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Pokemon, bitch


terminoob

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Since I've been done the game for a while and have squeezed most of what I can out of the post-game content by now, figured it was time for a jjs review for the most controversial Pokemon game to date. Going into this game was honestly fascinating given the intense discourse and divisiveness surrounding it.

The Good:

  • In general, this roster of new Pokemon is probably my favorite since Gen 5, there's so many new mons I love (Toxtricity, Barraskewda, Grimmsnarl, Frosmoth, Corviknight, Dubwool, Appletun, Boltund, Centiskorch, Sirfetch'd, Dragapult, Runerigus, etc). It really feels like we're getting quality over quantity now, but I prefer this roster much more than both Gen 6 and 7's combined honestly.
  • The game gets to the point much quicker than Gen 7 did (sorry, but three years later, and that first island is still unbearable).
  • The new UI is very slick and I dig it.
  • I'm glad we finally got an asshole rival again with Bede, and he was probably one of my favorite characters in the game. I honestly thought his dynamic was possibly even more interesting than Blue and Silver's, since I like how he still didn't become BFFs with you even after becoming the Fairy gym leader.
  • While it's clearly only a small step for a feature we'll see done better in Gen 9, The Wild area was fun and probably the strongest part of the game for me. 
  • We got regional variants for mons beyond Gen 1 which is lovely. I'm especially shocked at how much love Gen 5 mons got with the variants. Cross-gen evos returning using the variants was also well welcomed after so long without them. I really hope this concept keeps staying in future generations.
  • I loved how the gym battles were giant stadium spectacles this time around along with the general atmosphere surrounding them. It actually made fighting the leaders feel important again and that you were worthy of getting the badges.
  • The Elite 4 being replaced with an anime style tournament is something I lowkey wanted for ages, and I'm happy it finally happened here. I'm glad we at least get rematches too. I hope this concept is fleshed out further in future titles.
  • I admittedly had more fun making curry than I should've.
  • Mobile PC and overworld encounters are two Let's Go quality of life features I'm glad carried over. Because of this, I think they struck the perfect balance with how to handle overworld encounters in this game, since they still have a few surprise encounters for suspense.
  • We FINALLY got a Dark gym leader! And Piers is a bro on that note.
  • While the graphics may leave a lot to be desired in a few areas, several places like Ballonlea, Glimwood Tangle, Motostoke and Circhester look absolutely beautiful on the Switch.
  • I'm glad they finally had the third legendary involved in the main plot for once (so safe to say we're not getting Ultra Sword/Ultra Shield) and how both wolves helped you fight Eternatus. Not catching your box legendary until post-game was a neat subversion. 
  • Being able to change your mon's nature with the mints is another long overdue quality of life improvement.

The Indifferent:

  • Escape Rope being a Key Item was a nice idea, but kind of...pointless to do for these games given there were no large dungeons worth using them in (which will bring me to a negative).
  • Dynamaxing and Gigantamaxing I'm still not sure how I feel about. I don't hate them, and they at least don't entirely feel like glorified nuke buttons in the major battles you do use them in, but I dunno, they still do have that same tedium Z-Moves had. A few Gigas like Kingler and Machamp's feel like they were unused Mega ideas and it just makes me wish Megas came back.
  • Bringing back one-use TMs as TRs was...odd? It may have been interesting as a throwback, and I get they are supposed to be the move tutor moves of this gen, but it didn't add much to the gameplay at all one way or the other. Especially since you can get most of them again from the Max Raids anyways, it makes you wonder why they didn't just make them TMs. Overall a strange choice for me.

The Bad:

  • Auto Exp. Share was very broken at times and I had to literally keep switching my party members out so I didn't get overleveled, which isn't very great game design. I really don't see what the harm was in keeping it optional.
  • No dungeons at all in the game, which does kill the exploration factor a lot, unfortunately. 
  • Max Raids can get really tedious and meandering at times.
  • The online is a pain in the ass to use (not as convoluted as Festival Plaza, but still a far cry from the PSS which is what I thought this would be more like). I can't even really fault the games for this though since that's more Nintendo's fault given their inability to do online properly.
  • Although I'm sure many are sick of the memes about it by now, I do think the graphics in a few places were wonky, especially in The Wild, and not as great as they could've been using the Switch's capabilities. I'm not as annoyed by the graphics as others are because I knew what we were getting.
  • Rose was honestly probably one of the worst villains (if you want to call him that) in the entire franchise, I did not like his plot with Eternatus at all. I get what they were going for, but the execution felt haphazardly thrown in last minute and his motivations needed more fleshing out. Even Lysandre felt slightly more fleshed out than Rose was. The part where you invade his tower and fight the Macro Cosmos employees was so jarring that I honestly thought I had missed a few scenes because it wasn't really built up at all, and Oleana going crazy also felt really out of the blue. That entire section needed to be rewritten from scratch because it's clear they needed more time on that. The post-game villains Sordward and Shielbert should've just been the antagonists from the start imo. While I'm talking about the villains, I'll add I wasn't too crazy on Team Yell either. They really were just a discount Team Skull, but without a lot of their charm, although I liked Piers. Overall, the villain plot was definitely a massive step down from Lusamine and Guzma for sure which is disappointing.
  • No big post-game again, which at this point, I've long accepted we're never getting HGSS/BW2 levels of post-game again. I suppose you could grind out some longevity from The Wild (which is what I plan to do) though, but not by much. 

Not gonna touch upon Dexit since everyone has said everything about that by now and I'm long over it. Overall, I had fun with the game but do acknowledge they have problems. I don't think it deserves standing ovations, but it also wasn't worth the past six months of vitriol and rapid hatred either since it really is a 6-7/10 game at worst. If you haven't liked the direction the series has been in since XY, you won't like these games very much, but if you have, then you will.

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In a surprise twist, we're actually getting DLC:

Looks like they are doing course correction from a few SWSH complaints. The first DLC expansion, Isle of Armor, will be released in June 2020. The second one, The Crown Tundra, will be released in fall 2020. And with them, comes returning old mons, new locations, new characters, new forms and new mons. Here's a few that we got revealed today:

Galarian Slowpoke (available now, will be able to eventually evolve into either Galarian Slowbro or Slowking when the expansions are out): 

EN2OwouX0AUbvMw?format=jpg&name=medium

Kubfu (new legendary, Fighting): kubfu.jpg

Urshifu (Kubfu's evolution, Fighting/Dark for Single Strike form or Fighting/Water for Rapid Strike form):

 urshifu.jpg

Calyrex (new legendary, Psychic/Grass): calyrex.jpg

Galarian Moltres: EN2MUERX0Ac7BYU?format=jpg&name=medium

Galarian ZapdosEN2MUEvXUAAOBLM?format=jpg&name=medium

Galarian ArticunoEN2MUESWkAELUqQ?format=jpg&name=medium

New Regisregi1.jpg regi2.jpg

Gigantamax forms for Venasaur, Blastoise, Cinderace, Inteleon and Rillaboom are also in there.

And that's not all, here's a treat for Mystery Dungeon fans:

A remake of Rescue Team will be released March 6th, 2020.

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Oh hey, what a coincidence! TWIP also leaked the thumbnail and title of his newest SW/SH video!:

N9Yn8hm.png

 

With all seriousness though, I'm pleasantly surprised by all this. I better finish PMD BRT as soon as possible too because I'm really looking forward to this surprise remake of Rescue Team.

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More info on both expansion packs:

Isle of Armor releases June 17th.

Galarian Slowbro (Poison/Psychic): slowbro.png 

Regieleki (Electric): regieleci.png 

Regidrago (Dragon): regidrago.png

Galarian Moltres (Dark/Flying): moltres.png

Galarian Zapdos (Fighting/Flying): zapdos.png

Galarian Articuno (Psychic/Flying): articuno.png

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Two reveals from today: First, the long coveted Gen 4 remakes, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, will release in November 2021:

And a new type of spin-off game, Legends: Arceus, will release in early 2022:

This will be the Zelda style open world game everyone has wanted. It will also be set in the old Sinnoh era.

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god damn it finally after like seven years of waiting

I'm really excited for both. The open world Pokemon games seems really cool and Gen 4 was the gen I grew up with so I've been waiting for these remakes for a long time. Hoping that they'll fix the issue of like the 3 Fire lines that are in the original Diamond/Pearl but I'm picking Chimchar because that was who I picked first and I love my fire starters so I guess it doesn't effect me too too much. Hoping to see some Unova/Galar/Alola/Kalos pokemon in the game but with the Dexit stuff idk if we'll see that. Still happy to have my Gen 4 remakes though.

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After what feels like an eternity without news, we finally have information on both Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl and Legends Arceus.

BDSP features: following Pokémon return, trainer customization, customizing your Poké Balls (seals also return), and the Underground returns with Pokémon Hideaways which will change depending on your base.

Legends Arceus:

  • Ancient Sinnoh will be called "Hisui" (map)
  • Combat has a turn queue and different fighting styles (strong/agile)
  • Go out on Survey Missions to hunt for various Pokémon where you can crafting items. The player character receives damage from Pokémon attacks and can cause them to black out while on a survey mission.
  • There will be new ancestral evolutions of past Pokémon and regional variants known as "Hisuian forms."

Hisuian Growlithe (Fire/Rock):

hisuiangrowlithe.png

Hisuian Braviary (Psychic/Flying):

hisuianbraviary.png

Wyrdeer (Stantler evolution) (Normal/Psychic): 

wyrdeer.png

Basculegion (Basculin evolution) (Water/Ghost):

basculegion.png

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New Legends Arceus and BDSP footage: 

Kleaver (Bug/Rock) (Scyther evolution) kleavor.png

New Legends features: Noble Pokémon, which are strong and powerful boss fights; sometimes they will get Frenzied and difficult to fight, pasture farms replacing PCs, and the Arc Phone.

For BDSP, Poketch, Poffins and Amity Square return.

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