| Your thoughts on Gen 6 so far? | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Apr 13 2015, 04:22 AM (64 Views) | |
| +Bjergsen | Apr 13 2015, 04:22 AM Post #1 |
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The start of a new generation is always a very exciting time for Pokemon fans. With it comes an increased amount of hype, speculation and hope. While the overall formula of Pokemon has not been changed much since it was first introduced, the mechanics and way we play have change by large amount. Every new generation brought with it new things that people either loved or hated. Every generation so far has given us 4 new things guranteed: A graphical update, a playstyle update, new pokemon and an update to he mechanics we play with. Gen 6 has given us all of those things without a doubt, but the question is: how well was it executed? Before I start I would like to point out that the game of reference I'll be using is XY. For the changes to the metagame, of course I'm using ORAS but I'm not using the game itself as its not the premier Gen 6 game, if that makes sense. So first, what do you think of the new Pokemon? After all, the game revolves around them. As far as I'm concerned, they are alright, nothing more or nothing less. There are good ones and bad ones. I somewat think the new 6th Gen Pokes are simply filler because GameFreak always introduced new Pokemon each generation. There were few Pokemon that really made me interested, and a portion of the ones that did were not that great in battle(Noviern, Pyroar etc). I think they did a great job with the Starters but missed a huge oppotunity. Ever since 3rd Gen I dreamed of the starters having secondary typings that counterbalanced each other and yes, Fighting/Dark/Psychic was at the root of that. I think Gen 4 did a very good job at this balance, but it was not perfect. The fact that Fighting/Psychic/Dark are the secondary types for the starters show that GameFreak obviously thought about it, but why they wasted the chance is beyond me. Rant aside, 6th gen also introduced the least amount of new Pokemon in history for a new gen. Am I disappointed? No. 640+ is more than enough, especially since more of half of them are forgettable for a competitive battler. Next, we have the graphical update. Finally, we get fully 3D enviroments and such. Many people were impressed, but are they simply overhyping it? Remember, this is objective as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I say the graphics are decent. There are 3ds titles that blow XY and ORAS out of the water graphical wise but the difference is that those games don't have to hold nearly as much information. XY for example lags a lot just from simply going through the PokeDex. The insane amount of data on the game catridge and the fact that the 3ds has the specs of a 2009 Android phone within itself means lower quality graphics and performace. GameFreak could have optimized it a lot better though, we can't let them off the hook. GTA V is a game filled to the brim with info on the smaller PS3 and Xbox 360 game discs and while game loading and installation is slow, actual gameplay is very smooth and the graphcs still look amazing. I know the 3ds does not have as much power as a console, but GameFreak could have done something to make the compromise worth it. Average graphics and laggy gameplay just does not work. The effects in battle do look really good though, too bad of you turn the 3D on the framerate becomes embarassingly low. So next: the game itself. XY. Subjected to alot of hype in the beginning, ended with a lot of buyers remorse. Lol. First, let me say that I'm not comparing XY to any other game. That would create natural bias, and would be unhealty for my review. Do I think Gold/Silver, Crystal, Emerald,Platinum and BW2 were better? Absolutely. Were RS, DP and BW better though? Absolutely not. XY, I felt was more about the experince. Simply put my first play through of XY was amazing. There was never a Pokemon game that captured me from the start quite as much as XY did. I'm sure from all the hype from the community that "XY is the best pokemon game ever" when it first came it, that other people felt the same way. I may think the graphics are meh, and the pokemon are too, but the overall package is amazing. At least for that initial joyride. Then you realize just how boring the game is. Thanks to the 3ds's washed out color reproduction, and the overall muted color palette of the game, it looks dull. The gyms and elite 4 are extremely easy. The AI has actually gotten considerably dumber and like all Pokemon games leading a new generation before it(besides Gold and Silver) it lacks post game. There is way too much fan service(such as Pikachu's cry being its anime voice). While I thought it was cool when I first noticed it, its too much catering to the Gen 1 fanboys for my taste. Why not give away a free Groundon for the Gen 3 fanboys or a free Darkrai for the Gen 4 fanboys? Sorry, but even if they were trying to get genwunners to come back to the series, the amount of fan service was not needed. If they quit Pokemon because of personal bias, fuck them, don't force something down our throats just for them. That being said, XY gave me buyers remorse as well, espeically since I brought both versions. However they are good games. Just not great. Last but not least: the meta. No, not the Metagross, but the Metagame. I'll make it clear, Gen 5 was my favorite version of the meta but Gen 6 is my next favorite. Gen 6 in many ways beat Gen 5 in a way. Gen 5 was overcentralized in my opinion. Thanks to dream world abilities, we had a majority of teams now being weather based creating the start of the "weather ways". You know how in Emerald, when Kyorge and Groundon were fighting, and the weather went from sunny to rainy repeatedly? Well, put that on loop and you have a good portion of Gen 5's meta. Not only that but the balance was off. Dragons got a even bigger buff, especially considering Dragonite got Multi-Scale and Salamence got Moxie and both swept teams with ease. They didn't really need the buff considering that during 4th gen Smogon had already banned them for being op even without their dream world abilities. On top of that, there was simply an abundance of op sets and stratergies that one could run. It was unbalanced no matter how hard Smogon tried to smooth things out. So what was Gen 6's mission? To balance things out. They introduced Fairy types which nerfed Dragons all the way to NU, and they gave Garchomp a mega that was arguably worst than its base form. They commited a hate crime against dragons this generation, but thats not all. Across the board there were small stat changes, moveset changes and even nerfs to the power that some moves had(such as Thunderbolt and Surf). They nerfed Drizzle, Drought, Sand Stream and Hail, so the weather wars died. What does all of this lead to? More balance of course! At least that was the goal, its arguable if they suceeded. However this generation there is a MUCH diverse amount of Pokemon in the games I play, even OU. There are considerably less ginmicks and op sweep stratergies. Theres more room for smart plays and I must say that when I get matched with a good opponet, it feels more like a chess match than ever. Gen 6's meta feels like Gen 4's. It almost feel like you could use any Pokemon in your team now and do decent if you have enough skill with it. That being said, there are some problems. A chess match, while fun for our minds, is not the most exciting thing in the world, lets be honest. Gen 6's meta is boring. The bans this generation are ridiculous. Mega Gengar? Okay. Mega Lucario? Arguable. Aegislash? What, are you serious? What about Mega Heracross? I've seen those sweep whole teams that are unprepared. Also, when I say there are "less gimmicks" I'm implying that there is less creativity. During my time in 5th gen I saw a lot of amazing things with underwhelming Pokemon that blew my mind with their effectiveness. This gen? Not so much. Who didn't love seeing the Aron/Magikarp sweeps on Youtube? It made things exciting. Sure it only worked because Gen 5 was centralized, so simple thinking outside the box weilded you usually good results, but still. I miss it, it added excitment to the game. Yes, I know of the Parachirusu that put in work at the Pokemon tournament last year but that wasn't a gimmick, that was a normal playstyle against an unprepared player. After all, in VGC you have to deal with ubers, so who would prepare for a Pachirusu? So at the end of my very long and drawn out post, I think Gen 6 as an overall package is decent. I think the meta traded centalization and oppotunity for balance and versatility. The games remind me much or the ongoing Samsung vs Apple debate. BW2 was like a Galaxy phone, crammed with as much stuff as possible and with a high learning curve. XY is like an iPhone, simple, smooth, and focused on the experince, but its missing alot. Overall, I think Gen 6 is the best generation as far as the meta goes. That's me looking at it objectively, even though Gen 5 was my favorite. As far as everything else? Gen 6 falls short in every other catergory in my opinion. Tell me your thoughts below. |
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| Hazard | Apr 14 2015, 07:40 PM Post #2 |
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I love gen 6 xD Competitively ofc. This is the gen where I was at my prime. On game play, its still pretty cool. Mega evolutions released, everything in 3D is cool. (Altho I never even got the game yet but it seems nice) ORAS is part of gen 6 as well, and everyone wanted a hoenn remake. Overall, gen 6 was great |
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| SilverRain | Apr 15 2015, 05:10 AM Post #3 |
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Under The Moonlight
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I like the edition of Fairy type, i always love more types however i was a lot better in gen 5 so i kinda distain gen 6 a bit. |
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8:09 AM Jul 11