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I ATTAC

8 (15.4%)

I PROTECC

6 (11.5%)

Waiting on the third one

2 (3.8%)

Waiting on the third AND fourth one

1 (1.9%)

GET WELL SOON ZYGARDE

5 (9.6%)

I am a concientous objector and abstain from taking up arms

30 (57.7%)

Total Members Voted: 51

[Telgin]

I've read that the game has a lot of performance problems and glitches with stuff popping in and out randomly.  I'm hoping that gets fixed somewhat but I don't really expect it to.  If they couldn't fix it during the whole game's dev cycle, a patch isn't likely to make it better.

While I haven't bought it yet, I'll probably get Violet too because the legendary motorcycle looks marginally less stupid than Scarlet's legendary motorcycle, since the Scarlet version uses its legs to run around while the wheels are going and I just can't not start at it.  In the end, I'll probably just have to see which pokemon are version specific so I can get whichever one has more pokemon I like.

Unfortunately I'm very torn on which starter to pick.  I really like sprigattito, but don't really like its final evolution.  I don't like any of the starters' final evolutions, which sucks.  I'll probably still go with sprigattito in the end because of how cute it is.

[Akura]

Minor spoilers, but this is the first game in the entire franchise where kids actually go to school. A normal school, albeit seemingly a private one or university. Like, with actual subjects like math and not basics about Pokemon mechanics - granted those *do* factor into the lessons, but it's used as an example for the lesson. The first math class used to type advantages to explain multiplication and division, for example.

And the first you do upon reaching school is encounter the bullies... and bully the hell out of them. You also get the game's transformation gimmick just to stomp them harder.

That said, this gimmick, Terastalizing(there's no way I got that right the first time), turns your Pokemon into a crystal, and possibly changes its type. Moves of the new type get a damage bonus, but I don't know if that's just STAB, and you *do* still get STAB from their main type, even if their Tera form is a completely different type. Unfortunately, you have to recharge it at a Pokemon Center after one use, meaning it's far less viable than the previous gimmicks.

It might also just be me, but I think that the game's animations are far more minimal this time around. I'm guessing that it's a response to the previous game's problem: they couldn't produce animations quickly enough(and for some reason couldn't import from Gen VII's games), they had to cut out most of the roster. Especially that with this game, they not only have the new Pokemon introduced, but last game's Pokemon, whatever else from previous generations they've brought in, and one or more Terastalized forms for all of them.

[Salmeuk]

While I haven't bought it yet, I'll probably get Violet too because the legendary motorcycle looks marginally less stupid than Scarlet's legendary motorcycle, since the Scarlet version uses its legs to run around while the wheels are going and I just can't not start at it.  In the end, I'll probably just have to see which pokemon are version specific so I can get whichever one has more pokemon I like.

I was watching ZFG playing. the motorcycle pokemon is dumb. I am sorry. I just cannot understand what they are going for. in my mind, it is like the ice cream cone pokemon, Vanillish, or the key-ring pokemon, Klefki. I get it - they are children's games - and what is more childish that a mish-mash of thematically jarring characters and attributes?

Looking at the first gen pokemon, people might point to the various electric-types who seem to be less of animals and more of the objects or mechanisms that one might expect in an industrial setting, and say that these are the precursors to the modern 'inanimate everyday object' pokemon.

 take Voltorb,

First discovered in the plant where Poké Balls are created, Voltorb is said to be a Poké Ball that came to life after being imbued with electrical energy. It's a strange origin story, but an original and interesting one.

I suppose my western mind looks at this notion of spirit objects, imbued with the ever-present life force that exists in the world of Pokemon.. and thinks the designers got really lazy. the motorcycle pokemon doesn't even use the wheels. where is this pokemon supposed to meaningfully exist within the larger world?

not only does it conflict with the themes of evolutionary adaptation present in the earlier gens, but it conflicts with the idea of pokemon being meaningful for themselves without the presence of humans. Voltorb, Magnetite, etc... they are suggested to have their own existences beyond the human modern life. They possess autonomy, even if that autonomy is that of a wild animal.

but... what is an animal adapted to represent the form of a man-made vehicle, and then that animal is also willingly co-opted into a never ending existence as a transportation device - working (without apparent effort) forever to move the player character across these vast distances?

it seems absolutely odd that the developers would create this creature, faced with this existence, and claim that it is within the same IP as the earlier gens, with their soft-bordered lore, expressionist worldbuilding.. sense of place and setting.

I think the general style of the games, three-dimensional open world, is a complete denial of creative opportunity presented by the IP's wealth and heritage. you trade a finely detailed 2-d world, with hard narrative borders that really sell the idea that the world IS the story and the player is IN the world... you trade that feeling for a fairly derivative "open world" that fails to even sell the biological reality of the creatures within it. they straight up included the towers from BOTW as if doing some kind of rote checklist meant to qualify as a modern open world game. can you imagine falling in love with this new generation as a young child? it is doubtful to me.

I welcome people who disagree to point out what I fail to see in the newer gens. maybe I am mistaken.

[Nighthawk]

-snip-

It's what happens when you make something that's highly derivative instead of creating something original. Like you said, you can see them filling out a "checklist" for what they think the game is supposed to be, rather than making a game with a vision of their own.

The first Pokemon games were inspired by an idea. The new Pokemon games aren't inspired. They're just endlessly iterating on the formula. Games that iterate on a formula can be well-crafted and fun, but they will never be truly genre-defining, nor will they ever feel as lovingly crafted as games where the developers were reaching for a particular, desirable fantasy and trying their damndest to deliver that fantasy to the players.

[None]

Haven't pokemon rolled back from 'creatures in a world you inhabit' to 'playful nature spirits/beings that choose to be captured by you for friendship and battle for fun and therefore embody abstract ideas like ice cream and missing keys' or did I violently misread something somewhere?

It's, well, extra-handewavey, no?

Anyways, I beat Rutile Ruby and the Delta Chapter. I was not fond of Delta Chapter's character dropping a team of six legendaries against mine, had a bit of a chuckle when she insisted on fighting me again at the top of sky pillar after capturing Rayquaza (and therefore needing to replace one of my lvl100 critters with the *only* level 70 legendary) (no seriously there's no plot reason for her to battle me again), adding more dead weight with already HM Friend Gastrodon, get summarily trashed, and then have the plot continue on anyways to send me off to space.

I threw the masterball at Deoxys because I didn't want to one-shot it after the climb/capture/fight sequence.

I did end up migrating some of my critters in from Renegade Platinum- Breloom and Weavile carried their weight very well. Shedinja.... Not so much. The AI got better reads your inputs and swaps pokemon when it knows you're swapping Shedinja away from something that can kill it so it doesn't burn a turn and swaps in a pokemon to counter Shedinja when you switch to it.

Just dumpstered my favorite hollow bug. Dragalge was fun, never got to evolve my Porygon 2 into Porygon Z, or find a Dusk Stone to evolve Doublade into Aegislash, so they didn't make the cuts for final teams. Noivern ended up being useful for one horde battle, Yanmega couldn't carry its weight, Aurorus proved far too flimsy (except it was really good at dumpstering my framerate), Whimsicott fell off too hard, and Togekiss just couldn't find a use.

MVP goes to Gliscor, Magnezone, and specifically Honchcrow. Super Lucky Razor Claw Night Slash Honchcrow, you beautiful bastard. I don't know if there's anything else to do with Omega/Rutile Ruby or not, but I guess that just leaves putting all my rare berries/assault vests/whatever on a million near-perfect IV Adaptible Skrelp (I had a breeding project) and then moving them over to Alpha Sapphire to beam out across the cosmos in wonder trade.

Good riddance, Rutile Ruby.

[Akura]

Beat the first - well "first", as it's open-world, but Katy is the Gym Leader the game guides you to first. Not gonna lie, as someone who has had to deal with insect infestation in my food supplies, especially baking supplies, a baker who is a Bug-type specialist is kinda squicky.

[Iduno]

Yeah, working conditions for employees being a problem really shows in games lately. A lot of people seem to have lag, and some people get weird errors/bugs like falling through the world or being able to walk up mountains (which are supposed to keep your progress to certain areas until the plot lets you) backwards.

Also, they probably made a huge mistake by not saying certain pokemon were only in certain countries, so they kept around 150 pokemon per game instead of ending up with over 600. That would also give you more reason to have the old games: you can't get your favorite, so you'll have to have that game and import them. They'd have to figure out how to transfer between systems, but that's certainly possible.

[Akura]

Interesting discovery today: you *can* run from trainer battles in this generation. I didn't actually do so, but the confirmation explicitly tells you it counts as a loss. Note for those haven't played this, trainer battles are also initiated by the player in this game as well. And yes, one of the first trainers you battle tells you this outright. Apparently, Kantonian eye contact being perceived as a challenge isn't a thing in Paldea. Come to think of it, I don't think they ever say where your character comes from, just that they recently moved into that house you start in.

Another thing about Tera types: they do replace the user's type; was fighting the Grass-type Gym Leader. His ace was Sudowoodo, a Rock-type normally, but Grass-type Tera. Fighting-type moves did normal damage. That said, an in-game bit of text states that they keep STAB from their original typing. Thus, it potentially gets STAB from three types. As far as I can tell, Tera types are always single types, and for normal wild Pokemon, is always the same type(or one of, for multi-types) as their base type. Which creates an interesting situation for Pokemon that evolve into different types. For example, Fletchling(Normal/Flying) evolves into Fletchinder(Fire/Flying), but mine is still a Normal Tera-type.

Spoiler: Lastly (click to show/hide)

Normally, there's a Psyduck there, but at night there's a lot of Mimikyu, Murkrow, and other nighttime Pokemon hanging around the school at night. I was going to say Gengar probably isn't something you want around children, but reddit seems to thing Gengar is great around kids. Maybe it's the Pokemon equivalent of Peeves the Poltergeist.

[Bumber]

Got Violet for the hoverbike. Chose the fire starter since its final evolution is the least bad, IMO.

Been trying to find an authentic sinistea. Found a shiny one after less than 100, but still no authentic after 200+.

Story wise, I've completed everything on the surface (including ruinous legendaries,) but haven't entered the crater (other than falling in from the top, which teleports you back.)

Looks like there's a large inaccessible part of the map for a DLC.

I really like sprigattito, but don't really like its final evolution.

You mean roserade?

That said, this gimmick, Terastalizing(there's no way I got that right the first time), turns your Pokemon into a crystal, and possibly changes its type. Moves of the new type get a damage bonus, but I don't know if that's just STAB, and you *do* still get STAB from their main type, even if their Tera form is a completely different type. Unfortunately, you have to recharge it at a Pokemon Center after one use, meaning it's far less viable than the previous gimmicks.

One of the later math classes says that STAB plus Tera type is 2x base damage. So you can have three moves at 1.5x, or two moves with one at 2.0x and the other at 1.5x.

You can also recharge at raid dens, even without entering them. (I think this only works once per den per IRL day.)

Also interesting to note is that palmott's signature move (double shock, which works like burn up) won't make palmott typeless when terastallized to pure electric. Instead, it keeps its electric typing and can use the 120 power move at 2x damage over and over without any restriction.

[Bumber]

Sandwich pro-tips:
1. Ingredients that have fallen onto the plate but are touching the bottom bread still count as part of the sandwich.
2. Yeet the top bread. It's completely unnecessary and not worth knocking off ingredients.

Pokemon catching pro-tip: Quick ball, flee, repeat.

Caught a shiny dunsparce. Not sure if I should evolve it or wait in case I find a shiny dudunsparce while searching for 3-segment form in crater.

Edit: Got 6 shiny dunsparce, no 3-segment yet.

[MrRoboto75]

Is it just me or is there a lot of ghost types this gen?

[Akura]

Is it just me or is there a lot of ghost types this gen?

I hadn't really noticed. A quick look shows 9 added to this generation, 10 if you include

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

the Paradox Pokemon, Flutter Mane, a variant(but separate species) of Misdreavus exclusive to Scarlet's endgame. Assuming you can catch those, I haven't gotten that far(and, playing Violet, can't anyway).

Note that the previous generation added the most Ghost-types, with 13 added, though that my be counting PL:A.

[MrRoboto75]

I'm more used to like the first couple gens where you usually get like one or two evo lines of ghost pokes to pick from, this gen seems to have most of the previous ghost pokes available somewhere.

I'm @ the electric gym, whose leader may as well be a splatoon reject character (affectionate)

[Akura]

Just beat the last of the Titans, the False Dragon Titan. It was a pretty underwhelming fight, despite the annoyance of having to fight three times instead of twice - the third time is a different Pokemon, but it you catch both beforehand(they're both very common in the area), their Pokedex entries hint towards that. You also get fully healed between the second and third fight.

Got wrecked fighting Arven afterwards, though. My party is massively underleveled for that fight. And somewhat poorly typed.

[MrRoboto75]

Y'know, titans would be a bit more exciting if last gen's gimmick wasn't "make your pokemon fucking huge like that power rangers villain"