforehand instead of just dropping randomly like this D: Also, why the hell wasn't this the first trailer they've shown? This is the perfect introduction to these games imo, shows a lot of new stuff, and there's nothing in there they had to wait this long to reveal imo. It would've had people hyped from the start, so I'm really confused about their marketing decisions here.

That said, I'm happy we're finally seeing a lot of new stuff and am finally getting a bit excited for these games. I love the trials getting a new look and Mina actually getting a trial this time. Seeing a lot of new cutscenes too and happy it's finally confirmed we're getting more Pokémon this time. And I'm so happy Zorua is included in there Alola Photo club still looks awesome too, it seems to have a lot of customization, definitely my fav feature in this game so far. Don't care much for Mantine Surf though, it looks fun to do once but don't see a reason to do it again after that, will still prefer Fly or the ferry cause they go a lot faster.

Today's trailer: "Introducing new features we should have had in the original game one year ago!"

This though. Better looking trials, Totem Marowak, Mina having a trial, being able to travel between islands ourselves, all things that have no excuse of not having been in the first games and this still extremely annoys me. It really feels like they just sold us a beta version first and now you can pay up again just to get the way better version :/ I know it's been like that with previous third versions too, but I also didn't agree with those and am disappointed they're going back to this kind of practice again after all these years.

 

[Niyuura]

Man I preferred when these trailers were announced beforehand instead of just dropping randomly like this D: Also, why the hell wasn't this the first trailer they've shown? This is the perfect introduction to these games imo, shows a lot of new stuff, and there's nothing in there they had to wait this long to reveal imo. It would've had people hyped from the start, so I'm really confused about their marketing decisions here.

That said, I'm happy we're finally seeing a lot of new stuff and am finally getting a bit excited for these games. I love the trials getting a new look and Mina actually getting a trial this time. Seeing a lot of new cutscenes too and happy it's finally confirmed we're getting more Pokémon this time. And I'm so happy Zorua is included in there Alola Photo club still looks awesome too, it seems to have a lot of customization, definitely my fav feature in this game so far. Don't care much for Mantine Surf though, it looks fun to do once but don't see a reason to do it again after that, will still prefer Fly or the ferry cause they go a lot faster.



This though. Better looking trials, Totem Marowak, Mina having a trial, being able to travel between islands ourselves, all things that have no excuse of not having been in the first games and this still extremely annoys me. It really feels like they just sold us a beta version first and now you can pay up again just to get the way better version :/ I know it's been like that with previous third versions too, but I also didn't agree with those and am disappointed they're going back to this kind of practice again after all these years.

I think this will forever remain the main issue here These games are just a huge slap in the face to all those of us who bought one or more of the previous duo since USUM will be superior in every way and look like the finished product of SM.... tbh even previous third version games didn't feel like that much of an upgrade from the first duo because they were never THAT unfinished. SM, however....in so many aspects, the games were rushed and half-finished (they even admit it in interviews by telling us that things like trials were done during the debugging phase and whatnot) ...it's like they're telling us they deliberately rushed SM just to release something for the 20th anniversary and now they're just giving us the finished product.

I dislike the practice of releasing third versions, but I'd be fine with getting a finished product for gen7 when gen6 remained forever shafted. USUM will definitely do justice to Alola but it won't fix the core problem of making people spend 40 on half-finished games. The worst part is that USUM are split in 2, which makes things even more of a giant face-slap when the games are not only just the finished product that SM should have been, but they aren't even sequels or prequels or anything that warrants making the games feel like you're buying more than director's cut-SM...