General Discussion & Speculation Thread

[Hoennking]

Just because someone criticizes a Pokemon game doesn't mean were taking it seriously lol

 

[Hoennking]

Same (although didn't buy SM either), I'm waiting for someone to buy it for me for christmas, bc I'm saving up for a switch and actual brand new pokemon game instead of a remake of one I got last year for xmas
I've played and replayed SM many times that I have no urge to buy USUM. I'm still having fun restarting my Sun and then trading all my pokemon over to my moon and restarting again.

Same I gotta save up for a switch. Just blew my last cheque on a ps4 black Friday. Switch my next buy

 

[Tropios]

Well of course everyone is entitled to their own opinion, though I wouldn't go as far as saying GF didn't put their best effort into them. We will never know whether they did or didn't.

For those saying it doesn't look like they missed out by not buying them judging from a few negative voices in this thread, USUM is actually doing quite well; Strong sales, good reviews and significantly higher userscores than SM on metacritic (8.4 and 8.7 I believe). They're just like every pokémon game ever honestly: most fans like it, some don't. I've seen strong negative voices on the current gen ever since gen 3, only to have people begging for their remakes 10 years later.

 

[PrinceOfFacade]

Agreed, the games are far from the best. I could probably talk all day about how I would've liked for Lillie to have more than one Pokemon, how weird Ultra Necrozma looks, how next game I want to be kidnapped by the evil team just so I can break out while my friends are fighting through grunts ending with me saving them, how I wanted to explore Ultra Megapolis etc., but let's look at what we do have:

Four great characters that I want to see again, maybe with Zossie on a journey of her own.

I wouldn't call any of them great, but I will say they were heavily underused. I also say Ultra Megalopolis was heavy underused. We should have been able to explore the city, talking to people of that world. The mere lack of that shows there was no intention on putting forth too much effort into the game's story.

Three, technically four if you count the evolution, Ultra Beasts with one that is really cute.

Yes, all the new pokemon are pretty dope, Blacephalon especially. That I will give.

We can pet Pokemon, sure it's no following Pokemon but it's a start.

As if we weren't able to do that already with Refresh. I will admit, I had moments where I enjoyed playing with Stufful and Slowpoke, and I especially enjoyed watching Stufful run after me (not only was it cool to watch, but it was also great animation) but after a while it got less interesting. It would be nice if we could do that with our own pokemon in the overworld but optionally.

A whole bunch of sidequests, it makes the world feel more alive.

Side quests are nice, but I honestly would have never even knew they existed if it weren't for Serebii.net.

I mean honestly, how many of us actually go around talking to the NPCs. They almost never have anything worthwhile to say. I think Game Freak dropped the ball by not advertising the existence of side missions.

Necrozma which was our first Pokemon antagonist thus showing that Pokemon can be antagonists.

Necrozma was listed in-game as hurting and in need of help. It wasn't an antagonist. It was another victim we had to save, and its presence was heavily anticlimactic.

Mantine Surfing

Now THIS I love. Kudos to Game Freak for this one!

Rainbow Rocket, sure the implications of different regions apparently being helpless when a ten year old kid can save everyone easily is kinda annoying but let's think about this, only Lysandre's world is doomed. If we take Generations as canon then Cynthia was doing something but Giratina took Cyrus away, when he returns Cyrus will be in a world with spirit and will start questioning his plans, if Rayquaza wasn't already doing something about Archie and Maxie's worlds someone might awaken it thus allowing the worlds to be fixed, Ghetsis may have taken over Unova however it's possible that other regions will invade Unova to save it, with Giovanni it's the same thing. Heck Johto is right next door, they just have to say, "Hey we need help." And the gym leaders and hopefully Elite Four can band together and take Giovanni down.

Unfortunately, none of that holds weight, because none of it is canon. All we know is that they all (with the implied exception of Giovanni) came from worlds where they succeeded in their plans because no one opposed them. Honestly, the entire post-game segment of Rainbow Rocket was way too short and poorly written. Basically, a blotchy attempt at fan servicing that we all fell for. I will say, though, going against all of these bosses again was pretty sweet.

 

[Requiem Aeternam]

WHY does Altaria have REQUIEM SONG?????? i got a shiny encounter in a wormhole and it uses requiem song after 4 turns leaving only 3 chances to catch it........ i failed

though atleast i got a moltres encounter soon after...

Sorry about the Altaria. It must suck to lose a shiny. It's worth noting that, if a non-legendary wormhole Pokemon is shiny when you encounter it, it will always be shiny. If you save before interacting with the Pokemon, and it's shiny, you can reset if something goes wrong or you want a different gender, nature etc without fear of losing it.

 

[DJStarstryker]

I can understand why some people were disappointed. People were hoping for a DP remake or a sequel along the lines of BW2. But I think USUM is fantastic. I've been playing Pokemon since gen 1, and these are my favorites so far. Sure, there's problems with them. The story is less good in USUM overall than it is in SM. Game Freak has a habit of making useful things and then inexplicably leaving them out of future games (I'm talking mainly about National Dex for myself here, but I'm sure people could name other things they miss feature-wise). But gameplay wise, I think USUM is the most fun yet. There's tons to do.

 

[Pokemon Fan]

Here, I have fixed that for you.

Whether the Ultra Recon Squad are entertaining or not is subjective, but one thing you stated seems blatantly untrue:

Some legendaries released after the initial game, just like in every gen.

When did new legendaries ever get released after the initial game in a given gen? That never happened (unless you count mythical pokemon already in the game's data). At most we got new forms of certain legendaries, not entirely new ones. Indeed this is the first time in pokemon history that we've gotten all new pokemon mid-gen.

Also, technically the Ultra Beasts are not legendary pokemon (though I guess this can get argued, but they certainly aren't treated as such in the game beyond not being able to be bred in daycare centers).

 

[Nerdy McNerdface]

About my last post: I wasn't trying to say that anyone who doesn't like the games isn't taking them seriously, I was just saying that some people could be using too high a standard to judge the games on. I do respect it has flaws - some scenes were a drag, Ultra Warp while fun can be pretty frustrating, Ultra Megalopolis being unexplorable was a let-down, and so on - but my personal positives outweighed the negatives. If you don't like the game, fine, but it's not like they were ever going to be masterpieces in the first place anyway.

Eh, maybe I'm rambling nonsense. Idk.

 

[R_N]

Whether the Ultra Recon Squad are entertaining or not is subjective, but one thing you stated seems blatantly untrue:


When did new legendaries ever get released after the initial game in a given gen? That never happened (unless you count mythical pokemon already in the game's data). At most we got new forms of certain legendaries, not entirely new ones. Indeed this is the first time in pokemon history that we've gotten all new pokemon mid-gen.

Also, technically the Ultra Beasts are not legendary pokemon (though I guess this can get argued, but they certainly aren't treated as such in the game beyond not being able to be bred in daycare centers).

The game, internally, literally considers them legendary pokemon. Specifically, the "Sub-legendary" category alongside all the usual "trios" like the birds, the beasts, the golems, the tapu, etc. Type Null & Silvally are as well.

 

[Pokemon Fan]

The game, internally, literally considers them legendary pokemon. Specifically, the "Sub-legendary" category alongside all the usual "trios" like the birds, the beasts, the golems, the tapu, etc. Type Null & Silvally are as well.

I mean as far as stats, lore, etc. go they are not obviously legendary pokemon. But what defines legendary pokemon has admittedly gotten vaguer over time. Most of the Ultra Beasts are explicitly not even regarded as rare creatures in their native worlds.

 

[R_N]

I mean as far as stats, lore, etc. go they are not obviously legendary pokemon. But what defines legendary pokemon has admittedly gotten vaguer over time. Most of the Ultra Beasts are explicitly not even regarded as rare creatures in their native worlds.

I'll put aside "lore" since a number of legends don't really have any, but they have the same BST (570) as the Tapu do aside from Nagandal.

I love the idea of something like a bidoof wandering into an alternate universe where it doesn't exist and everyone freaking out and labeling it a legendary. The mythical Bidoof...sightings are rare, but its ability to alter the flow of water is for certain!

In universe reasoning aside, a legendary is basically just what Gamefreak labels them. We've had legends with genders, evoloving legends, breeding legends, legends with low BST, man made, god made, with an actual story to them or their power to those without. Even things like "one of to get" or "very rare" or "strong" have to have a "usually" appended to them since game to game there can be exceptions.

e: Imagine a universe where Mewtwos or Genesects wound up being commonly made pokemon akin to Porygon

 

[nel3]

Sorry about the Altaria. It must suck to lose a shiny. It's worth noting that, if a non-legendary wormhole Pokemon is shiny when you encounter it, it will always be shiny. If you save before interacting with the Pokemon, and it's shiny, you can reset if something goes wrong or you want a different gender, nature etc without fear of losing it.

its not a big problem for me, im just annoyed the altaria happened to have perish song. i can stall the altaria out as much as i can but perish song sorta makes that very hard. i was hunting legends and waiting for that ominous presence to appear but none showed up. i didnt save the game before checking the pkmn as i decided not to that time. its annoying saving the game every 203 minutes for each portal. i have shiny horde altaria from pkmn X anyway nor do i use altaria but i try to get any shiny pkmn that come my way.

is there any color difference between non-legendary wormhole Pokemon that are shiny and those that arent? ive seen some double ring portals that were of a lighter shade but wasnt sure what they meant.

 

[ruxy_100]

WHY does Altaria have REQUIEM SONG?????? i got a shiny encounter in a wormhole and it uses requiem song after 4 turns leaving only 3 chances to catch it........ i failed

though atleast i got a moltres encounter soon after...

That sucks. I know it doesn't help now, but in the future I would recommend saving every time you land through a new wormhole. The shininess of a Pokémon (except legendaries) is apparently determined when landing, so if you save before encountering it and then kill it, you can just soft-reset and re-encounter it.

Edit: And I just noticed your post above about deciding not to save that time, so please disregard me lol.

 

[Excitable Boy]

hot take: Beast Balls should have the capture bonus on everything encountered from wormholes via Ultra Warp Ride

 

[Baggie_Saiyan]

Finished the main game! Overall an improvement over S/M (and this is from someone who thought S/M was pretty good). Unfortunately like BW2 the story wasn't as good but unlike BW2 it was still good and not a complete disaster (BW2 was just soooo bad after the greatness that was BW1). I just felt like there wasn't much emotional weight I guess to the story this time around.

Definitely will pick up US, only got UM on the off chance it wouldn't be good so not to waste money. Might nuzlocke the game...brave I know lol.

Overall though Gen 7 has been my favourite generation to date massive improvement over the lackluster Gen 6. Sad to see this handled era go in all honesty.

Oh and Primarina has overtaken Decidueye as my favourite starter! She's just too great!

 

[Li_Syaoran]

but unlike BW2 it was still good and not a complete disaster (BW2 was just soooo bad after the greatness that was BW1).

It was a while since I played BW2, but was the story really so bad?

 

[Orphalesion]

but one thing you stated seems blatantly untrue:


When did new legendaries ever get released after the initial game in a given gen? That never happened (unless you count mythical pokemon already in the game's data). At most we got new forms of certain legendaries, not entirely new ones. Indeed this is the first time in pokemon history that we've gotten all new pokemon mid-gen.

Also, technically the Ultra Beasts are not legendary pokemon (though I guess this can get argued, but they certainly aren't treated as such in the game beyond not being able to be bred in daycare centers).

yeah I was talking about the mythicals, for a period of time they were just called legendary pokemon. So we've had that since gen 1 with Mew.

And the Ultra Beast are functionally legendaries for me. You get a limited number of them per safe and they are tied to in-game events. They aren't ordinary Pokemon you find endlessly on routes or in the sea, not Pokemon NPCs commonly have.
I dislike using Pokemon that are of a limited number (or even supposedly "unique", as far as the lore is concerned) So to me a couple new Ultra Beasts is not different from, say, Volcanion, a Pokemon we would have been unaware of as well if it hadn't been for the leaks. And it being in some sort of "Z" version would have interested me just as little.

We don't really have a word for "Pokemon that are set to a limited number in game, treated as completely special (beyond other Pokemon), almost exclusive to the PC and with their availability tied to in-game events such as the Ultra Beast hunt" so I use legendary as shorthand for that.

 

[nel3]

LOL, GF has gone evil again, the memory game that's interupted by poses and battles is evil. thats an evil twist to usurp them from aether paradise.

the battle agency has made me Amish. im using the z moves in the batle agancy to beat hard opponents that are a pain to beat as they're only loaned pkmn. im still not sold on z moves for my own pokemon but i want those +200 FC more than my dislike for z moves.

though now i have acces to the last 2 fortune tents for certain phrases .

 

[Team Volt Grunt]

Also, technically the Ultra Beasts are not legendary pokemon (though I guess this can get argued, but they certainly aren't treated as such in the game beyond not being able to be bred in daycare centers).

Technically they are legendary Pokémon. They are coded the same as all the other legendary Pokémon. They are considered lesser legendaries like the Island Guardians, the Bird Trio, the Beast Trio, etc., which is why they are allowed in the almost all of the online tournaments. If you want proof, look at your Pokédex and note the color around the Ultra Beasts and the Tapus. They're all green (same goes for Type: Null and Silvally, who are also classified as Legendaries in the game code). The higher legendaries and mythicals are yellow. All the non-legendary pokemon are blue.

If you don't consider the Ultra Beasts to be legendary, you shouldn't consider the Island Guardians to be either.

 

[Pokemon Fan]

Technically they are legendary Pokémon. They are coded the same as all the other legendary Pokémon. They are considered lesser legendaries like the Island Guardians, the Bird Trio, the Beast Trio, etc., which is why they are allowed in the almost all of the online tournaments. If you want proof, look at your Pokédex and note the color around the Ultra Beasts and the Tapus. They're all green (same goes for Type: Null and Silvally, who are also classified as Legendaries in the game code). The higher legendaries and mythicals are yellow. All the non-legendary pokemon are blue.

If you don't consider the Ultra Beasts to be legendary, you shouldn't consider the Island Guardians to be either.

I'm talking about the in-game lore as much as anything else. The Ultra Beasts are "normal" creatures in their own worlds and may even be considered common. One could say they are legendary in the main pokemon world, but not in others. And as for the Tapus, by all rights they should be legendary but in-game I don't recall them ever being called as such. Hence why I said these things can be argued about.