Pokemon Corner

[Tai_MT]

Yeah.  That's Nintendo's problem. They're too afraid to take risks with their IP.  In their defense, Skyward Sword and Other M fellated, and they both took major risks for their series.

To be fair about Other M, it was a lot of fun.  The downside of that being the story was absolutely atrocious and annoying.  However, if you skip/ignore the story elements of "Other M" entirely, you'll find that the gameplay is pretty fun and combat seems fairly interesting.  At least, I enjoyed my time with the game, despite the storyline making me angry every chance it got.

Nintendo does take chances with their IPs, just not with their MAIN IP storylines.  They have no problem creating "spin off" games of their core franchises (like Mario, Pokémon, etcetera).  But, when it comes to an actual "AAA Release", no, they don't take chances what-so-ever.  Though, the interesting thing about Mario is that they've been messing around with that franchise forever.  2D platformer, 3D platformer, one hit kills, health bars, breath meters, RPGs, sports, party games, etcetera.  It's probably the only franchise they're willing to mess around with that much because it really is no more complicated as a franchise than "dragon stole princess, get princess back".  There's no big storyline or universe building.  There's no worries about continuity (you'll notice games continue to use monsters introduced in Super Mario 2, which took place in a DREAM) or anything like that.  They usually just change whatever they like, create a new game, and it'll sell.

Other IPs that Nintendo owns aren't so lucky though.  I really do wish the Zelda series would change up its gameplay mechanics a LITTLE BIT.  Or, maybe, even come up with lots more uses for the items they give us, so that we don't just use them in the dungeon we got them, and then never use 'em again except for novelty (iron boots from Twilight Princess, anyone?).

Also, you basically said exactly what I said when you said the console was less powerful than an Xbox or Playstation 2.  A late-era Playstation game is not a Playstation 2 game.  It's simply a game on the Playstation that was near the end of the lifecycle of that particular console.  Games got fairly good and graphically interesting before the release of the Playstation 2.  The 3DS seems able to produce graphics on par with that console.  They have also already proven that the console handles (and even updates!) N64 titles.  I originally bought the console to play my old N64 favorites in handheld form and discovered that these favorites were actually made a lot better on the 3DS than they had ever been on the N64.  Starfox and Ocarina of Time look absolutely gorgeous and the controls seem a lot more responsive in both games.  It also helps that some of the text and hints have been clarified for the rereleases of the games on that console.

I also have a really fun question...  Am I the only one who thinks Pokémon X and Y look almost EXACTLY like Pokémon Colleseum does on Gamecube?

 

[Eschaton]

I also have a really fun question...  Am I the only one who thinks Pokémon X and Y look almost EXACTLY like Pokémon Colleseum does on Gamecube?

This is a good thing.  This is what they should have done on Gen IV and V.  Are they fighting in actual environments or are they still standing on little circles?

 

[Tai_MT]

This is a good thing.  This is what they should have done on Gen IV and V.  Are they fighting in actual environments or are they still standing on little circles?

They fight in little circles, but there are environments AROUND them.  On top of which, if you have the correct moves, some of the environments can be interacted with to get berries or items.  The Battle in those games actually looks a lot like Stadium where the camera switches around and shows off the enemies or pans through the field of battle...  The sprites in battle are even rendered in 3D, which is interesting.

 

[Eschaton]

Do their models even make contact in a fight, or do their scratches and tail whips still only hit the air?  Does fire-breath emit from mouth and strike enemy, or is flame still merely manifested upon the opponent's graphic?

 

[Tai_MT]

It depends upon the attack.  Flame Charge does contact the enemy.  Tail Whips do not.  Sometimes it looks like Scratches hit the enemy.  It's very "hit and miss" on the attacks.  Beams and such do actually touch the sprites through, as well as other effects.  With physical attacks, it just depends upon the attack.

 

[orochii]

I wonder... what if there was no battle transition? Maybe this could be an issue of space on the map, but anyways. I say sort of like 7th Saga did on the worldmap. But of course, taking advantage from the Pokémon maps already being 3D.

An issue could be with loading, since battles takes some time to load from what I've seen on some videos (when the opponents are being covered by something at start of the battle, is that the game is loading).

What do you think about this?

Orochii Zouveleki

 

[Eschaton]

The issue would be in the development time and time spent debugging.

Game Freak knows their current model works.  Nintendo knows their current model works.  And if Game Freak can continue to churn out a generation a year, Nintendo will continue to make them.

They'll only consider changing when sales start slumping.

 

[NPC]

We're talking about Golden Sun? It's passed? Who cares, that series is fantastic (even if it took me way too long to find Djinn everywhere).

On another note...I have a Ralts farms so I can breed the perfect shiny Ralts to mega-volve for battle.

 

[Seacliff]

We're talking about Golden Sun? It's passed? Who cares, that series is fantastic (even if it took me way too long to find Djinn everywhere).

On another note...I have a Ralts farms so I can breed the perfect shiny Ralts to mega-volve for battle.

Speaking of farms, hatched about 15-16 (lost count) Fenniken eggs AND THEY ARE STILL ALL MALE

 

[Eschaton]

Speaking of farms, hatched about 15-16 (lost count) Fenniken eggs AND THEY ARE STILL ALL MALE

Still relying on that random number god?

 

[Seeaka]

RNGeezus always pulls through. Still working on my chaining so I can catch a shiny mega absol lol.

 

[Eschaton]

Ah Pokemon.  Always rewarding those who break it.

 

[NPC]

I really can't say I have a gender problem. All three of my starters are female. Two in-game and one trade.

 

[Solo]

The mega-evolutions look amazing, but I don't have a 3DS.

I would totally pick Fenniken based solely on looks (and its evolved forms look even more incredible; Fire/Psychic, that's my bag! ). It's funny, because I have literally picked alternately Grass/Water starters for the entire series (Bulbasaur/Totodile/Treecko/Piplup/Snivy), and never Fire. I don't even mind that Fenniken is just another fire fox (like Vulpix); it's so cute and chic that I don't even care.

Ahh...

 

[Tai_MT]

Pokémon X and Y marks the first time in the history of the games I've willingly chosen a water starter.  For X, I took the adorable Fire Fox, who is even MORE adorable in Pokémon Amie and just loves having its tummy rubbed   In Y, I took the water frog thing because it looks far more interesting than the silly grass type this time around.

Most every other game before now I've taken either the fire or the grass starter.  When the fire starter was a kickboxing chicken with a secondary type of "Fighting", I quit choosing fire starters.  Psychics are fairly heavily prominent in most of the games and even in the meta-game, so the secondary type of Fire was a HUGE liability to have.  Plus, the Grass starters started turning into like lizard creatures, and I do love me an interesting lizard or gecko.  Plus, who doesn't like having the "World Turtle" myth in their party?  Seriously, you're basically carrying around a God as a starter at that point.  I also loved the idea of a Grass Type snake with no Poison secondary type, so Snivy got snatched up.  In Gen 1 and Gen 2 I picked up Charmander and Cyndaquil in my original playthroughs, then later on used Bulbasaur and whatever the grass type is called in Gen II.

I have a history of hating what the water starters look like or what they are in general.

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

me I took grass on gen I because it makes the first three gyms really easy... cyndaquil on gen II because it's cute... mudkip on emerald, because it becomes water-ground type... on White I think I took the fire pokemon...

 

[Eschaton]

In Gen I, Bulbasaur was an ideal pick because it made Brock and Misty into its submissive partners.  But the water starter has the most utility, I think.  It can Surf, and use Surf to make Fire/Ground/Rock types into its submissive partner.  Otherwise, Charmander to Char-izzerd for overall badassness.  (I do not pronounce them "Blass-toys" or "Char-i-zahrd," I pronounce them "Blast-iz" and "Char-izzerd"  You don't pronounce tortoise "tor-toys," you pronounce it "tort-iz" and you do not pronounce lizard as "li-zahrd" you pronounce it as "lizzerd")

Gen II combines utility and badassness into Feraligator.  Also, effing Chomp.  Screw you, Psychic mons.

No, in Gen I and Gen II, you can't go wrong with choosing a water starter.

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

I liked bulbasaur better mainly because it makes the three first gyms a breeze... squirtle is useless against Lt.surge... though of course I already have ground types before that...


Charmander is harder to use, but totally bad-ass late game...


and I normally turn my starters to HM slaves, but not the fire ones... I had my feralichuchu learn cut, strength and surf... I picked him for my 2nd play, chose cynda first because it looks so cute...

 

[Eschaton]

Every starter is useless against at least one gym leader.  But their base stats and flexibility make starters really good no matter what type is chosen.  You're supposed to build a team that makes up for your starter's weakness.  In theory.

You could also turn your very first pokemon into a tool belt.  There's some serious love, right there. BD

 

[Tai_MT]

Every starter is useless against at least one gym leader.  But their base stats and flexibility make starters really good no matter what type is chosen.  You're supposed to build a team that makes up for your starter's weakness.  In theory.

You could also turn your very first pokemon into a tool belt.  There's some serious love, right there. BD

Or in the case of Feraligatr, a pair of really nice boots.