Let's talk Pokemon!
Oct. 17th, 2013 11:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
soc_puppetSeriously, let's.
[Content Note: Heterocentrism, brief binarism]
SPOILERS AHOY. Consider yourself warned.
Okay, so. When the graphic for the four lady scientists was put out, I was like, OMG! Does this mean that we're finally going to have a chief baddie that's a woman?! And then I remembered/found out that Team Flare was dedicated to making a more "beautiful" world, and I'm like... Really? We're finally potentially getting a woman in charge of the baddies and her goal is to make the world prettier? Seriously, Pokemon, girls and women have other goals in life! I have heard all about Pokemon Conquest, and I want absolutely NO MORE of that ANYWHERE.
And then on playthrough I found out that it's a dude in charge again, and I now don't know what to feel.
We've had pick-one-of-two-genders since Crystal (late Gen II); in Gen IV, we finally had a woman champion, with a girl champion in the Gen V reprise. In Gen V proper, we got our first woman professor. (Her dad popping up to be sciencey at us was a bit disappointing, but I guess we got Fennel as compensation or something.) I didn't even know a woman big bad was something I wanted until I thought that I might get her, and now my feelings about it are all mixed up over it.
MOVING ON to more positive things!
* I am totally loving the new animation. Well, somewhat less so with the fancy camera work, especially in Lumiose (I'm nearing the fifth badge, FYI), but the body language when the POV character bends over to talk to a smaller Pokemon or a child? Actually scooping up things that are on the ground and placing them in your bag? Absolutely everything to do with the effects of Pokemon Amie on battle? Yes, please! More of this!
* Speaking of Pokemon Amie, I also love it! It gives a layer of verisimilitude to interacting with Pokemon, in and out of battle, and especially regarding the "affection" thing that was introduced in Gen II. The extra in-battle bonuses (and being able to pet them after!) are really fantastic and a great way of incorporating the "friendliness" thing into wider gameplay, and I am totally addicted to the shifting puzzle game. I keep wanting to get a really good pic of one of the photobombing Pokemon, but I haven't had any luck yet; I have had a few in good position, but they're all facing away from the camera :( Boo!
* Vivillon! I am totally collecting them. Just this afternoon, I was lucky enough to snatch up a Sun form and a River form. Sun form Vivillon has the Pokerus, too! I'm still missing Tundra, Icysnow, Archipelago, Sandstorm, Monsoon, Savanna, Ocean, and Jungle. My game-native form is Modern; not the pattern I'd have gone with if given a choice, but it's grown on me.
* My team: I started with Froakie, who is already a Greninja. I've also got Talonflame, Vivillon (Modern pattern), Doublade, Dedenne, and Gourgeist. I just traded for Gourgeist yesterday - I don't remember what I traded, but it was for a female Pumpkaboo at level one, and since that Pokemon evolves by trading... Anyway, I love her to pieces. I have no idea what "size" she is, and I've barely used her in battle at all, (I'm still raising her up; most of my team is around level fifty, which is almost ridiculously over-leveled, and unintentionally so at that; she's only in her twenties, and Dedenne, another recent addition, is in her forties.) but she is rapidly becoming a favorite of mine. It doesn't hurt that she has Pickup, one of my favorite abilities. (So does Dedenne; I was aiming for that, actually, and unlike with my preferred abilities for Scatterbug and Bunnelby (Compound Eyes and Pickup again, respectively), I managed to get it on the first try. Score!) I'm also loving her typing. Between her and Talonflame, I knew who my starter was going to be. (I was feeling fairly iffy about Greninja's tongue-scarf up until I saw its animated body language. Giving it Generic Male Ninja Name #1 was totally the best decision, end of story. (If I would have gotten a female Froakie, I'd probably have had to rack my brain for Generic Female Ninja Name #1 and then accidentally called her something else instead.))
I'm currently hemming and hawing over whether to keep Doublade on my team. On the one hand, she's pretty fantastic, has great typing (I'm a bit of a sucker for the recent ghost combos, I must admit), and can learn False Swipe, which none of my other current Pokemon can and is reasonably vital-ish. On the other hand, the Diggersby I raised up is part ground, for a great immunity to electricity, and, as part-normal, gets same-type-attack-bonus from two HM moves, and has Pickup besides. (Seriously, three new Pokemon that have Pickup, and the ones that evolve keep it? Excuse me while I swoon. I was so disappointed when Gen V only had the one, which lost it when it evolved - and if I'm using the Pokemon to collect items, it's not like I can just hand it an Everstone forever, right? Right!) This is especially pertinent considering I'm about to challenge the Electric-type gym. Another thing: since Pokemon Amie increases the chance of landing critical hits, that makes False Swipe all the more important when it comes to catching Pokemon. I don't usually care for doubling up on types, and I've already got a Flying overlap between Vivillon and Talonflame, so this ghost doubleup is making me twitchy, but I like Doublade's design so much more than Diggersby.
If I get right down to it, the two big things are False Swipe and the nickname I gave Diggersby, which I now totally regret. If I go and change the nickname, which seems likely, it'll be a much closer race.
* Let's talk leveling and so forth. Exp Share! I'm mostly in favor of the mechanics change it went through? But between that and the exp boost I've gotten from being Forever Friends with my entire party, I kinda feel like my team is getting ridiculously over-leveled. Well, Dedenne and Gourgeist aside, but even they are catching up. Mixed feelings: I has them.
Anyway, that's all I can think of to say on it at the moment. What are your thoughts onyaoi the latest Pokemon games?
[Content Note: Heterocentrism, brief binarism]
SPOILERS AHOY. Consider yourself warned.
Okay, so. When the graphic for the four lady scientists was put out, I was like, OMG! Does this mean that we're finally going to have a chief baddie that's a woman?! And then I remembered/found out that Team Flare was dedicated to making a more "beautiful" world, and I'm like... Really? We're finally potentially getting a woman in charge of the baddies and her goal is to make the world prettier? Seriously, Pokemon, girls and women have other goals in life! I have heard all about Pokemon Conquest, and I want absolutely NO MORE of that ANYWHERE.
And then on playthrough I found out that it's a dude in charge again, and I now don't know what to feel.
We've had pick-one-of-two-genders since Crystal (late Gen II); in Gen IV, we finally had a woman champion, with a girl champion in the Gen V reprise. In Gen V proper, we got our first woman professor. (Her dad popping up to be sciencey at us was a bit disappointing, but I guess we got Fennel as compensation or something.) I didn't even know a woman big bad was something I wanted until I thought that I might get her, and now my feelings about it are all mixed up over it.
MOVING ON to more positive things!
* I am totally loving the new animation. Well, somewhat less so with the fancy camera work, especially in Lumiose (I'm nearing the fifth badge, FYI), but the body language when the POV character bends over to talk to a smaller Pokemon or a child? Actually scooping up things that are on the ground and placing them in your bag? Absolutely everything to do with the effects of Pokemon Amie on battle? Yes, please! More of this!
* Speaking of Pokemon Amie, I also love it! It gives a layer of verisimilitude to interacting with Pokemon, in and out of battle, and especially regarding the "affection" thing that was introduced in Gen II. The extra in-battle bonuses (and being able to pet them after!) are really fantastic and a great way of incorporating the "friendliness" thing into wider gameplay, and I am totally addicted to the shifting puzzle game. I keep wanting to get a really good pic of one of the photobombing Pokemon, but I haven't had any luck yet; I have had a few in good position, but they're all facing away from the camera :( Boo!
* Vivillon! I am totally collecting them. Just this afternoon, I was lucky enough to snatch up a Sun form and a River form. Sun form Vivillon has the Pokerus, too! I'm still missing Tundra, Icysnow, Archipelago, Sandstorm, Monsoon, Savanna, Ocean, and Jungle. My game-native form is Modern; not the pattern I'd have gone with if given a choice, but it's grown on me.
* My team: I started with Froakie, who is already a Greninja. I've also got Talonflame, Vivillon (Modern pattern), Doublade, Dedenne, and Gourgeist. I just traded for Gourgeist yesterday - I don't remember what I traded, but it was for a female Pumpkaboo at level one, and since that Pokemon evolves by trading... Anyway, I love her to pieces. I have no idea what "size" she is, and I've barely used her in battle at all, (I'm still raising her up; most of my team is around level fifty, which is almost ridiculously over-leveled, and unintentionally so at that; she's only in her twenties, and Dedenne, another recent addition, is in her forties.) but she is rapidly becoming a favorite of mine. It doesn't hurt that she has Pickup, one of my favorite abilities. (So does Dedenne; I was aiming for that, actually, and unlike with my preferred abilities for Scatterbug and Bunnelby (Compound Eyes and Pickup again, respectively), I managed to get it on the first try. Score!) I'm also loving her typing. Between her and Talonflame, I knew who my starter was going to be. (I was feeling fairly iffy about Greninja's tongue-scarf up until I saw its animated body language. Giving it Generic Male Ninja Name #1 was totally the best decision, end of story. (If I would have gotten a female Froakie, I'd probably have had to rack my brain for Generic Female Ninja Name #1 and then accidentally called her something else instead.))
I'm currently hemming and hawing over whether to keep Doublade on my team. On the one hand, she's pretty fantastic, has great typing (I'm a bit of a sucker for the recent ghost combos, I must admit), and can learn False Swipe, which none of my other current Pokemon can and is reasonably vital-ish. On the other hand, the Diggersby I raised up is part ground, for a great immunity to electricity, and, as part-normal, gets same-type-attack-bonus from two HM moves, and has Pickup besides. (Seriously, three new Pokemon that have Pickup, and the ones that evolve keep it? Excuse me while I swoon. I was so disappointed when Gen V only had the one, which lost it when it evolved - and if I'm using the Pokemon to collect items, it's not like I can just hand it an Everstone forever, right? Right!) This is especially pertinent considering I'm about to challenge the Electric-type gym. Another thing: since Pokemon Amie increases the chance of landing critical hits, that makes False Swipe all the more important when it comes to catching Pokemon. I don't usually care for doubling up on types, and I've already got a Flying overlap between Vivillon and Talonflame, so this ghost doubleup is making me twitchy, but I like Doublade's design so much more than Diggersby.
If I get right down to it, the two big things are False Swipe and the nickname I gave Diggersby, which I now totally regret. If I go and change the nickname, which seems likely, it'll be a much closer race.
* Let's talk leveling and so forth. Exp Share! I'm mostly in favor of the mechanics change it went through? But between that and the exp boost I've gotten from being Forever Friends with my entire party, I kinda feel like my team is getting ridiculously over-leveled. Well, Dedenne and Gourgeist aside, but even they are catching up. Mixed feelings: I has them.
Anyway, that's all I can think of to say on it at the moment. What are your thoughts on
no subject
Date: 2013-10-18 03:22 pm (UTC)Pokemon Pearl is pretty much my favorite game (though Y is giving it a run for its money) because of how easy it was to fully EV-train your Pokemon through chaining. Super Training has made it into addictive little minigames instead of hours of grinding, which... yes please. I have 3 fully-trained Pokemon and I'm not even into the second gym yet. My Scolipede is level 30 and his attack stat is 98 because I maxed out the EVs. @_@
The Exp Share is wonderful, particularly since I'm doing a Nuzlocke for my first run and can't afford to put a weak Pokemon up front where, frex, Absol* might catch it with Pursuit as I switch it out. Using a single powerful 'mon to drive the whole party's growth? YES PLEASE.
Pokemon Amie is adorable and makes me want a cupcake. I like that they put various styles of minigames into it; I'm very good at Berry Picker, Star can't stand it and plays Head It, which I don't like. Variation for the win!
I am annoyed about Team Hedonist Philosophy, and further annoyed that my (male) avatar can't wear a dress. >:( I'm not 100% sure if I'm annoyed with the Chateau or not - on the one hand, the faux-aristocracy and enormous snobbery of the trainers there is irritating. On the other hand, I can mop up quite handily there, and it's basically an unlimited money-and-XP farm, so that's nice.
I also wish Kalos had more original Pokemon, but the vast numbers of species in each area mean I basically don't know what I'm missing, since I'm avoiding spoilers mostly.. and that's OK. I'll do a non-Nuzlocke run later, and catch ALL THE THINGS and have exactly who I want on my team. ^^;
*I want an Absol so, so much. What did I catch on Route 8, the only place they appear? Drifloon. *sigh*
no subject
Date: 2013-10-22 01:13 am (UTC)Exp Share is amazing. Between "experience for all" and "no cutting experience of the lead Pokemon", I am more than sold. I had my doubts when the game told me that ALL my Pokemon would be getting Exp when it was switched on, not just whichever one was holding it, since I remembered the EXP ALL from Gen I and how flipping annoying it was to read six Pokemon in a row getting Exp. I was ultra relieved when the game just listed "other Pokemon" en masse instead. I don't know that I would've used it otherwise.
I'm pretty good at Berry Picker myself, but prefer Normal number of berries to Hard number of berries, and prefer limited time to unlimited time, despite the super-completely-awesome Pokepuffs available for a really long string in Unlimited. (Cherry blossoms and autumn leaves on top! They are sooooo gorgeous! I really wanna see more than just the first two...) I'm terrible at Head It, for whatever reason. I was more than a little apprehensive about the puzzle game, since I first interpreted the rules as the puzzle pieces continuing to move rather than the picture itself, but playing it sorted that out nicely. I love the chance to get better still shots of the Pokemon on my team with unusual expressions/poses, and I've gotten pretty good at Hard, so that's what I go with. I have also gotten two really fantastic photobomb!Wigglytuff pics since writing the post, which was awesome.
It totally bites that male avatars can't wear dresses, but I can't say I'm terribly surprised. They must Protect The Children!!1eleventy!, after all. *strains eyes form rolling them so hard*
I also wish Kalos had more original Pokemon. I mean, I understand why not, since the development team already had to animate all the existing Pokemon in 3D as well as any new ones they came up with, AND the Mega Evos on top of that, but still. Since Mega Evos aren't permanent and thus aren't counted as legit new Pokemon, the entitled part of me feels rather cheated. It doesn't help that I want to have a team of all new Pokemon, and having only 68 new species (exactly half of which being evolved forms of new or existing Pokemon) doesn't leave a lot of choices if I don't want type overlap. *sigh*
* My sympathies :( Here's hoping for an exceptionally awesome Absol for you on your next run!