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Writers' Workshop General Chat Thread

Well, what do we think of Sword/Shield/Galar so far? I await the Sugimori artwork before judging the Pokemon too harshly. Galar looks like it could be interesting - seems to be more linear in terms of a storyline, with the big city being right at the very end.
 
I'm partly excited for a region based on my part of the world, partly trepidatious about the same, and partly too wildly busy at my day job to start fixating.

Also, I still haven't played through BW/BW2 and SUMO/USUM. It makes me feel like I've fallen terribly behind.
 
AceTrainer14 said:
Well, what do we think of Sword/Shield/Galar so far? I await the Sugimori artwork before judging the Pokemon too harshly. Galar looks like it could be interesting - seems to be more linear in terms of a storyline, with the big city being right at the very end.
Click to expand...

Oh, yeah! The, um, things they showed were pretty interesting, am I right? The, uh, Pokémon, they, were, um...

I didn't watch it. And I'm probably not going to "catch up", either.

unrepentantAuthor said:
Also, I still haven't played through BW/BW2 and SUMO/USUM. It makes me feel like I've fallen terribly behind.
Click to expand...

Yeah, about that. Pokémon: White was my last core series entry. Looking back, it was fun enough, but it was also the final straw in terms of core-series Pokémon interest. Family had a lull in finances that prevented me from jumping into X and Y along with the rest of the world, so I turned to emulation the magic goblin in my backyard that gives me all the out-of-date Pokémon games. And I remember the moment where I learned my emulator magic goblin couldn't give me a,link cable, and even though I had already collected seven of Gen II's badges, I just stopped and thought to myself (and this is going to be heresy):

Why do I like Pokémon again?

I couldn't collect 'em all on my own, as I was slowly learning. The gameplay was fun in and of itself. The soundtracks weren't going on my playlists. The graphics were...okay, I actually really like old-school tileset graphics. Letting the player see how the game was literally quilted together is a nice de-mystifying of "how are games made?", a topic I think the general public should have more knowledge on (disclaimer: I'm someone who's dabbled in amateur game dev myself). And the story was...well...

Let me put it like this. You're walking through the forest in Gen II. No cutscenes. But you walk through that same story in the Gen IV remake? Cutscene. And I just didn't care.

But you know what games I do care about?

• Pokémon XD. Got it for Christmas as a kid, didn't know it was a sequel. And the devs took a risk, a much more linear game in exchange for tighter design. The battles were more tactical due partly to all being double battles, but also partly to tight control of the player's possible party combinations. The soundtrack was killer (I swear, that Colosseum battle bass riff was ripped from (Doom). The story, while not winning any awards, hooked me by developing my idea of the "ideal" Pokémon world (battle Pokémon "because they like it", Black and White? No, that's addict logic. Battle Pokémon as part of wider rehabilitation/to prepare and prevent against mistreatment by others? THAT'S a reason).And while I do miss the old-school tilesets, that game's animation was bursting with personality. Slowpoke not fainting until it thinks about it for a second. Sableeye spontaneous growing a mouth which Pokémon: Sapphire didn't not tell me they have and twitchily charging at my Pokémon. Magikarp being the only water type that doesn't float, flopping like the pathetic fish it was. There were hooks, reason to spend time with this media, and I can still unironically enjoy that game to this day.
• Explorers of Sky. The magic goblin gave me the game when I was 22. It's was maybe 5 years out of date? 10? Either way, I was hooked like a first-day AAA release. The soundtrack. The story (yes, my adult ass did cry). Even the gameplay, when attached to a strong story, is perfect for that adventure don't-know-what's-around-the-corner feel. Also, Team Charm was...an experience (their boss fights, the bosses' don't play. THEIR theme plays. I love it ♥.)

Now, what do these two games have in common? Neither was developed by Game Freak. And having caught up on the "big" Pokémon games through Let's Plays and streams, I don't see a reason to go back. I'm waiting for reviews before I jump on the hype train. My childhood innocence died with Genius Sonority reassigned to Pokémon: Typing Adventure, and while I bleed Pokémon, announcements just don't do it for me alone. Wait for reviews from critics I trust before forming opinions on whatever this is, as with any other game. Blame No Man's Sky. Or my cynicism. Either one works.

Ahem. "What could possibly go wrong?" clicks Post Reply

EDIT: You know those posts you make where you think about it three hours later and wonder "why on Earth did I post that?" This is one of those. Reading it back, I think it says more about me than Pokémon. Don't let me derail fun speculation. It's harmless. Please ignore me.
 
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@AceTrainer14 I wrote up my thoughts on Sword & Shield here.

@Snuggle Tier List I've wanted to play XD for years, but a used copy costs at least £70, and I'm not sure if the copies I can find on Amazon are PAL. Also, I don't want to have to get another memory card to save in it.

To be honest, I'm back in Pokémon burnout mode (the only Pokémon game I've played recently is Colosseum), so I'm more hyped about watching people in leather hit rubber-suited monsters.
 
I'm excited for the games! I've been following every new gen since G/S/C, and I'll continue to do so. As I've gotten older, real life's shut down the time I can spend on the spin-offs, but if a really interesting one catches my eye, I'll make time for it.

Anyway, the starters are adorable. I'm not sure which one I'd choose yet, lol, but it's usually the reveal of the whole evolution line that cements my choice for me anyway. I also like the Switch graphics engine they're using. It's no Breath of the Wild or Witcher 3 or whatever, but. It'll also be fun to play on a proper console instead of just handheld (though handheld is obviously an option); I remember hooking up my Yellow version to my N64 and loving it.
 
Looks good to me, certainly. The region particularly looks like it's had a lot of hard work and attention to detail put into it, and I like the look and feel of everything we've seen of it so far. Since Gen 6 especially, the regions have seen a lot of improvement in my opinion, so I think it's safe to say we'll see something good here too. Not massively sold on the starters at the moment, they're not at all bad, but they aren't really standing out particularly to me at the moment either. Though if I were to pick one at the moment, I would definitely go for Scorbunny.
 
Watched the trailer, at last. Have to say, I think the visuals are lovely and I'm started to get a little excited. I can connect to this a lot more than to Alola or Unova, I think.

My line manager was out of office today, having an impromptu day off to recover from being overworked and having a bit of a breakdown. He called me the night before, as I was on the bus home, to apologise for being so short with me lately. It's something, but it's honestly just making me all the more certain I want to leave this job.
 
SOBBLE GANG IS THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS

Edit: forgot something I wanted to add. Despite the fact that we've gotten barely any information, I've seen much more doom and gloom that excitement on almost every form of social media/forum/discord chat that I use. Same thing for sun and moon when they released. I guess, just like fire emblem no one quite hates Pokémon like Pokémon fans, lol.
 
I have no personal favorites among the starters myself, and I can't really say I've liked any (bar Piplup) since Gen II. Outside of Gen I (which nailed it with the starters and their evos), I've always found the more common Pokemon more interesting than the starters. I hope that tradition continues, because I'm quite underwhelmed by what I see so far.

Gotta say though, that cloaking effect on the water starter is interesting.
 
UselessBytes said:
I guess, just like fire emblem no one quite hates Pokémon like Pokémon fans, lol.
Click to expand...

As a Pokémon fan who hates Pokémon, I think I can explain this, at least from my personal perspective. You see, while the trailer itself might lack information, you can glean a lot from context. For instance, I haven't liked the direction the "big" Pokémon games have taken in a long time, and that very lack of information means there isn't any evidence the pattern is changing. Thus, cynicism.

Then again, absense of evidence isn't necessary evidence of absence. My hopes aren't high, but who knows? I'll check out a review when it's released. I know some decent reviewers, I can get some decent opinions. Later.

For now, cynicism. And Pokémon's a huge franchise, with lots of different ways to wave the Pokeflag. The base is so large, I'm not surprised Nintendo / The Pokémon Company / Creatures, Inc. / Game Freak / The PokéIlluminati / whoever's in charge can't please everybody. Though I wonder if they should stop trying to please everyone and give fans more, smaller games. Something for each niche of the community, each with smaller feature lists but more focused scopes. "The game for Gen I fans", "the game for Gen II fans", "the game for anime fans", etc. I'm still waiting for Pokémon: Snuggle Simulator. No battles, just snuggles. I like snuggles.
 
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whoops, my bad. real post incoming shortly

I'm not sure smaller games for each niche would really be the way forward. There's too many to properly cover, and us older fans have to simply accept one of two facts:
  1. The games haven't changed as much as we assume and we've simply outgrew them
  2. The games have changed a lot to follow current gaming and storytelling trends, and it doesn't line up with what us veterans were used to while growing up
For me, the crucial point will be if the region is fun to explore and has a lot to offer. I'm slightly worried based on the trailer that the region will be very linear (even looking like a straight line), so I'm waiting until more details to reserve judgement.
 
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