Current Events > Worst change to the Pokemon series?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Probably exp-share even tho I rarely would turn it off.

........There have been changes?

I love the EXP Share, but it should be toggable for people that don't want it. Removing Mega Evolutions annoyed me the most, though.

Some of the requirements to complete the Pokdex. They get more and more ridiculous every generation.

Removing Megas, removing moves, removing pokemon.
Adding terastillization

Yeah I forgot Dexit

Removal of Multi-Use TMs
It was a relief when they made them multi use, almost never used them cause I worried I was wasting it lol

Also crafting

Dexit, then mandatory Exp Share. The others listed aren't a big deal to me.

But the worst thing to happen to Pokemon isn't something that changed, but something that won't change, which is the fast release schedule and the small amount of people they have working on these games. If TPC weren't so dead set on the current release schedule and were willing to extend generations longer to give more development time, or if Gamefreak actually put more money into hiring more people to work on the games, then that would dramatically improve the games far more than reversing any of the mentioned changes would.

How the hell did you forget dexit?

Is the exp share still mandatory?

I just don't understand.

Crimsoness posted...

Yeah I forgot Dexit

Thats it.

Literally the worst change to pokemon, besides getting rid of megas.

Other- Dexit...

I'm honestly fine with the rest of the list, even love a few of them (like Regional Variants)... I'm not even mad about a National Dex anymore I just want to be able to bring in everything... Sucks having some Pokemon just stuck in Home for no reason...

Gen 8 removing the sense of exploration and shuffling the player from city to city was the worst.

DeadBankerDream posted...

Is the exp share still mandatory?

I just don't understand.

Yep. It's just a permanent gameplay feature that can never be turned off now. It's a good feature, but it should always be optional.

I think it's a bad feature.

Taking out the "always run" toggle in HGSS.

There's honestly plenty of other things that qualify (taking out the Vs Seeker from FRLG and DPP is another contender for me), but this one I think is the most egregious for most players. It's really like we can't have anything nice, no matter how simple, for more than a single game or generation.

What is wrong with mandatory exp share?

Cheater87 posted...

What is wrong with mandatory exp share?

It tends to make you overleveled and thus makes the game even easier than it already is

Crimsoness posted...

It tends to make you overleveled and thus makes the game even easier than it already is

Plus it removes the tactical element of progression. I could send out my weak pokemon that I want to get exp in this scenario, but it might be too weak to handle it.

Nevermind, get the exp anyway.

I often stay awake at night thinking back to the thrill of switching in a magikarp and then immediately switching it out again until it reaches level twenty, and how that dream turns to ash in my mouth thinking of modern gamefreak.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

World building. Baby Pokmon coming out of eggs makes more sense than like, a Lucario or Jynx.

Of the design choices, forced xp share. Of all choices, removing and limiting moves and pokemon. I get it, hardware, but that's your own fucking fault, Nintendo.

Crimsoness posted...

It tends to make you overleveled and thus makes the game even easier than it already is

If they balance the game to better suit those additional incoming levels (I felt like X/Y were properly scaled for it when they first made the Exp Share a key item) then it's fine. But it feels like they stopped bothering with that in gen 7, which makes the newer games far easier than they need to be.

Mandatory EXP share because they suck at game balance. If they balanced the game and levels around what you'd expect, it wouldn't be an issue.

Calwings posted...

If they balance the game to better suit those additional incoming levels (I felt like X/Y were properly scaled for it when they first made the Exp Share a key item) then it's fine. But it feels like they stopped bothering with that in gen 7, which makes the newer games far easier than they need to be.

I disagree with the bolded. I turned off the Exp Share a few times and still became overleveled by the time I got to the Champion. Because of that, I didn't use the Exp Share at all in Gen 7, and I didn't play Gen 8 but I heard the Exp Share was the worst yet. Gen 9 did a great job and I never felt overleveled aside from not going in the recommended order of Gyms/Team Star.

Setting aside Dexit, which is definitely the worst, I think it might be getting rid of multi-use TMs. It was such an incredibly useful change and was near-universally celebrated. Having to replay entire games just for a TM is bad game design, especially in a franchise that only allows a single save per cart.

And it genuinely looks like the reason they got rid of them was because they added a raid feature but didn't know what to give for a reward. Which is just lazy.

Mandatory experience share is also pretty bad but I didn't choose it because in theory you can balance around it. Game Freak doesn't actually do so, but there is a world where a competent developer could make mandatory experience share work.

But ultimately Pokmon (and Game Freak's) biggest issue is its inability to learn. Not just from its mistakes but from its successes too. So you get beloved features removed, bad features made worse and generally a franchise that just can't grow.

DeadBankerDream posted...

I often stay awake at night thinking back to the thrill of switching in a magikarp and then immediately switching it out again until it reaches level twenty, and how that dream turns to ash in my mouth thinking of modern gamefreak.

I kind of get this, but now it just feels like a monotonous part of the game.

Compsognathus posted...

Game Freak doesn't actually do so,

They do. It's just that the games are so piss easy that the increase in difficulty in the games that have it isn't really noticeable.

ellis123 posted...

They do. It's just that the games are so piss easy that the increase in difficulty in the games that have it isn't really noticeable.

USUM was the only game that was harder than the pre-3ds games. Any "increase" in difficulty is balanced out by the multitude of mechanics that make the game even easier like affection bonuses.

Removing the in-game GTS

some of the evolution requirements have been a lot more esoteric, pretty sure theres one where you have to hold your device upside down in the rain or something

PerseusRad posted...

some of the evolution requirements have been a lot more esoteric, pretty sure theres one where you have to hold your device upside down in the rain or something

Inkay is just hold your system upside down when it hits lvl30... You don't need Rain...

Crimsoness posted...

It tends to make you overleveled and thus makes the game even easier than it already is

Beats having to toss every Pokmon out during the battle to get exp.

there should be at least one battle frontier per gen, but it's currently 5 gens without one I think.

random_man9119 posted...

Inkay is just hold your system upside down when it hits lvl30... You don't need Rain...

Yeah I knew I probably combined two by accident. Still, we have stuff like, to get Kingambit have your Bisharp hold a Leader's Crest, then defeat three additional Bisharp that also have a Leader's Crest. or Palafins Union Circle thing

Trying to have a plot.

I've never liked any of the gimmicks that boost a Pokmon's power (Megas etc.) while making them look ugly.

PerseusRad posted...

Yeah I knew I probably combined two by accident. Still, we have stuff like, to get Kingambit have your Bisharp hold a Leader's Crest, then defeat three additional Bisharp that also have a Leader's Crest. or Palafins Union Circle thing

I didn't think either of those two were bad... Although I have two Switches so evolving Finizen wasn't an issue for me...

I think the only bad evolution method is Galarian Yamask to Runerigus... That one was too specific...

Rai_Jin posted...

there should be at least one battle frontier per gen, but it's currently 5 gens without one I think.

SV doesn't even have a battle tower at all lol. That means this is the first time there are no repeatable Double Battles to try out Double strategies on in Single Player even though Doubles is the "official" VGC format. Not sure if the DLC has one now.

I would have said mega removal, but they had gone overboard with what got it to the point that we were better off without. Mega-Rayquaza in particular made the mechanic a joke. If it had stayed restricted to old or bad pokemon, it would have been extremely healthy as a way to update them into usefulness.

So instead I marked TM removal. Adding useless grind for little to no reason is not a good feel. It was a solved issue, and then they un-solved it.

Two runners up:

Dexit, not for the change itself but how they haven't actually done anything with it. Balance is still shit. Progression is still pretty bad. Animations were not improved in battle. Had they done those things, it could have been worth it.

Online setup for leaving behind good iterations and going into worse ones. The carnival junk in Gen 7 was trash, and then they started forcing you into their app for trades.

But the series' biggest flaw is how little they really try to change or update the game. They continue to coast while making minimal improvements generation to generation. Legends Arceus was one of the biggest changes and had a lot of good ideas, but then they just weren't followed through into Scarlet/Violet.

Honestly I do prefer TMs being one-time use you can craft. It felt awkward to just have them forever (though obviously better than the one-time use ones where you had to restart the game to use them again). The crafting element makes them feel more like a proper aspect of team creation.

Removing Mega-Evolutions just for <current gen gimmick>

Yeah, Mega evolutions on already powerful legendarys were stupid, but why removing them all?

Especially with such a cheap mechanic like Dynamax. Just give every Pokemon that has no Mega-Evolution a Dynamax form to balance it out, and be done with it.

At least the Teracrystalstuff is better than Dynamax, but that's an extremly low hurdle.

Removing Ash

Games balanced around the Exp Share are actually harder and more strategic than ones not, since you're using a team of pokemon instead of juggernaughting with one.

Its just a shame none of the official games are balanced around exp shar

Moving to 3D.
Gamefreak just sucks at it.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

They used to have exclusive moves that can't be relearn by the move reminder.

But that's now moot since the move reminder can now give back Prevo moves

They also leveled up faster but that's also pointless in gen 9 when exp candy is so plentiful

I don't know if this is a change to pokemon or if it was always the case, but I always thought it was total bullshit that you had to buy the game twice just to get access to all the pokemon

PerseusRad posted...

some of the evolution requirements have been a lot more esoteric, pretty sure theres one where you have to hold your device upside down in the rain or something

If anyone thinks the console-upside-down thing (Malamar) is weird, try looking up Runerigus. I have no idea how anyone was supposed to figure that one out.