Gameplay Mechanics - Discussion/Speculation Thread

[Bolt the Cat]

I still don’t know why anyone thinks a darker plot game isn’t possible.

No Nintendo game had you play as the villain in Pokémon. Sure it won’t be blood and guts, but if the game requires you battling weaker trainers to steal Pokémon to bring the team rocket boss to gain money and power that’s dark but not something kids or older ages wouldn’t play.
Anything is possible with games these days, and new spins on games keeps players interested. I for a fact know about 50 players of various ages who want a game where you play as team rocket. Being a hero all the time can get boring after a while because we all know in Pokémon games the end is always where you solve the storyline and become a hero, very predictable.

Because they think kids are too impressionable and they'll start trying to imitate the bad deeds they see in the games (and they are to some degree. Perhaps not quite as much as Game Freak thinks, but enough to make you think twice about whether or not kids are mature enough to handle such a game). If there's any kind of plot aimed at kids with a villain protagonist, it's usually a redemption story of some kind, you don't really see plots where the protagonist is just a bad person in a game for kids (I definitely can't think of any off the top of my head, most of the ones that do are more for teens and adults who can better think for themselves and understand the nuance in why someone might want to do bad things).

 

[PrinceOfFacade]

I honestly can't think of anything that won't be similar to Mega Evolution or Dynamaxing. You can't really do much beyond change forms and types.

What I'm hoping for is that the mechanic is independent of pokemon, basically something that involves pokemon but isn't directly about them. The possible racing mechanic would be a good one.

 

[Bolt the Cat]

I honestly can't think of anything that won't be similar to Mega Evolution or Dynamaxing. You can't really do much beyond change forms and types.

Yeah, I really think they've exhausted what they can do with burst gimmicks to the point where it's just going to feel like a rehash with a different name. But I also think they don't care. They just seem to want something with the appearance of being new and flashy even if it isn't actually doing anything new, that way the kids think it's "cool" and "strong" and want to buy the new game to play the "new" mechanic.

 

[falconlord]

It depends how bored the developers are with idea. If they think they can get something new out of it, or that it's still fun to do, or whatever, then we'll get a new riff on Mega Evolution and Dynamaxing.

If, however, burst mechanics have become a chore, then they'll drop it and move onto something else.

 

[Luthor]

One thing about the mechanics is that z-moves and dynamax both were designed to work for any Pokemon (while certain specific pokemon got an exclusive special aspect like Gigantamax and Species specific Z-moves) wheras Mega-evolution only worked for specific Pokemon. My guess is if there is a new gimmick it'd be like dynamax and work for every Pokemon. Otherwise I'd guess something like midbattle fusion forms if you had the right two pokemon in the party or something similar.

 

[Orphalesion]

Really as far as in-battle gimmicks go the whole rumoured "type change"/gaining a third type temporarily seems, next to fusions, the only thiing they haven't done (of course I don't like in-battle gimmicks, so I'm probably not creative with them)

 

[GLTSRY]

Really as far as in-battle gimmicks go the whole rumoured "type change"/gaining a third type temporarily seems, next to fusions, the only thiing they haven't done (of course I don't like in-battle gimmicks, so I'm probably not creative with them)

I mean, Protean/Libero are pretty much doing this, so it wouldn’t feel very fresh.

Besides, the types are what makes team building etc fun. A gimmick that could circumvent that seems rather dull.

 

[Luthor]

Really as far as in-battle gimmicks go the whole rumoured "type change"/gaining a third type temporarily seems, next to fusions, the only thiing they haven't done (of course I don't like in-battle gimmicks, so I'm probably not creative with them)

I'm generally good with them but if they offered me no gimmick in exchange for lots of cross-gen evolutions. I'd take that deal as those are something I value more. Its all down to personal preference.

I mean, Protean/Libero are pretty much doing this, so it wouldn’t feel very fresh.

Besides, the types are what makes team building etc fun. A gimmick that could circumvent that seems rather dull.

It really depends how they work it. To differ it from Protean/Libero it might work more like trick or treat and just temporarily add an additional third type or they could just not have any of the Protean/Libero Pokemon in-game. It isn't that many Pokemon.

 

[scififan21]

I'm neutral to Battle Mechanics honestly I'd buy the game even if they don't have a new one to be completely honest I'm more interested in the extra stuff you can do. Like I loved Raid Dens even if the AI was sooooo dumb if you weren't playing with real people, but that tied into the gimmick too so honestly I have no idea what they are doing next.

 

[keithpetrosky]

Im not going to lie. When I heard the regional Tauros and Cherubi might be fakes (fan made) my first thoughts were If players can make fakes this good, Nintendo better step up their game and make better Pokémon or hire these people because that Tauros is excellent. These fans make what players want and Nintendo doesn’t seem to care so much about what players want these days

 

[Luthor]

I'm neutral to Battle Mechanics honestly I'd buy the game even if they don't have a new one to be completely honest I'm more interested in the extra stuff you can do. Like I loved Raid Dens even if the AI was sooooo dumb if you weren't playing with real people, but that tied into the gimmick too so honestly I have no idea what they are doing next.

Granted that AI and some of the Pokemon selected were not great. When Magikarp ends up being not being the worse partner option it says a lot. Plus some of them had movesets that were either ineffective or ended up healing certain raid opponents.If there is some sort of team battle in these games I hope they learnt a bit from that.

 

[Trillion]

“martin’s solrock used cosmic power”

 

[Noy]

so the gimmick is a power boost to a type; and if the mon's "tera type" (I assume is assigned randomly like natures) matches, they also type change?

 

[1991]

The gimmick is okay but that crystal thing on pokemon head is hideous

 

[scififan21]

I actually still like the crystal headpiece then over half of the Mega/Gigantamax designs so I'll take it. I actually like this idea for how it works more then previous ones. Heck if my husband is okay with it and he has serious dislike for most of the new gimmicks then you know you're not doing horrible. XD

 

[Smeargle-Sketch]

I think some will work more than others.

Like the Terastal deisng ofr water being a giant water spout, will look and work really well on Cetitan if it can gain it.

 

[janejane6178]

I would prefer wings over balloons for flying type crystal

 

[Beloberto]

I love the stupid "type hats", paricularly knowing how it will piss off people who dislike anything that is not cool or cute.

I don't know if someone mentioned, though, but it really caught my attention the part where a Noibat evolves and we get a scene of the trainer and Noivern staring each other. Could be just a cutscene, but it would be cool if evolutions now have a sequence with the pokémon and the player interacting.

 

[Ultra Beast Lover]

I love the stupid "type hats", paricularly knowing how it will piss off people who dislike anything that is not cool or cute.

I don't know if someone mentioned, though, but it really caught my attention the part where a Noibat evolves and we get a scene of the trainer and Noivern staring each other. Could be just a cutscene, but it would be cool if evolutions now have a sequence with the pokémon and the player interacting.

It could be like Legends where you can talk to your Pokemon. Though it would be neat if they shared a little nod upon evolution.

 

[Beloberto]

You know, reading the article, I think Terastalize can possibly be the most interesting gimmick so far, since it can potentially change a pokémon a lot without being a broken powerup that trivilizes anything that is not using it:

https://scarletviolet.pokemon.com/en-us/news/terastal_phenomenon/

Also I like they gave the extra STAB for when a pokémon Terastalize to the same type they already have, meaning that Terastalizing (this name though, geez) to a different type is not inherently better (you get to surprise your enemy by completely changing your weaknesses and resistances, but you don't get the extra STAB)

EDIT: Oooooh... Mega Evolution, Gigantamax, Teralize. huh.


EDIT2:
Another interesting thing in those articles is that while the article about Raid Battles mention that you need a Switch Online account to play raids in multiplayer, the article about co-op doesn't mention that for trades and for "walking along others", only says you need an internet connection.
If you don't need Switch Online to trade then I am definitely in.