^^ Well, I think it's basically the first time a game in the series had any actual characters outside of the rival and evil team. I was always completely baffled to see people talk about the importance of who was the champion, the gym leaders, etc. They're usually just avatars with a name slapped on.
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Little things you like about Pokémon
- Thread starter Kurona
- Start date
They ocassionally took some more relevance. For instance, when Giovanni was revealed as Kanto's 8th gym leader; the more involved champions got in the plot with each game (except XY goddamn it Diantha); and BW in particular is notable for expanding the roles of the Gym Leaders a little.
But yes, by and large, they're trying a lot more with the characters in Sun/Moon than with the previous games and I really appreciate that.
The Trial Captains (and their trials) have so much personality compared to most other Gym Leaders (special mention to Kiawe's trial for being the best in the game). Taking another stab at XY, that's the only generation where I don't remember over half the Gym Leaders (Viola, Wulfric and...who again?) but as you said, SuMo has taken characters to another level. Seriously, I feel that this game has so much personality compared to other Pokemon games and I love it.
Perfection.
How come I did not notice one of the Marowak looked like it was holding a camera?
Perfection.
The Photobomb Trial is, if not the best part of the game, one of the best.
I think the only Trial I did not 'like' was the one in Poni (because there wasn't really any). The three in Akala (between a Wishiwashi emerging like Leeches in Resident Evil 0, the photobombers and the extreme innuendos of Mallow's trial) and Acerola's were the best.
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At the same time, France is closer to be considered "West" of Japan and Kalos has West Sea Gastrodon in its Friend Safari...
This could also make sense considering only West Sea Gastrodon can be found in Kalos.
This is badly broken in ORAS given each forme is found in the same places, on different versions, however...
Are you sure? I'm pretty sure that Hoenn is based on a part of Japan, like Sinnoh, meaning that it would probably be hospitable to both variants of Gastrodon.
My theory is that it's naturally a western area, so West Gastrodon is the native variant, but after the events initiated by Primal Kyogre, the East variants took over somehow.
Checked again and they only become available to catch after dealing with Groudon or Kyogre.
Maybe it originally hosted West Sea Gastrodon (as you think), but the Kyogre-induced flood drifted them away and brought East Sea Gastrodon.
A little thing, but I thought it was neat how the Alola E4 know how many of them are left given they can be faced in any order. Like if you faced Olivia second she'll tell you you still have two more to beat.
Same for Kalos and Unova. It is a cool little thing to see, although it is kind of interesting to wonder how exactly they know.
(Just saw this edit)
I like the idea in concept. It was the first ever trial of Alola, it makes sense to be simple. The issue is that the trial is almost an exact copy of trial of Lana's (fight two wild Pokemon before Totem boss) so it isn't even that unique. At least the other trials that had you fight wild Pokemon did other things as well. The Normal one had a Skull Grunt + the first Raticate "puzzle" (Gumshoos I think for Pokemon Sun?)), the Electric one had the Security Door puzzle and the Ghost one had the PokeFinder. I suppose you could consider Vast Poni Canyon as part of the trial, but the gate is after most of it so it doesn't pass.
(One session before)The Trial Captains (and their trials) have so much personality compared to most other Gym Leaders (special mention to Kiawe's trial for being the best in the game). Taking another stab at XY, that's the only generation where I don't remember over half the Gym Leaders (Viola, Wulfric and...who again?) but as you said, SuMo has taken characters to another level. Seriously, I feel that this game has so much personality compared to other Pokemon games and I love it.
Perfection.
"My Hiker friend was so pleased by your right answer that he simply had to battle you! Come, my fine Hiker!"
Aside of the also funny But Thou Must choose that suspicious lizard, I actually laughed pretty hard at how he described it exactly the same like before. If this is equivalent of a formal gym, then this is the best gym ever.
Yup, I must say Trials instead of gyms were a controversy, but after trying how stupidly hilarious many of them, I say it is actually better than the usual gyms that other regions should learn to incorporate the gym leader's personality to their "challenges" like the trial captains do.
On that matter too, the Trial theme music helps so much. The gym music is done for long, but the Trial music is a cheerful yet energetic tune that helps synergically with the funniness of the trials. I won't regret saying the Alolan trials are better than the gyms.
Save for the Ghost one though. That's tragic instead, seeing Mimikyuu envying Pikachuu so much... which is also impressively moving as much.
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Actually, in this one I was suspicious that it could be a trick answer as I was thinking "But Salazzle can be any of these three!".
Then I read all three were indeed Salazzle.
There's a lot to gush about in Sun/Moon so I'll try (and fail) to be brief):
1. The fact that somebody at Gamefreak took a look at my Pokemon wishlist when designing the new 'mons. The big ones being:
-Poison finally got there first Legendary Pokemon in Nihilego (along with some great new additions in Toxapex, Salazzle, and even Alola Muk)
-Bug got a bunch of great additions picking up where Gen 5 left off (Araquanid, Golisopod, Pheromosa, Vikavolt, and even Ribombee, along with Lunge and the Leech Life buff)
-Rock got many new breakouts from the "slow tank" mold (Lycanroc, Minior, and finally a true special attacker in Nihilego and Diancie retroactively due to Power Gem)
-Ice finally got some much needed buffs in Slush Rush and Aurora Veil, along with more Snow Warning users.
-Terrains became much more usable (arguably too usable...)
-Only one new legendary dragon and he's more a space lobster than anything.
Really, about the only thing I want now is the dolphin pokemon they've been avoiding for years.
2. Boss fights and challenge, sweet mercy I missed you. And it's not just the really great Totem Pokemon battles either; I love the way that most of the rivals and key trainer fights have some strategy to them. Guza shows off priority with First Impression and Sucker Punch, Kukui abuses Stealth Rock, even Nanu uses a confusion and flinch element to him. And the introduction of Z-trainers to show off specific strategies goes pretty far in closing the in-game vs post-game gap that's been a problem since the inception of the series. I love how when you get Substitute they game tells you the right ways to use it (status protection). I've always wanted the metagame to be accesible to everyone and they've finally started to address that in the main-game!
3. Dark finally got a gym leader. Well, "Kahuna" but the spirit is there. Love you Nanu.
4. The characters are great but everyone above has mentioned them so I don't have much more to say.
5. I love how you can tell where all the trial captains live without anybody actually telling you or any sign labeling it. I also love how you find their rooms often a long time before you meet the people that lived there; the amount of story told by seeing Guzma's room loooong before you meet the guy was superb. It's Gamefreak capitalizing on the atmospheric and exploratory storytelling that Pokemon is best suited for.
6. The world. The biggest one for me, this is the first time I really felt that Gamefreak created a world inhabited by people and Pokemon. Before they always seemed separated slightly, like the mechanics, story, and setting had pokemon in it but was largely just full of humans first and foremost. HG/SS came close to touching it, but still interactions between pokemon and people felt artificially limited.
These games did a lot to bridge that. The Machamp at the graveyard, the boy and his Drifloon, the little way that Lillie or Kukui always mention whatever pokemon is in the first slot, the way your starter chooses you, the Oranguru with a master in jail, the Eevee sidequest, even the way Meowth wakes you up, all these tiny details finally made the game feel like a living breathing real place and less like a video game.
1. The fact that somebody at Gamefreak took a look at my Pokemon wishlist when designing the new 'mons. The big ones being:
-Poison finally got there first Legendary Pokemon in Nihilego (along with some great new additions in Toxapex, Salazzle, and even Alola Muk)
-Bug got a bunch of great additions picking up where Gen 5 left off (Araquanid, Golisopod, Pheromosa, Vikavolt, and even Ribombee, along with Lunge and the Leech Life buff)
-Rock got many new breakouts from the "slow tank" mold (Lycanroc, Minior, and finally a true special attacker in Nihilego and Diancie retroactively due to Power Gem)
-Ice finally got some much needed buffs in Slush Rush and Aurora Veil, along with more Snow Warning users.
-Terrains became much more usable (arguably too usable...)
-Only one new legendary dragon and he's more a space lobster than anything.
Really, about the only thing I want now is the dolphin pokemon they've been avoiding for years.
2. Boss fights and challenge, sweet mercy I missed you. And it's not just the really great Totem Pokemon battles either; I love the way that most of the rivals and key trainer fights have some strategy to them. Guza shows off priority with First Impression and Sucker Punch, Kukui abuses Stealth Rock, even Nanu uses a confusion and flinch element to him. And the introduction of Z-trainers to show off specific strategies goes pretty far in closing the in-game vs post-game gap that's been a problem since the inception of the series. I love how when you get Substitute they game tells you the right ways to use it (status protection). I've always wanted the metagame to be accesible to everyone and they've finally started to address that in the main-game!
3. Dark finally got a gym leader. Well, "Kahuna" but the spirit is there. Love you Nanu.
4. The characters are great but everyone above has mentioned them so I don't have much more to say.
5. I love how you can tell where all the trial captains live without anybody actually telling you or any sign labeling it. I also love how you find their rooms often a long time before you meet the people that lived there; the amount of story told by seeing Guzma's room loooong before you meet the guy was superb. It's Gamefreak capitalizing on the atmospheric and exploratory storytelling that Pokemon is best suited for.
6. The world. The biggest one for me, this is the first time I really felt that Gamefreak created a world inhabited by people and Pokemon. Before they always seemed separated slightly, like the mechanics, story, and setting had pokemon in it but was largely just full of humans first and foremost. HG/SS came close to touching it, but still interactions between pokemon and people felt artificially limited.
These games did a lot to bridge that. The Machamp at the graveyard, the boy and his Drifloon, the little way that Lillie or Kukui always mention whatever pokemon is in the first slot, the way your starter chooses you, the Oranguru with a master in jail, the Eevee sidequest, even the way Meowth wakes you up, all these tiny details finally made the game feel like a living breathing real place and less like a video game.
Actually I more see the Kahuna on Elite Four levels, I mean Hala and Olivia become Elite Four members and Nanu was offered a position too.
Pikachu315111 used Dream Eater.
Enemy stage7_4's dream was eaten!
UBs still aren't "legendary" by the normal definition though. They are just Pokemon from a totally different universe all together.
I wish there were more variety in what they have, though. It would be cool if they had species completely foreign to the region (I mean, those forms are, but...). If the developers don't want to include things the player can't catch (which is stupid), this could be limited to what's obtainable with Island Scan (possibly providing an explanation for the presence of those 'mons in the region).
Something neat I learned while completing the dex was that Alola forms have their own themes when evolving! I though that was a nice touch that make Alola forms feel a bit more unique.
Regular Theme
Alolan Form Theme
Alolan Form Theme