• Hi all. We have had reports of member's signatures being edited to include malicious content. You can rest assured this wasn't done by staff and we can find no indication that the forums themselves have been compromised.

    However, remember to keep your passwords secure. If you use similar logins on multiple sites, people and even bots may be able to access your account.

    We always recommend using unique passwords and enable two-factor authentication if possible. Make sure you are secure.
  • Be sure to join the discussion on our discord at: Discord.gg/serebii
  • If you're still waiting for the e-mail, be sure to check your junk/spam e-mail folders

Thoughts on the Upcoming Pokemon Switch Game?

BCVM22

Well-Known Member
I was talking about Poke Ball Plus, not the games themselves.

I believe it retails for the yen equivalent of about $50, and the American price is that as well.

However, I am hoping the game follows the very smart decision of Pokémon GO and retain the Gen 2+ changes regarding types and moves. If Fairy type remains in Let's GO, the game won't be nearly as detached for me. If the game has post-Gen 1 moves, it will be far more appealing.

I mean, we all know the serious amount of flaws that exist in Gen 1. Game Freak cannot be putting those back in Let's GO.

I would be very surprised if at least the basic mechanics aren't updated to the modern standard. They aren't going to un-type Pokémon that are now the Fairy-type, for example.

I’m not spending $200 on a phone that I’m not really going to use that much just for this game.

And at no point has anyone in any position suggested you have to. That's railing against something that has never happened. (And as an aside, any smartphone that "only" costs $200 probably can't run GO in the first place.)

That should not and does not, however, preclude them from incorporating the extensive connectivity with GO.
 

WishIhadaManafi5

To Boldly Go Where No One Has Gone Before.
Staff member
Moderator
I believe it retails for the yen equivalent of about $50, and the American price is that as well.



I would be very surprised if at least the basic mechanics aren't updated to the modern standard. They aren't going to un-type Pokémon that are now the Fairy-type, for example.



And at no point has anyone in any position suggested you have to. That's railing against something that has never happened. (And as an aside, any smartphone that "only" costs $200 probably can't run GO in the first place.)

That should not and does not, however, preclude them from incorporating the extensive connectivity with GO.
If that's the cost of Poke Ball Plus, that's insane. But I think you're talking about the main games. I haven't seen a price for Poke Ball Plus just yet.

My phone costs less than that and it runs GO just fine. (It's an older model but it plays pretty well with it.) It's not always the most expensive phones that can play it. Even though they probably do play it a bit better.
 
Last edited:

BCVM22

Well-Known Member
If that's the cost of Poke Ball Plus, that's insane. But I think you're talking about the main games.

I am not. The Poké Ball Plus retails for 4,980 yen, which comes out to just under $46 in American dollars, as I said. Given that it's basically a Joy-Con combined with a Pokémon GO Plus, that's not really unexpected.

It's not always the most expensive phones that can play it.

I don't believe there's any smartphone up to the current standards and currently on the market that retails for $200, which was my point in the first place.
 

PrinceOfFacade

Ghost-Type Master
(And as an aside, any smartphone that "only" costs $200 probably can't run GO in the first place.)

Well, just to note, smartphones are hella cheap these days, especially Android phones.

I've never paid more than $150 for a phone, and GO worked just fine. Nevertheless, I wouldn't recommend anyone buy a smartphone just to play this game. It's still a waste of money.
 

BCVM22

Well-Known Member
Well, just to note, smartphones are hella cheap these days, especially Android phones.

Not the case or the point, but that's neither here nor there, and more to the point...

I wouldn't recommend anyone buy a smartphone just to play this game. It's still a waste of money.

...yes, the notion of "they better not make me buy a smartphone to play GO with this game" is intensely silly, because no one has ever suggested that.
 

Wulava

danger chili pepper
Staff member
Moderator
Here's a thought - what does everyone think as far as the difficulty of these games?

The Bug Catcher shown in the video, Cale, only has one Lv. 9 Venonat in whatever version of the game they're showcasing; in other generations, he's had a four-Pokemon team, composed of Weedle and Caterpie and their evolutions, at either Lv. 9 or Lv. 10. He's a little bit of a special case, though, in that he's a Nugget Bridge trainer. Do we think that the game is simply in an incomplete state and this is just for purposes of the video, or are we looking at a Kalos-like level of ease here?

Related, I really wonder what the Elite Four are going to be like this time around. They seem to have included everything from the S.S. Anne to Team Rocket to Mewtwo and the Unknown Dungeon, so I'm really hopeful we still have elements like Blue, the Elite Four, and more. I'd say hoping for the Sevii Islands is a stretch, but that too if they want!

Honestly, it is a bit hard to say judge how the difficulty changes with just this.

It is true that Bug Catcher Cale had a significant change of team:
FRLG - Lv10 Caterpie, Metapod, Weedle, & Kakuna
LGPE - Lv9 Venonat

But looking at the player's Pokemon, they're already at Lv18.

Consider the possibility that majority of the trainers (not limited to Nugget Bridge) had significant changes on their teams). You can also consider the possibility that the rest of Nugget Trainers have higher levels. Cale is also the first in line so I kinda expected him to have a low-leveled Pokemon.

Now, looking at the wild Clefairy on Mt. Moon, it is at Lv10. FRLG Clefairy's can also be encountered at this level.

Right now, I could say that the level curve is most likely the same (up to Nugget Bridge at least).

As for Sevii, I'd like for it to be included, but it's primary purpose in FRLG was to provide a place where we can catch Gen 2 Pokemon. Since only Gen 1 Pokemon are included, I think it won't be.
 

Cerex

Well-Known Member
I agree, and it is somewhat odd.

However, I am hoping the game follows the very smart decision of Pokémon GO and retain the Gen 2+ changes regarding types and moves. If Fairy type remains in Let's GO, the game won't be nearly as detached for me. If the game has post-Gen 1 moves, it will be far more appealing.

I mean, we all know the serious amount of flaws that exist in Gen 1. Game Freak cannot be putting those back in Let's GO.
I'm assuming post Gen 1 typing and moves will remain in the game; however, that will pose some problems. Steel and Dark were introduced in Gen 1 and that significantly changed the difficulty of certain battles in FR/LG, which is why in rematches the Elite Four changed somewhat. Now with the addition of Fairy, and the neutralization of Dark to Steel among other things, you can envision some critical battles being changed. But there are also things, like, will TMs become one time use again? Will we not be able to breed Pokemon in this game because there isn't a daycare center, unless the Sevii Islands are included (but then it would be a remake of FR/LG and not Yellow).

And the trouble is that it effects the balancing, even supposing they kept all of the mechanical improvements from post-Gen 1, like unlimited TM use and introduced a daycare where you could breed Pokemon, that would be cool, but it would also wreck the difficult of Yellow. You made different choices when you had to decide which of your Pokemon gets your one and only Thunderbolt or Psychic TM. However, imagine how much easier Gen 1 would be if you could spread those around. And now suppose they don't include these changes to keep a clean remake (aside from type changes, I'm pretty sure they can't go back on that--especially with the Go integration, like would Clefairy go back and forth between Normal and Fairy? I doubt it), I can't imagine most deep fans of the series can stomach going back to limited TMs or the inability to breed their Pokemon for better natures or abilities.

I'm actually not as confident as you are, because I think for some reason they have always held up Gen I as the pinnacle when it was just the first.
 

BCVM22

Well-Known Member
There's no reason to think we're going to go back to the Generation I dark ages. Multi-use TMs are the current standard, as are the Dark-, Steel- and Fairy-types and their modern strengths and weaknesses.

Breeding is something I could see being omitted from LGP/E. Note that I didn't say "removed" or "changed," merely omitted - unlike multi-use TMs, all they need to do is simply not include a breeding facility and that's that.

We'll likely learn more going forward, but until then, there's nothing to suggest these games won't be up to the modern gameplay standards as much as this new format will allow.
 

Sceptile Leaf Blade

Nighttime Guardian
For those worried about exclusives, that's where making a Pokémon Go account will probably come in handy. Pokémon go doesn't have version exclusives, and since you can Port the Pokémon over to Let's Go and Pokémon go is free to play, it makes it doable without having to buy a whole new system. Plus, if you get the pokeball accessory thing, it can catch Pokémon while you're walking like in Go, so you don't have to keep your phone out all day looking for an ekans. You can also evolve Pokémon without trading :)

This is exactly what I'm afraid of. Without online capabilities you can't easily trade for version exclusives, which essentially necessitates you to get GO. GO might not be a direct requirement but it might as well be by the looks of it. GameFreak doesn't seem to understand that the only reason GO was even popular to begin with was that it was free itself on a system that a lot of people already had, plus it fed on nostalgia from Pokémon, that combination made it popular among a casual crowd. However, the people that did not have the right smartphone to play it didn't get a new phone just for GO, it wasn't worth that. I don't have the right smartphone to play GO, so for me this game seems like it would be a very heavy investment to actually get the full experience, and that doesn't appeal to the casual crowd. The Switch is expensive, coop seems to require a TV too and TVs are expensive. Smartphones are expensive.

Trading locally for version exclusives might have been acceptable back in the days of the first generations, but the world has changed. People no longer communicate solely with people in their own neighbourhood, people communicate globally, friendships are formed globally, through social media platforms, forums, and other places on the internet. Who is going to fly to the other side of the world just to trade for version exclusive pokémon or do a battle? Pokémon changed along with the changing world by introducing global trading and battling over the internet, it makes no sense to regress back.


Another thing that really scares me is the lack of wild pokémon battles. I just don't understand why they'd remove that. Gyms were removed in gen7 but we got Grand Trials which were the same thing, just outside instead of inside a gym building. Wild pokémon battles are necessary to level up pokémon if you somehow got behind, or if a boss battle is turning out tougher than expected, it balances out the difficulty curve. I usually play with around 20-30 pokémon in the main story and I need to grind from time to time so I don't get too far behind in levels. Apparently you need to catch pokémon instead of battling them to grind for levels in this game. That's just weird, it essentially turns the entire world into a safari zone and changes pokémon catching from a game where you need to weaken the wild pokémon enough to catch them, but not so much that you faint them, into a simple dice roll. And dice rolls aren't interesting on their own. You need to have some sort of ability to influence your odds to make it interesting. I think it's just going to be very frustrating to see the wild pokémon escape your balls time and time again when you just want to level up your pokémon, and you can't even weaken the wild pokémon to increase your odds, only spend a lot more in-game currency to get better balls. And it doesn't even make much logical sense that if you don't even fight the wild pokémon first that your own pokémon suddenly get stronger from you throwing balls at another wild pokémon.

Admittedly, I'm not the target audience. I don't have GO, I don't have a Switch, I don't have local friends that are into pokémon more than just playing GO (certainly not enough for them to invest in a Switch + game), and online battling is a large portion of why I even enjoy pokémon. If they kick that out there's little end-goal for me to actually raise my pokémon. Honestly, most of what I've heard so far about these games isn't appealing to me, and that'd be fine if this was just a side-game like Magikarp Jump or whatever, but GameFreak says this is a main-series game, and I understand that as it being somewhat representative of where they want to take the franchise next.
 
Last edited:

WhiteBlair

ベストチャンピオン。
As for Sevii, I'd like for it to be included, but it's primary purpose in FRLG was to provide a place where we can catch Gen 2 Pokemon. Since only Gen 1 Pokemon are included, I think it won't be.
A credible leaker mentioned that the post-game area is called 'Amberteak Islands' HERE. So far, he got the announcement date, release date, GO device, GO mechanics, Legendary Aura and EV system correct.
 
Well I certainly didn't expect this to be the reveal. Still I'm glad this is just a spin-off game and not the next generation, with it having GO's mechanics.

I've never been a big fan of pokemon go, got bored of it after a week or two, so I'll sit these games out. Plus another throwback to Kanto? Haven't we've had enough of those? Kanto was nice yeah and it was my first region too but there's something like overdoing it.
 

Sulfurian

Well-Known Member
While I understand the community's worry that the catching mechanics may stay in future titles, I think some of you are being too harsh on go.

Go's biggest issue was being released way too soon. But it added millions of dollars to the franchise, and the local bro at the bar with multiple STD's knows what a Moltres is because he's valor. So what if some form of GO is added to the actual core rpg's. It did a heck of a lot more than the experimental bs that was gen 6-7.
 

Bguy7

The Dragon Lord
This is exactly what I'm afraid of. Without online capabilities you can't easily trade for version exclusives, which essentially necessitates you to get GO.

It doesn't really necessitate anything. Oh well, you won't be able to get the version exclusives. It's hardly game-breaking. If you happen to play Go, or decide you want to give it a try, good for you, you have the Pokémon. If you don't, no big deal.

Plus another throwback to Kanto? Haven't we've had enough of those? Kanto was nice yeah and it was my first region too but there's something like overdoing it.

It's been nearly ten years since we've last been to Kanto, and nearly 15 since it's had a dedicated game. I'd say we were due for this.
 
It's been nearly ten years since we've last been to Kanto, and nearly 15 since it's had a dedicated game. I'd say we were due for this.
Oh I don't just mean revisits to Kanto. More like Kanto always having an important role in nearly every gen. Aside from remakes where it was in we also got the kanto starters and aside from the new legends only the kanto legends in the Kalos games. Alola formes were kanto only pokemon for some reason as well.

For mega evolutions 13 kanto pokemon got megas (with 2 getting 2 of them), only beat by Hoenn since those games actually got remakes then and the majority of those megas were added during said remakes. The only generation where Kanto didn't play any important role was probably generation 5 and even then the majority of the new pokemon had a lot of similarities to Kanto pokemon.
 

Bguy7

The Dragon Lord
Oh I don't just mean revisits to Kanto. More like Kanto always having an important role in nearly every gen. Aside from remakes where it was in we also got the kanto starters and aside from the new legends only the kanto legends in the Kalos games. Alola formes were kanto only pokemon for some reason as well.

For mega evolutions 13 kanto pokemon got megas (with 2 getting 2 of them), only beat by Hoenn since those games actually got remakes then and the majority of those megas were added during said remakes. The only generation where Kanto didn't play any important role was probably generation 5 and even then the majority of the new pokemon had a lot of similarities to Kanto pokemon.

I won't deny that the bias is there, but I don't think that changes the fact that it's been longer since Kanto got its own game than it was between the last Gen III Hoenn game and Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, making Kanto just as valid for a revisit as Hoenn was.
 

Sceptile Leaf Blade

Nighttime Guardian
It doesn't really necessitate anything. Oh well, you won't be able to get the version exclusives. It's hardly game-breaking. If you happen to play Go, or decide you want to give it a try, good for you, you have the Pokémon. If you don't, no big deal.

I guess we'll disagree then. The name of pokémon has been, from the very first day, "Gotta catch 'em all", or "Complete the dex". I was also specifically talking about the full experience of the game. If you can't get 25% of the pokémon because they're not in your version you don't get the full experience. Although having to catch random fodder to level your pokémon does follow the line of "Gotta catch 'em all" quite well I guess, albeit limited by box space.
 

Xuxuba

Well-Known Member
You see, while i do appreciate their attemps to bring back the casual players, i believe that most of them do not own a switch and prefer playing mobile games over console games since they do not have to spend a lot of money nor time on them. Yes, i know many of them spend lots of money on freemium games, but they honestly believe that they aren't spending all that much, that's why it makes success with them, they believe the game is really free, when you actually have to spend money in order to enjoy it. They'll think 300$ for a console and 60$ for a game is way more than they are willing to pay for something that they are only going to play casually.

Don't get me wrong, i do believe this game will sell well and might even attract a few old fans who fell out of the series, but these attemps to reproduce the success Pokémon Go had with casual players is going to frustate them, because this is not a mobile game and it's not a relatively cheap game made for a cheap console with a large playerbase like the 3ds.

I think they would be better off developing pokemon mobile games that do not have a concept so different from the original one, despite obviously not being as good as a console game. I think that would make a lot of sucess with casual players, at least a lot more than games like Pokémon Quest and Shuffle.
 
Last edited:

WalesNote

Well-Known Member
By appealing to new players, they leave out old players. By appealing to casuals, they leave out the hardcore players. It's hard to find a good balance.

But there's nothing wrong with casual games and hardcore games. I was iffy about these games when they were revealed, in spite of how much I love the graphics and style, but I'm more than happy to give them a go.

The fact that we cannot fight against wild pokémon is strange and silly to me, but then again how often do we bother fighting against them anyway? My only excuse so far, but I'm looking forward to the games.

Already got my team in the planning stages, some the the candidates:

Pikachu, Jolteon, Persian, Nidoqueen, Rapidash, Golduck, Dewgong, Scyther, Rhydon
 

Mega Altaria

☆~Shiny hunter▢~
Don't get me wrong, i do believe this game will sell out well and might even attract a few old fans who fell out of the series, but these attemps to reproduce the success Pokémon Go had with casual players is going to frustate them, because this is not a mobile game and it's not a relatively cheap game made for a cheap console with a large playerbase like the 3ds.
I can see the possibility of Switch owners who used to be Pokémon fans get back into Pokémon through Let's GO. I guess that the most likely reason they will return is because of the region being set in Kanto, which can be used to appeal to their nostalgia. It just doesn't really have to only be kids who get into Pokémon through LGPE.
 
Top