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Pokémon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl & Legends: Arceus


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1 hour ago, Blue Blood said:

D/P/Pt is my favourite Pokémon game. Sinnoh is a fantastic region to explore, with lengthy routes, plenty of optional areas to explore and fun dungeons. What's more is that the region is expertly laid out; your path through the region will regularly double back on itself, open up shortcuts or give you clues as to places you might want to return to later. It's like a well designed Metroidvania. Unlike Gen V and Unova which seems to be the internet's darling right now, Sinnoh isn't just a linear ring with a few dead-end paths. And unlike both Alola and Galar, there's actually shit to do. Sinnoh isn't a guided tour. If you missed out on Gen IV originally, I can't stress enough that you need to give this a go.

The only thing that really drags Sinnoh down is the gross overuse of HMs. There's something like 8 of them, so you'll be dedicating as many as two slots in your party to HM slaves. I'm legitimately wondering if they've changed that now, considering how S/M, Let's Go and Sw/Sh all found alternatives to HMs. BDSP look like the most by-numbers remakes that the series has ever seen, sadly. But if they fix the HM issue, they'll be a shoe-in for the definitive traditional Pokémon experience in my books.

 

Honestly, the way you describe it makes me feel silly for skipping out on it altogether. It sounds like I'll have a pretty good time.

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38 minutes ago, Indigo Rush said:

Honestly, the way you describe it makes me feel silly for skipping out on it altogether. It sounds like I'll have a pretty good time.

Don't take my word for it. I'm incredibly biased towards Gen IV. I'd like to hear what other people say about it, particularly those that aren't so keen. HM overuse was always annoying, but not a deal breaker. And the only other problem that I can really think of was this:

But obviously that is the literal worst case scenario. I never found the games to be too slow to the point that it bothered me, and it certainly won't be an issue in BDSP because it's an entirely different system.

Still wish that BDSP wasn't a tile-by-tile remake though. And the artstyle is so gag-worthy.

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Gen 4 is hardly my first gen, but its the one when I really delved into the gameplay mechanics. There's a lot to love about.

But it was definitely one of the more divisive Generations at the time due to various changes and gameplay balance. Gen IV wasn't really appreciated until later with the Gen II remakes and Platinum.

 

I cannot stress how much of an improvement Platinum is, its easily the best enhanced version by virtue of how much it fixes DP's problems to the point where its generally considered the best game by today's generation.

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28 minutes ago, Kuzu said:

Gen 4 is hardly my first gen, but its the one when I really delved into the gameplay mechanics. There's a lot to love about.

But it was definitely one of the more divisive Generations at the time due to various changes and gameplay balance. Gen IV wasn't really appreciated until later with the Gen II remakes and Platinum.

I cannot stress how much of an improvement Platinum is, its easily the best enhanced version by virtue of how much it fixes DP's problems to the point where its generally considered the best game by today's generation.

Anything to do with the meta goes well beyond what I look to Pokémon for. So for all the new Pokémon introduced, the physical-special split and everything else, it just doesn't phase me when I only play Pokémon for the journey from start to end. Everything that was "divisive" because it shook up the metagame came across to me as a straight-up improvement.

Platinum's biggest improvement was the end expanded Sinnoh Dex, which admittedly was pathetic in DP. Totally forgot about that. A bunch of new evolutions were limited to the post game, whilst the only fire-types available were one of the starter families and the Ponyta line. I actually liked the fact that this resulted in Flint, the fire specialist of the E4, having just 2 of the five Pokémon in his team being fire type with the rest all running fire-themed movesets. They should run with that theme more often. But for the player, it was suffocating. I sincerely hope that the expanded Platinum Dex is included in the regular Sinnoh Dex for BDSP, even if the Pokémon are all in the Underground or something. I know that the Houndour line was only in the expanded Platinum Dex but Houndoom was visible in the latest trailer in the Underground.

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Frankly if all Platinum content is left out I can't consider this the definitive Gen IV experience because Platinum is a good game while D/P are slow chuggy kinda flat games imo

I already don't see any Battle Frontier on the Map, just the boring ass tower so I can't say I'm filled with any confidence 

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2 hours ago, Soniman said:

Frankly if all Platinum content is left out I can't consider this the definitive Gen IV experience because Platinum is a good game while D/P are slow chuggy kinda flat games imo

I already don't see any Battle Frontier on the Map, just the boring ass tower so I can't say I'm filled with any confidence 

I did a quick check over various areas on the map I knew differed between D/P and Platinum (though we'd already seen in the first trailer that they weren't using Platinum graphics from areas which had been updated).  D/P graphics are used as the basis throughout, even though they were more generic and replaced with more original designs in Platinum.  The Battle Frontier isn't present, only the D/P facility it replaced; and the customisable Villa nearby isn't present, either.  Although we have seen the Platinum character who changes Shaymin's forms, the conservative D/P-faithful approach makes the status of, for instance, the expanded Platinum regional dex and Rotom's forms rather dubious.  Platinum will still be the more definitive experience even once BDSP is released.

The new regional forms in Legends: Arceus, meanwhile, helped clarify to me what's going on here.  In much the same way as Black/White's enhanced version was done as a sequel rather than just a remix, Diamond/Pearl's remakes are being done as a prequel; but in the end, so much was different that GameFreak decided to have a more faithful remake of D/P put together as well for the people who wanted to revisit Sinnoh as we know it.  ...Unfortunately, speaking as one of those people, what I wanted was something in-between the two games they're making, neither of which is what I'm looking for.  At least the new Pokemon are still good, but it's a shame that the games aren't for me.

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If nothing else, I can see how Game Freak are covering their bases here. If you want a more faithful remake, you got Brilliant Diamond/Pearl. If you want something that deviates a bit more, you got Legends.

 

 

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18 minutes ago, Kuzu said:

If nothing else, I can see how Game Freak are covering their bases here. If you want a more faithful remake, you got Brilliant Diamond/Pearl. If you want something that deviates a bit more, you got Legends.

 

 

But people who wanted....like an actual reimagining like HGSS or ORAS can't get that with ether is the thing. I and many people just wanted a DP remake that takes cues from Platinum and it's enhancements in a (improved and polished) SWSH style with wild areas and full 3D character models and what have you. But we got one game that's way to similar to the OG and another that's totally different so we don't really get what we want with either game fully

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13 minutes ago, Soniman said:

But people who wanted....like an actual reimagining like HGSS or ORAS can't get that with ether is the thing. I and many people just wanted a DP remake that takes cues from Platinum and it's enhancements in a (improved and polished) SWSH style with wild areas and full 3D character models and what have you. But we got one game that's way to similar to the OG and another that's totally different so we don't really get what we want with either game fully

Yea and people also vocally hated the changes to ORAS in case you forgot about the whole Battle Frontier fiasco.

 

So I don't know man; feels like whenever Game Freak tries to change too much or too little they inevitably get backlash.

 

I liked ORAS too, and would have preferred a DPP remake like that as well but I get why they played it safe.

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3 hours ago, Soniman said:

Frankly if all Platinum content is left out I can't consider this the definitive Gen IV experience because Platinum is a good game while D/P are slow chuggy kinda flat games imo

I already don't see any Battle Frontier on the Map, just the boring ass tower so I can't say I'm filled with any confidence 

Battle Frontier is too meta for me. It's a shame that it's not being included, but it's still content that I don't think I would have touched.

When you say that DP are "slow chuggy kinda flat games" whilst Platinum isn't, what are you referring to exactly? They're 99% the same thing. Platinum changed very little. Surfing speed got increased, the location of the Defog HM was moved... But what did Platinum do to change up the gameplay? The only "significant" (and I use that word lightly) change to pacing that I can think of was bumping the fifth gym up to third. And I personally thought that that was a change for the worse, because it took shortened the gap between the second and third gyms and got rid loop around East Sinnoh that provided a nice sense of progression.

50 minutes ago, Kuzu said:

If nothing else, I can see how Game Freak are covering their bases here. If you want a more faithful remake, you got Brilliant Diamond/Pearl. If you want something that deviates a bit more, you got Legends.

Your mental gymnastics always confuse me, man. There's no way to liken BDSP and Legends, or imply that they're both remakes of Gen 4 for different audiences. They're not. BDSP are simply the long-expected remakes, whilst Legends is something new following the savaging that SwSh got from fans.

BDSP are faithful remakes to a fault. Unlike all the other remakes in the series that have brought previous Gens in line with the modern Pokémon games, these ones are just DP with a new coat of paint. ORAS took everything from RS and remade it to XY's standards, whilst also bringing in swathes of new content as well. I think it's quite reasonable to call HGSS and ORAS Gens 4.5 and 6.5 respectively. BDSP looks like Gen 4: Ugly Edition (+plus fairy type).

Legends on the other hand... That's another deal entirely. It doesn't just "deviate a bit more". It's a totally different game on every level. The only connection it has to DP is some prequel lore. It's clearly the series' true answer all the criticism that SwSh got, and I'd guess too that Game Freak were probably happy to get to work on a new kind of Pokémon game for a change.
 

20 minutes ago, Kuzu said:

Yea and people also vocally hated the changes to ORAS in case you forgot about the whole Battle Frontier fiasco.

So I don't know man; feels like whenever Game Freak tries to change too much or too little they inevitably get backlash.

I liked ORAS too, and would have preferred a DPP remake like that as well but I get why they played it safe.

People were vocally pissed off that ORAS didn't include the Battle Frontier and other Emerald content. Ever since HGSS Game Freak have tiptoed around including some of the third game content in the remakes, omitting other bits and just changing the rest. For example, HGSS included Eusine from Crystal, but not some of Crystals map changes. And it replaced Kris with Lyra.

ORAS definitely did not get flack for changing too much. The changes and additions are what people praised! In particular the entire Delta Episode, new Megas and new story. The flack came almost entirely from what was omitted. 

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29 minutes ago, Kuzu said:

Yea and people also vocally hated the changes to ORAS in case you forgot about the whole Battle Frontier fiasco.

You mean where they cut content because they figured kids were too busy playing mobile games or wouldn't appreciate the challenge?

 

----

(i wanted to write this before but lol)

I'm mostly fine with BDSP; I got my fill with Renegade Platinum a year or so ago, and it's easily my favorite experience with the series to date, but I have a huge soft spot for gen 4 because it's when I actually got back into the series after a few years when gen 3 kicked off. I would pick these up for the novelty and because I'm a sucker who gets excited to walk with my Pokemon.

Legends is honestly pretty exciting though. The updates to the battle system with how turn orders are determined and the new battle styles are huge changes that I think are going to make for some really interesting set ups. It's a nice way of keeping the tradition of turn based Pokemon battles but also updating the strategies. I really hope that if anything carries over to later entries it's this. And also, I will absolutely be getting a Wyrdeer for my team; Stantler is one of my favorites because I have a ton of nostalgia for gen 2 and it was one of the first Pokemon I remember seeing for GS (and I still occasionally call it Oddoshishi because that was the name I knew first because I'm a boomer).

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6 minutes ago, Blue Blood said:

When you say that DP are "slow chuggy kinda flat games" whilst Platinum isn't, what are you referring to exactly? They're 99% the same thing. Platinum changed very little. Surfing speed got increased, the location of the Defog HM was moved... But what did Platinum do to change up the gameplay? The only "significant" (and I use that word lightly) change to pacing that I can think of was bumping the fifth gym up to third. And I personally thought that that was a change for the worse, because it took shortened the gap between the second and third gyms and got rid loop around East Sinnoh that provided a nice sense of progression.

Gonna be honest and say I haven't played DP since I was like 14 and only played Platinum when I was in College but based on my memories it just felt smoother, less clunky more refined like a third version usually is, fixing the slow surfing and atrocious battle speed, and I enjoyed all the added features like BF, Distortion World etc. I'm propbably making DP sounding worse than it actually is but the bottom line is I wish the remakes choose the latter instead of the former because in my eyes these games just can't be the definitive Gen IV experience otherwise 

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5 minutes ago, Blue Blood said:

Battle Frontier is too meta for me. It's a shame that it's not being included, but it's still content that I don't think I would have touched.

When you say that DP are "slow chuggy kinda flat games" whilst Platinum isn't, what are you referring to exactly? They're 99% the same thing. Platinum changed very little. Surfing speed got increased, the location of the Defog HM was moved... But what did Platinum do to change up the gameplay? The only "significant" (and I use that word lightly) change to pacing that I can think of was bumping the fifth gym up to third. And I personally thought that that was a change for the worse, because it took shortened the gap between the second and third gyms and got rid loop around East Sinnoh that provided a nice sense of progression.

Your mental gymnastics always confuse me, man. There's no way to liken BDSP and Legends, or imply that they're both remakes of Gen 4 for different audiences. They're not. BDSP are simply the long-expected remakes, whilst Legends is something new following the savaging that SwSh got from fans.

BDSP are faithful remakes to a fault. Unlike all the other remakes in the series that have brought previous Gens in line with the modern Pokémon games, these ones are just DP with a new coat of paint. ORAS took everything from RS and remade it to XY's standards, whilst also bringing in swathes of new content as well. I think it's quite reasonable to call HGSS and ORAS Gens 4.5 and 6.5 respectively. BDSP looks like Gen 4: Ugly Edition (+plus fairy type).

Legends on the other hand... That's another deal entirely. It doesn't just "deviate a bit more". It's a totally different game on every level. The only connection it has to DP is some prequel lore. It's clearly the series' true answer all the criticism that SwSh got, and I'd guess too that Game Freak were probably happy to get to work on a new kind of Pokémon game for a change.
 

People were vocally pissed off that ORAS didn't include the Battle Frontier and other Emerald content. Ever since HGSS Game Freak have tiptoed around including some of the third game content in the remakes, omitting other bits and just changing the rest. For example, HGSS included Eusine from Crystal, but not some of Crystals map changes. And it replaced Kris with Lyra.

ORAS definitely did not get flack for changing too much. The changes and additions are what people praised! In particular the entire Delta Episode, new Megas and new story. The flack came almost entirely from what was omitted. 

That's just my interpretation of the events to be honest. I can't really see why they'd outsource the remakes to another company and play it as safe as possible otherwise.

And the stuff in Legends feels like things we would have gotten in a proper remake minus the change in setting of course. 

It feels like Game Freak were originally going to make the remake, but then decided to outsource it when the project expanded beyond its scope imo.

4 minutes ago, Zaysho said:

You mean where they cut content because they figured kids were too busy playing mobile games or wouldn't appreciate the challenge?

They cut content, but that pretty much opened the floodgates for all sorts of nitpicks with the game.

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17 minutes ago, Kuzu said:

That's just my interpretation of the events to be honest. I can't really see why they'd outsource the remakes to another company and play it as safe as possible otherwise.

And the stuff in Legends feels like things we would have gotten in a proper remake minus the change in setting of course. 

It feels like Game Freak were originally going to make the remake, but then decided to outsource it when the project expanded beyond its scope imo.

Baseless speculation to the nth degree. 

BDSP has been outsourced because it's a project with much smaller scope than Legends. The blue prints already exist in the form of the DS originals, as do many of the assets. Legends is a much larger game that involves breaking new ground for the series, so Game Freak aren't dividing their efforts.

Everything you've said is completely without justification. It's entirely guesswork.

17 minutes ago, Kuzu said:

They cut content, but that pretty much opened the floodgates for all sorts of nitpicks with the game.

No, dude. No.

That's not how that works, nor is it how that's ever worked. 

People criticised the cutting of content because the thing that they liked didn't come back. It's that simple. All of the new content in ORAS is pretty much universally loved.

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I just don't like that they're basing it on the originals because IIRC Platinum also had a lot of cool new story content?

Like HG/SS had Crystal content. It's so baffling that the remakes since have opted for such a backwards approach.

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1 minute ago, Mega said:

I just don't like that they're basing it on the originals because IIRC Platinum also had a lot of cool new story content?

Like HG/SS had Crystal content. It's so baffling that the remakes since have opted for such a backwards approach.

Exactly like it's completely antithetical for a remake to have less features than the 15 year old games they're recreating. Especially ones that people LIKED and praises the original for. Just baffling to me is all 

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9 minutes ago, Mega said:

I just don't like that they're basing it on the originals because IIRC Platinum also had a lot of cool new story content?

Like HG/SS had Crystal content. It's so baffling that the remakes since have opted for such a backwards approach.

6 minutes ago, Soniman said:

Exactly like it's completely antithetical for a remake to have less features than the 15 year old games they're recreating. Especially ones that people LIKED and praises the original for. Just baffling to me is all 

Totally agreed. Although I don't think that Platinum changed an awful lot, this is always the problem. Apart from BW2 being very significantly different to BW1, the third versions of Pokémon games are always just superior versions to the initial two games whilst still fundamentally being the same thing. The fact that the remakes are always based on the first two will always be a problem.

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12 minutes ago, Blue Blood said:

Baseless speculation to the nth degree. 

BDSP has been outsourced because it's a project with much smaller scope than Legends. The blue prints already exist in the form of the DS originals, as do many of the assets. Legends is a much larger game that involves breaking new ground for the series, so Game Freak aren't dividing their efforts.

Everything else you've said is completely without justification.

No, dude. No.

That's not how that works, nor is it how that's ever worked. 

People criticised the cutting of content because the thing that they liked didn't come back. It's that simple. All of the new content in ORAS is pretty much universally loved.

I admit, I don't have much to base it on. It's just the fact that Legends coincidently also takes place in Sinnoh, albeit in the past that has my speculation running. 

 

And I have talked with plenty of other people about ORAS in the past, and all of whom have varying opinions about it. When it comes to the new content, its varied from "this is great" to "this is questionable" in my own experiences.

Maybe opinion has lightened up in recent years, I haven't really kept up with the Pokemon fandom in recent years.

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Wait... so the BD/SP remakes aren't even based on Platinum? Then... what's even the point? Aren't the third entry games supposed to be the "Definitive" Versions for these remakes to be re-created?

Unless... *shudder* they plan to be a bit scummy and release Platinum either as a Third Entry game (but judging from previous remakes I would guess... not?) OR maybe they will now add Platinum content as some sort of paid DLC additional content now they've done it for the first time with Sw/Sh (except at least that was actually worth it with those games).

I'm not sure how to feel about this now. I am actually genuinely interested in purchasing BD / SP (despite how much I hate the oh-too-faithful HD tile style graphics) mainly because I missed out on these the first time over - so its all brand new. But now I feel a tad wary. 


As for Legends I just...  I really don't know. I've been mulling this over for a few days with a couple of mates that are also into the series to re-evaluate what they showed off in the presentation, and frankly we all agree that it really still visually looks so bloody embarrassing. Is it simply that Gamefreak don't have that much experience making console titles of this sort of caliber? Or do they just phone it in and don't care anymore? It's hard to tell sometimes.

On one hand I have eagerly wanted an open world style Pokemon game since Gen 2, and whilst it's easy to say "I want Breath of the Wild but with Pokemon" I know I shouldn't expect Gamefreak to ever be able to pull this sort of thing off. But then we get a trailer that literally emulates loads of shots and camera pull outs from the original BOTW trailers... and that it makes it super hard not to compare their open world designs and philosophies. So so far I think it just looks pretty pathetic. 

I mean I wasn't hugely impressed with Sw / Sh coming across as an uprezzed HD looking 3DS game either to be honest, but it still has a kind of unique visual charm that allowed them to almost get away with it as they usually do. With Legends, I'm feeling none of it sadly. It looks empty, the colours are pretty dull/muddy and the landscape designs feel flat and don't appeal with any sort of explorational features beyond "there are Pokemon dotted around".

I'm glad that you can ride/fly/swim around on Pokemon for sure - but I don't see myself getting much gratification from this on open world design that more closely resembles Hyrule Field from Ocarina of Time than anything in Breath of the Wild. It disappointing they can't take an extra year or two to spend some more time on creating an explorative world that looks more appealing or engaging. 

I really hope they can somehow prove me wrong by the time this comes out because all the other new elements that they've gone for in this game have me super intrigued. The revamped battle system, the catching system, the Pokédex discovery idea for finding "new" Pokemon that have "never" been seen before, hunting or being hunted... I think this is all wonderful with the changes in gameplay and where they could potentially take the series going forwards.

Perhaps I just need to look at this first entry in their "legends" series as a first step towards greater things for the future. Presently I'm coming across as a bit of a whiney graphics whore with this title - which is weird for me as usually that's often the last thing I care about. I guess BOTW wild has just spoiled my gaming brain a bit taking in the sights. As long as Legends can provide some decent or unique new gameplay mechanics that are engaging, then I'm sure it will still be a fun time. 


 

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I almost always seem to get excited about new Pokémon games no matter how much any of previous previous releases have disappointed me. So all of my optimism about Legends has to come with a huge amount of caution.

Graphically the game doesn't look amazing. The world does look a bit empty, and all of the human characters still look just as stiff and lifeless in their animations as in SwSh.  I'm actually pretty sure that the animations and models are lifted almost verbatimfrom SwSh with minimal changes. They just seem to be standing around in the town. The environments have very few notable features about them. The trees still manage to look pretty flat, although it's a marked improvement over SwSh there (low bar, I know). However, I generally find that it looks quite nice visually. Not impressive, but pleasing. Battles look much more dynamic now. Pokémon animations seem fast and the Pokémon actually get close to each other now. It still looks the way that you'd expect a turn based combat system to look of that makes sense, but it's much less rigid than previous games.

There's very little going on in the environment, and that's what concerns me the most. Currently, Hisui just looks like a big wild area. Not even a big Isle of Armour or big Crown Tundra. No, it's just an open expanse that allows you to beeline from A to B with little to interact with on the way. That's nothing going on  for the player to do. It's empty fields with a few trees and rocks C&P'd all over the shop.

Pokémon themselves just seem to be randomly wandering about doing fuck all. From the trailers, I don't get the impression that the Pokémon actually live in this world at all. For example:

Starly: a starling who's Pokémon entries all make reference to the flocking in large groups and that hunt and attack in unison...  that just walks around on the grass by itself.

Growlithe: a hunting pack dog that always has a partner... that just walks around in circles on the grass by itself.

Gardevoir: a mystical psychic fairy thing that creates black holes... that just randomly dosses about on the grass.

Kricketot: a cricket Pokémon that makes noises like a xylophone... that just buggers about on the grass in the middle of the day making it a prime target for all of its prey.

I wish that they'd approached the Pokémon more like living animals living in the wild, where you'd have to actually interact with the environment to find them. Wurmple shouldn't just be crawling around on the ground in the open. They should be climbing on trees and bushes, requiring you to search, shake or cut down the trees to find them. 

Right now, they just exist in the surface and do nothing. Where are the caves, the dense woodlands, the perilous cliffs and whatever other dungeons might exist? These kinds of things need to exist in an open world. It's one area that BotW stumbled on, and this game is obviously aping as much as it possibly can from that. I'd like to see the Pokémon actually being a part of the world like they are in the Snap games. This would take a ton of effort, but I think it would be reasonable in the face of a reduced PokéDex.

The game looks nice. I'm really looking forward to it. BUT I'm really unsure of its ability to deliver meaningful content.

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That’s pretty much it, exactly. Actually you put across my main distaste’s much better than I did 😅

Ultimately the world does not look like it would / could be lived in. And whilst they can get away with certain things in the original titles (and have random Pokémon attack in wild grass for example). The Pokémon here have been treated very much like the scenery and just dumped into random places with little care for why they are there.
 

I enjoyed the wild areas in Sw / Sh as an extension of the games main principles and it was interesting to see that they were evolving (ha!) their overworld… if only slightly. It was one step forwards for having the wild area, and two step backwards with the routes and getting around Galar as its dungeons/ gyms were incredibly linear.

With the Wild Areas it really bugged me seeing Onix on an empty field and not near rocks / canyons for example, not to mention other Pokémon that I’d would have thought wouldn’t mix well together in the wild. They were just there for player convenience of catching them all because reasons. 

And whilst I’m sure like Gen 1-8 there will be areas that only certain Pokémon will be on Legends Map… it’s also not really good enough anymore when you have an open world. 

Actually, that you bring up Pokemon Snap is an excellent example of how they should be approaching this with more care. I appreciate that Snap has super condensed areas, but the Pokémon feel like they live in these places which is what ultimately draws you in. Pokémon Snap is a very good baseline for what Gamefreak should be using for a world ripe for exploration with more meaningful encounters.

Again, even Breath of the Wild has this breathable world that feels lived in by all of its inhabitants, be it creatures, bugs, monsters or culture and the population of different races. It made me feel very drawn into the living world as a whole. 

With Pokémon I don’t really mind if the open world isn’t on the scale of anything we’re seeing in recent generations of titles (and I don’t feel like Gamefreak are able to handle anything on a large scale anyway without outside help). But the world building sure does need to feel meaningful if they want me to engage with it. Perhaps this is something they’ll just naturally nail down with time and future entries? I just don’t know. 

Overall it’s just a shame to see Gamefreak be very far behind (as usual) with this sort of thing. When you consider the franchises success as a whole, one would assume they have almost unlimited resources to create anything. But instead we get Sw / Sh, BD / SP and Legends, and they get away with it because “Pokémon”. 

I feel confident that if this was another company or game, then it wouldn’t be appealing or sell nearly as well. So they’re lucky to be able to experiment at all because of the success of the series. I just wish they really put in the efforts where it is needed for a new game like this, especially as they seem to be marketing it as “their first open world game” when really are only focusing most of their efforts on overhauling other mechanics and making the battle system more engaging. 

Hopefully it will still have some decent pull to it overall (and obviously I’ll end up picking it up regardless of my reservations). I just wish for more from the franchise these days. But baby steps are still steps I suppose. 

 

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14 hours ago, Son-icka said:

Unless... *shudder* they plan to be a bit scummy and release Platinum either as a Third Entry game (but judging from previous remakes I would guess... not?) OR maybe they will now add Platinum content as some sort of paid DLC additional content now they've done it for the first time with Sw/Sh (except at least that was actually worth it with those games).

Eeeh, I dunno if I'd jump to those conclusions just yet. Again, a lot of the Platinum Dex Pokemon appear to be relegated to the Underground's new feature, and people had previously noted the girl who provides Shaymin's Sky Form, so a part of me believes that we'll still get something with Platinum's mascot, Giratina. Especially since we haven't seen anything postgame-wise outside of the map showing the Battle Tower.

That said, at best I feel like we may get an OR/AS Delta Episode situation, with Giratina getting some extra postgame relevance (and hopefully some Distortion World content), while at worst... we just fight Giratina in Turnback Cave a la D/P and get given the orb to change its form straight after.

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The interesting elements of past remakes came about because GameFreak was handling them internally.  The fact that BDSP are outsourced, to a developer which has never led development on any title in the past, is why you can be fairly sure that practically anything that can be literally the same as the original, will be.  Apparently there's already some evidence just from the trailer that the game is using DP rosters for enemy trainers rather than the Platinum rosters, for instance.

Still, I am interested to see if they do anything at all about HMs.  All the old HM use spots appear to be back, but their use in DP was so widely criticised (almost certainly leading them to be scaled back in BW) that even I think something might be done with them, even if it's as simple as expanding the range of Pokemon which can learn each move, or giving Pokemon "field move" slots that don't interfere with their four battle moves.

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I genuinely thought for a moment that Snorlax was ripping open its own stomach and eating its innards.  Cute art, though.

  • My Emmerdoods 1
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