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Your controversial opinions

That's another major gripe I've had with the Johto Gym Leaders, which also ties into my "lack of Johto Mons in Johto" bit. Why in blazes did half of the Gym Leaders not have a single Johto Mon on their teams baffles me. Falkner, Bugsy, Morty, and Chuck all had only Kanto Mons as their teams. And the teams that did have a Johto Mon only had one (Miltank, Steelix, Piloswine, and Kingdra, to be exact). That's poor game design. Then again, in Gen 2 the Johto Mons had terrible movepools compared to their Kantoian counterparts, making them pretty much useless. While Gen 4 fixed the movepool issue it didn't fix anything else, all because it wanted to pander to nostalgia. Really, this is another reason why I feel any Johto game, be it Gen 2 or 4, sucks and doesn't deserve the high pedestal that fans put them on. Which, as I said in the original post, is something that I'm very concerned about with BDSP. Let's hope that's not the case otherwise BDSP will crash faster than Motoyasu's sanity post-Malty's betrayal.
Which is one of the reasons why I like the Let's Go games. FireRed and LeafGreen copied NPC teams and other aspects of Red and Blue pretty much 1:1, but the Let's Go games dared to be more different by changing NPC teams, adding new characters to the main game, and altering in-game dialogues more.
 
Wow, my first post on here and I'm probably going to get so much hate already:

-I adore the Alola games. That may be just because they were the first new games that came out after I really got into Pokémon, but I still have very fond memories of them and hold them close to my heart.
-I don't like the Johto games. Not at all. Yes, I know that many people think the remakes especially are the best games ever made, but I actually played through all of SoulSilver and did not enjoy it.
Don't really know why, I just didn't.
-Sword and Shield were fantastic at the start, but then quickly fell off later on because they barely had a story, and the one they had was completely rushed.
-I would have been fine with Cinderace becoming a fighting type, never really paid attention to a Pokémonʼs type I guess.
-I also like Emboar. And Unfezant too.
-Omega Ruby was the first game I've ever played and I used a Pelipper on my team and it did well. Most people don't seem to like it very much, but for this reason I'll always adore it.
-I like Mewtwo way more than Mew and it's my favourite legendary. In fact, back when I only watched the anime and didn't play the games yet, it was actually my favourite Pokémon out of all of them.
 
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-I adore the Alola games. That may be just because they were the first new games that came out after I really got into Pokémon, but I still have very fond memories of them and hold them close to my heart.
I like them too. My controversial opinion is that I actually prefer the Ultra versions to the original ones.
-I like Mewtwo way more than Mew and it's my favourite legendary. In fact, back when I only watched the anime and didn't play the games yet, it was actually my favourite Pokémon out of all of them.
100% agreed. The lore around the thing and the power it possesses alone are great, but I also have nostalgic memories of the first movie, which took me years to actually see.
 
Given the extensive efforts Game Freak has gone to promote and support competitive battling in the past several years, including the explicit managing of IV breeding and EV training with each Generation, you would think they would include facilities for the players they clearly had in mind for the aforementioned efforts, to use their trained Pokémon in. They don't even have to do a Hoenn style Frontier; use the easier to develop Generation IV iteration with five facilities instead and revise it as necessary.
I'd say Sw/Sh was clearly designed around MP with single player as something they had to include but were not too fussed about. That's why the game drowns you in XP and the DLC forces you to get even more XP; to quickly get to level 100 for multiplayer. That's why there's nothing remotely similar to the BF or the tournament from BW2.
Whether or not this remains true going forward I cannot say. Sad to say I'm not going to bother with future games if it does. I just don't invest enough time into a single game for MP and an ever-changing meta.
 
Given that it’s competitive battling they’re pushing, there is such a facility where people can use their Pokémon: the Battle Spot/Stadium.
I should have clarified. In-game facilities, again - more than one, that are not tied to having a paid subscription service not every player can manage or even want to participate in. There should be multiple modalities, aside from the ubiquitous Battle Tower/Chateau, that a player may use their competitively trained Pokémon in, such as the Battle Hall or Battle Arcade.
 
I should have clarified. In-game facilities, again - more than one, that are not tied to having a paid subscription service not every player can manage or even want to participate in. There should be multiple modalities, aside from the ubiquitous Battle Tower/Chateau, that a player may use their competitively trained Pokémon in, such as the Battle Hall or Battle Arcade.
I agree with you completely.

But to be fair, SM has the Battle Royal, USUM has the Battle Agency, and the SwSh DLC has Restricted Sparring and Dynamax Adventures. These are exactly Frontier-like facilities, alternative to the vanilla Battle Tower.

What do you think about them?
 
I should have clarified. In-game facilities, again - more than one, that are not tied to having a paid subscription service not every player can manage or even want to participate in. There should be multiple modalities, aside from the ubiquitous Battle Tower/Chateau, that a player may use their competitively trained Pokémon in, such as the Battle Hall or Battle Arcade.

I know what you meant, but the thing is that these are just a big waste of development time.

Why invest the time and work it takes to design a variety of facilities in which players who have built competitive-ready Pokémon can beat up computers run by Pokémon's meager AI in gimmicky battle formats, when interactive connection with real other humans who can make more calculated and tactical decisions in the formats that the game teaches you to play and which official competitions are hosted in is right there at the press of a few buttons? The series was founded on ideas of trading and battling with other players, a vision which Wi-Fi has brought to an apotheosis. I don't think it's a coincidence that massive multiplex in-game battling facilities began to shrink and then phase out as Wi-Fi became more accessible and more directly integrated into the host console. It's entirely possible that a huge number of players in 2005 would not have any real outlet for their competitive Pokémon. So having the Battle Frontier serves that purpose - providing a gigantic timesink to extend the game's playability. And then until the 3DS came, even the DS's Wi-Fi used the less-accessible WEP connections and often required you to buy a network adaptor. But as of the 3DS, it's baked right into the console. If you feel like using your competitive Pokémon, you can battle competitive-level players at any time. If you absolutely must take on some CPU opponents instead, you've got the Battle Tower, which keeps to formats that are relevant to competitive battling instead of dallying with "what if RNG decides whether you should have a random status affliction or a 3-level boost?" or "what if the computer made all the decisions for you?" (that one in particular was peak what-the-fuck).

I do think it sucks that Switch Wi-Fi is a paid thing now. (They managed to somewhat circumvent that issue when it came to trading, what with Pokémon HOME, but I imagine the logistics for doing something similar for a competitive battling infrastructure are probably a fair bit more complicated.)

or even want to participate in.

It's a question of relative engagement. There may indeed be players who want to create competitive Pokémon without actually using them in a competitive environment, but does that number justify the amount of time that would need to be devoted to catering to them with facilities? Or are most people who care about competitive going to, indeed, want to use them competitively?
 
I know what you meant, but the thing is that these are just a big waste of development time.

Why invest the time and work it takes to design a variety of facilities in which players who have built competitive-ready Pokémon can beat up computers run by Pokémon's meager AI in gimmicky battle formats, when interactive connection with real other humans who can make more calculated and tactical decisions in the formats that the game teaches you to play and which official competitions are hosted in is right there at the press of a few buttons?
Some people want a challenge but have zero interest in multiplayer. I'm not sure it's even really a niche group since so many games have difficulty settings even if they also have MP; heck, if Pokémon had a proper hard mode I wouldn't care so much about the BF and I suspect a lot of other people wouldn't either--but GameFreak is unwilling to do that, either. They're not even willing to let us turn off the game-breaking XP share system.
Sw/Sh still has the battle tower...but it was made very, very easy so it doesn't fulfill that, either. So is Restricted Sparring. The only hard thing is Dynamax Adventures, which are hard because you're not using your own Pokémon and it all comes down to luck with what your AI partners do.
 
The Delta Episode sucked and if it was meant to be a replacement for the Battle Frontier, or even just more battle facilities, it did not make up for anything in the slightest. It's a whole hour of running around, following one of the most unlikable characters in the series to areas you already have been to in the main story. No new actual areas as far as i remember.

The only thing of worth in it is Zinnia's theme and the fact Deoxys being made catchable ingame might open up the doors for more mythicals to get the same treatment. But i would have taken like two more battle facilities alongside the Battle Tower over this (i would have been fine with a small event for Deoxys, that made it catchable without needing anything.).
 
I agree with you completely.

But to be fair, SM has the Battle Royal, USUM has the Battle Agency, and the SwSh DLC has Restricted Sparring and Dynamax Adventures. These are exactly Frontier-like facilities, alternative to the vanilla Battle Tower.

What do you think about them?

  • I agree that the Battle Royal is something akin to a Battle Frontier facility. I'm not really fond of it. It's fun hitting three opponents with things like Snow Warning/Blizzard and Choice Band Explosions, but the AI and mechanics feel really hax-y. Like, the opponents always seem to have Protect/Detect, a Focus Sash, all gang up on me, conveniently swipe a KO, etc. The music also sucks, which takes away from the enjoyment.
  • The Battle Agency feels like a really convoluted Battle Factory. The progress is dependent on a player's real life interactions with other players and those players respective progress on their own Battle Agency Grades (which you have manually refresh, repeatedly), which takes us back to the same vein of challenges that involve online connections as you have to work with other people to succeed; the Battle Factory is simpler and works for everyone.
  • Restricted Sparring is something I have not done yet. On paper, it seems similar to the Battle Hall. As of now, I have no qualms about it.
  • Dynamax Adventures seems fun; I haven't tried it out yet, but I've watched videos. Although I can imagine that players may be frustrated that success depends so heavily on your AI partners; this is again a "facility" that was designed with real players in mind for maximum effectiveness, something you have to pay to do. It's why Max Raid NPCs are absolute garbage - to dissuade players from playing alone.
Your first game reference only has one alternate facility, the second has two, and third has two that are locked behind a paywall; two out of the four can be done by yourself, but were clearly designed with online cooperation in mind to effectively execute. I don't think that compares to the 4 to 7 free single-player facilities Game Freak has given players in the past.
Some people want a challenge but have zero interest in multiplayer. I'm not sure it's even really a niche group since so many games have difficulty settings even if they also have MP; heck, if Pokémon had a proper hard mode I wouldn't care so much about the BF and I suspect a lot of other people wouldn't either--but GameFreak is unwilling to do that, either. They're not even willing to let us turn off the game-breaking XP share system.
Sw/Sh still has the battle tower...but it was made very, very easy so it doesn't fulfill that, either. So is Restricted Sparring. The only hard thing is Dynamax Adventures, which are hard because you're not using your own Pokémon and it all comes down to luck with what your AI partners do.

I really appreciate you saying all of this. Admittedly, I thought it would be too controversial an opinion to share here - but you have inspired me to share now. I think there is a larger population of older players (or fans) that are not the intended demographic for this franchise than some people, as well as Game Freak themselves, believe otherwise. I am not saying the group rivals the intended 8-12 year olds, or even comes close - but like you said, I don't think the group is niche in size either. Thus I do not think it is outlandish or impractical to consider the wants, needs, or interests of this older demographic when making these games and implement a few key desires; one of those interests is challenging and varied in-game content.
 
I really appreciate you saying all of this. Admittedly, I thought it would be too controversial an opinion to share here - but you have inspired me to share now. I think there is a larger population of older players (or fans) that are not the intended demographic for this franchise than some people, as well as Game Freak themselves, believe otherwise. I am not saying the group rivals the intended 8-12 year olds, or even comes close - but like you said, I don't think the group is niche in size either. Thus I do not think it is outlandish or impractical to consider the wants, needs, or interests of this older demographic when making these games and implement a few key desires; one of those interests is challenging and varied in-game content.
I feel there's good evidence Pokémon's demographic has been aging since at least gen 4:

In Japan, XY's initial sales were mostly college students (a quick google shows this was reported in many places) and although I'm having difficulty locating it again I recall Nintendo mentioned in a yearly report that Sun/Moon had a higher proportion of 20-30 year olds playing it than previous 3DS Pokémon entries.
Edit: Found it

Even if I'm wrong, though, I think it's inaccurate to say younger players don't like challenges in games. A lot of infamously hard older games were targeted at kids, after all. Like many of the NES/Famicom era RPGs.
 
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I don’t find New Pokémon Snap to be a gorgeous, or even just pretty game. There are games that make me go “Look at how beautiful this is!” like Super Mario 3D World, and NPS isn’t one of them. It’s by no means ugly—for the most part—and it definitely looks nice in some areas, but overall, in my opinion, it looks to be pretty average if not mediocre in the visuals department.
 
I don’t find New Pokémon Snap to be a gorgeous, or even just pretty game. There are games that make me go “Look at how beautiful this is!” like Super Mario 3D World, and NPS isn’t one of them. It’s by no means ugly—for the most part—and it definitely looks nice in some areas, but overall, in my opinion, it looks to be pretty average if not mediocre in the visuals department.

This is the first, actual controversial take in this thread.
 
I don’t find New Pokémon Snap to be a gorgeous, or even just pretty game. There are games that make me go “Look at how beautiful this is!” like Super Mario 3D World, and NPS isn’t one of them. It’s by no means ugly—for the most part—and it definitely looks nice in some areas, but overall, in my opinion, it looks to be pretty average if not mediocre in the visuals department.
Now this is the controversial take

Everybody else go home
 
I didn't know that was a feature!! Thanks for clueing me in...

The Ultra Wormhole is great for "correcting" the time in Pokemon Moon, but to do it perfectly you need to travel through the Wormhole at either 6am or 6pm. This is because it doesn't invert the time; rather, it takes you to the beginning of a day or night. I have no idea why they designed it this way - it really confused me at first.

This method isn't as useful in Ultra Moon, unfortunately, because you can't access Ultra Warp Ride in the alternate world.
 
I see.
I'll just stick with the hacked method lol

Are you playing Moon or Ultra Moon? I can see why you wouldn't want to do it in Ultra Moon, as you have to make the time "incorrect" again every time you want to do Ultra Warp Ride.

Personally, I'm on the fence about Alola's inverted time system. I think it's a cool idea, but it doesn't really work as intended for me because I prefer to play games in the evening. Ironically, when I play Moon it's usually daytime in the game.
 
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I don’t find New Pokémon Snap to be a gorgeous, or even just pretty game. There are games that make me go “Look at how beautiful this is!” like Super Mario 3D World, and NPS isn’t one of them. It’s by no means ugly—for the most part—and it definitely looks nice in some areas, but overall, in my opinion, it looks to be pretty average if not mediocre in the visuals department.
Think we have a contender for the hottest take, let's see if it dethrones "Lysandre is one of the best villains" take.
 
I don’t find New Pokémon Snap to be a gorgeous, or even just pretty game. There are games that make me go “Look at how beautiful this is!” like Super Mario 3D World, and NPS isn’t one of them. It’s by no means ugly—for the most part—and it definitely looks nice in some areas, but overall, in my opinion, it looks to be pretty average if not mediocre in the visuals department.
Wow. That's definitely a controversial take. May I ask what visual flaws you see in it?
 
Are you playing Moon or Ultra Moon? I can see why you wouldn't want to do it in Ultra Moon, as you have to make the time "incorrect" again every time you want to do Ultra Warp Ride.

Personally, I'm on the fence about Alola's inverted time system. I think it's a cool idea, but it doesn't really work as intended for me because I prefer to play games in the evening. Ironically, when I play Moon it's usually daytime in the game.

Reading this just reminded me of my reaction to the whole day/night feature. I remember I had actually originally pre-ordered Pokemon Moon when Gen 7 was still in its pre-release cycle. When they showed this feature, I said "nope" and switched it to Sun even though I liked Lunala more than Solgaleo at the time. It worked out because Vulpix was in Sun and I ended up loving Solgaleo, but it was just that much of a game changer for me. I don't even know why, I just did not like the idea of it always being night when I played during the day. It was a neat little change from the norm, but just wasn't for me I guess. I never heard many complaints from others so I didn't know if I was just weird of what.

...then SWSH came along and locked the time of day to where you were in the story and I got used to it.
 
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