US/UM Trailers and News Discussion

[Esserise]

Sure okay, I guess. But a nondescript chamber can work for others as well, like the regis and the Lake Trio using the B2W2 caves and so on.

I mean, the lesser Legendaries’ locations already are little more than nondescript chambers, for the most part. The lake guardians have a generic cave with a Sinnoh pond in it, Heatran gets a cave room with red magma veins in the walls (at best), the golems get caves with their element embedded in the floor, etc.

 

[Mitchman]

I mean, the lesser Legendaries’ locations already are little more than nondescript chambers, for the most part. The lake guardians have a generic cave with a Sinnoh pond in it, Heatran gets a cave room with red magma veins in the walls (at best), the golems get caves with their element embedded in the floor, etc.

True, true. Either way, I think the extent in which legendaries are available will vary depending on the extent of their efforts. If its like ORAS....I can see most being added. If its like the ultra spaces, perhaps we will get 3rd legends and so on. Another thing to consider is that right now, bar the gen 4 legendaries in B2W2, GF never offered on the same handheld duplicate pokemon of that caliber. It will be interesting to see how something like Rayquaza will be handled for example because of ORAS.
Lastly, I think one of the main reasons they withheld Pokemon Crystal from a VC Release is because of the expanded Unown Lore. Call me crazy, but I think they want to build on what is there already, and duplicate the Ruin of Alph with an Ultra Wormhole, and having the crystal version out there will obstruct them. I mean you can sorta argue that with VC GS they are now available in the 3DS era, but its been what, nearly 8 years since HGSS without a new location for em? Yeah, I think USUM is gonna give us that, they have avoided it far too long.

 

[Silktree]

If they give the Unown a new habitat, it won't have anything to do with Crystal's current absence. The latter would hardly be an obstruction, especially if they wanted to expand the lore rather than reiterate it.

And considering ORAS just dumped them into a cave, I wouldn't hold my breath.

 

[Almonds]

Ah, so USUM are going to be the last entries for the 3DS line?

 

[DoctorWhy]

Ah, so USUM are going to be the last entries for the 3DS line?

With absolute certainty, yes.

 

[Zeb]

Bellossom features on this screen along with Staryu, Tropius (top right leaves) and maybe Exeggutor (palm tree), the latter three we know are in Alola. So for those who weren't going to be sated until Bellossom was in Alola, this looks like it could be good news

 

[Seraphen47]

Does that mean no Alolan Bellossom?

 

[godiego]

Does that mean no Alolan Bellossom?

probably

 

[Nicolas721]

Here is my prediction for what's missing

October 25th
-"Mystery feature"
-Mimikyu & Togedemaru Z-moves
-Legendary rooms' footage
-Festival Plaza improvements.
-Blancozma tease (?)

November 6th
-"Amazing postgame story"
-Blancozma reveal/New UB reveal
-Character cameos
-Facilities improvements.

 

[Mitchman]

Here is my prediction for what's missing

October 25th
-"Mystery feature"
-Mimikyu & Togedemaru Z-moves
-Legendary rooms' footage
-Festival Plaza improvements.
-Blancozma tease (?)

November 6th
-"Amazing postgame story"
-Blancozma reveal/New UB reveal
-Character cameos
-Facilities improvements.

With the Team Rocket thing on the 25th, I would think the Post game Episode trailer will be on the 25th, with the trailer right before release having the Post Game mystery feature.
I also think that we will see a PokePelago feature somewhere between the two as well. So far, each batch of news has expanded features for all of SM's core gameplay:
PokeFinder and the Alola Photo Club
PokeRide and the two new Mantine and Ultra Wormhole Rides
RotomDex and the RotoPowers as well as the RotomDex character growth

All that is missing is PokePelago, and I can't see them retooling the festival plaza so that compatibility with SM isn't borked. Maybe features like the Wifi Club in platinum, but that's it.

 

[Esserise]

Some interesting snippets from a new Portuguese interview that somebody translated on reddit:

- Island Scan is still included; can’t remember if we already knew that. They also confirm there is no DexNav, but that was obvious.

- “Still with regard to the post game content, there is much more content after the main story ends. For example, Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon have 100 small events you can find navigating the map. There is really plenty of content in these versions for the players to enjoy.” ~Oh godddddddddd yes drown me in microquests GF

- “In Necrozma's case, depending on your perspective, you may think it's evil, but in other point of view it may be not. In fact, there is a natural conflict with the characters that appear in Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon.” ~Misunderstood confirmed

- “The Festival Plaza is an important part of the world we created, so it is still there. However, we added some functionalities like Alola Photo Club, where you can take photos and save them and/or share them with other players. The basis for this is Festival Plaza. There is also another new addition in this area, but we can't talk about it at the moment. We can only say it's related to the battle system of previous games. Regarding Poké Pelago, we're happy to know you liked it. There were some changes this time to make it even easier to evolve there your Pokémon. We hope you'll like the changes.”

- “[R]egarding the Ultra Beasts, you'll be able to visit their world. By doing that you'll learn more about them, where they live and why they exist. You'll also find out what type of relationship Ultra Beasts have with people as you progress with the story. In one of the most recent videos we announced UB Adhesive, which comes accompanied by the Ultra Recon Squad. This Ultra Beast has a different relationship with people and you'll find out more about that on Pokémon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon's story.”

- “As you saw, in Mantine Surf you can resort to several techniques to reach higher scores. At the end you receive points and you can use them to pay the Move Tutor, who can teach you Pokémon different moves they couldn't learn in Pokémon Sun & Moon. You can also trade your points for useful items.” ~Move Tutors confirmed, the currency is Mantine Surf points

 

[~ Blazing White Yang]

> DexNav
> "not that interesting or useful if there is a great variety of Pokémon."

I got a good chuckle outta this one.

The way they bring up Island Scan and Rotom Dex, I guess they'll have more substantial upgrades in this game? But still...

 

[Bolt Strike]

- Island Scan is still included; can’t remember if we already knew that. They also confirm there is no DexNav, but that was obvious.

I feel like we need to refine this a little more. It's not the Dexnav specifically we should be asking for in future games but its functionality. If they were able to implement the same system that they used for the Dexnav into the Rotom Dex but called it something else I don't think anyone would really have a problem with that. And from the sounds of things, they didn't quite do that in this game. Unless the RotoLotto can make it easier to find HAs, Egg moves, shinies, etc. and not just make it easier to find Pokemon period, I'd call this a disappointment.

- “Still with regard to the post game content, there is much more content after the main story ends. For example, Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon have 100 small events you can find navigating the map. There is really plenty of content in these versions for the players to enjoy.” ~Oh godddddddddd yes drown me in microquests GF

100 small events, 100 Zygarde Cores/Cells. I wonder if there's a connection there. But if that's all this is then they definitely did exaggerate the content.

- “In Necrozma's case, depending on your perspective, you may think it's evil, but in other point of view it may be not. In fact, there is a natural conflict with the characters that appear in Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon.” ~Misunderstood confirmed

Pretty much what I expected.

- “As you saw, in Mantine Surf you can resort to several techniques to reach higher scores. At the end you receive points and you can use them to pay the Move Tutor, who can teach you Pokémon different moves they couldn't learn in Pokémon Sun & Moon. You can also trade your points for useful items.” ~Move Tutors confirmed, the currency is Mantine Surf points

Better than needing BP and having to deal with the Battle Tree's hax. Still, IDK why they can't just go back to asking for Shards again.

 

[Karamazov]

I love playing with Move Tutors, but I hated the way we needed to earn the BP to get them. So I'm really glad that it's tied to the main mechanic I've been drawn to. Though I hope Mantine Surf doesn't exist JUST to give us Move Tutors and items; I'd like to see us develop an in-universe fanbase or gain recognition for our work, too. Just to make the experience feel more immersive.

 

[Zeb]

Tying move tutors into Mantine Surf is interesting. It might be a sign that move tutors are available before the absolute end of the game this time - which might be helpful in making certain Pokemon more useful throughout the main game, if there's a move they would really like from move tutors. Togedemaru might get Iron Tail and Iron Head from tutors, for example.

I don't want Adhesive to evolve, though. An evolution will butcher its cuteness - I've been through it too many times before I know how this ends

 

[Mitchman]

The DexNav thing is making me laugh my ass off,. GF really is clueless sometimes. This great feature we added to give you Pokemon with egg moves, HA, great IVs, some of the above or ALL of the above was only made because we made wild encounters even more repetitive by shrinking the dex to make that less repetitive, so it evens out by adding in a fuckton more Pokemon in the next games. Nice going there.
If the post game battle facility or facilities are only in the festival plaza, then thanks for shoving it down our throats.
And yeah please don't be overselling the Zygarde Cores, 100 mini events for reals please.
Mantine Surfing required to get to the next isle? Hmmmm, Island order might just be different after all.

 

[Bolt Strike]

The DexNav thing is making me laugh my ass off,. GF really is clueless sometimes. This great feature we added to give you Pokemon with egg moves, HA, great IVs, some of the above or ALL of the above was only made because we made wild encounters even more repetitive by shrinking the dex to make that less repetitive, so it evens out by adding in a fuckton more Pokemon in the next games. Nice going there.

And you can't even find the added Pokemon there until post game, largely defeating the entire purpose of having it. Man, if that's the real reason they made the DexNav I'm worried about their sanity.

 

[Kirby4ever]

I don't want Adhesive to evolve, though. An evolution will butcher its cuteness - I've been through it too many times before I know how this ends

I know how you feel when seeing Tepig, Litten, Smoochum, Snorunt (Into Glalie->Mega Glalie), and some other Pokemon's final evolution being ugly.

 

[Karamazov]

The interviewer(s) told them what the appeal of DexNav is, and neither Ohmori nor Iwao had a good answer for it. The interviewer also says that they found Festival confusing and didn't understand its purpose. I like them, they're not afraid to say what needs to be said.

you can take photos and save them and/or share them with other players.

I think we already knew this, but I really like this. I fully expect people to abuse this feature and make inappropriate pictures. Now the feature's worth something.

As for the "100 small events" thing, I don't think they're talking about Zygarde. I saw that we could interact with Pokemon on routes, so those might be some of those events. We also had those Pokedex entry quests in SM, and the Eevee battles. I'm expecting more things like that.

 

[Alola]

"It was an idea that followed from Pokémon X & Y. In these games, every time you went to the green zone of the grass, you'd find new Pokémon you hadn't seen before. On the other hand, in Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire you didn't have so many, so if the same set of Pokémon kept appearing, like Zigzagoon, the players wouldn't have interest in going to the grass, one of the central aspects of Pokémon.

Bearing that in mind, to turn things more interesting, we created DexNav, showing the Pokémon that could appear in the area. It was one of the main reasons for implementing that functionality. However, it's not that interesting or useful if there is a great variety of Pokémon. In Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon there are many different kinds of Pokémon you can find, so we didn't implement the DexNav."

Well, now I know the origins behind the DexNav. I see their logic in that regard because even I thought ORAS would be slightly jarring in Pokemon encounter, coming from the +400 Pokemon we had available in Kalos. However after that is where I disagree. Ohmori and Iwao are deluded with their "it's not that interesting or useful" comment-regardless of Pokemon species available, the DexNav allowed you to catch Pokemon with Egg Moves, good IVs, Hidden Abilities or a combination of all three. It also made it easier to search for a Pokemon in particular if need be, which could have been beneficial in USUM given the new surplus of Pokemon bound to be in routes and such. Fans loved this feature, and I really think they should have done more focal groups or research into the reception of DexNav rather than biased-ly decide "Aww, shucks who needs it" ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Not everyone makes use of the sheer amount of Pokemon in games like these or XY-a lot of people pick their favorites and the DexNav was a way of ensuring that your favorite could be even better than average.

"As you saw, in Mantine Surf you can resort to several techniques to reach higher scores. At the end you receive points and you can use them to pay the Move Tutor, who can teach you Pokémon different moves they couldn't learn in Pokémon Sun & Moon. You can also trade your points for useful items."

I'm actually really excited for this! A way to accrue points for Move Tutors that isn't BP or elusive shards. Hopefully getting points doesn't take too long (i.e. one point for every Mantine minigame, whereas moves cost 12 points). It also seems like the Move Tutors may be accessible like they were in Black 2 and White 2 (yes!).

I'm also glad I wasn't the only one who thought Festival Plaza had moments of ambiguity. Props to the interviewer for acknowledging that in addition to the usefulness of DexNav. Lastly, the fact that USUM will be like Emerald and Platinum in terms of enhanced versions is just icing on the cake. I really think these will be great games.