Hikari StarshineToday at 6:39 PM
I dunno, I stopped really paying attention to Pokemon stuff after Alolan culture turned out to be so dire.

MiyoToday at 6:40 PM
Alola had me and a friends for real daughter lol


Hikari StarshineToday at 6:41 PM
I have an issue with a culture that allows Team Skull to need to exist.
When people are winding up ostracized for life for failing their Pokemon quests as ten-year-olds, your culture sucks.
Also there's the issue in SuMo of 'you are playing the rival this time instead of the protag' but that's just a side thing.

MalkaiWotToday at 6:45 PM
Yeah in sun/moon you are basically a side character
Hours and hours of cutscenes focus on... Someone else
You just kind of stand there with a big dopey smile

Hikari StarshineToday at 6:45 PM
You're the rival.
Your starter is super effective vs. Hau's.

MalkaiWotToday at 6:45 PM
Yeah that's dumb
That game is so pathetically easy it felt like I was being made fun of
Team skull was the only interesting twist to that game, but they removed that storyline in ultra

Hikari StarshineToday at 6:46 PM
You're Gary.

MalkaiWotToday at 6:46 PM
Nah Gary had more screen time

Hikari StarshineToday at 6:47 PM
Gary succeeds at everything ever.
That's my point.  Of courae its easy, you're Gary.

MalkaiWotToday at 6:47 PM
I getcha
The game sucks
I have a lot of issues with it
But you're right
You basically just waltz through everything
And everyone wants to be you, thinks you're the best, etc.

Hikari StarshineToday at 6:49 PM
And, like...  I'm a gen back on hardware, and didn't have any interest in USUM, so at this point I've just broken entirely out of the Pokemon cycle.

MalkaiWotToday at 6:49 PM
You have three 'rivals' and they're all pathetic
USUM are better gameplay wise in some aspects, there's some good changes on the whole but it's still fundamentally problematic and they made the already terrible plot WORSE
Because it becomes about space aliens
And space travel

Hikari StarshineToday at 6:50 PM
I'll just stick with my Shin Megami Tensei and god-binding for fun and profit.

MalkaiWotToday at 6:50 PM
Fair enough
I don't have a pokemon replacement in my life, so I just have to not be able to play them anymore

Hikari StarshineToday at 6:50 PM
Amaterasu!  I choose you!

MalkaiWotToday at 6:51 PM
Unless they release another mystery dungeon
Those guys can probably get all the pokemon in there

Hikari StarshineToday at 6:51 PM
Not really a fan of the dark urban fantasy in SMT, then?

MalkaiWotToday at 6:51 PM
Never played it

Hikari StarshineToday at 6:52 PM
Ah.  That's a shame.
I think there's, um...  8 of them on 3DS.

EllieToday at 6:52 PM
You're not Hau's rival for one simple reason: You and Hau are friends.
Rivalry isn't determined by type advantage.

MalkaiWotToday at 6:53 PM
What they mean is that you are given the advantage in the game, things are handed to you. Your constant 'opponent' is not someone you worry about, they aren't who you are struggling to beat. They struggle to beat YOU
It takes away some of the adventure, the battles against them are more of an obligation than a boss battle
At least that's what I gathered they meant =P

EllieToday at 6:56 PM
It made me feel like Hau was like an apprentice. He couldn't beat me (but the NPC can never beat you, type advantage or not). He was the friend that wasn't quite as good at this. It was helped by the fact that he was just ludicrously exciteable about everything.
And to be fair, no fight in Pokemon is ever much of a challenge.

MalkaiWotToday at 6:57 PM
Not anymore, no. There were some fights in the old ones that certainly you had to prepare for
Elite four in the first couple gens is a legit challenge, gotta stock up and such
It's not the hardest thing ever, no

EllieToday at 6:57 PM
Even in current ones, you still  have to prepare, but that's it. You prepare and then curb stomp.

MalkaiWotToday at 6:57 PM
Not in sun and moon
You can walk in blind and win easily

EllieToday at 6:58 PM
I didn't feel like they required any more or less prep than gyms in any other version, personally.

MalkaiWotToday at 6:58 PM
I don't mind Hau's character but if they aren't going to present any challenges why even bother?
They certainly required less
From the sounds of it Sw/Sh requires even less

EllieToday at 6:59 PM
It didn't feel that way to me, but my prep is never more than "Find something with type advantage and buy a potion or 2"

MalkaiWotToday at 7:00 PM
I mean I went through with just "i'll use all steel/fire/ice/whatever only, monotype" and didn't even once have trouble
Potions/boosts I bought as more of a gimmick if I wanted to do something stupid in a fight

EllieToday at 7:01 PM
Ah. I went into each gym with a pokemon that had advantage, and that's all I did. But that's all I did in previous generations.

MalkaiWotToday at 7:01 PM
It's what was expected of you originally. To learn the matchups
Now you absolutely don't have to
I'm not saying all games need to be the toughest things on the planet at all times. But if there's no tension whatsoever, no challenge and the game's plot is constantly "This is the hardest challenge! People fail this all the time! Here's a whole group of people who failed!" and patting you on the back everytime you do anything right, it kind of kills it
Particularly since it's an rpg, so your choices should have more weight to them
Just being able to sweep every opponents team with one attack constantly makes it boring
This could be a fault of just how the game hasn't changed in decades
Red and blue was fresh, so that kind of gameplay wasn't stale yet

EllieToday at 7:03 PM
Also keep in mind that we're not exactly the intended audience.
And things might be extremely easy for us that might not be for others.

MalkaiWotToday at 7:04 PM
I refuse to believe anyone had trouble with sun and moon
Like even if you didn't catch any pokemon you'd probably do alright

EllieToday at 7:05 PM
.. Ok, nevermind, going back to not sharing any opinions on this matter again.

MalkaiWotToday at 7:06 PM
I thought it was a good discussion :T

Marnie-MooToday at 8:27 PM
I mean Malkai is kind of right. But about all pokemon games. I've loved the series up until now but every single one of them you can blitz through the game Starter Only with maybe just an HM slave.
In fact because EXP isn't being split to other guys it ends up being easier because you always overlevel everything. Type disadvantage doesn't mean much when you have 20 levels on your opponent
But then again, i do specifically remember the first time i played, my Charizard had Flamethrower, Ember, Fire Blast, AND Fire Spin
So yeah, ir was harder for me because i sucked at planning good movesets. It took me until like gen 4 before i got the hang of that
With the new game though with Always On EXP Share, you can do a full team of 6, stop catching there, and never ever run into any problems.
That's basically what i did playing through LGPE

MalkaiWotToday at 8:31 PM
I don't remember what game started it but the EXP share didn't split exp, it just gave the full amount to everyone. Might have been sun/moon
But even replaying Black and White there were times I felt I should 'grind' for an upcoming gym fight

Kitsyna, Soff Moff FriendToday at 9:02 PM
SuMo changed the exp share yea
still liked the rival in G/S/C
He was a total jerk, and up to near the end of the game, he still has a Golbat and Kadabra
Despite the fact Crobat and Alakazam should be there
Then at the end of the game, after you've trounced him and finally taught him "pokemon are not tools, they're companions going through the same journey as you, and other people are not beneath you, they are just different"
The final fight vs him? He has a Crobat and Alakazam