Glen-i Posted February 27 Posted February 27 (edited) 2 starters from the same generation feels strange. Tepig just stands out like a sore thumb now! I'm not complaining though. There's a real chance that Feraligatr will pull a Samurott and go from decent to awesome, and let's face it, Meganium is the most useless starter ever, so whatever new form it gets here can't possibly be worse. I haven't been able to see the footage, but going by Serebii, the battle system seems to have some Strategy RPG positioning elements. Intriguing... No idea whether abilities are a thing though, so still sitting on the fence. I dig the HUD element that show battle messages on the side. ("Not very effective", etc) Long overdue! @Julius, you asked this in the presents thread, but I'll answer it here. 2 Flying types with one Rock Slide, you know? The main thing is that I want battles to be the focus again. Legends: Arceus and Scarlet/Violet treat battles as such an afterthought. Scarlet/Violet doesn't have trainers force you into battle, and Legends actively punishes you for engaging in battle with wild Pokémon. Although that second game is a moot point, because the battle system in Legends is utter crap. Look, nothing wrong with experimenting, but Legends' battle system does nothing right. It needs to be thrown out, but these are the biggest issues I have. - The speed stat determines how often your Pokémon attack instead of when they go, so really fast Pokémon get to have twice, or sometimes three times as many turns as their opponent. It's so incredibly unfair in a series where turn economy is so important. - There's no abilities. Which sucks. Toxicroak might as well be the same Pokémon as Sneasler, except Sneasler has a higher speed stat, so Toxicroak is pointless. - The EV's in this game are wack. You can maximise every stat like in the Game Boy games. No strategic thought needed and it makes every Pokémon far too tanky. Let's Go did a similar thing and there's no competitive scene for that. Gee, I wonder why? Then again, you can't battle other players in Legends, almost like Game Freak knew the battles sucked. - The moves themselves. There's so few. And some unique ones, like Stealth Rock, got changed to just be stuff like "Rock version of Fire Spin". It's awful, and makes the Pokémon blend into each other even more. - Wild Pokémon can run away if you decide to battle them. Freaking why? No-one likes this, if you say you do, you are a liar. Anyway, non battle stuff I'll change? The open world, that's a given. I want actual landmarks with people to talk to, not just a field with a mountain somewhere. There's been two games with that now, and I'm sick to death of it. Z-A taking place in Lumiose City is promising, but unless I can barge into people's homes and demand they spout a sentence or two at me, what's the point? I fully expect to be sent out into boring fields that look nothing like Kalos at some point though, so... The Pokédex in Legends is cute, but filling it got old, really fast. I love catching them all. But I don't love having to catch 20 Magikarp, and then watch it use Splash 15 times for it to actually count. Catch it once, get the Pokédex entry. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Legends is just a glorified catching simulator, and that's not why I play Pokémon. If it was, I would've played Pokémon Go. I don't care if you can manually throw the ball, it just amounts to sneak up behind Pokémon (Stealth? Ugh...), Huck at ball at it, done. It's boring. Glad Sca/Vi didn't do that... So yeah, still on the fence, need to know more about how progression works. Edited February 27 by Glen-i 1
MindFreak Posted February 27 Posted February 27 Looks fine, the new battle mechanics look interesting and are sure to spice things up. However, I'm not keen on the city being the only place to explore, as it can't possibly be as varied as Sinnoh was in Arceus. We also didn't get any hints as to what the story is in the game in the trailers. 1
Ashley Posted February 27 Posted February 27 1 hour ago, Glen-i said: unless I can barge into people's homes and demand they spout a sentence or two at me, what's the point? 2
bob Posted February 27 Posted February 27 Looks like pure shit. Honestly the relationship between Pokemon fans and Pokemon games is like that of an abusive husband and his wife. Everyone keeps telling her that he's bad news, and she should leave him, but she reckons he can change, and this time it'll be different. But he ain't going to change, not if she keeps coming back even when he refuses to change his behaviour. 1 1
EEVILMURRAY Posted March 1 Posted March 1 Because Arceus was set in the past, I was expecting something similar here, like some scandal while the Eiffel Tower was being built or something, or even further back than that. Helping out and watching Jubilife Village grow was most satisfying. But this appears to be set after X and Y(?), unless AZ was a hotelier before he got into the war business. I was looking forward to checking out pre-gameworld landscapes like Arceus and doing the random shit they wanted - except to evolve, the stuff they made you do with Basculegion was bollocks. Instead we have small wild zones which you know will be small and if they have themed ones in this city, like a small active volcano area where the fire types are and everyone just walks on the pavement outside as if poses no danger, s'gonna look stupid. Instead it seems they're doing the usual thing of adding small extra mechanics as if it was something people had asked for, going on roofs of buildings, wow... I always thought something was lacking in previous entries, not just the top floor of buildings. The Onix looked a bit tiny too. 1
Ashley Posted March 1 Posted March 1 Yeah I did expect the Legends line to be set at different times in the past. I assume the legend in this instance is AZ but even so, the previous Legends game felt unique because of its setting and this 🤷♂️ 1
bob Posted March 1 Posted March 1 Is this not set in the future? I thought that's what the whole bit at the beginning was about - the growth of technology and the holograms etc.
Ashley Posted March 1 Posted March 1 56 minutes ago, bob said: Is this not set in the future? I thought that's what the whole bit at the beginning was about - the growth of technology and the holograms etc. I think it is meant to be set in the future, but looks like its about 2 years later than Scarlett/Violet.
Glen-i Posted March 1 Posted March 1 54 minutes ago, bob said: Is this not set in the future? I thought that's what the whole bit at the beginning was about - the growth of technology and the holograms etc. Kinda? Not sure how far, but it is deffo set after X/Y. Although whether they frame it as the future, or "current time" is still to be seen. Scarlet/Violet has an android implanted with memories that totally cheats at Pokémon battling, so who the hell knows? And @Ashley there, replying with my guess while I'm typing it. Bloody mod privileges, I tell you!
Ashley Posted March 1 Posted March 1 1 hour ago, Glen-i said: And @Ashley there, replying with my guess while I'm typing it. Bloody mod privileges, I tell you! My base speed is obviously higher than yours 4
Julius Posted March 2 Posted March 2 Really digging the new take on the Lumiose theme, so mellowed out, jazzy, and French feeling: The original, for comparison: Watching the footage again, I have a theory we're going to see a Mega Garbodor in this game, based on perhaps some dumb trailer logic, but hey, why not? Basically when talking about Mega Evolutions they show a Mega Absol vs a standard Altaria (Altaria has a Mega Evolution), followed by Mega Charizard X vs a standard Pidgeot (which also has a Mega Evolution), and to round off that bit of footage we then see Mega Kangaskhan vs, you guessed it: a standard Garbodor, who does not at this point have a Mega Evolution. Could allow for an interesting take on the Paris bin strikes from a couple of years ago, that's for sure
Julius Posted March 3 Posted March 3 Pre-orders for the game via the Pokémon Centre website will come with a plush of either of the starters: (note: you currently can't put a pre-order in with them at this time) Anyone else find it interesting that we still haven't seen this game's box art? I was kind of expecting it to come out following the Presents
Ashley Posted March 3 Posted March 3 Tepig looking like a zombie come back to life there. Besides, nothing can beat the Tepig plush I have (had? No idea if it's somewhere). You could transform it into a pokeball but in order to do so you had to turn him inside out from the butt.
S.C.G Posted March 3 Posted March 3 2 hours ago, Julius said: Anyone else find it interesting that we still haven't seen this game's box art? I was kind of expecting it to come out following the Presents Probably because the boxart will be saved until the last minute, when both the Switch and Switch 2 versions are revealed. It could be another Zelda: Breath of the Wild situation, where the game will release on the same day on the Switch, as the release date of the Switch 2. Or, it'll be a matter of months apart, so anyone wanting to buy the game will have a choice; you can buy the game now, and play it, then still be able to play that same Switch version on the Switch 2, or you can wait 'X' amount of weeks or months, and buy the Switch 2 version when it launches, but hey, if you pre-order it now on the Switch, you get a free plush toy. Alternatively, that IS the boxart, and you just draw the rest yourself, in the giant void surrounding the logo. 1
Emerald Emblem Posted March 3 Posted March 3 1 hour ago, S.C.G said: Probably because the boxart will be saved until the last minute, when both the Switch and Switch 2 versions are revealed. It could be another Zelda: Breath of the Wild situation, where the game will release on the same day on the Switch, as the release date of the Switch 2. Or, it'll be a matter of months apart, so anyone wanting to buy the game will have a choice; you can buy the game now, and play it, then still be able to play that same Switch version on the Switch 2, or you can wait 'X' amount of weeks or months, and buy the Switch 2 version when it launches, but hey, if you pre-order it now on the Switch, you get a free plush toy. Alternatively, that IS the boxart, and you just draw the rest yourself, in the giant void surrounding the logo. I do wonder how many people will wait in this situation, especially the die hard Pokemon fans. Judging from the reaction from some about the visuals shown off in the Pokemon Presents, maybe more than we might think will wait.
Glen-i Posted March 3 Posted March 3 2 hours ago, Ashley said: Tepig looking like a zombie come back to life there. Yeah, that sitting pose just looks wrong with it. Not gonna lie though, the Totodile plush is mighty tempting...
Julius Posted March 3 Posted March 3 1 hour ago, S.C.G said: Probably because the boxart will be saved until the last minute, when both the Switch and Switch 2 versions are revealed. It could be another Zelda: Breath of the Wild situation, where the game will release on the same day on the Switch, as the release date of the Switch 2. Or, it'll be a matter of months apart, so anyone wanting to buy the game will have a choice; you can buy the game now, and play it, then still be able to play that same Switch version on the Switch 2, or you can wait 'X' amount of weeks or months, and buy the Switch 2 version when it launches, but hey, if you pre-order it now on the Switch, you get a free plush toy. Honestly, at this point I'm fully expecting Legends Z-A to just be a Switch release which can be played on Switch 2 via backwards compatibility with the potential for a raw boost in performance on the Switch 2 if it's configured to be taken advantage of in such a way, but I'm not expecting a native Switch 2 release. I just can't see Game Freak having the manpower (or hell, even the technical skill) for a second version of the same game a fraction of the audience are going to actually take to playing, considering it's at the very least going to be on the Switch as well. The 30th anniversary is next year which is where I imagine a lot of their energy is going and there's a 0% chance in my mind there isn't a game releasing next year to commemorate that, which I would imagine is Gen X – I guess another question tangential to the next-gen talk is if that game is going to be a purely Switch 2 release or will also be a Switch release playable on Switch 2 via BC? That's the one to me which seems a much more compelling debate, just given the gap in install base you'll have between the Switch and Switch 2 still at that time, but also Nintendo 12-18 months into the life of the Switch 2 at that point probably wanting to pull people over should be looking to take full advantage of their biggest franchises being exclusive to next-gen. As for the potential of a native Switch 2 release impacting the box art being shown off...I don't really see that being the case, either? Unless we're somehow expecting some DX version to release on Switch 2 within a few months of an initial Switch release I don't foresee them being any different there's some weirdness already to the timing of Z-A (given how protracted the marketing for it has been so far) but we saw the box art for Legends: Arceus just 3 months after it was first announced back in 2021, whereas we're now 12+ months removed from that initial Legends Z-A reveal. They did also just randomly drop the Legends: Arceus box art on us, though, so I guess they're probably just going to do the same here 1
Glen-i Posted March 7 Posted March 7 (edited) OK, now that I'm on the net again, and gotten a good look at the trailers. Does it look like it addresses my issues with Legends? On 2/27/2025 at 5:00 PM, Glen-i said: The main thing is that I want battles to be the focus again. Legends: Arceus and Scarlet/Violet treat battles as such an afterthought. I mean, yeah. No denying it, the battles are absolutely a main focus here. That said, I'm conflicted. I'm not a particular fan of the notion that turn-based fights are something that needs to be left in the past. Final Fantasy has certainly convinced me of that. They only just got decent action gameplay with FF7 Remake. And I very much think Pokémon has one of the best turn-based systems in all of gaming. To ditch that would be a massive shame. Then again, if the Legends series of Pokémon games are the place where Game Freak wants to be experimental with Pokémon, I'd be fine with that. And I'm not against the idea of real time battles. As much as I absolutely loathe Legends: Arceus, the real time Noble Pokémon fights were legit fun! If the game was just that, I would've liked it a lot more. And on the other hand again, I have a sneaking suspicion Pokémon Champions is gonna be used as an excuse to not have turn-based battles in future games. That's likely my pessimism at play here. But well, open-world is in Pokémon games now, so... On 2/27/2025 at 5:00 PM, Glen-i said: Look, nothing wrong with experimenting, but Legends' battle system does nothing right. It needs to be thrown out, but these are the biggest issues I have. - The speed stat determines how often your Pokémon attack instead of when they go, so really fast Pokémon get to have twice, or sometimes three times as many turns as their opponent. It's so incredibly unfair in a series where turn economy is so important. Yeeaaahhhh... It's hard to go by from the footage, but I get the sneaking suspicion that the Speed stat may be even more overbearing here. Although how it works is yet to be seen. But let me put it this way. From Sword/Shield onwards, Pokémon that follow you around all have different speeds they can run at, it's a nice little attention to detail. Something like Lucario can keep pace with a trainer, but you're gonna leave more sluggish Pokémon like Groudon behind if you run at full pelt. It wasn't an issue, because it's just a cosmetic flourish. But now that the speed at which a Pokémon can move at can actually help them avoid attacks? Well, you saw that Hippowdon. That thing can't dodge an attack to save it's life... Literally! Another kind of issue that's become apparent is the size of Pokémon. Yes, humongous Pokémon like Onix have been downsized a bit, but it's still a massive target. Nothing short of a complete reworking of every Pokémon's base stats can stop this being a complete mess, balance-wise. And considering this will almost certainly be compatible with HOME, I doubt that's happening. Also related, what even is the downside of switching Pokémon mid-battle? It was so instant, I can't see one! Arceus had this same issue, just send out whatever Pokémon is strong against yoiur opponent, why wouldn't you? On 2/27/2025 at 5:00 PM, Glen-i said: There's no abilities. Which sucks. Toxicroak might as well be the same Pokémon as Sneasler, except Sneasler has a higher speed stat, so Toxicroak is pointless. Impossible to tell yet. It doesn't look hopeful though with the new battle system. On 2/27/2025 at 5:00 PM, Glen-i said: - The EV's in this game are wack. You can maximise every stat like in the Game Boy games. No strategic thought needed and it makes every Pokémon far too tanky. Let's Go did a similar thing and there's no competitive scene for that. Gee, I wonder why? Then again, you can't battle other players in Legends, almost like Game Freak knew the battles sucked. Also impossible to tell. On 2/27/2025 at 5:00 PM, Glen-i said: - The moves themselves. There's so few. And some unique ones, like Stealth Rock, got changed to just be stuff like "Rock version of Fire Spin". It's awful, and makes the Pokémon blend into each other even more. Well, at least Stealth Rock works like I'd expect it to. But at least if this game has few moves compared to the mainline games, it has a viable excuse this time. My above concerns about Speed still applies though. If there aren't abilities, then Pokémon will likely be rendered pointless by other Pokémon with the same type just having better Speed. On 2/27/2025 at 5:00 PM, Glen-i said: - Wild Pokémon can run away if you decide to battle them. Freaking why? No-one likes this, if you say you do, you are a liar. I hope this doesn't happen here, but the extended look trailer did provide a ray of hope here. I'll get into that in a bit. On 2/27/2025 at 5:00 PM, Glen-i said: Anyway, non battle stuff I'll change? The open world, that's a given. I want actual landmarks with people to talk to, not just a field with a mountain somewhere. There's been two games with that now, and I'm sick to death of it. Z-A taking place in Lumiose City is promising, but unless I can barge into people's homes and demand they spout a sentence or two at me, what's the point? I fully expect to be sent out into boring fields that look nothing like Kalos at some point though, so... As you can imagine, I'm very OK with how Wild Zones work. Lumiose City looks so much more intricate then anything in Arceus. Jury's still out on how many buildings you can actually go into. On 2/27/2025 at 5:00 PM, Glen-i said: The Pokédex in Legends is cute, but filling it got old, really fast. I love catching them all. But I don't love having to catch 20 Magikarp, and then watch it use Splash 15 times for it to actually count. Catch it once, get the Pokédex entry. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. They didn't even mention the Pokédex this time, so who the hell knows how this will even work? For all I know, it might not even be a thing here. As long as it's not just pointless busywork to get a page filled. On 2/27/2025 at 5:00 PM, Glen-i said: Legends is just a glorified catching simulator, and that's not why I play Pokémon. If it was, I would've played Pokémon Go. I don't care if you can manually throw the ball, it just amounts to sneak up behind Pokémon (Stealth? Ugh...), Huck a ball at it, done. It's boring. Glad Sca/Vi didn't do that... Ugh... It would still have that boring method of capture, wouldn't it? I'm baffled why people say this is a good change. On the plus side, it seems like actually battling the Pokémon first is going to be an unequivocally more reliable method of capture, so at least you're not gonna be punished for battling in a Pokémon game. BTW, a thing I neglected to mention that I hate in Arceus was the items. The game had limited item space in your bag for stupid reasons, and crafting mechanics suck. Remains to be seen if this is the thing here. You'd think the more modern setting would mean this won't have it, but that didn't stop crafting ruining TM's in Scarlet/Violet... So I'm coming out of these trailers more hopeful for the game then I was before. Not really sold yet, though. Edited March 7 by Glen-i
Julius Posted Thursday at 02:48 PM Posted Thursday at 02:48 PM Trailer from today's Direct – still just Late 2025. Everyone's reaction to the ranking system and the title of the game: 1
Glen-i Posted Thursday at 03:02 PM Posted Thursday at 03:02 PM 8 minutes ago, Julius said: Everyone's reaction to the ranking system and the title of the game: It's so obvious in retrospect. Thank Arceus that trainers can actually instigate battles now. Mad that I have to be hyped about that in a Pokémon game, but that's where we're at. That said, cheap shotting another trainer's Pokémon with an attack before a battle has to be illegal! The Kalos Police force is bloody useless!
Glen-i Posted Thursday at 04:12 PM Posted Thursday at 04:12 PM (edited) Dude here wants to kill all the Gogoats. I wonder if he's from Paldea? The branding on his jacket is from Scarlet/Violet. BTW, Pansear was seen. Marking the first time those Unova monkeys have been in a game since the Pokédex cut. Edited Thursday at 04:13 PM by Glen-i
Ashley Posted Thursday at 06:56 PM Posted Thursday at 06:56 PM 2 hours ago, Glen-i said: Dude here wants to kill all the Gogoats. I wonder if he's from Paldea? The branding on his jacket is from Scarlet/Violet. BTW, Pansear was seen. Marking the first time those Unova monkeys have been in a game since the Pokédex cut. Oh great, you can now experience the LTDA in a game.
Ike Posted Thursday at 07:20 PM Posted Thursday at 07:20 PM Why are the NPC so close. Have the never heard of personal space?
Glen-i Posted Thursday at 07:27 PM Posted Thursday at 07:27 PM 6 minutes ago, Ike said: Why are the NPC so close. Have the never heard of personal space? It's France, they gotta get close to you to give you the double-kiss-on-cheek manuever.
Ashley Posted Thursday at 07:53 PM Posted Thursday at 07:53 PM Also being France explains why they look so angry.
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