Current Events > Whats the deal with Pokemon ZA?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I have seen almost nothing but hate for it since it came out. Is it really THAT bad? Even my best friend seems to be questioning himself a bit.

It's fine, but fine for a brand new Pokemon game just isn't good enough. It also seems to be an incredibly cheap production. Very much Nintendo just phoning it in after all this time.

The developers have been putting in less and less effort with each new generation.

I think it's good. Obviously you can point to certain things, like buildings literally not having texture and say that's bad and GameFreak is lazy. But also it runs like a video game should run, so massive round of applause to GameFreak, everyone. They get a participation trophy this time around.

I think it's a fun take on pokemon and I'm having a good time.

I've been really liking it. It's not earth shattering, no. Arceus was definitely the bigger, more interesting production of the two.

It's absolutely not warranting the hate it's getting.

Its fine.

Outside of the simple building textures and tutorials, its fine.

Better than SV. And less annoying story than Arceus. Pokemon games always have really boring stories so its good they toned it down here.

I haven't picked it up yet, because I feel we've just been burned on this franchise for, like, ten years. I could list the many reasons why for each game, but it would just be a rant. I decided after playing through Scarlett that I wasn't going to buy another mainline game unless it really does seem like it'll be a step forward without three steps back.

I'm having a lot of fun with it.

I'm just glad we finally have a game with proper overworld layouts and interactivity again. It's been so long

reincarnator07 posted...

It's fine, but fine for a brand new Pokemon game just isn't good enough. It also seems to be an incredibly cheap production. Very much Nintendo just phoning it in after all this time.

Pokemon has always been a budget project for Nintendo. Did you think this was some sort of multi-billion dollar franchise or something?

Please understand.

_____Cait posted...

Its fine.

Outside of the simple building textures and tutorials, its fine.

Better than SV. And less annoying story than Arceus. Pokemon games always have really boring stories so its good they toned it down here.

I have noticed I've practically seen no one talking about the story. But with the other recent games (SV, Arceus, SwSh) I did see a good amount of discussion.

It's quite solid and doesn't deserve the bizarre hate it gets.

GF still makes solid Pokemon games underneath all the technical and visual issues.

Someone told me to compare it to Sonic 2006 and it looks the the same but Sonic has bigger maps

Pokemon has a huge section of its "fanbase" that basically just wants to ruin it for everyone else. And by being loud and obnoxious, they tend to drastically over-represent the widespread opinions of the franchise (especially on forums like here, where there isn't a thing akin to a downvote so its easy to drown out the "regular" opinions). This is pretty common with most "popular" things (damn near everything gets hate-brigaded these days), but something like Pokemon has a disproportionate amount.

It's Pokemon, with a fun twist on the gameplay and a decent little story. You'll probably already know if you enjoy the game or not.

Letsago posted...

I have noticed I've practically seen no one talking about the story. But with the other recent games (SV, Arceus, SwSh) I did see a good amount of discussion.

It's because the story is basically a nothingburger.

It's basically just the Pokemon Z with a few arbitrary changes to fit the new mechanics. You've got three rivals that are obvious stand-ins for three of the four in gen 6. You've got the ZA Royale taking the place of gym battles. Even Lysander is back, though I'm guessing his role of Big Bad has been taken by Quasartico, if recent pokemon stories are any hint. The whole thing smells exactly like the discarded frame of Pokemon Z they never got to use, with some new window dressing.

And nobody's talking about it because Gen 6's story was really nothing worth talking about in the first place

It doesn't have the same interesting lore/allure that Arceus did regarding Sinnoh

Proto_Spark posted...

Pokemon has a huge section of its "fanbase" that basically just wants to ruin it for everyone else. And by being loud and obnoxious, they tend to drastically over-represent the widespread opinions of the franchise (especially on forums like here, where there isn't a thing akin to a downvote so its easy to drown out the "regular" opinions). This is pretty common with most "popular" things (damn near everything gets hate-brigaded these days), but something like Pokemon has a disproportionate amount.

It's Pokemon, with a fun twist on the gameplay and a decent little story. You'll probably already know if you enjoy the game or not.

the game is fun, its Pokemon gameplay, its hard to screw up lol and this is the second Pokemon game I bought since pearl the first being scarlet but the game overall is bad

the characters models are fine for the Pokemon artstyle the graphics for everything else is 4/10

story is just there to be there 4/10

maps and exploration 2/10

gameplay since its real time Ill give it a 7.5

the fact that you cant trade mega stones because game freak obviously doesnt want people to trade the PvP ones is their choice but thats a 1/10 choice to me

overall the game is a 5-6 out of 10
im having fun btw mainly because I never got to try it mega evolutions but its not a good game

i heard the complaints about SV too and I give it a 8/10

I didn't click on that spoiler, but I actually loved the story of XY, specifically because of Lysandre and the postgame Looker quest. If I liked those will I enjoy this story?

Everyone in this topic saying "it's fine" is the exact problem with Pokemon.

SwayM posted...

Everyone in this topic saying "it's fine" is the exact problem with Pokemon.

I'm sorry that I'm having fun with a game you don't want to enjoy.

Proto_Spark posted...

Pokemon has a huge section of its "fanbase" that basically just wants to ruin it for everyone else. And by being loud and obnoxious, they tend to drastically over-represent the widespread opinions of the franchise (especially on forums like here, where there isn't a thing akin to a downvote so its easy to drown out the "regular" opinions). This is pretty common with most "popular" things (damn near everything gets hate-brigaded these days), but something like Pokemon has a disproportionate amount.

It's Pokemon, with a fun twist on the gameplay and a decent little story. You'll probably already know if you enjoy the game or not.

You mean the people who want Game freak to put more effort into a Pokemon game. Sad that those people are the ones "ruining it for everyone." They want the series to be better for everyone.

Proto_Spark posted...

Pokemon has a huge section of its "fanbase" that basically just wants to ruin it for everyone else. And by being loud and obnoxious, they tend to drastically over-represent the widespread opinions of the franchise (especially on forums like here, where there isn't a thing akin to a downvote so its easy to drown out the "regular" opinions). This is pretty common with most "popular" things (damn near everything gets hate-brigaded these days), but something like Pokemon has a disproportionate amount.

It's Pokemon, with a fun twist on the gameplay and a decent little story. You'll probably already know if you enjoy the game or not.

Its literally the biggest ip on the planet. It has a disproportionate amount of everything because of how big it is.

Equating people unhappy with the direction the franchise has taken as not regular opinions as if disliking the series in its current state shouldnt be listened to is showing some heavy bias from your end

The game is fine, Its not terrible but its not super amazing either, Its just fine

The problem is that there has been a large surge of Stupidly toxic grifters who pretty much exist to inflame negativity in the gaming scene and push things so that having any nuanced opinion on a game is impossible and things can only be super terrible must flame everyone.. Or perfect perfections and there is no in between and if you try to have said opinion you are wrong, Terrible, a shill and must be flamed

TMOG posted...

I'm sorry that I'm having fun with a game you don't want to enjoy.

I guess the best thing you can possibly argue is the loyalty of the fanbase that will accept the lowest effort slop a company can produce and never ask for anything they deserve.

SwayM posted...

I guess the best thing you can possibly argue is the loyalty of the fanbase that will accept the lowest effort slop a company can produce and never ask for anything they deserve.

In a way, the consumers have the product they deserve as long as they keep paying for it. For better or for worse.

It's in the same boat as Madden. There's a section of the fan base that wants an increase in quality but that's never going to happen because people always buy the newest release.

ssb_yunglink2 posted...

Equating people unhappy with the direction the franchise has taken as not regular opinions as if disliking the series in its current state shouldnt be listened to is showing some heavy bias from your end

If you don't like the product being put out, you can always... stop participating. That would be a much more valid use of your time than going to a forum for a game you don't like just to complain. It's perfectly okay to just move on to something else.

There's a bajillion pokemon clones out there. Some of them are even good.

i need to smoke some zaza before playing that Pokmon ZA.

Same reason people are still butthurt about tlou2 5 years later.

Looking at some of the posts here where they praise it saying it's better than Gamefreak's last game, wow, it's better than a game that didn't fucking work, give the studio a round of applause.

Tropicalwood posted...

Pokemon has always been a budget project for Nintendo.

I heard that the game costs very little to make, so in a way this is kind of true.

Nintendo is exploiting the name as much as it can for the sake of margin. No reason to make it expensive if people will buy it regardless.

yeah, i've seen enough footage of this game for me to say "no thanks!"

Proto_Spark posted...

If you don't like the product being put out, you can always... stop participating. That would be a much more valid use of your time than going to a forum for a game you don't like just to complain. It's perfectly okay to just move on to something else.

There's a bajillion pokemon clones out there. Some of them are even good.

If you think gaming forums should only be for positive reactions then lmao. Forums exist for discussion, and it will never always be positive, nor should it be. This is also not the Pokemon nor switch forum youre currently posting in.

Its crazy how often I see specifically Pokemon fans insisting that people unhappy with the games should never mention their displeasure.

I dont care if you like the game, enjoy yourself. But telling people they shouldnt be part of the discussion if they dont have good things to say about a game is frankly ridiculous

Actually played the game and it's fantastic.

Game is fine. Like it isnt a great game, but also certainly isnt a bad game.

...I'm loving the game. My one complaint is purely subjective: the mons I want on my team are only available later in the game.

But then again I like to play Digimon and SMT games too.

ssb_yunglink2 posted...

If you think gaming forums should only be for positive reactions then lmao. Forums exist for discussion, and it will never always be positive, nor should it be. This is also not the Pokemon nor switch forum youre currently posting in.

Its crazy how often I see specifically Pokemon fans insisting that people unhappy with the games should never mention their displeasure.

I dont care if you like the game, enjoy yourself. But telling people they shouldnt be part of the discussion if they dont have good things to say about a game is frankly ridiculous

I didn't say they couldn't be part of the discussion unless they had good things to say - I said they need to be part of the discussion to have anything to say. There are people on the pokemon boards who brag about having not touched a game that's come out in the last 5-10 years.

There's having negative things to say, and then there's stupid hate-jerk from people who don't care about anything and are literally only there to be negative. That's the one that's a problem. And Pokemon specifically has an absurd amount of specifically this kind of person.

Proto_Spark posted...

I didn't say they couldn't be part of the discussion unless they had good things to say - I said they need to be part of the discussion to have anything to say. There are people on the pokemon boards who brag about having not touched a game that's come out in the last 5-10 years.

There's having negative things to say, and then there's stupid hate-jerk from people who don't care about anything and are literally only there to be negative. That's the one that's a problem. And Pokemon specifically has an absurd amount of specifically this kind of person.

You literally said if you dont like the game then you can stop participating dawg. That has nothing to do with not playing a game in 10 years, thats encouraging people who dont like it to leave the discussion

For every hate-jerk that doesnt allow anything good to be said theres a positivity-jerk that only allows good things to be said. Theyre both awful and Pokemon has a lot of both

_____Cait posted...

Its fine.

Outside of the simple building textures and tutorials, its fine.

No, that should not be fine.

A game like that should be $20 max with that lack of effort.

Proto_Spark posted...

Pokemon has a huge section of its "fanbase" that basically just wants to ruin it for everyone else. And by being loud and obnoxious, they tend to drastically over-represent the widespread opinions of the franchise (especially on forums like here, where there isn't a thing akin to a downvote so its easy to drown out the "regular" opinions). This is pretty common with most "popular" things (damn near everything gets hate-brigaded these days), but something like Pokemon has a disproportionate amount.

It's Pokemon, with a fun twist on the gameplay and a decent little story. You'll probably already know if you enjoy the game or not.

I've loved Pokemon since Gen 1, and I have a wide variety of opinions on each of the gens up to 7, though each has things I really enjoy. I wanted to enjoy Sword & Shield, Legends of Arceus, and Scarlett & Violet. I thought the gameplay enhancements would make up for where they were lacking. But it feels like I'm paying for a half-baked, incomplete game. I'm personally done paying for an experience that I'm going to have to force myself to get through, only to put it down and never come back to it.

ssb_yunglink2 posted...

You literally said if you dont like the game then you can stop participating dawg. That has nothing to do with not playing a game in 10 years, thats encouraging people who dont like it to leave the discussion

No I'm saying that if the product has changed to something you no longer like, there's absolutely nothing wrong with just moving on with your life. Especially if no longer like it to the extent that you're just whining on a message board to drown out any actual discussion.

Super_Slash posted...

I have seen almost nothing but hate for it since it came out. Is it really THAT bad? Even my best friend seems to be questioning himself a bit.

You won't find positivity much on GameFAQs. Every single one of my friends likes it. Though the graphics are pretty rubbish. I'm personally not interested in playing the game because I've got other shit I'm still playing, but I've not really heard of any complaints besides the graphics being mid.

Proto_Spark posted...

No I'm saying that if the product has changed to something you no longer like, there's absolutely nothing wrong with just moving on with your life. Especially if no longer like it to the extent that you're just whining on a message board to drown out any actual discussion.

Again, you portray negativity as whining and not actual discussion.

A product changing to something that some fans find worse shouldnt be criticized? Your actual discussion is worth just as much as someone whos unhappy with it.

There are a lot of people who take it too far, but there are also genuine issues to criticize. A lot of them.

I would say if the Switch 2 wasn't $450 and Pokemon ZA wasn't $70 with announced $20 DLC, people likely wouldn't be that upset. Since the DLC was announced before release, it's hard to not think it's cut content from the full game being sold separately. We also have leaks telling us that ZA got a budget of an indie game but is being sold for AAA price.

At the end of the day, the game is fine. But for how much money Pokemon makes, it's an insult at how little effort is being put in to make the games excellent for the price they want to sell. If ZA was like $30-40 like Nintendo DS games were, then I don't think people would be that upset.

reincarnator07 posted...

It's fine, but fine for a brand new Pokemon game just isn't good enough. It also seems to be an incredibly cheap production. Very much Nintendo just phoning it in after all this time.

Do people still not get it? Not Nintendo, Gamefreak. They have always been lazy as shit developers.

voldothegr8 posted...

Do people still not get it? Not Nintendo, Gamefreak. They have always been lazy as shit developers.

Nintendo and Gamefreak might as well be one and the same. The Pokemon Company is made up of 3 companies, Nintendo, Game Freak and Creatures. Nintendo has significant shares in both Creatures and Game Freak so if Nintendo was unhappy with the product Game Freak is putting out we would be seeing better games.

MNThunder posted...

Nintendo and Gamefreak might as well be one and the same. The Pokemon Company is made up of 3 companies, Nintendo, Game Freak and Creatures. Nintendo has significant shares in both Creatures and Game Freak so if Nintendo was unhappy with the product Game Freak is putting out we would be seeing better games.

Nintendo is the shark of the deal, they provide budget and collect checks. Development is all lazy af GF.

The truth is, there is a lot of anti-Nintendo grifting and I guess based on CE falling for it, it's spread here too.

I'm not going to make any solid judgments on it because I havent and won't play it. But I am surprised after having seen gameplay that people are enjoying it

voldothegr8 posted...

Nintendo is the shark of the deal, they provide budget and collect checks. Development is all lazy af GF.

Don't disagree that GF is a problem but Nintendo is 100% okay with that because the games bring in massive profit, ZA only needs to sell around 200,000 copies to just break even.

voldothegr8 posted...

Do people still not get it? Not Nintendo, Gamefreak. They have always been lazy as shit developers.

idk that new game theyre making thats not Pokemon seems decent and if that game actually ends up being good??

then we would have to wonder why Pokemon game s dont live up to their potential and then we have to look at the other 2 owners of Pokemon