Poll of the Day > My brother got me Pokemon Sword for my birthday

(+) Yeah! (+)

I wasn't actually expecting this, and I wasn't the biggest fan of Sun, but yeah I'll play a new Pokemon.

Played about 90 minutes last night here's my thoughts so far:
Likes:
-Sobble is best boy
-Nickit
-Games feels nice, UI is nice and snappy, movement feels great
-Nurse/Store/Renamer/Move Deleter/Move Trainer all in one building FINALLY
-I like how they used the starter pokemon cutscene to teach you how types work.
-Probably the best introductory rival battle in the entire series
-Wow this game is really generous with money and items
-Sounds like traditional Gyms are back? I didn't like the trials in Sun
-The Professor is an old British lady.

Dislikes
-Stop talking please
-WTF does "you got 140W" mean.
-Shut up Leon
-This game is really ugly not gonna lie
-Holy shit stop with the endless tutorials I've played a Pokemon before
-UI while snappy is all over the place and kinda ugly
-STOP TALKING PLEASE LET ME PLAY
-Why do they talk up the wild zone to be this amazing thing then I get there and I immediately get attacked by an Onix over 10 levels higher than me, and the "catch wild Gigantimax pokemon!" spots give me "Ws" and no Pokemon?
-Leon
-Galarian Meowth is straight out of my nightmares

Overall though what little I played, really enjoyed! Maybe it'll be better than Sun afterall. But it's still way too verbose for its own good, and they keep telling me "el oh el Leon, you, like, totes get lost all the time!" Show. Don't tell.

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I've never played a Pokemon game.

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I would cream my pants if they someday went back to using sprites instead of models. Really had more of a "pocket monster" feel to it because the sprites were the same size, and even smaller Mons looked more menacing than ever.

Now we have really empty worlds because they're focusing a lot of time and resources on animations, lackluster storylines, and I still think Gens I-IV did the best job at working with what they had.

That said, I really enjoy how accessible they made competitive battling, but they've turned Pokemon into a corporate cash cow so much that the past 3 gens feel... emptier, somehow.

I mean, Pokemon has always been a cash cow for Nintendo. It's the most valuable IP in the world afterall. But, yeah, the games did take a noticeable dip in quality in recent years for sure.

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papercup posted...

I mean, Pokemon has always been a cash cow for Nintendo. It's the most valuable IP in the world afterall. But, yeah, the games did take a noticeable dip in quality in recent years for sure.

I meant it was a cash cow in the sense that they're really emphasizing releasing these games in executive cycles-- it pisses me off because every time they get close to a finished game, they yank the rug from under the developer team and we get fucked out of post-game content not in the form of paid DLC.

I'm not into that. I want to pay for a finished product. DLC feels less gimmicky if it felt like a complete game to begin with.

RedPixel posted...

I would cream my pants if they someday went back to using sprites instead of models. Really had more of a "pocket monster" feel to it because the sprites were the same size, and even smaller Mons looked more menacing than ever.

Given the shit visual quality of their games recently, it would be an improvement. I chose not to get Sw/Sh because I don't support the low effort they're putting in. Not that my choice did anything, Sw/Sh are among the highest selling Switch games.

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^ That's admirable, I can respect that.

They're certainly not terrible, but my frustration is the fact that they don't seem to have any interest in reaching their full potential anymore.

Give us a Pokemon game with Octopath Traveler overworld feel if you want to half-ass a Pokemon game in a beautiful way. Idgaf about glorified G-Max bullshit. Still waiting for them to explain the "3,000 year war" and why they stuck Zygarde in a cave-- whoops, shit, forgot about that, better make him a transformer dog in the next game

What the fuck

Oh yeah for sure the 2 year generation cycle has totally hurt recent pokemon games. You complete the E4, beat the champion, then you're lucky if there's another hour of story content, then that's it you've seen everything the game has to offer.

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papercup posted...

Oh yeah for sure the 2 year generation cycle has totally hurt recent pokemon games. You complete the E4, beat the champion, then you're lucky if there's another hour of story content, then that's it you've seen everything the game has to offer.

I miss the Battle Frontier in Emerald. That game would have been perfect in my opinion if it had had the revamped physical/special battle system... before Gen IV, physical/special moves were automatically assigned to type (Ex: any fire move was always a special move, even fire punch, etc)

faramir77 posted...

Given the shit visual quality of their games recently, it would be an improvement. I chose not to get Sw/Sh because I don't support the low effort they're putting in. Not that my choice did anything, Sw/Sh are among the highest selling Switch games.

Thats commendable, I dont have nearly as much self control as you to back up my moral positions on things like this

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I don't need self control to not play games that don't look appealing.

Man, what a disappointment. Black, White, and their sequels were great, and I was looking forward to a bold new direction for the series. Then we got X/Y. Then we got Sun/Moon. And now this. Was the transition to 3D really that devastating for the developers?

I really do hope Pokemon eventually bounces back in terms of quality, but until then, there are lots of other games I can enjoy. Didn't buy X or Y (got Y free later via Club Nintendo though), Moon was unimpressive, and the latest generation doesn't appeal to me at all.

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It's really good. The sheer number of cool pokemon you can find in the wild area by the end of the game is incredible.

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Watts are primarily used to sell for Luxury Balls which you can sell for Pokedollars to get Vitamins (which no longer have a limit on how many EVs you can give with them).

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As a long time Pokemon fan it takes a lot of self control to not even consider playing what the vast majority of us have always wanted which was a mainline title playable on the home console in a fully 3D world. I actually dont know how anybody can resist on moral grounds, which is why its commendable.

Even with the low quality aesthetic aside, I mean thats never been a strong suit for the series anyways lol

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papercup posted...

-Holy shit stop with the endless tutorials I've played a Pokemon before

Kind of a running problem I've had with the later games. BW even tried teaching you typing with those ugly monkeys in the first gym, which was absolute shit.

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RedPixel posted...

Give us a Pokemon game with Octopath Traveler overworld

I never played that game, but it's visual style is something I've advocated for across many series (Pokemon and 2D Mario in particular) for over a decade. Sprite based, yet very modern looking with lighting, water effects, etc. It's a really awesome juxtaposition.

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It's kinda neat that the gym challenges are actually like a thing in the world. In the older games it always felt like nobody in the world actually cares about the League other than the player and the gyms lol

And it's neat that you can change your uniform and assign yourself a number.

But also wow it took hours to get to the first Gym. I thought the stadium would be the first gym. Nope! There were still 3 routes to go lol

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Just got the third badge. Yeah graphically, this game is ugly as hell. Idk how it got released in this state. But, so far, the actual game, other than the constant talking, I'm enjoying it. So far my reaction to it is it does the Gym League better than any previous gen.

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The fuck. Meowth got a new evolution? o_O And it's hideous as all fuck. How can you ruin my favorite Pokemon like this, Reggie? What did I do to deserve this?

Edit: Oh and I got 4 badges now.

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Seeing as youre still playing does that mean its worth buying? Havent played Pokmon in years. I mean, I purchased Sun... but then just didnt play it.

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So there are definitely some issues, but I am enjoying my time with it. It's linear as hell. So remember how in earlier gens like the first 2 or 3 gyms have to be done in a certain order than like the next 5 you can tackle any order you want? This game straight up tells you "Hey, you have to follow this linear path and do the gyms in the order we tell you". And the game is constantly stopping to have cutscenes and talking and forced story battles. But, a lot of those match ups I have found to be somewhat challenging. And the gym I did last night, the leader had 4 pokemon, which is a lot for recent Pokemon games. But the story is somewhat intriguing. I *think* I know who the villain is but I'm not sure what his goal is yet.

Also there's TONS of Pokemon available. They are all over the place and there's a nice variety. While it doesn't have Sun's problem where like 90% of all the pokemon you find were dark type(exaggerating, but that game had a definite overabundance of dark) there's still been quite a few dark type pokemon or pokemon naturally learn dark moves for some reason. Also the UI, while not great looking, is really snappy and responsive, and battles are nice and quick with little load in/load out time.

Graphically, this game is ugly. No way to sugar coat it. It looks like it belongs on PS2. Textures like mix together in the distance and make things look awful and blurry. Geometry is really simple, and even close up on some objects the texture work is very low rez and muddy. Characters and monsters just like sprout out of the ground when you get close enough to see them. No idea what the hell happened in the visuals department when this game was made.

I say if you just want to experience how Pokemon has changed, go for it. So far, it's not bad. I'm enjoying it more than I did Sun.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjeH3l6rf8U

There are like 300 Pokemon available before the second gym iirc. (It tells you in the video, I just haven't watched the video recently).

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The fifth Gym challenge while easy was really funny.

I think Corviknight is my favorite third stage bird they've ever made.
https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Corviknight_(Pok%C3%A9mon)

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Anybody played the yellow remake?

I have spent sooooo much time on Sword after not playing Pokemon since Diamond lmao. Maybe 400 hours already

OhhhJa posted...

Anybody played the yellow remake?

The Let's Go games? I have not, but I heard they're not like actual Pokemon. They're more akin to Pokemon Go. There's no real battling, you're basically just running around catching hundreds of pokemon over and over to get a Pokemon with good stats.

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papercup posted...

The Let's Go games? I have not, but I heard they're not like actual Pokemon. They're more akin to Pokemon Go. There's no real battling, you're basically just running around catching hundreds of pokemon over and over to get a Pokemon with good stats.

Oh that's lame

The animations are shit

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OhhhJa posted...

Oh that's lame

Apparently the way it works is as you catch pokemon you build up a chain. The higher the chain the higher the EVs are and the higher the shiny chance is. So apparently if you want that perfect EV shiny gen 1 pokemon, Let's Go is the way to do it. And after looking a little more into it, there is battling, but it's way simpler than a modern Pokemon game.

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Or, better IVs I guess. I get those mixed up. I know one is the base value of the stat and the other is the rate the state grows as you battle pokemon.

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And that's Gyms 6, 7 and 8 down.

Okay so when the earthquakes started and they mentioned the power plant I thought for sure "oh here's the big dungeon in the game" Nope. So far there hasn't been a single dungeon. But I assume one is coming? The game was very front loaded with story. Not so much the middle. Badges 4-8 are all VERY quick. Also I don't really like this move towards making the crime team not evil. Team Rocket always felt like a threat because they were basically the mafia or yakuza. I don't really get that vibe from recent teams. Team Yell was more of an annoyance than anything.

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The championship was a lot longer than I thought it would be. Plus I can't think of another game where you have to leave the championship after you start it to go do story bits. And there was a dungeon... of sorts... but it was really short and bland and there were no puzzles or any exploration. I'm kinda just like "why?"

Anyway I went back to the slumbering weald and got the sword, so I assume I go to Hammerlocke now, fight the chairman then Leon and then post game happens.

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I did it, I'm the champion \o/ now the game begins proper

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https://nintendosoup.com/1-4-million-trainers-have-defeated-zeraora-to-unlock-shiny-zeraora/

You can get a shiny Zeraora in Pokemon Home next week cus enough people killed one in the wild this week.

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The DLC is basically another wild area, which I would appreciate more if this game didn't look like crap and run poorly in wide open areas.

So I have a 100% complete living dex in gen 6. I'm seriously considering breeding everything to make as close to a second living dex as I can and then transferring everything up to gen 7. Since I didn't like gen 7 as soon as I was done with the ultra beast episode I put the game down and never touched it again so I don't even have a living gen 7 dex. Then making more babies and moving those to sword.

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It would be awesome if someone could trade me a Galarian Ponyta. Tell me what you want and I can trade you.

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Is there seriously no proper GTS system in gen 8?

Like, there's things about this game I like, but, wow. This seriously needed another year or two in the oven at least.

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