General Discussion

It seems my opinions are unpopular.

As someone who has played main Pokémon games ever since Gen 1, I’m never going to stop playing main series Pokémon games no matter what direction they take with the art style or gameplay.

Although, as someone who is admittedly bad at video games in general, I appreciate that the difficulty level has been lowered in newer games. As much as I loved Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon, I couldn’t progress past a certain point in the game because of a sudden difficulty spike. It’s always bothered me that I never got to finish it.

To be honest, I was even struggling a little bit with Sword & Shield. and I only won the Pokémon League because I kept spamming healing items and I had a Greedent who basically acted as a tank for my team during the entire game.

So, yes, I’m genuinely looking forward to Scarlet & Violet. This is the first time I’ve felt truly torn on my decision for a Starter Pokémon; all of the final evolutions look so cool this time!

[quote name="End0scrypt" date="2022-11-15 18:02:52" ] also re: they dont look like pokemon people say this every generation. Literally. Every Generation. Ive been playing for a while and they look fine to me, including all of the leaked pokemon. I'd argue they look more like pokemon than most recent installments since usum. [/quote] Actually I think this is true: I distinctly remember people raging about gen 5 designs when BW came out, and Black is my favorite game. Also, been avoiding spoilers but I do think SV looks better in terms of design than SwSh. (There's an [i]olive[/i] pokemon! That's great!!) I think the designs so far at least are the most promising looking thing about the game.

[quote name="End0scrypt" date="2022-11-15 18:02:52" ] also re: they dont look like pokemon people say this every generation. Literally. Every Generation. Ive been playing for a while and they look fine to me, including all of the leaked pokemon. I'd argue they look more like pokemon than most recent installments since usum. [/quote] Just today I saw a [url=https://old.reddit.com/r/pokemon/comments/ywfice/what_looks_like_a_pokemon_a_sincere_analysis/]post breaking down in detail what makes a pokémon look like a pokémon.[/url] Very interesting read. Haven't seen the leaks yet, but from the reveals, all new mons fit the definitions nicely. As that poster also points out, the pokémon fitting it the least are actually the ultra beasts. Which probably was 100% intentional.

[quote name="Alphaeon" date="2022-11-15 10:58:55" ] I’ve been playing Pokémon since the very beginning and I’m really iffy on whether or not I’m going to play this round of games. They’re just getting too easy. I understand that not everybody wants to have to level grind, but can’t we at least have the option to keep it more challenging? First they make EXP Share spread across the entire team, then they make it so you can’t turn it off, then they give you EXP for catching Pokémon. Now they’re removing Set Mode??? I’ve not been overly fond of the direction the art style has gone with the series either, but my main problem is just how boring the games are now. The handholding has become too much for me, I’d rather go back and play the older games. [/quote] They're removing set mode???? Oh no. That was the one thing I could still do to increase the difficulty a tad and force myself to think through inconvenient situations ^^; The most frustrating part for me about Pokemon & difficulty is that the difference between the story mode gameplay battles, and the end-game battle tower-like modes, and real life competitive modes, is such a massive spike it's just painful imo. It feels bad to become the champion, only to play real people and not even make a dent. They just don't prepare you for real strategy. I do think it's fantastic that they continue to make the games more accessible to more people, but I really wish they left options in to make it more difficult if one wishes. At this point I think I'd have to do one of those self-inflicted challenges like Nuzlocke if I want difficulty, but that's hard for me to stick to. I am holding out hope that they'll make something difficult again, but I am still just going to wait and see... I don't want to kill anybody's excitement, and reading this thread makes me almost want to get it, but I just do personally prefer something different than what has been released the last few years. (This is all disregarding Mystery Dungeon games, which are my favorite video games in all of existence and I love them to death and think their difficulty and pace and story is perfect and I want them to continue forever)

[quote name="deztora" date="2022-11-16 15:05:07" ] Actually I think this is true: I distinctly remember people raging about gen 5 designs when BW came out, and Black is my favorite game. Also, been avoiding spoilers but I do think SV looks better in terms of design than SwSh. (There's an [i]olive[/i] pokemon! That's great!!) I think the designs so far at least are the most promising looking thing about the game. [/quote] completely agree with this. Definitely all the leaked designs look like pokemon, even the weirder ones. theyre the best things about the game that we have seen. I remember when sun and moon came out so many people were complaining the pokemon didnt look like pokemon, now theyre considered some of the best in the franchise. IMO the people who are being overly vindictive and accusing the new pokemon of being "fakemon" or "digimon wannabes" are just annoying and are reusing the same old argument when honestly these are the pokemoniest pokemon for a long time (lol)

I dunno, man. I was super excited when I first heard about the game and some of the trailers have been pretty cool, but I've also seen most of the leaks and there are a lot of things I'm not happy about.

I obviously won't name names to avoid spoilers, but there are a handful of new Pokemon that I straight up don't like and have a hard time picturing myself warming up to. (Which says a lot since I'm a diehard Bruxish fan, ha.)

I get especially heated thinking about how Diglett/Dugtrio, two of the lamest designs from gen one, keep getting regional forms! The Alolan ones were only passable because the concept of their hair being made from magnetic fibers and/or volcanic glass was kinda clever, but Wiglett? Wiglett is one of the lamest garden eel designs I've ever seen and all I can think about when I see it is how many cooler and more interesting new Pokemon or regional forms could've used those two precious dex spots. More power to you if you like Wiglett, of course, but I go right into grumpy old man mode whenever I see it.

It also seems like they've gone back to the molasses slow battles instead of the snappy ones from PL:A, or so I've heard from people that have tried it out. Whether or not they fix it with a patch remains to be seen.

Oh, and being forced to wear variations of the basic school uniforms instead of having sweaters, tank tops, skirts, etc. is an enormous letdown for a game that puts so much emphasis on facial customization...

It's really sad to me that I even am this skeptical about a new Pokemon game! I never ended up getting Sw/Sh because I didn't love what I saw, and I've been aching for a new mainline game that I can justify the cost of since. (Especially since it's basically guaranteed that they'll be adding DLC. I guess it's better than having to buy another $60 third version of the game next year, but it's certainly not cheap either.)

I’m excited for it. I think there will definitely be things I liked more about PLA, but ScarVio still seems pretty good. Certainly much better than SwSh which was the first time I skipped a mainline game.

I’ve stayed pretty leak-free but I have heard some flaws, like the slow battles that were mentioned above. I know it won’t be a perfect game, far from it, but I’ll probably still enjoy it.

As long as it isn’t as slow as D/P, I think the slow battles will be tolerable, anyway.

I'm excited and nervous... I love pokemon BUT I haven't played since Heart/Soul Gold/Silver (don't laugh at me lol TT) and I haven't kept up much with the newer gens. I'm definitely expecting to be a bit overwhelmed with all the "new" things I'll have to learn. But, I expect I can pick up on things quickly enough.
I only decided last week that I'd take this dive back in. How could I say no to a violet edition? Purple is the best XD

Also leaf cat? yes please.

NIGHT RELEASE OMG I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!

Oh serious opinions? I haven't been this hype for a Pokemon game since X & Y (or been to a GameStop at 11pm since, hah). I even got the new S/V OLED switch. I am nervous, because to fill the last week since the last trailer, I've been playing Zelda Breath of the Wild for the first time and I hope it's just as cool! (The bf wanted BotW so I got the new switch so he could play it on my old one while I play Pokemon.)

Right now it's just spoiler dodging until later. I see my fav Pokemon YouTuber got his hands on it already. >_>

I'm playing Scarlet and picking Quaxly <3 But I did preorder both.

raaaahhhh okay upon seeing some reviews coming out, I am even more tempted to get it... Other than the pretty egregiously bad performance issues, it does look like a lot of novel fun and some people have been saying it is more challenging.

But now I am stuck on which version to get. For once, they are both actually incredibly cool legendaries and professors and I legit cannot decide which I want more.

I am typically more of a fantasy person and don't like scifi and future stuff, which makes me think I should pick Scarlet. I also like the images of scarlet's exclusive new pokemon more. But, the motorbike version of Miraidon is incredibly sleek looking, and I like purple more than red... while Koraidon runs on literal legs which is goofy in an endearing way but still maybe too silly for me. AAHHHH I have never been so conflicted on which version to get, there has always been a clear personal winner for me. This is too tough they are both very cool lol