- Joined
- Oct 18, 2012
- Messages
- 8,022
- Reaction score
- 22,096
I'd say there's certainly some areas that could bear improvement, but for the most part I quite like it.
As far as a first attempt at the open-world style goes, I think the Wild Area is fine. It's got enough to do to keep me coming back to it. But if they were to do this sort of thing again, I would definitely like a greater range of environments. Volatile weather alone doesn't quite cut it when the landscape is still just fields, lakes, and one desert patch. Where's the forests? The caves? The snow-capped mountains? The marshes? The volcanic crags? It's fantasy, so you can get away with throwing realistic geographical/climate boundaries out the window. Of course, maybe what I'm really asking for here is a fully open-world Pokémon game...
I think the towns were pretty standard quality for the Pokémon series, so I can't complain too much. Spikemuth was a severe disappointment (I mean it's basically a garage) and Wyndon needed to be these games' Lumiose (I'm reminded of the fake leak that proposed the "Urban Area," which I think would have been a great approach), but other than those, I thought that the towns all had a great amount of character and down-to-earth detail. I was particularly happy with how big Motostoke was, since Alola had absolutely nothing of that caliber and that did bother me. And the cathedral bells that chime at the beginning of the Motostoke theme are always so nice to hear. I was pleasantly surprised by how subtle the other town themes could be. Hulbury's is straight-up bustling noise, but Turrfield's is just a chill guitar riff, Hammerlocke's is in the same vein as the Parfum Palace theme but with less pomposity and more antique history. Ballonlea's wasn't as overtly "THIS IS A MAGICAL FAERIE VILLAGE DID YOU NOTICE???" as Laverre City, which I thought helped give it a more mysterious vibe. Stow-on-Side's is a nice jam with a really interesting blend of regional sounds. It manages to remind me of Lentimas, Malie, and the Battle Tree all at the same time, and maybe a bit of Driftveil, too. I loved that you could slip into a back alley and climb up onto the roofs of the houses. I can't really put it into words but somehow that makes me feel exactly what kind of locale it is. And my god, Circhester. The beautiful music, architecture, the snowmen on the sidewalks, the steam contrasting with the snowfall, the inviting little hole-in-the-wall restaurant as a tiny retreat from the cold. Top-shelf atmosphere right there.
I don't think the route design felt as constrained and railroad-ey as it did in Alola; this was more in line with Kalos, I think. The main path was always fairly linear, but there were side pockets you could dip into for extra items and such, and Route 8's ruins were a nice little maze. I'm not sure we'll ever get Unova's god-tier route design again, which is unfortunate, but the routes aren't the main draw of the games to me so I can deal. Plus, I think the overworld Pokémon add a lot to the outdoor atmosphere, so even though it lacks in navigational complexity, it does well in terms of feeling more alive. For the same reason, I liked that most routes had an active campsite.
Culturally, it may be their most vibrant region yet, though they've been continuously getting better at that aspect of the games for a while now. The attention to detail in the art design, and the ways that people live and speak and eat and spend their time all stand out very clearly to me. I think it also feels more grounded than Alola, probably because of the lack of multidimensional hijinks (which were fun, don't get me wrong) and of course because of the League structure, which formalizes so many of the details that have until now just been resting presumptions in my headcanon. And the Gym/Championship battles with Dynamaxing and the crowd going wild are so hype. I can't stress how much of a difference that makes in my mind in comparison to the older approach to Gyms. The history and lore of the region isn't nearly as convoluted as the last several generations, either, which I find to be a welcome change of pace. Despite the level of detail, there's an overall simplicity to the games that actually reminds me a little more of Gens 1 and 2.
DLC to build on these games even further would be fuckin dope
As far as a first attempt at the open-world style goes, I think the Wild Area is fine. It's got enough to do to keep me coming back to it. But if they were to do this sort of thing again, I would definitely like a greater range of environments. Volatile weather alone doesn't quite cut it when the landscape is still just fields, lakes, and one desert patch. Where's the forests? The caves? The snow-capped mountains? The marshes? The volcanic crags? It's fantasy, so you can get away with throwing realistic geographical/climate boundaries out the window. Of course, maybe what I'm really asking for here is a fully open-world Pokémon game...
I think the towns were pretty standard quality for the Pokémon series, so I can't complain too much. Spikemuth was a severe disappointment (I mean it's basically a garage) and Wyndon needed to be these games' Lumiose (I'm reminded of the fake leak that proposed the "Urban Area," which I think would have been a great approach), but other than those, I thought that the towns all had a great amount of character and down-to-earth detail. I was particularly happy with how big Motostoke was, since Alola had absolutely nothing of that caliber and that did bother me. And the cathedral bells that chime at the beginning of the Motostoke theme are always so nice to hear. I was pleasantly surprised by how subtle the other town themes could be. Hulbury's is straight-up bustling noise, but Turrfield's is just a chill guitar riff, Hammerlocke's is in the same vein as the Parfum Palace theme but with less pomposity and more antique history. Ballonlea's wasn't as overtly "THIS IS A MAGICAL FAERIE VILLAGE DID YOU NOTICE???" as Laverre City, which I thought helped give it a more mysterious vibe. Stow-on-Side's is a nice jam with a really interesting blend of regional sounds. It manages to remind me of Lentimas, Malie, and the Battle Tree all at the same time, and maybe a bit of Driftveil, too. I loved that you could slip into a back alley and climb up onto the roofs of the houses. I can't really put it into words but somehow that makes me feel exactly what kind of locale it is. And my god, Circhester. The beautiful music, architecture, the snowmen on the sidewalks, the steam contrasting with the snowfall, the inviting little hole-in-the-wall restaurant as a tiny retreat from the cold. Top-shelf atmosphere right there.
I don't think the route design felt as constrained and railroad-ey as it did in Alola; this was more in line with Kalos, I think. The main path was always fairly linear, but there were side pockets you could dip into for extra items and such, and Route 8's ruins were a nice little maze. I'm not sure we'll ever get Unova's god-tier route design again, which is unfortunate, but the routes aren't the main draw of the games to me so I can deal. Plus, I think the overworld Pokémon add a lot to the outdoor atmosphere, so even though it lacks in navigational complexity, it does well in terms of feeling more alive. For the same reason, I liked that most routes had an active campsite.
Culturally, it may be their most vibrant region yet, though they've been continuously getting better at that aspect of the games for a while now. The attention to detail in the art design, and the ways that people live and speak and eat and spend their time all stand out very clearly to me. I think it also feels more grounded than Alola, probably because of the lack of multidimensional hijinks (which were fun, don't get me wrong) and of course because of the League structure, which formalizes so many of the details that have until now just been resting presumptions in my headcanon. And the Gym/Championship battles with Dynamaxing and the crowd going wild are so hype. I can't stress how much of a difference that makes in my mind in comparison to the older approach to Gyms. The history and lore of the region isn't nearly as convoluted as the last several generations, either, which I find to be a welcome change of pace. Despite the level of detail, there's an overall simplicity to the games that actually reminds me a little more of Gens 1 and 2.
DLC to build on these games even further would be fuckin dope
