The thing is does it really mean that much? Like Alola Route 1 has more detail than Kalos's Route 1 and yet it still retains some of the hallway simulator feel. Spacing won't matter as much as the travel area will.
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Pokémon Sword and Shield announced. Coming Late 2019
- Thread starter Xavi
- Start date
The thing is does it really mean that much? Like Alola Route 1 has more detail than Kalos's Route 1 and yet it still retains some of the hallway simulator feel. Spacing won't matter as much as the travel area will.
It still looks like a short, straight line to me.
My biggest fear for this game is that it will be more of the same Game Boy route design with better graphics.
I never understood the point of the tiny hallway route at the beginning of XY. It would have made more sense to have just combined the first two towns into one. At least the other starting routes had grass for wild Pokemon encounters.
To me it felt like they were ticking a check box of doing something different from past series.
It didn't work in my eyes.
Here's some QoL changes I'd like to see:
Levels: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 has a great feature of being able to revert your character's level in exchange for skill points. I'm sure GameFreak could add a similar system with reverting a Pokemon to an earlier level to retrain it and learn special moves. Maybe this could be used as an alternative to egg/event moves that are otherwise near-impossible to obtain.
Moves: A nice QoL improvement would be to relearn any previously learned move during a visit to any Pokemon center, or at the PC. No fuss over heart scales or finding a specific person in a specific town. Just make it quick and easy to swap around movesets for competitive use.
Natures: Allowing full control over change natures would make so many Pokemon from older games usable competitively.
It is great that we have the ability to transfer Pokemon from the GBA games (I think gen 1 and 2 now too with the 3DS virtual console) all the way into the modern games. If GameFreak makes just a few changes to Natures, IVs, and moves, it would make many of my older teams have so much more potential. I want to be able to take a shiny from gen 3, collect ribbons across multiple generations, bring them into the most recent game, and freely adjust their natures and moves on the fly to use them competitively. That'd be the dream.
Levels: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 has a great feature of being able to revert your character's level in exchange for skill points. I'm sure GameFreak could add a similar system with reverting a Pokemon to an earlier level to retrain it and learn special moves. Maybe this could be used as an alternative to egg/event moves that are otherwise near-impossible to obtain.
Moves: A nice QoL improvement would be to relearn any previously learned move during a visit to any Pokemon center, or at the PC. No fuss over heart scales or finding a specific person in a specific town. Just make it quick and easy to swap around movesets for competitive use.
Natures: Allowing full control over change natures would make so many Pokemon from older games usable competitively.
It is great that we have the ability to transfer Pokemon from the GBA games (I think gen 1 and 2 now too with the 3DS virtual console) all the way into the modern games. If GameFreak makes just a few changes to Natures, IVs, and moves, it would make many of my older teams have so much more potential. I want to be able to take a shiny from gen 3, collect ribbons across multiple generations, bring them into the most recent game, and freely adjust their natures and moves on the fly to use them competitively. That'd be the dream.
The transition from routes to the larger towns/cities most likely.
"A Magikarp that has lived for many years can leap a mountain using Splash. The move remains useless, though."
"When (Noctowl) flips it's head upside down, it is a sign that it's engaged in very complex thinking"
"If (Altaria) bonds with a person, it will gently envelope its friend with its soft wings and hum"
"A contest is currently underway to see which (Lickilicky) can stick it's tongue out the farthest, the current record is... more than 82 feet"
"(Whimsicott) appear along with whirlwinds. They play pranks such as moving furniture and leaving balls of cotton in homes."
"The way several Bergmite huddle on (Avalugg's) back, makes it look like an aircraft carrier made of ice."
"Crabrawler has been known to mistake Exeggutor for a coconut tree and climb it. The enraged Exeggutor shakes it off and stomps it."
There are more I like, but I figured it be fun to post for one Pokémon per region.
This is... deeply off-topic, but I'm refraining from looking anything up whatsoever while I play through the Pokémon titles I missed, so I'll ask this very specific question here amongst my Sword/Shield pre-release hype fam.
...is Eevee obtainable in ORAS? <_<
...is Eevee obtainable in ORAS? <_<
Let's be fair here, Alola's Route 1 isn't any more of a hallway than other Pokémon games:
It has 2 main paths and an optional 3rd area with patches of grass with unique Pokémon spawns.
Kanto's route 1, Hoenn's route 1, Sinnoh's route 1 and Unova's route 1 were all more basic than this. Johto's route 1 was nicely designed in a way that didn't feel as linear though.
Let's be fair here, Alola's Route 1 isn't any more of a hallway than other Pokémon games:
It has 2 main paths and an optional 3rd area with patches of grass with unique Pokémon spawns.
Kanto's route 1, Hoenn's route 1, Sinnoh's route 1 and Unova's route 1 were all more basic than this. Johto's route 1 was nicely designed in a way that didn't feel as linear though.
That's my point. People using Alola and Galar as examples of larger and more detailed areas = non-linear are deluding themselves if they think it won't have the same hallway simulator feel. The more telling element of whether the area won't feel like a hallway is if the area as a whole is more complex than simple point A > point B. That's why I said the comparison means nothing.
Beheeyem: "With its psychic powers, it rewrites its opponents' memories. You, too, may have already had your memories rewritten."
Gengar: "It apparently wishes for a traveling companion. Since it was once human itself, it tries to create one by taking the lives of other humans"
Drifloon: "Stories go that it grabs the hands of small children and drags them away to the afterlife. It dislikes heavy children."
Komala: "It is born asleep, and it dies asleep. All its movements are apparently no more than the results of it tossing and turning in its dreams."
Cubebone: "At night, it weeps loudly for its dead mother, but those cries only attract its natural enemy—Mandibuz."
My point was more "Alola's Route 1 in particular is better designed than the ones of Regions who aren't called hallway simulators"
I mean, it's hard to call it better designed when it's really just such a simple fork-in-the-road pathway, and has the same amount of complexity as previous Route 1s.
Alola's has at least a third optional part, these routes are simple lines. Unova's too, but once you get surf there's a new part so at least it's not completely straight
Now, I thought Sun and Moon handled things in a novel way, by having the player's house located on the starting route instead. I kinda liked that your house was more on the outskirts of the major city. I wouldn't mind if Sword and Shield decided to do something similar again.
EDIT: Also, I don't really care if the first route is a simple A to B rode with no forks. It just needs... something. Patches of grass. Trainers. An item to pick up. Literally anything is better than what XY's Route 1 had.
I actually bought the Switch just for Let's Go. Well, I actually had Super Smash in mind too :P but I decided to buy it earlier for Pokémon. I actually got that special edition with Pikachu and Eevee and the yellow/brown controllers. It's pretty cool.
You know routes and paths exist in real life and it's not all open and sprawling right? :P
A bit off topic but this is kinda the Pokemon community hang out right now, so...
Crazy Pokemon thing happened today.
I've been hatching for shiny Dewpider for a bit and decided to switch to egg RNG because I was getting tired of it.
So I plug everything into the tool and the very next egg was going to be a shiny.
In a weak attempt to tie this back into Sword & Shield discussion: I hope they bring in a new, fun, method of finding shinies.
Crazy Pokemon thing happened today.
I've been hatching for shiny Dewpider for a bit and decided to switch to egg RNG because I was getting tired of it.
So I plug everything into the tool and the very next egg was going to be a shiny.
In a weak attempt to tie this back into Sword & Shield discussion: I hope they bring in a new, fun, method of finding shinies.
And in real life you can jump those fences, so I'm not sure that's the best example
There's also a lot of "big empty areas" in real life but I guess we won't talk about that right now
I caught my first ever Shiny last night. Shiny Sandshrew. I was half-asleep with the 3DS perilously close to falling out of my hands and onto my chest smartphone-style when suddenly she appeared. You bet I was awake after that. ;_; I'm so happy!
Maybe I'll raise her in Sword...
Maybe I'll raise her in Sword...
It's best that people accept linearity is part of Pokemon, going from point A to point B. This the first route, latter routes may be more opened to travel like poni plains.
Can't wait to to see the opened plains in Sword&Shield. I'm content with larger routes even if they are linear.
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Yeah and they're boring as hell in real life too :p
That's what I have been saying to people. Hell look in the middle of the route, that's going to be a Poni Plains like area undoubtedlyIt's best that people accept that linearity is part of Pokemon going from point A to point B, this is the first route, latter routes may be more opened to travel like poni plains.
Can't wait to to see the opened plains in Sword&Shield. I'm content with larger routes even if they are linear.
I've always had the feeling that unless a prequel or something like that was done, there should not be many interesting things in the Pokémon world to explore. Walking through the countryside in Pokémon has to be as interesting as walking through the countryside in real life. Not much.
Of course I also think that most of the open world like GTA are boring to explore so I have a bias.
I think the only way I would be interested in an open world Pokémon would be if it were one big city and each neighborhood had its own gym or something like that. It's the only way it could have a convincing scale of something like the real world (which is precisely the setting of Pokémon, a world with televisions, cars and so on)
Of course I also think that most of the open world like GTA are boring to explore so I have a bias.
I think the only way I would be interested in an open world Pokémon would be if it were one big city and each neighborhood had its own gym or something like that. It's the only way it could have a convincing scale of something like the real world (which is precisely the setting of Pokémon, a world with televisions, cars and so on)
Y'all be nice to countrysides and big empty areas IRL. One of my four favorite things in the world is wandering through the vastness of nature for hours on-end!
Well pokemon ain't that series, and it will be a long while before it does
Oh I know! I don't mind. I'm cool with what Pokémon is already, tbh. It still gives me a sense of adventure even with more enclosed routes.
Get Xenoblade Chronicles 2 to see how Pokémon routes should be designed.
Really? Might have to keep an eye on a sale and pick it up, need something to tide me over until 'Late 2019'
I can pick DQXI up on my PS4 for £25, might have to do that, that's how bad I'm jonesing for some Pokemon action.
I see people bringing up the fact that open world "sucks" bc of areas being too large and boring, this is just as bad of a logic as "we shouldn't see second regions anymore bc GSC/HGSS did them badly!!!!"
Just as how GF can learn from GSC's mishaps in regards to second region's level curve, distribution, you can also learn from the errors of open world games having too large of a space without exploration feeling like a compelling experience. In other words, if previous open world games had the issue of large open spaces, then the smarter way to handle that is to make exploration feel compelling and organic. The player should be thinking, "hmm what's here for me to see, oh I see a cave/small town/houses/wild Pokemon" as opposed to "jeez, this spot is boring."
Bringing up real life doesn't really help your point, especially when real life has routes that aren't always designed linearly and they aren't always designed with the intention of guiding you from point A to B. Not to mention, you're not railroaded in real life and can take multiple pathways to get to where you want to go.
Just as how GF can learn from GSC's mishaps in regards to second region's level curve, distribution, you can also learn from the errors of open world games having too large of a space without exploration feeling like a compelling experience. In other words, if previous open world games had the issue of large open spaces, then the smarter way to handle that is to make exploration feel compelling and organic. The player should be thinking, "hmm what's here for me to see, oh I see a cave/small town/houses/wild Pokemon" as opposed to "jeez, this spot is boring."
Bringing up real life doesn't really help your point, especially when real life has routes that aren't always designed linearly and they aren't always designed with the intention of guiding you from point A to B. Not to mention, you're not railroaded in real life and can take multiple pathways to get to where you want to go.
I never understood complaints that Kanto in GSC was bad. It's not supposed to be a second main quest, it's post game content, of course it's gonna be more streamlined.
I liked that its way more open and that it assumes the player already knows this terrain, and has already become a champion, so they throw it like a large playground for them to do whatever they want. I love it, and Pokemon has sorely missed this kind of mindset for the past years.
It's only bad if you want it to be a main quest, which it's not. As post-game content, which it is, it's incredible and way bigger and meatier than anything we have ever seen since (except for HGSS, which threw a Battle Frontier on top of it).
If it happened today it would be celebrated as a huge feature, buuut since it's from gen 2, it's totally okay to shit over it.
I liked that its way more open and that it assumes the player already knows this terrain, and has already become a champion, so they throw it like a large playground for them to do whatever they want. I love it, and Pokemon has sorely missed this kind of mindset for the past years.
It's only bad if you want it to be a main quest, which it's not. As post-game content, which it is, it's incredible and way bigger and meatier than anything we have ever seen since (except for HGSS, which threw a Battle Frontier on top of it).
If it happened today it would be celebrated as a huge feature, buuut since it's from gen 2, it's totally okay to shit over it.
I just don't care much for Johto's level curve and in HGSS (which I loved when I played it for the first time this year, mind you) it felt like levels were purposefully kept low, and Johto was purposefully kept small, so that Kanto could make up for all that.
Which is fine on paper, but as you said Kanto shouldn't be looked-upon as main quest material. It doesn't look like it, it doesn't feel like it, it doesn't act like it, and anyone who goes into it expecting otherwise is making a mistake. I played Gold back in the day so I knew not to think that way (and mad props to HGSS for bettering the level spread!) but it does have the effect of making Gen 2's main quest a bit disappointingly short IMO.
LGPE is what revitalized my interest in the franchise too. As soon as I finished it I moved on to HeartGold and Black 2, and now I'm on AlphaSapphire.
The Pokerus is real. ;)
hell yah! I've even watched a little of the original show again. simpler, better times. nothing gets you in the zone like Pokemon.
The problem isn't Kanto (although it's definitely a hollow shell of RBG's Kanto), the problem is that Johto is undernourished and half-baked as a result of it being there.
I'd give you the point if Gold and Silver had a standard Pokémon-quality game experience before the League, but if you took Kanto out of those games they'd be the absolute worst in the series by a significant margin.
Not sure there's any need to get so snotty defending one of the most widely-beloved games of all time, but hey.
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Kanto is pretty shitty as post game content too since everything there is still lower leveled than the champion you needed to beat to actually gain access. The problem isn't just that it was small, it's that it only delivered nostalgia instead of actually interesting gameplay while simultaneously crippling Johto's potential
The problem, like with most of GSC, were the low levels. For postgame you expect much stronger enemies and challenges. Like BW, the instant you get access to the postgame route you see wild pokemon that are probably much stronger than the rest of your team immediately