Spider-Phoenix
#ChespinGang
I miss triple battles
You can say that again. It was my favorite format. Its removal is one of the reasons why I'm stopped playing competitive on Gen 7.
I miss triple battles
I do genuinely wonder what they'll do going forward though. Didn't they say that Dynamax was tied specifically to Galar, just as Z-Crystals and Z-Moves were tied specifically to Alola?
Yeah, but the problem with megas was that it mostly catered towards pokemon that were already fan favorites or super strong. Some pokemon like Charizard, Mawile & Kangaskhan were a few exceptions, but megas made stuff that were already OP like Mewtwo, Blaziken, & Lucario even more impossible to beat. Plus the meta kind of made that you had to use those specific pokemon, making most non-legendary pokemon feel useless or obsoleteHonestly, not a fan of dynamax. I like the megas a lot more specially because it salvaged some pokémon.
Agreed. Almost every popular Pokémon that uses Dynamax/GMax was already good like Gyarados. As annoying as Mega Kanga was, it's nice to see a Pokémon go from obscurity to one of the most used. I just find it a boring mechanic that doesn't add anything worthwhile to the meta.Honestly, not a fan of dynamax. I like the megas a lot more specially because it salvaged some pokémon.
Things I felt they nailed?
- Hard to argue with the QoLs. From training to the PC. One I’ll add is simplifying the Eevee evolutions. Glaceon and Leafeon requiring their specific stone is great, since you can get Glaceon earlier now, and they no longer have to force those rocks into specific areas. And the combining of friendship and affection makes things a little easier to remember, at least for me, for Sylveon
- Max Raids, while having some implementation issues like the ally AI options, were a great addition. The accessibility they give to some pokemon, and the way the community seemed to come together to do them was cool to see.
- The music is mostly great. The gym leader music is my default set for battles.
- To go with the characters, how different characters had a little bit of personality show through their dynamax throws (and with that, getting to the champion battle and seeing just how much Hop tries to emulate Leon).
- I really enjoyed the spin on Gym Battles and Finals, and the atmosphere of them. From the intro of walking out of the tunnel straight into the actual battle, the crowds, the stadium feel.
I agree, it feels like they had a good directionand general idea, but just rushed it during the end. It could have been epic with some more work on it.Apart from the music (I like the songs, I don't like the instrumentation at all) I agree with all of these.
And I'd add the Pokemon themselves, which I think are very original and rich in design and origin. Also, keeping regional forms and expanding that with evolutions is great too.
I really think in general Sword and Shield are great, but the finishing touches are terrible, like the graphics, the way the story unfolds and the missing Pokemon.
Agreed. It has its good points, but some areas such as cities feel rather rushed.I agree, it feels like they had a good directionand general idea, but just rushed it during the end. It could have been epic with some more work on it.
I think Sword and Shield lack polish. There are rough edges in the graphical department for example.I really think in general Sword and Shield are great, but the finishing touches are terrible, like the graphics, the way the story unfolds and the missing Pokemon.
I also really liked Hop’s role in the game. He kind of has a similar problem to Silver since on the surface he comes off as an annoying side character without any real change, but if you look past the games’ limitations you can see that he’s a fleshed out character with his own arc that fits perfectly with SWSH’s themes & motif. He’s honestly become my new favorite rival of the entire series
As a matter of fact, Mega Evolutions were stated to be only seen in Kalos, implying that it's a Kalos only thing. And now Mega evolution is seen in Hoenn, Alola and Kanto lol.
That being said, I do appreciate dynamax. Yes, it's very strong and singles struggled significantly (whereas doubles is much more balanced). However, I personally believe that dramatically changing the meta is the healthiest way of keeping the PvP format alive. Otherwise, if it's the same thing every game, people are bound to lose interest.
Unpopular opinion, but I think it's a good thing that Mega forms and Z-moves were benched. I personally felt that Z-moves were completely overshadowed by mega forms despite the fact that megas were postgame only, and also banned from official PvP format until the very end of USUM. Another issue is that I have always felt that having more than one gimmick makes the already complex game more complicated. Having Megas, Z-moves, and Dynamax all at once sounds like a disaster to me, even if you don't plan to PvP.
Yea some of it seems off, noticed it in battle that some of the backgrounds have rough edges.Might get some hate for this, but the graphics everywhere except the Wild Area were great. All the towns had a unique feel, as did all the routes- I just wish they were a little larger!
All the Pokémon look great as well, although again, animation leaves a lot to be desired.