Glen-i

I dig them a lot. It's more snappy, and the Tera types help to reward Pokémon knowledge. Sure, that Tera bug type is weak to fire, but you need to be careful that the Pokémon's original type doesn't blindside you. Unfortunately, more often then not, Sword/Shield raids were chockablock with some proper bad Pokémon, so I despair about having to rely with randos if these new raids require more finesse.

Righto, even with BowserBasher not being able to make it, I'm still expecting three people tonight, so I'm going ahead with the theme. Wintery Smash We're on the cusp of December, so it's high time we get some snowy theming up in here. There are many costume restrictions in play here. The majority of them are outfits that are almost entirely white. Here's a list. Ice Climbers are exempt from restrictions because they're naturally wintery in nature. Half the Bayonettas are allowed because Bayonetta 2 specifically takes place on Christmas. There are nowhere near enough wintery stages, so nighttime stages with black skies make up the rest. Early nights or whatever. I was a bit more lenient with the item choice here, white items and stars abound here. Format - 3 stock, 10 minutes FS Meter - On See you tonight at 8pm.

Interesting. But I can only get up to 3 star raids currently.

Don't do that to me! You scared the daylights out of me! With Set and the option to turn battle animations off being removed, no feature is safe! EDIT: That said, you don't want perfect IV's across the board for Pokémon that specialise in Sp. Atk. Raising the Attack stat would just increase the damage you take from confusion and Foul Play.

There's nothing like the bottle caps to change a Pokémon's IV's to perfect in this game?

Nah, that's not gonna fly. Switch can totally handle this game. You only have to look at Xenoblade 3, which looks great. Bayo 3, I can understand that. But Switch can handle this game better.

Not sure I can agree with improving in many ways. The battle system is very basic and the Nexomon don't have dual typing, so a lot of them feel very redundant in fights. You've used one water Nexomon, you've used them all. Nexomon Extinction is still a fun game, mind.

@S.C.G. If it ends up being just us two tonight, do you want to call it off? EDIT: Never mind.

Room's open now.

FINISH SHADOWS OF VALENTIA DAMNIT!

Tell him he's a dumbo of the highest order. What's he gonna do with the second one, play it again? Absolutely pointless. That 50 quid could be spent on anything else, like an NSO subscription so he can get the Pokémon from the other version. He'd have plenty of change left from that.

It's basically how I played L.A. Noire. I was always making a beeline to the next main plot point. I had no patience for all the side guff. It's the only way I was able to reach the credits. And I'm the kind of guy who does everything in games like Xenoblade 3. (The ones that aren't X nail the sweet spot between linearity and open-ness, in my opinion) That has a way more interesting world to explore then the games I listed above. There's something inherently boring about wandering around aimlessly, hoping to find something of interest, only to be underwhelmed 95% of the time. Games need some kind of structure. If I want to wander around a city or a field, I can do that in real life.

No, they don't. Only people who have a sibling they plan on playing with ever buy the double packs. By that logic, loads of multiplayer games (Splatoon, for example) these days should get this same criticism. You'd be a complete idiot to buy two for yourself.

OK, that's hilarious! And ironic, seeing as Alm's army is the one that gets Warp.

Shame it's nowhere near as fun though. Trudging through that Pokédex was an absolute chore.

Whenever a game is advertised as open world, I'm under the impression that what is meant is that the vast majority of the outdoor areas are seamless. As in, no loading screens in between areas. People don't count Legends: Arceus or Xenoblade, because there are loading screens in between areas. Because if you start counting the likes of Dark Souls as open world, then any game with a map would count. Such as Metroid, or the more retro Final Fantasy games. It's why I think that games like Pokémon really didn't need the open world push, because the loading times in the Switch titles were already miniscule. Anyway, you guys mention "good" open world games. But I've played stuff like GTA IV, L.A. Noire, Skyrim, Breath of the Wild, Xenoblade X. Not a single one of those has made me think, "This game benefits from a open world format". Hell, I'd say I'm having more fun with Pokémon then all of them, because the turn based battles are way more fun then trudging around the place.

I thought only Elden Ring is open world?

I think the jump to an open world format is just as much to blame for Gen 9's issues as the annual deadlines, to be honest. I can remember quite a few locations from each region. It's no coincidence that the more structured world designs have more memorable landmarks then Arceus or Scarlet/Violet. Meanwhile, most of Galar's towns are far and away more interesting then the threadbare towns I've seen in Hisui and Paldea so far. I'd be amazed if anything comes close to the steam powered mechanisms of Motostoke, or Ballonlea Town, which is mostly underneath massive, luminescent mushrooms. Paldea has one big town, and a whole bunch of nothing surrounding it. So yeah, the mainline games need more breathing space between entries, but you're deluding yourself if you think that's the only reason. Open world games always have to compromise on something. I've not seen one game that hasn't had to do so. EDIT: @Hero-of-Time is wrong about Arceus not being a mainline game, BTW. It definitely is. Game Freak class it as such. You can transfer Pokémon between it and other mainline games.

Normally, with Digital Foundry stuff, the majority of issues tend to be stuff I never notice in actual gameplay. This game though, you don't need an eye for it, and a frame rate tracker to see the issues on display. Some important NPCs, and the Pokémon themselves look fine. Everything else though? Oof... It's amazing to think Sword/Shield is technically better in every respect. But nooooo! People whined because you can't rotate the camera, (even though that game is designed around it) and now you've got this shoddy, geometry clipping shambles. It's upsetting to me, I thought Sword/Shield was a step in the right direction in a lot of ways over the 3DS titles, but Scarlet/Violet is a million steps back in some respects.

I mean, in the first generation, that's understandable. But descriptions of moves have been around since Gold/Silver, so that's defo on you. Anyway, Super Fang is normally balanced by the fact that only crummy Pokémon like Raticate can learn it and it doesn't affect Ghost Types. It'll be interesting to see if this new version will make an impact like Nature's Madness did.

You mean Super Fang? That move that has been around since the first game?

I can do that. Can even get you a Fuecoco as well.

I can do that. Can even get you a Fuecoco as well.

No idea yet as I'm not spoiling that for myself. But if you're just going by regional Pokedexes, (Which Pokémon can be caught in game without transferring through HOME) then it's Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl. With 487. EDIT: It may be Sword/Shield if you include the DLC. But the 3 Pokedexes in game have quite a few Pokémon that show up in more then one Dex and I have better things to do then to manually count every unique Pokémon in that game, so there. If you're gonna go by how many Pokémon you'll be able to actually transfer (The National Pokédex) and use in game, then it's Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon, with 809. Scarlet/Violet ain't ever reaching National Dex numbers, as that whole notion died with Sword/Shield. In my opinion, I don't think it's gonna beat BD/SP either. Love to be proven wrong on that last point. But I'm gonna guess it'll be 400-450. And for the record, I never wanna see out of battle catching ever again. Completely destroys the point of battling wild Pokémon.

I imagine it's to encourage people to utilise the Union Circle. Which you should, there's really no downside. More Raid Dens show up (although each den is designated an "owner" who will have to initiate it), you don't have to deal with AI partners in Raids, you can get version exclusives, you're free to do anything you like in the game, even initiate cutscenes and progress the main goal, the progress will transfer back to your file. I've also been able to help my cousin with navigation thanks to Koraidon sticking out like a sore thumb. And it's been a great distraction for me having someone in the same room to chat with. It's honestly the best thing about this game. EDIT: If there's one criticism I have, it's that people can only join a Union Circle at the very start, during the setup process. You can't join once the session starts, even if there's a free spot. The host would have to disband and start a fresh session to allow latecomers in. A little annoying, but it can be worked around.