Wednesday Ramble

this is such bullshit.

Wednesday Ramble

Haven't done one of these in a while, but let's talk about that new Pokemon game, huh?

First, let me say how glad I am that the environments aren't stuck on a grid like Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee. People said they were only like that because it was a retro remake, and I think that's still a bullshit reasoning, but at least it hasn't infected the mainline series. Galar looks like the terrain has contours and gradients, it's an extension of Sun/Moon's aesthetic.

With that said, I'm still disappointed Gamefreak has once again refused to take that next step in terms of presentation of the world. The camera appears locked at a fixed angle again, and you'll be funneled through clear routes. I'm not saying Pokemon needs to become Breath of the Wild and turn into a completely open-ended game that tosses you into the world with no direction, but I do think it's about damn time the games stepped up to where Ocarina of Time was 20 years ago.

Wednesday Ramble - Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee edition

The important thing to remember is that this is not the Chosen One. so honestly, until we find out what that 2019 game will be like, I can't be too upset.

but LGE/LGP pretty much went out of their way to dodge every single one of my hopes, except for the return of Following Pokemon. that's cool, at least. And graphically, they look okay. it's Sun/Moon's art style, but in HD. Actually, that's not quite accurate - judging from the proportions of the characters, and the return to a grid-style environment, it's more like HD XY or ORAS. hmm.

so while I accept that these are some degree of spinoffs, geared for a crowd who forgot about Pokemon until GO came out two years ago, I still feel like they've a bit of wasted potential. By all indications, there's nothing new happening with the storyline or region. The routes are also basically the same, regressing away from Sun/Moon's more naturalistic style. Oh, and there's no online. And nobody outside the 1st gen (I've heard Alolan forms appear though?). And with a new gimmick pokewalker. But these are superficial, the real change in the mechanics is the capturing.

No longer do you have random encounters, which is fine I guess. But you don't even get battles, either! you just go straight to trying to catch them with motion controls. I'm reminded of that story about a guy trying to get his young nephew into Sun, but the kid couldn't figure out how to capture anything, he just kept swiping at the screen because GO was all he knew. Kinda says something about how the overbearing tutorials utterly fail at counter-acting Kids Being Dumb, as well as the change in audience.

And if it was just motion controls, that's one thing. But the problem with doing away with battles, is that it disrupts the core gameplay loop, doesn't it? how are you supposed to get experience points? Trainer battles are still in, so will they be repeatable? or is there another source of exp and leveling up?

Thinking about it more, this doesn't have to be a bad thing either. Let's be honest, grinding against wilds isn't exactly fun or challenging. And the games have been going the direction of making the "endurance" aspect of the game a non-factor - exp share was reworked so that everybody gets experience all the time no matter what, no need to worry about classic training methods like starting a weak 'mon and swapping it the first turn, or swapping in your weak one to get the last hit on a put-to-sleep opponent. Repels, I have learned with age, are cheap as hell. There's no need to ever get into an encounter unless you want to. And there are sometimes healers mid-route, too! No more scurrying back to the Pokemon center before you over-extend and wind up wiping out.

So really, what's been lost here? It won't be the same experience you had as a kid. Nor should it be. (personally I was hoping it would be a deeper experience, with a broader scope and more mechanics instead of the exact opposite of that BUT) So perhaps there's wisdom in this - cut down on the grind, find some other way to get to the battles and collecting aspect quicker. On the other hand, some people love the grind. Serious Fun is a real thing (Nicole Lazzaro's 4 Keys of Fun, look it up). By removing that, aren't you removing some of the soul of the game?

I don't know. Without further information, we can't even say for sure how the core gameplay loop will work now. All I know is, I expected better, but I'm not going to fly into a rage because Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee isn't for me. I wish it was, because I honestly believe there's a way to do a Return to Kanto and make it everything we've ever wanted in a Pokemon game. This... isn't it.

But thankfully, this isn't all there is. There is Another.

Wednesday Ramble

So it's leaky season, and the latest buzz is that the new games will be called Pokemon: Let's Go! Pikachu & Let's Go! Eevee. They'll somehow take cues from Pokemon GO, and will be a return to Kanto.

or so the rumor goes. There were logos that appeared, but one was confirmed fake. But then Emily Rogers confirmed the Pokemon GO stuff. And then people noticed all the Eevee-related merchandise push since last year. And also somebody registered those domains, from the same shell company that Nintendo used to register Sun and Moon before announcing them a few years ago.

So.

Personally, setting aside any question of legitimacy, this could be good? I'm down with a return to Kanto, provided:

1. It's a fully 3D world, far removed from the grid limitations, with a moveable camera and verticality to the world.
2. The plot isn't literally the same as before, don't run me through the same exact gyms in the same exact order and same exact Team Rocket-based plot points.
3. Other generation Pokemon are available in the post-game, or through other means.

#1 is something I hope to see in any case, I'll be very disappointed if it's basically the same as Sun & Moon environmentally. But if we can't get #2, then I'll be pissed because what was the damn point. And if we don't get #3, that will be insulting. I love the Kanto region and generation, but I don't want it at the expense of everything else that's come since.

What else would I be hoping to see in the Switch game, which may or may not be in Kanto, and may or may not be revealed at E3 or sooner?

• well-optimized (no frame rate issues, which is ridiculous that I even have to ask)
• quality-of-life improvements to the UI design and obfuscated RPG elements
• you know how the online was handled in X&Y? yeah do that again, idiots
• bring back the Poke Ride system instead of HMs, but let you use your own Pokes if possible
• skippable tutorial. I'm not 6, I don't need my hand held.
• better story/characters, I know you don't have to try but it would be nice if you did
• keep the battle system the same actually, don't screw around with real-time crap
• random encounters are also okay! don't rock the boat TOO hard!
• New Game + that lets me reset my progress and start over, while keeping my PC boxes
• Pokemon run up and actually hit each other, like in that one Stadium game?
• even more trainer customization, I had a lot of fun playing dress up last few games
• Pikachu says "fuck" in this one
• BRING BACK FOLLOWING POKEMON YOU COWARDS

what about you guys? do you believe the leak? would you want a second round of Kanto remakes anyway? what are your hopes for the inevitable next game?

Wednesday Ramble

I said I'd run out of content for this pretty quick, didn't I?

well, let's talk about Pokemon Stadium. One of my favorite games on the N64, and the sequel was even better. My biggest regret in life was selling it to buy Colosseum instead. (have I told this story before?) And that's not to say Colosseum was bad, but it was just not what I wanted at all. And the Battle Revolution follow-up on the Wii wasn't what I wanted either.

See, for me the allure of the Stadium games (aside from the best mini-game collection around, that's right Mario Party eat your heart our) was the fact that you could just rent teams. You could build a stupidly overpowered team, or a wacky one, or just try out some Pokemon you never got the chance to properly catch and raise in the mainline games. But instead, Gamefreak thought that I wanted to just import my main-game team into the console and battle with that.

and yeah that's cool I guess, but I've had enough of those bastards in their own game. Let me experiment. I'd like a Stadium 3 that basically works like Showdown - pick any Pokemon, any nature, any moves, any held item, any IVs, the works. And then battle against CPUs in a loose "arcade mode" setting, against local players, or online. That's what I want, and clearly there's a market for it. Competitive Pokemon is already a (very minor) eSport, but with the proper support it could blow up.

Not that I would be into that aspect of it personally, I'd just have fun making teams with my favs from different regions and battling the CPUs. Which would be a nice challenge as long as they gave them decent teams and AI. Which they should also put in the main games, but that's another story.

Wednesday Ramble

Was thinking the other day about how Gamefreak has continued to put unreleased Pokemon into the code (to be found by data-miners) long into the age where you can, you know, do updates and stuff.

I wonder why they do it this was, aside from a lack of interest in their craft? Are they THAT incompetent, that they haven't learned how to implement DLC yet? The rest of Nintendo has caught on, so there's no excuse. And before you go off, remember that DLC doesn't necessarily mean paid content, look at Splatoon (among others).

All I can think is that they want people to be able to download/unlock the hidden Pokemon from an event, then trade it to a friend who is living in the stone age and doesn't have access to wifi to update their game. But couldn't you maybe do a thing that sends across the update over LAN when you connect? and I don't even have to mention online battles, since that means you've got a connection, so clearly you can get the update.

maybe they just don't care. They don't care that their new legendaries are leaked and spoiled by the internet, because they still make their games primarily for children who don't know of such things. but aren't modern kids plugged in like hell? they watch them youtubers, one of them is bound to make a video about EXCLUSIVE HIDDEN POKEMON YOU WON'T BELIEVE (NOT CLICKBAIT!!!) or something, and yeah. Now you've got kids who don't understand why they can't catch Zeraora in their game already, even though it's on the card.

but hey, Gamefreak also made walking and running animations for every Pokemon in Sun/Moon then didn't use them, so maybe they just suck cocks.

Wednesday Ramble

So, we're already starting to get "leaks" for Gen 8. Note that Gen 8 hasn't even been announced yet, but.

And I'm honestly hesitant to condemn or confirm anything - we like in an age where people can make a perfect mock-up of Rayman on the Smash Bros select screen or 3D print a false NX controller, but also in an age where the final evolutions for Sun/Moon were leaked from highly-detailed model sheets and King of Fighters 14 had its entire roster leaked before the game was even announced. We're seeing crazier fake leaks, and crazier true leaks, than ever before.

So while I'll definitely check out every supposed leak I see, and probably end up wishing some of them were true, I refuse to sign off one way or the other. Best to just wait for Nintendo to make it all official.