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Gen 2 probably has my favourite starters in the entire series (so far). Their very design bursts with personality, and what I find even more amusing is that their personalities correspond with one of their recommended natures: Chikorita is a docile and calm Pokemon, Totodile is jolly and hyperactive, and Cyndaquil is shy and timid. Possibly unintentional, but I still love it.
I think Gen 2 has some of the best Pokemon, I'm attached to so many of them. Entei, Suicune, and Raikou are my favourite legendary trio, and Espeon and Umbreon are my favourite Eeveelutions. I love that Espeon and Umbreon evolve with friendship, especially since on the competitive scene, both usually take support roles.
I love how some of the worst shinies (i.e., the ones that are just a slightly different shade) were "fixed" with their Mega Evolutions, especially Mega Gengar.
Speaking of shiny Megas, I love how Shiny Mega Rayquaza is literally a shiny black. It looks so good!!!!!!!!!
Mega Gengar is good, but I think Mega Garchomp edges it out. It's PINK. VIOLENTLY PINK. And not only does it look fabulous, it looks like it'll rend any poor fool that dares have a problem with that... just, it won't get to them quite as quickly, is all.
I like when they throw in a couple of completely unnecessary music tracks for the player to find. Like HG/SS having a remixed Route 101 theme for the Hoenn Sound, or a remixed Jubilife City theme in Snowbelle City. Especially that one, as you don't recognize it at first until a couple seconds in. Having ALL the Legendary Pokemon (that can be caught in the game and aren't native to Hoenn. Sorry Arceus!) have their original themes play when you battle them was also a nice treat. I'm not sure if the Beast Trio's theme is the original Crystal theme or the GB Sounds version from HG/SS, but Lugia and Ho-Oh carry over their themes introduced in the remakes, and Giratina has its Platinum theme even though it appears in its Altered Form. (it does sort of keep the idea from Platinum of dropping in from above... but all the Legendary Pokemon encountered through the Hoopa rings do that)
And it was hilarious to find the Rock Smash guy in Mauville, practicing his explanation of the HM long after you've already obtained it.
Gen 2 probably has my favourite starters in the entire series (so far). Their very design bursts with personality, and what I find even more amusing is that their personalities correspond with one of their recommended natures: Chikorita is a docile and calm Pokemon, Totodile is jolly and hyperactive, and Cyndaquil is shy and timid. Possibly unintentional, but I still love it.
I think Gen 2 has some of the best Pokemon, I'm attached to so many of them. Entei, Suicune, and Raikou are my favourite legendary trio, and Espeon and Umbreon are my favourite Eeveelutions. I love that Espeon and Umbreon evolve with friendship, especially since on the competitive scene, both usually take support roles.
There's also a matter that Totodile adamantly refuses to let go of something it bites down on. I like that they're thus far the only set of starters to remain pure throughout their lines, even though that's not the most helpful competitively. And the Kalos ones don't pick up their secondary type until they evolve into Chesnaught, Delphox, and Greninja respectively. They can still do some unique things with the starters.
But in mentioning starters, of course Charizard has to come up. Some may not like that it got two Mega Evolutions where Venusaur and Blastoise didn't. But I don't think either X or Y would be as great alone, as the option adds the element of unpredictability: which one is Charizard going to Mega Evolve into? The wrong guess may cost you your wall. But I like that X becomes Fire/Dragon, to appease those that have wanted it to be a dragon for so long. And because it's awesome.
For now, I love the little details like the atmospheric audio sounds you get in HGSS when your trainer is near the water and you hear the ripples. Just little sound effects give the game so much life and little details like leaves blowing in the wind in New Bark Town (where the town sign says 'Winds of a New Beginning'/'The Town Where Winds of a New Beginning Blow') made me appreciate the GS remake so much more to another level.
I'd kind of like to add to this -- that the water thing in conjunction with cinnabar is just wonderful. Sometimes when I was a kid I'd just fly to cinnabar, go to the water's edge and just relax. The water effect and the island's music creates an amazing atmosphere.
More On Gyms: I feel that BW did try to bring some "logic" to the Gyms. They weren't just buildings where the Gym Leader challenged trainers, they served an additional function (though they seemed to have abandoned that idea with the later gyms). Striaton Gym was a cafe, Nacrene Gym was a museum and library, Castelia Gym in BW2 feels like an art project of Burgh's, Nimbasa Gym in BW was an amusement park ride while in BW2 was a runway Elesa showed off her newest fashions, Driftveil Gym was an underground digging site, Aspertia was a trainer school, and Virbank was Roxie's rock stage. Doing this also allowed the Gyms to have their one unique overworld appearance instead of being the same building but with a different interior.
And I loved how in BW2 each gym got its own version of the Gym theme, and how appropriate the Normal-type gym kept the original Gym theme. And they even added some nice references like Roxie "singing" P-O-K-E-M-ON (though in Japan she was singing Koffing's Japanese named, D-O-G-A-R-S, which is why the "ON" in Pokemon was pushed together. Though I wonder if in the German version she sang S-M-O-G-O-N :P) and how in the new Nimbasa Gym they sample from of all places The World End's With You theme "Dancer in the Street" and the vocal is taken from a song called "WINGS" from Utada Hikaru (who some may know as the artist who sang the opening themes for the Kingdom Hearts franchise). Also the Gym trainer names are sometimes fun too, like one Roxie's band mates is named "Billy Jo" (oddly its the girl) and in Nimbasa Gym in BW2 the runway models you battle are named after famous scientists and engineers: Nikola, Fleming, and Ampere.
You can tell the translators were having fun which is good because that allows creativity to flow. ;)
Adding on to that, some of the gyms in Kalos also do this. The first room of the Santalune Gym is an exhibition of Viola's photography, the Cyllage Gym is a rock climbing center, which is fun in its own right (or so I have been told), the Shalour Gym is an indoor skate park, and Lumiose Gym seems like it was a retrofitted tourist attraction. It is also fitting that the Lumiose Gym specializes in Electric-types, seeing as how Paris was the location of the first major exhibition of electrical lighting.
Pikachu315111 Wait, is the thing regarding the Sevii Islands really true? I couldn't find where it says that anywhere.
Anyway, I also really like how fans managed to come up with so much lore in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, considering the thing with the Omanyte and the Pidgeotite, the Pokearth map and whatever else we've done.
I really like how pretty much every Pokemon is usable in regular run throughs (well from gen4 onwards). Every pokemon i can think of get access to a base 80+ STAB move along with some coverage. This means you can actually use mons like beautifly and kricketune in playthroughs, making them more challenging but yet not impossible. In earlier games, like ruby, i tried to go through using stuff like masquerain (which only really got aerial ace/ice beam) and chimecho (basically just psychic), which lead to me using one mon more than others (something like lanturn which is strong + has amazing coverage).
As a whole, I like how Pokemon keeps its older players. XY bought back gen 1 starters as well as pidgeot/beedril/etc which gives a nostalgic feeling (well, it did for me), and also made new features to change it up, particularly megas which made everyones favourites more powerful and cool.
Gen I References: I have to wonder why they went back to the old sound effect for Hyper Beam and Psychic. Part of me thinks they might wanted to put in some familiarity in the games for older players possibly worried the jump to 3D would ward off some players. Could also be why Santalune Forest is exactly like Viridian Forest including having all the Pokemon that were in it, both having a familiar location and Pokemon helps ease the older player in. Now was it really needed? Probably not, which is why another part of me thinks that, at least for Santalune Forest, copying Viridian Forest is an easy way to reuse a map that was used in the first game as a "tutorial" location. Its laid out so there are a few dead ends but they don't go too far off, there are grassy patches you can ignore and some you can't, same with trainers, and if you keep an eye out there's a "hidden" path that leads to an item. It's pretty much Pokemon's version of Mario's World 1-1. Plus Pikachu is in it.
N's Room & Castle: N's Room is one of my favorite places as its just oozing with atmosphere. In BW when you enter it you see its bright and colorful filled with children toys and you think its N's childhood room. That is until you check the toys and it says they've been played with recently. Combined with the slightly distorted version of N's theme playing and it's almost like you're inside N's mind. He's maybe a teenager but his mentality is that of a child, or at least his views of the world is. The bright colors and toys may show that he's pure hearted, but also show he's disconnected from the outside world. And things only get worst in BW2, you're with N when you get to go in and he can't bear going inside. This is reflected when you do, the music now sounds like a broken music box, the bright colors have faded and the toys lay broken and not played with for a while. At the end of BW N lost his innocents and a room he previously considered a safe and probably loving environment has turned into a cruel lie.
N's Castle has a few things I like about it, like when the Sages are about to face you instead the Gym Leaders come running in (except for the Striaton Triplets which led many to think their the Shadow Triad... only to be proven horribly wrong when a BW2 flashback showed the Shadow Triad teleport to them to test them in battle and creamed them, resulting in the triplets in thinking they were weak and decided to stop being Gym Leaders) and also the room where a Plasma Grunt revealed they hacked the PC which is a horrifying thought but on top of that there's a grunt in the room who says they bonded with their Pokemon and don't want to release it. And that's not to mention how it first appeared, it interrupting your League Challenge by suddenly bursting out of the ground and surrounding the League!
Villain Goals: Well actually some Pokemon villains do, but its usually not direct. Usually. Cyrus wanted to reset the universe as so he can recreate it in his vision, a universe without emotion which he deemed are useless do to his neglectful upbringing. Ghetsis flat out wanted to take over the world by first having them release all their Pokemon so only he and his loyal followers would have them thus it would be easy. Lysandre didn't want to take over the world but more like wanted to get rid of everyone he didn't feel were worthy of living... which are essentially people who were following him. Giovanni, Maxie, and Archie were the only ones who goals weren't world domination though I had a feeling had their plan gone the way they wanted they would still have a lot of control (Giovanni I can see maybe wanting to be a chessmaster, sort of like Lex Luthor or Xanatos. Maxie and Archie would probably present themselves as the messiah of the new world they created and would want to lead the people in how they could live in this new world they created for them). Special mention goes to Team Cipher of the Colloseum games which, like Ghetsis, flat out wanted to take over the world and were planning on doing so by torturing Pokemon until their hearts close making them into monstrous Shadow Pokemon. FOR KIDS!
Scientific Name: I kind of want them to give all Pokemon scientific names, even if its faux Latin. Kabutops also has one: "Kabutops maximus". Not as funny as Oddish, though a bit funny in the way you wonder how lazy the writers were they couldn't come up something slightly realistic sounding (at least have it be "Kabuto maximus" which would mean its a bigger Kabuto). I guess at the very least we have the Pokemon Species name. Some notable ones being Cubone the Lonely Pokemon (geez, need some salt so you can rub it into its wounds?), Lapras the Transport Pokemon (don't give it a name that associates it with its appearance, instead mention how well of a vehicle slave it makes), Hitmontop is the Handstand Pokemon (except it doesn't, it spins on its head which the Japanese name for it got right), Croagunk family is the Toxic Mouth (even though its posions by punching, which yet again the Japanese name got right), Thundurus is the Bolt Strike (but does not learn Bolt Strike, and its the same issue in Japan where its Lightning Strike), and any which has "Small/Tiny/Little" in front of it (because how would I tell the difference between it and a bigger version if I wasn't told?) or is an insult (because some people are just jerks).
Shiny Fix: I do like a lot of the Mega Shiny Pokemon compared to some which are just a slight darker/lighter tone. I mean Really? Mega Gengar looks like a stereotypical ghost and Mega Gardevoir is wearing a black dress like some kind of femme fatale. I kind of wish they went back and did change around some Shiny colors. I mean their officially called "alternate color" Pokemon, when I think alternate color I think like an Reddish Orange Pikachu not a slightly brighter yellow Pikachu.
TV Time: Once again a great way to build the world! Though their short for obvious reasons, the TV shows are a great way to give out little trivial facts about important character and places (and maybe even clue you in on a few things). And even though its a bit creepy, hearing the TV talk about your exploits does make it feel like you're affecting the world (though I still want my copyright money for that children TV show they made of me in BW!).
Watery Atmosphere: The Marine Tube and the Underwater part of ORAS was beautifully done, it kind of makes me wish they do this for other environments. Don't get me wrong, they always do a beautiful job with making the environment, but I would like to see the Pokemon living and being active in the environment. Like take the beginning to ORAS, you look outside the moving van and you see the Pokemon running around in the trees and grass you're passing by. I'd like maybe for a zoo or nature preserve like place where they have environments and showed Pokemon who live in that environment doing what they do like we saw in the Marine Tube (they could have a forest environment, rugged mountain, dark cave, volcanic, arctic, etc.).
Need Sources: The Sevii Island fact I remember hearing from either an LP or a Pokemon fact video probably on Youtube. Not the best source admittedly but I never thought it wasn't true.
Well I think that's all I feel like commenting on. Here's some new stuff:
Further talking about adding onto the world and the atmosphere, the BW2 Flashbacks were real interesting. Two years have passed and a lot seemed to happen so it was nice to at least some of the pivotal events that took place. Having Emotion play on top of that really made the flashbacks have some more punch to them.
On a similar vain how about when in Platinum you get a Villa and people would visit you. You get to learn more about the important NPCs and even get to see some of them interact with one another.
But the important characters shouldn't have all the fun. Let's not forget the Ferris Wheel Dates in both BW and BW2 and how the stories of your "dates" tend to move in interesting directions. It shows there's a whole world of stories out there, even just talking with some trainers again after battling adds a little bit more to their characters.
Actually, they are officially called Shiny. Not only has official events said this (ranging from the Shiny Legendary Beast distribution of Generation IV to the recent Shiny Rayquaza event), even X and Y's Pokédex says Shiny:
Gen I References: I have to wonder why they went back to the old sound effect for Hyper Beam and Psychic. Part of me thinks they might wanted to put in some familiarity in the games for older players possibly worried the jump to 3D would ward off some players. Could also be why Santalune Forest is exactly like Viridian Forest including having all the Pokemon that were in it, both having a familiar location and Pokemon helps ease the older player in. Now was it really needed? Probably not, which is why another part of me thinks that, at least for Santalune Forest, copying Viridian Forest is an easy way to reuse a map that was used in the first game as a "tutorial" location. Its laid out so there are a few dead ends but they don't go too far off, there are grassy patches you can ignore and some you can't, same with trainers, and if you keep an eye out there's a "hidden" path that leads to an item. It's pretty much Pokemon's version of Mario's World 1-1. Plus Pikachu is in it.
N's Room & Castle: N's Room is one of my favorite places as its just oozing with atmosphere. In BW when you enter it you see its bright and colorful filled with children toys and you think its N's childhood room. That is until you check the toys and it says they've been played with recently. Combined with the slightly distorted version of N's theme playing and it's almost like you're inside N's mind. He's maybe a teenager but his mentality is that of a child, or at least his views of the world is. The bright colors and toys may show that he's pure hearted, but also show he's disconnected from the outside world. And things only get worst in BW2, you're with N when you get to go in and he can't bear going inside. This is reflected when you do, the music now sounds like a broken music box, the bright colors have faded and the toys lay broken and not played with for a while. At the end of BW N lost his innocents and a room he previously considered a safe and probably loving environment has turned into a cruel lie.
N's Castle has a few things I like about it, like when the Sages are about to face you instead the Gym Leaders come running in (except for the Striaton Triplets which led many to think their the Shadow Triad... only to be proven horribly wrong when a BW2 flashback showed the Shadow Triad teleport to them to test them in battle and creamed them, resulting in the triplets in thinking they were weak and decided to stop being Gym Leaders) and also the room where a Plasma Grunt revealed they hacked the PC which is a horrifying thought but on top of that there's a grunt in the room who says they bonded with their Pokemon and don't want to release it. And that's not to mention how it first appeared, it interrupting your League Challenge by suddenly bursting out of the ground and surrounding the League!
Villain Goals: Well actually some Pokemon villains do, but its usually not direct. Usually. Cyrus wanted to reset the universe as so he can recreate it in his vision, a universe without emotion which he deemed are useless do to his neglectful upbringing. Ghetsis flat out wanted to take over the world by first having them release all their Pokemon so only he and his loyal followers would have them thus it would be easy. Lysandre didn't want to take over the world but more like wanted to get rid of everyone he didn't feel were worthy of living... which are essentially people who were following him. Giovanni, Maxie, and Archie were the only ones who goals weren't world domination though I had a feeling had their plan gone the way they wanted they would still have a lot of control (Giovanni I can see maybe wanting to be a chessmaster, sort of like Lex Luthor or Xanatos. Maxie and Archie would probably present themselves as the messiah of the new world they created and would want to lead the people in how they could live in this new world they created for them). Special mention goes to Team Cipher of the Colloseum games which, like Ghetsis, flat out wanted to take over the world and were planning on doing so by torturing Pokemon until their hearts close making them into monstrous Shadow Pokemon. FOR KIDS!
Scientific Name: I kind of want them to give all Pokemon scientific names, even if its faux Latin. Kabutops also has one: "Kabutops maximus". Not as funny as Oddish, though a bit funny in the way you wonder how lazy the writers were they couldn't come up something slightly realistic sounding (at least have it be "Kabuto maximus" which would mean its a bigger Kabuto). I guess at the very least we have the Pokemon Species name. Some notable ones being Cubone the Lonely Pokemon (geez, need some salt so you can rub it into its wounds?), Lapras the Transport Pokemon (don't give it a name that associates it with its appearance, instead mention how well of a vehicle slave it makes), Hitmontop is the Handstand Pokemon (except it doesn't, it spins on its head which the Japanese name for it got right), Croagunk family is the Toxic Mouth (even though its posions by punching, which yet again the Japanese name got right), Thundurus is the Bolt Strike (but does not learn Bolt Strike, and its the same issue in Japan where its Lightning Strike), and any which has "Small/Tiny/Little" in front of it (because how would I tell the difference between it and a bigger version if I wasn't told?) or is an insult (because some people are just jerks).
Shiny Fix: I do like a lot of the Mega Shiny Pokemon compared to some which are just a slight darker/lighter tone. I mean Really? Mega Gengar looks like a stereotypical ghost and Mega Gardevoir is wearing a black dress like some kind of femme fatale. I kind of wish they went back and did change around some Shiny colors. I mean their officially called "alternate color" Pokemon, when I think alternate color I think like an Reddish Orange Pikachu not a slightly brighter yellow Pikachu.
TV Time: Once again a great way to build the world! Though their short for obvious reasons, the TV shows are a great way to give out little trivial facts about important character and places (and maybe even clue you in on a few things). And even though its a bit creepy, hearing the TV talk about your exploits does make it feel like you're affecting the world (though I still want my copyright money for that children TV show they made of me in BW!).
Watery Atmosphere: The Marine Tube and the Underwater part of ORAS was beautifully done, it kind of makes me wish they do this for other environments. Don't get me wrong, they always do a beautiful job with making the environment, but I would like to see the Pokemon living and being active in the environment. Like take the beginning to ORAS, you look outside the moving van and you see the Pokemon running around in the trees and grass you're passing by. I'd like maybe for a zoo or nature preserve like place where they have environments and showed Pokemon who live in that environment doing what they do like we saw in the Marine Tube (they could have a forest environment, rugged mountain, dark cave, volcanic, arctic, etc.).
Need Sources: The Sevii Island fact I remember hearing from either an LP or a Pokemon fact video probably on Youtube. Not the best source admittedly but I never thought it wasn't true.
Well I think that's all I feel like commenting on. Here's some new stuff:
Further talking about adding onto the world and the atmosphere, the BW2 Flashbacks were real interesting. Two years have passed and a lot seemed to happen so it was nice to at least some of the pivotal events that took place. Having Emotion play on top of that really made the flashbacks have some more punch to them.
On a similar vain how about when in Platinum you get a Villa and people would visit you. You get to learn more about the important NPCs and even get to see some of them interact with one another.
But the important characters shouldn't have all the fun. Let's not forget the Ferris Wheel Dates in both BW and BW2 and how the stories of your "dates" tend to move in interesting directions. It shows there's a whole world of stories out there, even just talking with some trainers again after battling adds a little bit more to their characters.
Oh, I would love it if Pokemon have scientific names.
---------------------------
I like how N's play room is quite eerie and dark when you think more about it-- showing that he is so disconnected with the outside world.
Kids probably won't notice that, but for us adults- there's dark stuff that we somehow find satisfying.
If I listed all the little things about Pokemon that I liked, this thread would jump from three to six pages. So rather than do that, I'll list just a few examples of what tickles my fancy.
First, I actually kinda like that some Pokemon suck competitively. Like, think about it from a world-building perspective. Would it really make sense for every single Pokemon to be able to compete against every single other Pokemon? Like take Plusle. That red-eared rabbit thing. No, I don't want Plusle to be viable in OU when there's things like...name any Pokemon in OU. It's a baby rabbit thing. It's not there for that. It's purpose is to be a small rodent that lives in the world. And while maybe it's not useful for battle, who knows? It might make a good pet.
I also like how Black and White had entirely new Pokemon during the main game. Remember that the four previous regions were all based on Japan, while Unova was based in the United States. It makes sense that there wouldn't be much, if any, overlap between the Pokemon you can encounter in each. Heck even within the japan-based regions there's a ton of variability, so the complete lack of overlap between gens I-IV and gen V makes sense to me.
In addition, I like that, of those gen V Pokemon, a lot of them look like previously-introduced Pokemon. Doesn't that happen in the real world too? There are all sorts of species that end up evolving to look alike on earth. Some have a common ancestor. Some just so happen to evolve the same way. I mean, look at bats and birds. They both have wings yet they're totally unrelated, right? One or both explanations probably apply to what's happening here. Like, it really wouldn't surprise me if Geodude and Roggenrola were related in some way. Or Tauros and Bouffalant. Even from a non world-building perspective I like it. The fact that they look so similar yet are not quite the same kinda drills a feeling of uncanny valley into you. And to some extent, I feel like that's what Gen V was trying to do.
I also love the new Gen VI EXP Share. Now now, no need to sic your pitchforks and torches on me yet, let me explain. Way back when, when you were playing a Pokemon game, and you replaced one of your team members with a new Pokemon, you had to constantly switch it out into battle to train it. In fact, if the Pokemon was too low a level, you actually had to backtrack to an older area to get it up to respectable levels.
While you could argue this adds some sort of challenge to the game, it was a little...grinding to say the least. This lead to most of my team being composed of early game Pokemon, as by the time I came across something new, it was often too low a level to be worth the effort of bringing it up to par with my current team. It's not that I didn't want to use later-game mons; it was just too cumbersome to bring them up to speed, especially if you don't even know if the Pokemon will be worth it. After all, every generation introduces new Pokemon, and it's not like we know all of their properties right away. Heck, if the ever-changing meta-game is any indication, we still don't seem to know everything that these creatures can and can't do.
Enter the Gen VI EXP Share. Now, whenever you catch a Pokemon, you can just have it sit on your team and keep travelling, and eventually it should be at a high enough level to test it out. While this does make the game easier, possibly to the point where it stops being fun for some people, it finally gives people like me a chance to experiment with other Pokemon. Is one of your Pokemon too weak? You're totally free to switch it out now, with no consequence. I've found my X play-through to be a lot more tolerable than the games of previous generations as a result.
But wait, it gets even better! If you don't like the new EXP Share, and you find the game too easy as a result, you can also turn it off! Thus both those who like it and those that don't can enjoy the same game together!
...Jeez that last one went on for awhile. Oops. I'll probably say more in future posts.
Gen 2 probably has my favourite starters in the entire series (so far). Their very design bursts with personality, and what I find even more amusing is that their personalities correspond with one of their recommended natures: Chikorita is a docile and calm Pokemon, Totodile is jolly and hyperactive, and Cyndaquil is shy and timid. Possibly unintentional, but I still love it.
I think Gen 2 has some of the best Pokemon, I'm attached to so many of them. Entei, Suicune, and Raikou are my favourite legendary trio, and Espeon and Umbreon are my favourite Eeveelutions. I love that Espeon and Umbreon evolve with friendship, especially since on the competitive scene, both usually take support roles.
Couldn't agree more, the Johto starters (along with Kanto) are really special to me and their base form designs especially really fit each type so perfectly. They also purely represented each type faithfully without having a second typing- which in a way is a bit too plain compared to other starters but I see the Johto starters as the purest. The fact they were also so hard to obtain for a time, especially in Gen 3 made the increased their value and a feeling of longing for nostalgia so there's just something so special about this batch of starters. Also, you can't deny Cyndaquil's cuteness.
Actually, Gen 2 designs in general just strike a perfect balance of bringing something refreshing to Pokemon without having rehashes or expys of older pokemon (for example, Gen 3's Butterfly being the Butterfree or Gen 5's Conkeldurr being the Machamp). They were refreshing enough to be sequels and extensions as GS were meant to be, instead of trying to recreate a whole new region with new roles to be fulfilled. I've enjoyed the Johto designs the most since a lot of them seem very cheery, colorful and brimming with personality. Examples include the cheery Jumpluff line and Bellossom, gentle Mareep family, the trickster-looking Murkrow, the adorable baby pokemon, the mysterious new Espeon/Umbreon, the badass Houndoom family and Steelix, slow-witted Quagsire family- and lastly, who can forget Wobbuffet and his trademark expression! It's just so much easier to connect a personality to each design for me than other gens because there was no pressure of making a whole new region/world from scratch.
Now onto other things:
-Diamond dust in Snowpoint in Gen 4 is such a neat detail just because it's a rare and special event. It's a neat little easter egg with the special snow visual and cool how (at first) it was to celebrate Junichi's Masuda birthday. Useless but neat thing.
-Unown. Yes essentially they are useless but it's a neat thing they took the time to design one for every letter of the alphabet so it made collecting them back in Gen 2 a fun sidequest.
-Gamefreak's trend of adding movepool additions in 3rd versions of the game. One of the most popular game-changing ones was Scizor and Bullet Punch in Platinum which changed Scizor's viability forever. It keeps the 3rd version unique and adds something new while in the same generation and I'm always up for more moves to increase a Pokemon's playstyle and usefulness.
-Giratina coming down from above in the Distortion World in Platinum, Aaron jumping down as his entrance animation in the Platinum Pokemon League and Koga doing a side ninja entrance in HGSS is a neat detail that stands out from the standard entrance animation.
-Actually, trainer animations in general. So glad B2W2 took the time to animate every trainer sprite, it gives not only important characters but each trainer so much more personality and life. Things like the female clerk grabbing a rolling Pokeball on the floor and the male clerk trying to balance a battle and a work call just makes thing so lively. I really appreciate all these extra frames that add to the experience and make Unova a more busy, bustling kind of region. Add the constant Pokemon sprite animations and I just find the Gen 5 had the most dynamic battles because something is always moving, especially when you do Triple battles.
-A very useful detail in BW is when a Pokemon is hit, the HP bar momentarily shows the damage done in black so you get a very quick visual cue of how much percentage an attack overall did before the HP bar goes down the new, lower level after the damage is done . Sorry, a bit hard to explain in words.
-Fantina and Roxy: Gym leaders designs that were influenced by their Pokemon. I like the little detail of the plus/cross that Drifblim has on Fantina's dress or Roxy's Scolipede-themed guitar, it just makes you feel they're more connected to their Pokemon- so much that it shows in the way they present themselves. Probably some I missed, but Cynthia also has Lucario's Aura thingies around her hair- I like that they're subtle enough. I certainly don't like it if it was done like those characters I saw in one of those 3D spinoff games where a guy wears an actual Electivire hat- so small design aspects like Cynthia's hair accessory is a right amount of homage to a Pokemon.
While I like bitching, gushing can be really fun, too.
If you run from Giratina in Platinum instead of beating/catching it, Cyrus' dialogue will change slightly to comment on it. I like how something so insignificant that could have been ignored was taken into account.
Blue's Champion Battle theme is the one that plays at the IRL VGC Finals. It's a pretty cool theme and I like how it was chosen over the others since I feel it's more fitting than Red's Champion theme for the situation.
If you buy the soundtrack for Ruby and Sapphire, it comes with a remix of the Champion Battle theme called "Steven Stone". At several points you can hear in-game battle cries: once the theme starts picking up you hear Steven sending out Skarmory, halfway through you hear the player's Milotic come out to use Surf against his Claydol, and at the end the player sends out a Blaziken against his Metagross and is implied to OHKO it. It's just a really neat addition that adds to the remix very well.
I love how Mewtwo's Battle theme in XY is half chiptune from the Wild Battle music and half remix. I'm a sucker for that kind of music and they pull it off very well.
The franchise contains a crap-ton of shout-outs all throughout the games, but my favorites have to be from Diamond and Pearl (and Platinum). One of the Galactic Grunts mentions the "For Massive Damage" meme from that one Sony E3 presentation, while later on there's a reference to a Something Awful Let's Player's run of a Pokemon game (Crystal I think?). I never read that LPer's stuff but I thought it was pretty cool to have something like that in.
Most of the Delta Episode was ruined by Zinnia, but the ending made up for it because it was awesome. Right before Deoxys emerges from the rock, it makes a bunch of weird movements. These movements mirror the Strength puzzle you had to do on Birth Island before you could fight Deoxys, which is a pretty cool call back.
For the love of God don't reply to my points with a wall of text on every single one.
The franchise contains a crap-ton of shout-outs all throughout the games, but my favorites have to be from Diamond and Pearl (and Platinum). One of the Galactic Grunts mentions the "For Massive Damage" meme from that one Sony E3 presentation, while later on there's a reference to a Something Awful Let's Player's run of a Pokemon game (Crystal I think?). I never read that LPer's stuff but I thought it was pretty cool to have something like that in.
I'll just reply to this one. I remember hearing that one of the translators was big on Something Awful forums. Other things include an artist that you inspire to painting a picture called "My Pokemon is fight" (after the book "My Tank is fight")
Most of the Delta Episode was ruined by Zinnia, but the ending made up for it because it was awesome. Right before Deoxys emerges from the rock, it makes a bunch of weird movements. These movements mirror the Strength puzzle you had to do on Birth Island before you could fight Deoxys, which is a pretty cool call back.
Back in the GBA era, there was that (obviously fake) rumor circulating online about how you could go to space from the Mossdeep Space Center and catch Jirachi when one of the scientists there say that there are 100 (or something close to that) successful shuttle launches. I still find it awesome and a little ironic that we actually do get to do that in the remakes (albeit for a Deoxys instead of Jirachi). Goes to show that Game Freak listens more closely to what we say online than we may think.
It's All Latin To Me: Honestly creating scientific names for all the species of Pokemon sounds like a small fan project (shouldn't be hard to do now that we have an example with Oddish's. Sounds like you modify the Pokemon's first name plus adding a Latin-ish sounding descriptor). Actually one thing I've always wanted to do was collect all the Pokedex entries and combine them together into one single Dex entry since each gen the Pokedex tends to repeat the same facts. Actually that gives me another idea for something I like but that's for the bottom.
And That's Why Tiers Exist: True that naturally some Pokemon would be better than others which is why certain Pokemon need to find a gimmick they do really well to help them stand out. Mega Evolutions are helping too like by making Mega Pidgeot the best Hurricane user in the game (without needing Rain Dance) and min-maxing Beedrill. Though now that it looks like GF is trying to make all Pokemon have a gimmick they can work worth maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea for them to really take a look at some old Pokemon and adjust their stats and movepool (and maybe Ability and Type). I'm not suggesting a complete re haul of the Pokemon, just maybe that it can fall in line a bit with modern day design in mind.
Same But Different:Here's a list of approximately how many species of animals there are (not to mention my list here on these forums). Pokemon has so many species to choose from that I don't see why people say they're running out of ideas. Even the Pokemon we call the "gen rodents/birds/bugs/Pikaclone" have a wide of animals. For the rodents we have a rat, ferret, tanuki, beaver, chipmunk/meerkat, and a rabbit; the birds we have a finch/sparrow, owl, swallow, starling, pigeon/dove, and a robin; the bugs we have a swallowtail caterpillar & wasp larva, spider & ladybug, swallowtail/moon moth caterpillar, bagworm, Silver-spotted Skipper caterpillar, and a devil caterpillar (Scatterug, or rather Vivillon, is more based on a concept of divergent evolution rather than a specific bug); and the Pikaclones is a mouse (including Pichu since its part of the Pikachu family), rabbits, squirrel, flying squirrel, and a gerbil. Combine that with concepts that some of them have and you have a wide range of animals despite being combined in the same group. It still baffles me how people were claiming Zebstrika and Bouffalant were expies of Rapidash and Tauros despite them being based on a zebra, buffalo, horse/unicorn, and bull (respectively).
Entrance Animations: The special entrances were great, and even normal Pokemon get a bit of it in BW. When you send out a heavy Pokemon who doesn't fly/float they make a boom when they hit the ground after being sent out. Also the Diglett family form out of the ground instead of in the air, another nice touch. I think they also do it in 3D, though what they lost was the trainer animations except for the few special ones they don't use the stock art for. I'm hoping in the future they either give more and more trainers 3D models or maybe just create a short 2d animation video for those not getting 3D models.
Trainer Cosplay: Fantina and Roxie aren't the only special trainers that cosplay. The Colosseum Leaders in Battle Revolution defining trait were dressing up as a Pokemon (though oddly only one of them used the Pokemon they were dressed up as), otherwise they were no different from the Colosseum Masters. Now while the Masters did have their own design which were rememberable (well, Sashey at least, Joe and Kruger just wore suits), when I think of the bosses from BR I think of Dusty, Taylor, Marina, Rosie, Voldon, and Terell since dressing in Pokemon-esque clothes let them stand out as something different. Let's compare, who's more rememberable, these guys:
Or these guys/gals:
Also you can get the leader's costume when you defeat them on the Level 50 rule, yet oddly not the Masters even though they use the models a player can pick.
Quickies: With respect to the poster, here is my very quick opinions on some stuff they (and others added on) said:
Fleeing Giratina: Never thought to do that, that's neat! Battle Cries: Pokemon battling themes do sound more exciting with the game sounds in the background. Mewtwo Theme: My favorite version of the Gen I Wild Battle used for Mewtwo's theme is the one used in Rumble due to how frantic it is. Deoxys Triangle: The movement puzzle reference was a nice touch, adds a bit more to its alien visual. Memes & Shoutouts: Not just a fan of the Something Awful Forums, the lead translator, Nob Ogasawara, was a member of the Something Awful Forums. Other facts about him is that from the Gen II to Gen IV games he has a Black Belt named after him (though in FRLG its a hiker) and he named the entire Hoppip family.
Now for something new:
CAP: I think everyone on here can agree one of the best aspects of Pokemon is how it can bring people from all over the world together! And not only just to battle and trade, but also to talk about their experiences and maybe even do Pokemon-based project. Though anyone can just create a Pokemon, Smogon's Create-A-Pokemon is an amazing idea as I wouldn't be surprised if how real Pokemon were made by a community. Okay, the real Pokemon probably had people who are more focused and professional, but still CAP's Pokemon are as impressive as normal Pokemon all due to fans dedication.
It's All Latin To Me: Honestly creating scientific names for all the species of Pokemon sounds like a small fan project (shouldn't be hard to do now that we have an example with Oddish's. Sounds like you modify the Pokemon's first name plus adding a Latin-ish sounding descriptor). Actually one thing I've always wanted to do was collect all the Pokedex entries and combine them together into one single Dex entry since each gen the Pokedex tends to repeat the same facts. Actually that gives me another idea for something I like but that's for the bottom.
A fanart thread in Smeargle's Studio from way back when made a pretty solid Latin-ish naming system. Just the Pokémon's type in Latin, plus its regular English name. Aquaero Gyarados, Anima Slaking, Chloroterrus Torterra, et cetera. Works well for me, although both Oddish' and Kabutops' canon Latin names would be "overwritten". Chloropestillus Oddish, for instance.
I really love that ORAS expanded the Scorched Slab. I think any of us encountering it in RSE found the TM and were just like... is that it? Really? Just this random cave in the middle of nowhere and this is all I get for going out of my way? Kind of... boring. I mean, I know there's some Japanese Mythology to it... but even then Scorched Slab doesn't do that justice. It's like this part of ORAS was worked upon by someone with that mindset because now it's home to a few nice items, a Charizardite Y and a Heatran - the former being really cool because Charizard Y summons the sun like the TM did. It's really cool that they paid this much attention and gave a point to this weird little detail from the original games.
This simple song somehow makes me tear up whenever I hear it. I'm so happy that they brought it from Gen 5 to X and Y; it's one of my favourite songs of the entire Pokémon franchise and I can't help but reminisce about the past when I listen to it.
I really love that ORAS expanded the Scorched Slab. I think any of us encountering it in RSE found the TM and were just like... is that it? Really? Just this random cave in the middle of nowhere and this is all I get for going out of my way? Kind of... boring. I mean, I know there's some Japanese Mythology to it... but even then Scorched Slab doesn't do that justice. It's like this part of ORAS was worked upon by someone with that mindset because now it's home to a few nice items, a Charizardite Y and a Heatran - the former being really cool because Charizard Y summons the sun like the TM did. It's really cool that they paid this much attention and gave a point to this weird little detail from the original games.
While not entirely related to this, I do like how Sea Mauville reflects FR/LG's Naval Rock in Ho-Oh and Lugia's Hoopa ring placements. They aren't in the same spot between both versions; Ho-Oh is about as high up on this half-sunken facility as you can get while Lugia is deep underwater in the basement. They could have had them both pop out of the upper one, yet they didn't, and that's a neat little touch. Either one, the Beedrillite, and Spiritomb also give some incentive to return later for more than just the Ice Beam TM. (though it kind of brings into question why an Odd Keystone containing it was there in the first place... Sea Mauville's history isn't a happy one)
And That's Why Tiers Exist: True that naturally some Pokemon would be better than others which is why certain Pokemon need to find a gimmick they do really well to help them stand out. Mega Evolutions are helping too like by making Mega Pidgeot the best Hurricane user in the game (without needing Rain Dance) and min-maxing Beedrill. Though now that it looks like GF is trying to make all Pokemon have a gimmick they can work worth maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea for them to really take a look at some old Pokemon and adjust their stats and movepool (and maybe Ability and Type). I'm not suggesting a complete re haul of the Pokemon, just maybe that it can fall in line a bit with modern day design in mind.
While I agree with this, what I was getting at is that I like the fact that some Pokemon are outright not competitive. Even if it were possible, I'd find it weird if every species discovered thus far just so happened to work well in battles--a phenomenon that, in-universe, was created arbitrarily by humans. It shows that the world does not revolve around us, and has no obligation to conform to our rules. And I kind of like that, honestly.
Same But Different:Here's a list of approximately how many species of animals there are (not to mention my list here on these forums). Pokemon has so many species to choose from that I don't see why people say they're running out of ideas. Even the Pokemon we call the "gen rodents/birds/bugs/Pikaclone" have a wide of animals. For the rodents we have a rat, ferret, tanuki, beaver, chipmunk/meerkat, and a rabbit; the birds we have a finch/sparrow, owl, swallow, starling, pigeon/dove, and a robin; the bugs we have a swallowtail caterpillar & wasp larva, spider & ladybug, swallowtail/moon moth caterpillar, bagworm, Silver-spotted Skipper caterpillar, and a devil caterpillar (Scatterug, or rather Vivillon, is more based on a concept of divergent evolution rather than a specific bug); and the Pikaclones is a mouse (including Pichu since its part of the Pikachu family), rabbits, squirrel, flying squirrel, and a gerbil. Combine that with concepts that some of them have and you have a wide range of animals despite being combined in the same group. It still baffles me how people were claiming Zebstrika and Bouffalant were expies of Rapidash and Tauros despite them being based on a zebra, buffalo, horse/unicorn, and bull (respectively).
Agreed. I've always been impressed by the wide variety of Pokemon we've been getting every generation, if not stat-wise, then at least design-wise. You can argue all you want that Typhosion is unoriginal for having Charizard's exact base stats, but when I look at it, Typhosion still seems...different to me. Probably because it's not a reptile. Even the Gen V Pokemon that are "obviously" expies of previous Pokemon are still unique, at least from a world-building perspective. After all, Machamp has four arms, and Conkeldurr doesn't. If I lived in the Pokemon world, I would easily be able to tell these different kinds of Pokemon apart. But of course, since this world is being forced into a game cartridge, it has to follow specific game mechanics, leading to a lot of Pokemon ending up with similar typings and stats. Probably why a lot of these Pokemon are derided for being similar, despite their designs. Oh well, maybe that's just the price we pay for getting to experience the world of Pokemon.
Now for more things I like.
Black and White spoilers alert!
I like how the main story of Black and White ends. You're lead to believe you'll fight Alder, the champion, after fighting the Elite Four, since you fight the champion at the end of every Pokemon game. So that's what happens, right? WRONG! When you get to the champion's room, you learn that N just defeated the champion, and ultimately you end up fighting him and his father instead. It's just a nice little wake-up call for those of us who were nodding off at that point, expecting things to end the way they always do. That, my friends, is what we call a plot twist.
I also like how some generations introduce evolutions to Pokemon from previous generations. It really goes to show how interconnected the Pokemon world is.
