Media Videogame Thread

Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure Lots of irreverent humor

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jesus christ the upload limit for an image is literally only 1MB? fuck that
 
Anyone else playing Borderlands 3? Picked it up yesterday and it's been a blast thus far. Huge fan of the previous games though, its definitely not for everyone!
 
Has anyone played Spyro Reignited? Thinking of picking it up for Switch.

Speaking of the Switch, it’s been having a great year so far. Fire Emblem, Astral Chain, Mario Maker 2 and later on Little Town Heroes and Pokemon Sword and Shield. Last year was kind of a dud with really only Octopath and Smash Bros
 
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Has anyone played Spyro Reignited? Thinking of picking it up for Switch.

Speaking of the Switch, it’s been having a great year so far. Fire Emblem, Astral Chain, Mario Maker 2 and later on Little Town Heroes and Pokemon Sword and Shield. Last year was kind of a dud with really only Octopath and Astral Chain.
Smash bros? It’s best selling game?
 
Since I haven't opened this thread in a long while: I am playing Etrian Odyssey Nexus since my trip to AX back in July (right after finishing Gurumin), but I suck at actually playing my games and am going through it super slowly. Only non-mons game I have on my 3DS though, hooray.

Seems to be pretty much as expected of the Etrian series, though it's my first. Class balance seems kinda whack since apparently the classes were largely chosen by fan vote and Atlus didn't do much counterbalancing against that, but it's still exactly the type of hard-earned dungeon-crawling RPG fun I expected.
 
Beat Super Kirby Clash the other day with about 30 hours clocked in, level 57. At best it's fun, new, and moving quickly, and at worst it involves a lot of waiting. I didn't play the 3DS one so mostly it was all new to me. The stamina system is pretty forgiving for most of the game because you get refills by leveling and EXP is abundant (especially with Online). However I feel that you can only invest in Time Mage if you want to actually play the game. You always have to buy better gear at some point to break the damage wall, but Time Mage can be more flexible about its purchases thanks to timestop stuffing in thousands of damage in an instant. I went through only buying the 3/4/10/4DX/10DX/10SDX upgrades. Sword Lord and Doctor Medic are good too if you can spare the investment, but Hammer Kirby is such a lug it needs the support of every other class to function.

Time Mage is the simplest character since it has 2 moves. You charge up your time sphere and hit the enemy a lot to stop time, then you jump and shoot mini beams at them. The move has diminishing returns, but that just means it's better to have more Time Mages on a team. Sword Lord has fun attacks where you can pogo jump. Usually better for DPS than his charge attack because that has no invincibility and most enemies don't hit upward or teleport. Doctor is surprisingly good since he can heal and shoot 3 long range projectiles. Unfortunately they got rid of the good move in the 3DS game where he throws 10 pills around. I don't like hammer but his super does a ton of damage, I think it hits for like 100k at max level. In general, the combat is similar to the main games but there are some moves like the slide and the air puff that just seem out of place. Bosses don't take damage from them and I don't know if you can break bubbles with them. Sometimes bosses launch things at you that you could normally inhale, but here they're just destructible. Adds more variation?

The combat gets old around the first or second final boss battle, since you've seen everything and still have to slog through slightly different rematches. At least it hammers the attack patterns in your memory. Not getting hit is important, and at some point you die in a couple hits even with the best gear. Apparently you can cap your stats at level 100, but before that: Levels/stats barely matter and you've got nothing without gear. For the most part though, you're safe if you stand in a corner and move if needed. Doctor and Sword can ease through with invincibility frames + huge hitboxes / big shield and mobility, and there's a universal shield/roll like Smash. Hammer has some invincible attacks though you usually end up inside a hitbox by the time you can act, if you can even act. Sometimes you can be stuck lagging the whole match. There is no "leave the party" button or network indicator beforehand, and if you close the game mid battle you get a time-out. If a teammate quits or lags out, you're kicked out with the lost stamina and no reward. Not a big deal in hindsight since it's a free game (with paid online) but they could give you an AI or something.

A lot of the shop items are worthless and a "waste" of apples. Codexes amount to minor stat boosts relative to cost, fragments are easy to gain, the return on +Apple RNG does not pay for itself, and stamina regen isn't worth it if you take it slow/grind levels. Spending 2 apples to recharge every time probably uses less than the ~400 spent on a few regen levels. Attack and Stamina potions are probably potent powerups but I never felt the need for them, probably best used against the final final boss and hope you don't lag out/deal with AI. In the end you always want to have apples stored up, so you can spend them to unlock more missions and unlock more gear tiers and so on, more walls to grind for if you don't see it coming.

It would be nice if the game got content updates like new classes or bosses, but I heavily doubt it'll happen. On the other hand, there are a lot of payers showing support for the game and Tetris 99 did get a big update. As it stands now, it's fun until the ride hits the brakes and I don't think I'll keep coming back just to get my daily apple core. I guess that's the "free-to-start" game experience.

EDIT: For some positives: The music is pretty good, just about everything is a remix. I think Whispy Woods is my favourite boss in this one because he feels like a real boss fight.
 
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Wow, people actually analyze the shortcomings of their games. I feel like such a failure now :bloblul:

I just finished Three Houses, first Fire Emblem I played that's not on old-school consoles and it was good. Not great, but enough to make me consider buying an expansion. I cannot provide the ins and outs like the fantastic person above, but I do recommend it! Especially if you like strategy and fantasy settings (you may consider grabbing it here for an affordable price since Nintendo hates to make official sales and discounts! :pikuh: )
 
Wow, people actually analyze the shortcomings of their games. I feel like such a failure now :bloblul:

I just finished Three Houses, first Fire Emblem I played that's not on old-school consoles and it was good. Not great, but enough to make me consider buying an expansion. I cannot provide the ins and outs like the fantastic person above, but I do recommend it! Especially if you like strategy and fantasy settings (you may consider grabbing it here for an affordable price since Nintendo hates to make official sales and discounts! :pikuh: )

Do you get paid to advertise that site? Is it a per click basis or do people have to actually purchase through the link?
 
Last Christmas I got a Switch and a few games. Library hasn't grown much since then, but here's what I do have:

Super Mario Odyssey: I don't have much to add that probably hasn't been said by others: It's a beautiful, entertaining 3d platformer that totally lives up to the hype. You can easily waste hours on this game.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: It's Mario Kart, of course it's a good kart racer. A bit lacking on single player content, but that's about the only major flaw. Also it's the most beautiful game I've ever played, even Odyssey can't beat it out.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: It's Smash ultimate.

Team Sonic Racing: Another great kart racer with good visuals and gameplay. It was a close call between getting this and CTR Nitro-Fueled and this won out due to Activision's wonky post-launch handling of the latter (DRM to get alt costumes? lolno). Story mode isn't gonna win an Oscar, but it's good singleplayer fun. Team mechanics are also very cool.

And finally...

Lego City Undercover: No, seriously. It's honestly a very charming game, with the main draw (at least for me) being the ability to drive like a crazy person around the overworld while finding secrets with your costumes. #ChaseMcCainForSmash

Mario Odyssey and Lego City are tied for my favs thus far with TSR not far behind. Probably will get Pokemon Shield when it comes out, with Dragon Quest 11 and some other stuff I'm forgetting rn being possibilities
 
Has anyone played Spyro Reignited? Thinking of picking it up for Switch.

Speaking of the Switch, it’s been having a great year so far. Fire Emblem, Astral Chain, Mario Maker 2 and later on Little Town Heroes and Pokemon Sword and Shield. Last year was kind of a dud with really only Octopath and Smash Bros
Spyro is gr8 for a nostalgia blast and looks beautiful, definitely worth it for that or a standard casual platforming experience, but it's buggy as hell, especially the 2nd and 3rd one (the penguin and the skateboard missions in the 3rd almost caused me to stop playing it was that bad). This was on the physical copy and apparently some fixes were made to the digital but idk for sure.
 
I love lot of game: (not a ranking)

1- Pokemon Diamond: This I My first game of Pokemon, good scenario, lot of action, very good game, this video game change my life :).

2- Pokemon Black 2 / White 2: I love this game too, the same as Pokemon DPP, lot of action, very good scenario, but you can catch lot of legendary.

3- Grand Theft Auto 5 (GTA V): I love this video game because the concept of choose three playables characters and the concept of customize our car, this remember Fast and Furious (<3).

4- Minecraft: This is the best video game of building, we can play with another player, we can build why we want. Minecraft remember LEGO (<3)

5- Super Mario Maker 2: I didn’t play to SMM1 because I don’t have Wii U but when I see a lot of youtuber play to SMM1, I felt that SMM1 was a good video game.

6- Call Of Duty MW2 / BO2: Best videos games with lot of gun, don’t need explain more.

7- FIFA 16 / 17 /18: I love football (soccer) so I can’t don’t like FIFA.

8- Animal Crossing New Leaf: Don’t need explain, one of the best video game. :)

9- Super Smash Bros Ultimate: G.O.A.T

10- And Finally: Pokemon Sword: Could be a great video game..
 
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Plug for Valkyria Chronicles 4. I only started playing this a few weeks ago or it would have EASILY made my top games of 2018 list. If you consider yourself a fan of tactics games or JRPG writing, you need to check this out, because it stands near the top of both. Even if you're not, I think it's accessible enough to newcomers and a high enough quality title that you'd still enjoy it.

Unlike all the other 200 hour timesinks that occupy the JRPG genre it manages a similar level of emotional investment in a "mere" 40 hour campaign. Not gonna lie, it was a bit shlocky and I wasn't sure if I cared at first, but I still really teared up at a point or two. I don't really want to go too in-depth on the story but it's definitely sufficient and among the better JRPG stories I've experienced.

As a tactics game it's packed with 29 story maps, all of which are excellent and engaging. I really can't think of one I disliked playing. There are also 40 optional battles which reuse the main maps but with different objectives, player and enemy placements, etc. so that they don't feel like a re-tread. There are two super interesting gameplay mechanics which differentiate it from a standard tactics game, and make this a unique must-play title.
  • First is that the game doesn't give each player unit one action per turn. Instead, you're given a limited number of actions and can spend them as you see fit, giving some units multiple turns and others none depending on who's in a good spot. Your unit's movement is cut in subsequent actions on the same turn—to encourage you to use your full squad—but they still have a full attack. You also have various other options which consume actions without moving a unit, such as boosting a unit's defense for the remainder of the turn (some of these are pretty broken though). I think this was a great idea and would love to see more games implement it. It took me a while to wrap my head around this system but it really opens up so many more options.
  • Second is that rather than being grid-based, the game combines a standard tactical map view with real-time combat. When you select a unit to move, it enters a 3D perspective where you run and shoot similar to a standard third person shooter. Instead of a traditional grid move stat, running consumes a movement meter. Enemies engage in interception fire if you cross their range and line of sight, so you're mostly encouraged to eliminate enemies from front to back—but of course that's not always the best strategy either. I'm more torn on this one (sometimes it feels like a simple obfuscation that makes grid movement take longer), but it does make it feel like a much more immersive "war experience." I don't necessarily care if more games adopt this idea, but it's definitely something worth experiencing, and I hope there are more Valkyria Chronicles games in the future so I can keep playing at least one series that uses this.
There's a lot more to love about VC4 but I hope this whet your appetite enough to give it a try.
 
Are you still able to super commando a scout through maps by spending all your actions on orders and multiple turns? Cause that shit was silly af but in a good way.
To a limited extent, yeah. I haven't played VC1 yet (buying it on eShop as we speak!) so I'm a bit uninformed, but it's no longer the dominant strategy. There's no longer an order to Refresh AP. Fewer maps are Seize Camp. Every unit except Scouts got their movement buffed. You get an armored car for troop movements. Once per turn, you can use a "command" action which lets you tag two units along with the moving one (and you don't have any scouts with this ability for the first half of the game). They definitely put a lot of thought into rebalancing classes and it paid off.

There are definitely still a handful maps I solved with scout rush (maybe 1/4 to 1/3?)... but not the majority. And most of the scout rushes I did were only on the final turn of a multi-turn map. They felt like a balanced unit instead of the only good class, and getting to scout rush a map felt like "finally, a nice break where all my planning has paid off" rather than "this shit again?"
 
To a limited extent, yeah. I haven't played VC1 yet (buying it on eShop as we speak!) so I'm a bit uninformed, but it's no longer the dominant strategy. There's no longer an order to Refresh AP. Fewer maps are Seize Camp. Every unit except Scouts got their movement buffed. You get an armored car for troop movements. Once per turn, you can use a "command" action which lets you tag two units along with the moving one (and you don't have any scouts with this ability for the first half of the game). They definitely put a lot of thought into rebalancing classes and it paid off.

There are definitely still a handful maps I solved with scout rush (maybe 1/4 to 1/3?)... but not the majority. And most of the scout rushes I did were only on the final turn of a multi-turn map. They felt like a balanced unit instead of the only good class, and getting to scout rush a map felt like "finally, a nice break where all my planning has paid off" rather than "this shit again?"
Scout class wasn't unbalanced as far as most of the game goes, it's just that if you can scout rush any stage, you can grind exp and money absurdly fast. But it takes an almost speedrun level of routing, so pulling them off is pretty cool.

If you're right about VC4 having a good story, try not to get your hopes up for 1 in that regard.
 
the tale of bug boy and bread girl (plus selvaria's tits) is commendable in its own way.

AI: the somnium files was better than I expected for Uchikoshi's first project after zero escape. At this point most people who would care know whether they like these games and what to expect so in brief: the story and characters were satisfactory, but the puzzle gameplay leaned too hard on 'zany dream logic' and was little more than trial and error in sections. Would still recommend, though note that it's an unoptimized unity game that ran surprisingly poorly on the switch.

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the tale of bug boy and bread girl (plus selvaria's tits) is commendable in its own way.

AI: the somnium files was better than I expected for Uchikoshi's first project after zero escape. At this point most people who would care know whether they like these games and what to expect so in brief: the story and characters were satisfactory, but the puzzle gameplay leaned too hard on 'zany dream logic' and was little more than trial and error in sections. Would still recommend, though note that it's an unoptimized unity game that ran surprisingly poorly on the switch.

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I mean it wasn’t really his first project after ZE... Punch Line technically had a game released right around the same time as the end to ZE: ZTD and was released just last year in EU and NA so it’s not the only thing but yeah enjoyed the game myself aside from the absolutely horrendous frame rate drops on the Switch. Whoever was in charge of optimization definitely rushed it and didn’t attempt to make sure it got proper QC.
 
I was ar EGX today. I didn’t get to play as much as I’d hoped to, but honestly I walked around and not a huge amount caught my eye. That and it was mostly queues for the interesting+demo-friendly games (my friend queued for 3 hours to play Doom Eternal and I had to try three times before I was even able to join the queue for Pokémon bc they had to keep limiting the queue length for health and safety reasons). Posting my thoughts below on my phone so sry for any typos in advance.

Granblue Fantasy Versus was definitely the highlight of the day for me; it plays sorta like a fusion of Street Fighter+an ArcSys anime fighter and the characters in the demo were all fun with possibly one exception, although in his case it was more a matter of him just being sorta crap rather than him not being fun. Made a little lier list of demo characters below that I’m sure no-one will care about. One big thing I approve of is the general lack of really high execution moves—the most complex input I found in my time spent violently mashing buttons was the supers, which are pretty much just a death fist type input, but there was actually an alternative input for people like me who can’t do a double quarter circle forward consistently that doesn’t involve sacrificing button mapping like it does for Tekken/SC’s supers, which is a massive help for both lowering the entry barrier and helping confirm into them. My only real major complaint other than Gran being SHIT is that the weapons aren’t disjoints, but honestly that’s more just something I’d need to get used to bc I’m coming from Soul Calibur as my primary weapons fighter instead of an ArcSys anime fighter lol. I strongly recommend getting it when it either comes out or enters open beta.
Ordered alphabetically within tiers

Top: Charlotta, Ferry
High: Lancelot, Percival
Mid: Katalina
Low: Gran

Like I said in my Firebot gamer thread, Ring Fit was legitimately a very good game. It’s shockingly good exercise and the games, while all simple, felt rewarding and left me feeling like I had actually done a workout. There was one game for example in which you held the Ring Con above your head with your arms out-stretched which stretches a fairly hard-to-stretch part of your underarm area. All in all very happy with it; considering purchasing if only to motivate me to do basic exercise at least.

Pokémon was really good and all the confirmation bias-fuelled haters need to STFU.

Mario and Sonic at Tokyo 2020 is really horrifically awful. The controls for just about every game in the demo are nonsensical, and aside from the karate, which itself is a pretty novel take on the fighting game genre (albeit very simplified+probably fairly shallow), none of them were really remotely satisfying to play.

And... that’s about it for games I had time to play. Anyway ppl plz get Granblue when it launches lol I’m gonna need people to play with.
 
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition came out two days ago; it's available on Steam for $20, or $15 if you already own Age of Empires II HD on the platform. It's essentially the same game, but with a few new civilizations added and MUCH better graphics. Unit control is far easier, there's multiple UI changes, and it legitimately feels like a new game as opposed to HD imo which was more of a slight graphics upgrade.

I'd highly recommend checking out the game if you're interested at all in RTS games like civ or are a long-time AoE fan like myself; it definitely looks like this is going to be the standard for the game, and the community seems like it's in a great place right now.

If you wanted to see what the game looks like in action, you could check out videos uploaded by T90Official (a streamer) and TheViper (the best player in the game).

I had created an age of empires discord a while ago, which was mostly dead, but I might revive it if there seems to be any interest in it. Feel free to PM me if you'd like to be added to it!
 
Spoilers for Sword and Shield

Hey so I just finished my playthrough of Pokemon Shield and wanted to post my thoughts while playing through it. First I'll start by addressing controversies of the game and what my thoughts were on the release. Next I'll cycle through some of the pros I thought of while playing the games. Lastly I'll go through the cons, or if there weren't many cons things that I think could have been done differently.

Dexit

Dexit was by far the best decision Gamefreak could have made to address the problem of a potentially limitless Pokedex + movepool. This is a problem that has been in the casual spotlight for a long time now. I definitely remember people addressing Pokemon Black and White, saying that a brand new Pokedex just allows for a vast amount of Pokemon, with each generation that number gets bigger and bigger. Including formes there are over 1000 different Pokemon! That's insane! I think cutting the dex in around half allows them to keep the hits (Lucario, Tyranitar) away from the duds (Bruxish, Lumineon). It makes it so catching every single Pokemon is a genuine accomplishment now, as people can't just port over their living dex collections anymore. It's a decision that allows Gamefreak to more carefully craft a metagame for VGC (or their eye on singles play that they clearly pay attention to). It allows Gamefreak to be more creative with forms, as they have done so with Purrserker or Cursola, while not outright destroying the identity of the already existing Pokemon. I definitely think this was a plus. Because of the shortened amount of Pokemon I feel much more confident in being able to complete the challenge of "collecting them all." I'm no longer overwhelmed with a challenge that is nigh insurmountable now that I'm an adult, I can actually catch 20-30 Pokemon every couple days and complete the Pokedex in a couple months.

Graphics

If you go on r/pokemon right now you will end up seeing a vast amount of users complaining about the poor graphics of the series. I don't really quite see what they're getting at, personally. Graphics are easily better than any prior Pokemon game; 3d models are actually interesting now and not just always flying / hovering (like in XY). The only area that's kinda bland is the Wild Area in all honesty, and that area is constantly changing with new pokemon and weather conditions. Attacks are phenomenal, there are lots of cools one's like most Dragon-type moves, Beams, or Hydro Pumps. The special attacks of the cover legends are awesome, especially the sword attack one where he doesn't look at the explosion. Max moves are always satisfying but not over used so you still get that thrill of using them (like Max Knuckle, or Max Quake). I encountered exactly zero performance issues. The closest thing was occasional right joycon lag when pressing the A button, and frankly I'm not sure if that is the fault of the game or the fault of the joycon as it did similar stuff in my Mario playthrough and I've seen it happen in other Joycons. Overall satisfied with how the game looks. It looks polished, the textures are fantastic, and the new Pokemon designs are some of the best IMO since the early game boy advance games.

Simplicity

I decided to broach the topic of how simple the games are perceived to be. One of my biggest disappointments in the previous games on the 3ds were that those games were just baby games. The leveling was very bad to where often you'd end up with Pokemon 10-15 levels ahead of all trainers you fight, so the games were a breeze to play through. Even in this game upon release I heard of the game being a disappointment as people were beating the game in under 10 hours or something. I think that's a load of horseshit honestly. I beat the game with 136 Pokemon at 32:50 for my time of playing, from start to credits rolling. I think that is a sizable amount of time just for the base game. While the game was relatively easy, I never had got whiped and rarely had to use a revive, I do think it is difficult, albeit in a different sense. Yes, you can heal your Pokemon in the Wild Area by eating curry, yes you can change your mons on the fly with Rotom, and yes there are a great many autoheals in the story, but frankly none of that bothered me. Though the game's story makes the theme of the games all about battling, the gameplay leads me to believe that all these decisions were made with the idea of catching new Pokemon in mind. You can heal on the spot with Curry because honestly catching everything in the wild area is tough! I routinely had to heal my Pokemon despite being 20-30 levels over the Pokemon I was fighting, because of weather and random moves and general fatigue. You earn exp from catching Pokemon rewarding you for completing your Pokedex, while simultaneously being able to train lower leveled Pokemon to evolve them. To me these design choices were great as they allow you to rotate your team in and out. EXP share meant that even mons I had just put in my party were able to immediately go and rumble. I think not giving the choice to the player to turn off the EXP share is a good one; whenever given that choice I typically turn it off until I need it, then turn it back on. It's like training wheels at that point, whereas forced EXP share changes the mechanics of the game. It only works with the well crafted level curve of the game, however. To sum, I think if you're buying a Pokemon game with the intent to have a challenging time then you are simply purchasing the wrong game. If, however, you are looking for something relaxing and cute you can whittle hours away with, then it might just be perfect.

Things I liked

I absolutely loved so many of the new Pokemon designs. I think this generation blew it out of the park with designs, and it really has been the first game in a long while to wow me with cool new Pokemon. Some favorites I used were Appletun, Coalossal, Eternatus, Mr Mime, Weezing, Falinks, Cufant, Toxel, Alcremie. I'm sure other people became attached to other ones. I think that the Wild Area is a really cool concept. I love how they still included random encounters but also overworld encounters, and made it so you could avoid the encounters if you really wanted to. The design choice of roaming Pokemon allows the player to see what they could potentially encounter without necessarily forcing it like in previous games is awesome. I think a lot of the cities were really cool, especially how big Wyndon was or how Balloonlea looked. Moreover the game was wholesome and positive. There was no evil villain, the villain team wasn't some crime syndicate, the whole plot was simply the essence of Pokemon: Catch Pokemon, beat these Gym leaders, become Champion.

Cinematically I think the game was glorious as well. The fight with Eternatus, while short and not as prepped as it could have been, was design wise really cool to watch. The game really hypes up the Dynamax moments, and I'm glad that the player can only use the mechanic at certain points of the game. There was nothing more exciting to me than to hear the soundtrack go off when the Grass dude wanted to Dynamax his Eldegoss.

Things I disliked

There were very few things I disliked in the game. There were things I think could have been done differently, or things that I felt could have been implemented, but nothing I genuinely abhorred. Some things I think that should have been different are the performance of the game. While it is indeed stellar 99% of the time, the reason it is so good is because it clearly was meant to be a 3ds game. The Pokemon in the Wild Area don't pop up unless you are basically right next to them. It would have been much better to at least give some distance between rendering the Pokemon so as to make the Wild Area not feel so tamed. I think that in general the Wild Area is a great concept, but just like in Breath of the Wild there needs to be something more to make the player want to stay and explore it. More items found in the Wild Area, more unique landscapes to look at or puzzles to do, maybe there are trainers in the Wild Area that are strong and are looking to hyperbolic time chamber. Additionally, at times I felt like there could have been more to do or explore in cities as well. The plot of the game, especialyl when you have to cross the second Wild Area, feels a little rushed, as you zoom from city to city doing the gym challenges. I like the way the routes take you as you end up back at that central hub of Hammerlocke, but at the same time it feels like you're exploring much less as the routes are streamlined in a sense. There are the occasional twist and turn but there's no 'secret' areas like say in GSC, or Emerald. There are also no dungeons to speak of which I was disappointed about as well. Trainer customization could have been improved as well. Having stores offer different selections of hair styles and a wider variety of clothes to suit the Sim player in us. Lastly I think that the game could have easily done the overworld sprites of your lead Pokemon. It's frustrating to see Leon walk with his Charizard, or your rival with his Starter, and yet you cannot do the same with your Pokemon. This is especially frustrating because half of the Pokemon you collect will have an overworld sprite anyway due to the Wild Area. I would have loved to have my Appletun following me everywhere, I would have felt like a truly powerful trainer.

Overall: 8.5/10

This might just be one of my favorite Pokemon games, I'll have to replay it and see. This game's biggest issue and strength was the Wild Area. It was an issue because the concept is one that is not fully fleshed out. It could use a bigger rendering distance for overworld Pokemon, so you can scout and know what's what. It could also have used just more "stuff" in it, from dungeons to items to puzzles to trainers to fight. It also loses some points for being a 3ds esque port, if not in coding then in at least spirit. For a Switch console game, it could use some improvements. Mario and BOTW had huge steps forward for the series even if BOTW wasn't as good as the previous games (IMO). For a Pokemon game it is head and shoulders above the rest and is the spiritual successor to the Colosseum / XD games. I think most of the grumbling / boycott of the game comes from either disgruntled fans who wanted to use a Mon that isn't in the game or are people who had much higher expectations than I did, thinking this was going to be like BOTW but Pokemon.

As someone who stated they would never buy another Pokemon game after purchasing Sun, this is a breath of fresh air. I am once again excited to play Pokemon. I no longer feel like completing my Pokedex is an impossible task or one that is trivialized by GTS or porting your living dex. I am truly excited to see where Gamefreak takes the Dexit decision and how future games will unfold. For all the drama concerning the game it very clearly exceeded my expectations.
 
After finishing SS a few days ago and pondering my next team, I found myself actually not eager to jump back into the game. SS has really settled on me the past few days.

I have undoubtably enjoyed my time in the game. It was worth $60. I'm glad I played it. I would rate it as one of my top three favorite Pokemon games, and I am extremely unhappy with the fact that I rate it so high. Not because I don't like this game, but because it made me realize that Pokemon has yet to EVER have a truly "excellent" game. Pokemon is judged on its own standard, not by gaming as a whole. Part of me wants to think "oh, by the next game this will get polished up" when that has literally NEVER happened in the history of game freak. Every single game is built basically from scratch; it's completely random chance whether or not certain features will be in the game.

SS has given us SO much. To name a few massive improvements...
  • We have the wild area, which has been (with the exception of graphics) universally praised
  • We have, for the first time in two generations, an INCREASE in the number of new Pokemon in the game. (not counting mega evolutions or ultra beasts). Factor in that Sinnoh is mostly legendaries + evolutions, and Johto is similar, Galar has one of the most expansive new dexes in Pokemon's lifetime.
  • We have always-on exp share promoting the use of a variety of Pokemon
  • We have 100% access to our box, promoting a variety of Pokemon to be used
  • We have easy access to level-up items and EV training items
  • We have a properly scaling wild Pokemon and trainer level curve
  • We have move reminders at EVERY pokemon center, available from the beginning
  • We have 200 TMs/TRs (mixed bag but I am a large fan of it)
  • We have the biggest variety of available wild Pokemon, naturally before credit roll, of any game in Pokemon history
  • We have the ability to fly almost anywhere of note on the map
  • We have raids!
  • And I'm sure there's stuff I missed!


...now, we got ALL OF THIS with the removal/absence of....
  • Vs seeker
  • An elite four
  • Battle frontier
  • ...like, literally any post-game routes or quests, lol
  • No legendary trio
  • The continuation of horrible frame cuts during battle
  • Massive frame drops while biking during weather
  • No contest/performance/pokethalon/whatever
  • No safari zone
  • No following pokemon
  • No villainous team dungeon
  • ...No dungeons at all, really
  • No underground/dream world/island thing in sun
  • NO FRIEND TRADING
  • No GTS
  • ...and no ability to transfer old Pokemon into the game


Even looking back at my favorite games (HGSS and Diamond), massively glaring flaws exist. How did I play pokemon without 200+ pokemon to catch on route 2? How did I enjoy the game without unlimited heart scales? How did I delude myself that wild pokemon were any fun to fight in Johto when I'm 30 levels above them? SS's pacing and overall polish are horrid. Just using friend trading as an example, this has been a staple of Pokemon for 12 years. How could trading Pokemon with your friends be allowed to not be properly programmed? The game is obviously rushed, maybe there's a bigger story behind that but it's not even THAT more egregious than other entries in the series. Ever since 2003, the games have always taken steps forward with steps back, sometimes advancing overall and sometimes regressing. It's simply astounding that a framerate of 15-20 is just accepted occuring in every pre-battle splash screen with two trainers on screen at once, because we're playing Pokemon. What's the solution? IDK man. Can't wait to skip the third game because this is the first entry on the console and we skip to gen 9, where raids are deemed a gen 8 gimmick, we have 50 new pokemon designs, a villain team returns with a "destroy the world plot", and the entire wild area returns but as the entirety of the postgame. It's like getting content from a dartboard.

When people ask me if they should get SS, I tell them yes, because it's actually fun. It's the most fun Pokemon game yet due to the wild area alone. Does that mean that the games we have all poured probably tens of thousands of hours into, on consoles and this forum, was NOT FUN?
 
After finishing SS a few days ago and pondering my next team, I found myself actually not eager to jump back into the game. SS has really settled on me the past few days.

I have undoubtably enjoyed my time in the game. It was worth $60. I'm glad I played it. I would rate it as one of my top three favorite Pokemon games, and I am extremely unhappy with the fact that I rate it so high. Not because I don't like this game, but because it made me realize that Pokemon has yet to EVER have a truly "excellent" game. Pokemon is judged on its own standard, not by gaming as a whole. Part of me wants to think "oh, by the next game this will get polished up" when that has literally NEVER happened in the history of game freak. Every single game is built basically from scratch; it's completely random chance whether or not certain features will be in the game.

SS has given us SO much. To name a few massive improvements...
  • We have the wild area, which has been (with the exception of graphics) universally praised
  • We have, for the first time in two generations, an INCREASE in the number of new Pokemon in the game. (not counting mega evolutions or ultra beasts). Factor in that Sinnoh is mostly legendaries + evolutions, and Johto is similar, Galar has one of the most expansive new dexes in Pokemon's lifetime.
  • We have always-on exp share promoting the use of a variety of Pokemon
  • We have 100% access to our box, promoting a variety of Pokemon to be used
  • We have easy access to level-up items and EV training items
  • We have a properly scaling wild Pokemon and trainer level curve
  • We have move reminders at EVERY pokemon center, available from the beginning
  • We have 200 TMs/TRs (mixed bag but I am a large fan of it)
  • We have the biggest variety of available wild Pokemon, naturally before credit roll, of any game in Pokemon history
  • We have the ability to fly almost anywhere of note on the map
  • We have raids!
  • And I'm sure there's stuff I missed!


...now, we got ALL OF THIS with the removal/absence of....
  • Vs seeker
  • An elite four
  • Battle frontier
  • ...like, literally any post-game routes or quests, lol
  • No legendary trio
  • The continuation of horrible frame cuts during battle
  • Massive frame drops while biking during weather
  • No contest/performance/pokethalon/whatever
  • No safari zone
  • No following pokemon
  • No villainous team dungeon
  • ...No dungeons at all, really
  • No underground/dream world/island thing in sun
  • NO FRIEND TRADING
  • No GTS
  • ...and no ability to transfer old Pokemon into the game


Even looking back at my favorite games (HGSS and Diamond), massively glaring flaws exist. How did I play pokemon without 200+ pokemon to catch on route 2? How did I enjoy the game without unlimited heart scales? How did I delude myself that wild pokemon were any fun to fight in Johto when I'm 30 levels above them? SS's pacing and overall polish are horrid. Just using friend trading as an example, this has been a staple of Pokemon for 12 years. How could trading Pokemon with your friends be allowed to not be properly programmed? The game is obviously rushed, maybe there's a bigger story behind that but it's not even THAT more egregious than other entries in the series. Ever since 2003, the games have always taken steps forward with steps back, sometimes advancing overall and sometimes regressing. It's simply astounding that a framerate of 15-20 is just accepted occuring in every pre-battle splash screen with two trainers on screen at once, because we're playing Pokemon. What's the solution? IDK man. Can't wait to skip the third game because this is the first entry on the console and we skip to gen 9, where raids are deemed a gen 8 gimmick, we have 50 new pokemon designs, a villain team returns with a "destroy the world plot", and the entire wild area returns but as the entirety of the postgame. It's like getting content from a dartboard.

When people ask me if they should get SS, I tell them yes, because it's actually fun. It's the most fun Pokemon game yet due to the wild area alone. Does that mean that the games we have all poured probably tens of thousands of hours into, on consoles and this forum, was NOT FUN?

I've been thinking a lot about this too. I also found the wild area to be pretty fun, despite the fact that there isnt *really* much do in it. It's essentially, in many ways, just a souped up version of the typical route format, and honestly, the entire game should've been wild areas instead of routes. More to the point, I think the Wild Area is engaging because it finally allows us to do something that Game Freak has never really promoted in any past game. It amazes me that, when looking back, some areas in older games feel so empty, in terms of the wild Pokemon available. Some big routes with interesting layouts or styles are only stuck with 2 or 3 Pokemon to capture. And it begs the question: why? Why has Game Freak been so stingy in what Pokemon they allow in the main game? I mean, all the Pokemon are already coded in with movepool data and sprites and whatnot... So WHY NOT let us use them? It can't be for balance. To promote using the new ones? It just seems so odd.

But the Wild Area is different. The amount of Pokemon available to capture there at that point in the game is completely unprecedented. On top of that, it gives you access to some TMs and TRs that GF wouldn't normally give you until postgame. In short, the Wild Area allows you to really dig deep into the customization of your team's configuration. And that is a bit more reminiscent of, well, actual RPGs, and I have a feeling that is where most people's love for these games lies. In the actual nitty-gritty process of building their perfect team.

Otherwise I have to agree with you. The game is paced very poorly and the story feels very rushed. Like, there's a whole part where (spoilers) Pokemon start dynamaxing out of control, but we never see it. Why isn't there a cutscene or something to show us what's happening instead of Leon just telling us? A lot of the towns feel empty, too, like Balloonlea, Spikemuth and Wyndon. With more polish (and more postgame) this could definitely be a top Pokemon game, but it falls into all the traps that these games have been falling into for decades now. There is so much potential for Game Freak to experiment with the formula, with the gym league tournament and 4 v. 1 battles, but I feel like they're trying way too hard to fit it all into the "Pokemon structure," As if they are forced to rehash the same tropes and structure every new gen.
 
My biggest problem with Wild Area is the horrendous framerate drops that happen, especially when online. Granted I know the Switch isn't the most powerful thing in the world, and I don't know how you could even fix an issue like that. I like Wild Area as a general concept, in fact I love the idea of overworld pokemon if only so you know what you're getting yourself into before fighting, though the technical issues with it whether it be the pop-in or sluggishness just leaves me disappointed.

Other than that, I guess the leveling was a bit weird. I'm so used to a more...I don't know, grindy sort of Pokemon game and I think just getting exp share right off the bat is great. Though I ended up outleveling everything for the first three gyms before things calmed down. It was uneven for me.
 
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