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[Wiseblade]

Rocks haven't been touched. When a move can do up to 50% damage upon entry with only one layer that is completely ridiculous. Sure they added another way to get rid of hazards, but the amount of damage SR does is still broken and is one of the reasons why it's one of the most broken moves in the game. At least Spikes is balanced, you need three layers and even then it can only do up to 25% damage and some pokemon are immune to it. Defog was a bigger nerf to Spikes than SR since you only need one layer of Rocks.

Pretty much. I've been a strong believer that Game Freak should nerf Stealth Rocks to a maximum 33% damage. Give Spikes a buff at the same time to 33% max, too.

 

[MegaManTrigger]

There's nothing strange about the competitive side playing a ruleset that isn't what the single player content uses. Smash has been playing without items for years, and hell, Smogon loves to tell people to do things differently from how the main game works. It's not like the battle style in the story is the same as 1v1 against other people either, the story lets us have unlimited item use, and defaults to allowing the player to switch Pokemon when the opponent does. Meanwhile in the post-game, when the game opens up and finally lets the player build a team worth using competitively, the things like the Battle Tower don't focus on any battle format anymore.

Using Smash as an example is terrible, as the gameplay style remains the same regardless of whether it's single or multiplayer (1v1, Battle Royale), or the use of items. Not to mention, items don't really change the style. Pokemon focuses on 1v1 during single player and then GF focuses on Doubles while ignoring . To clarify, I'm not saying that Doubles shouldn't have some competitive focus, but it's ridiculous to focus solely on Doubles and then ignore Singles as another possible metagame.

Story and multiplayer are separate things, I don't see anything wrong with Game Freak choosing a different format for the competitive side if they feel it works better. They noticed there's no need for silly bans like the sleep clause for doubles to work competitively and decided to run with it.

This makes no sense. Like I said, it's not like GF is handcuffed by Smogon rules, they can create their own rules for single battles. In fact, the way GF and Smogon does Double battles are completely different from each other.

Pretty much. I've been a strong believer that Game Freak should nerf Stealth Rocks to a maximum 33% damage. Give Spikes a buff at the same time to 33% max, too.

To be fair, Spikes is already pretty balanced by the fact that the player has to judge if it's worth wasting turns to increase hazard damage, which is risky. Making Spikes and SR the same damage amount, will only incentivize people to run SR instead because it's safer and wastes less turns. The problem with SR is that it uses type damage, which screws over a lot of (previously and currently) good Pokemon.

 

[wmlk]

The GOAT winter music! Route 216

Overflowing with nostalgia.

Maaaaaaaaaaan. So, so good. Sinnoh wins in every important category for me regarding the single player. The route music just stands out so much in these games. They felt so cohesive especially with the jazzy vibes. Hoenn has this too with its big-band style music. I can't point to any theme in the music for any of the other games, though.

 

[Wiseblade]

To be fair, Spikes is already pretty balanced by the fact that the player has to judge if it's worth wasting turns to increase hazard damage, which is risky. Making Spikes and SR the same damage amount, will only incentivize people to run SR instead because it's safer and wastes less turns. The problem with SR is that it uses type damage, which screws over a lot of (previously and currently) good Pokemon.

Spikes needs the buff. 25% after 3 turns just isn't worthwhile when Stealth Rock out damages it it against tons of popular Pokémon for a single turn of investment. The buffs to Defog make it easier to use entry hazards and discourage their use at the same time. Spikes is disproportionately affected because of the significantly larger turn investment.

If anything, making SR cap at 33% against Pokémon 4x weak to rock and increasing damage for 3 layers of Spikes to 33% would give the latter a unique appeal due to consistency. It'd also be a HUGE buff to Flying Pokémon, especially Fire/Flying and Bug/Flying Pokémon. Taking 50% damage for switching in after one turn of investment is obscene.

 

[CazTGG]

Spikes needs the buff. 25% after 3 turns just isn't worthwhile when Stealth Rock out damages it it against tons of popular Pokémon for a single turn of investment. The buffs to Defog make it easier to use entry hazards and discourage their use at the same time. Spikes is disproportionately affected because of the significantly larger turn investment.

If anything, making SR cap at 33% against Pokémon 4x weak to rock and increasing damage for 3 layers of Spikes to 33% would give the latter a unique appeal due to consistency. It'd also be a HUGE buff to Flying Pokémon, especially Fire/Flying and Bug/Flying Pokémon. Taking 50% damage for switching in after one turn of investment is obscene.

Also worth noting that Toxic Spikes is more useful due to its ability to wear down Pokémon after a few turns via strong poison after two layers as opposed to Spikes one-in-done damage. At this point, using Spikes is only a viable option if Stealth Rock or Toxic Spikes aren't available for your team.

 

[Wiseblade]

Also worth noting that Toxic Spikes is more useful due to its ability to wear down Pokémon after a few turns via strong poison after two layers as opposed to Spikes one-in-done damage. At this point, using Spikes is only a viable option if Stealth Rock or Toxic Spikes aren't available for your team.

Spikes vs Toxic Spikes kind of serve different roles as entry hazards.

Spikes punishes the opponent for frequent switching, encouraging them to keep Pokémon in to avoid slowly wearing themselves down for nothing. Toxic Spikes does the opposite, forcing the opponent to frequently switch before the poison damage builds up too much.

 

[Crocodile]

I never played Diamond & Pearl but I did play Platinum and got hundreds of hours out of it. Maybe my favorite Pokemon game <3

 

[SparksterMeta0]

I liked the new pokemon enough to make a full Sinnoh team; two were new evos from classic Pokemon.

If I remember correctly, my main team was:
Infernape
Mismagius
Roserade
Lopunny
Luxray
and Staraptor.

A lot of the Pokemon designs I really like, Luxray being one of the top on my list.

 

[Rutger]

I didn't mention it in my earlier post, but this gen introducing online play was really big in bringing me back to the series. Knowing that I could get Pokemon I want even if my friends didn't have was great. Though it wasn't until Gen VI that really took advantage of it to make a complete living dex, haha.

My thoughts on its music is that it could be a bit hit or miss, but the hits outweigh the misses. It may not have been as great overall as Gens I, II, and V, but at least it was another massive improvement over III that it made.

Overall I think it had a great selection of new Pokemon. Easily the best set of starters in the series and it gave some old Pokemon some new life with evolutions. Several of the legendary's designs don't stand out to me though, but that's been the case for every Gen except I and II for me so it's not a big deal.

Using Smash as an example is terrible, as the gameplay style remains the same regardless of whether it's single or multiplayer (1v1, Battle Royale), or the use of items. Not to mention, items don't really change the style. Pokemon focuses on 1v1 during single player and then GF focuses on Doubles while ignoring . To clarify, I'm not saying that Doubles shouldn't have some competitive focus, but it's ridiculous to focus solely on Doubles and then ignore Singles as another possible metagame.

Smash's single player modes love free for alls with items on. The use of items greatly changes how the game is played, they become a priority to chase down whenever a good one shows up, the flow of the match is completely different from one with items off.

Smash is a fine example. Single player focuses on a completely different format that will not prepare the player for competitive play.

This is starting to get very off topic though. Whether or not you like the chosen format, my point has simply been that Game Freak does care about the balance in these games.

 

[YAWN]

Maaaaaaaaaaan. So, so good. Sinnoh wins in every important category for me regarding the single player. The route music just stands out so much in these games. They felt so cohesive especially with the jazzy vibes. Hoenn has this too with its big-band style music. I can't point to any theme in the music for any of the other games, though.

All of this.

Though I'd argue Johto had a specific vibe in its OST too, very traditional Japanese feel.

Sinnoh just oozes relaxing atmosphere though. I think the the night time music really added to it. Definitely my favourite gen, region, and sounds track. So Chill.

 

[wmlk]

All of this.

Though I'd argue Johto had a specific vibe in its OST too, very traditional Japanese feel.

Sinnoh just oozes relaxing atmosphere though. I think the the night time music really added to it. Definitely my favourite gen, region, and sounds track. So Chill.

I'd say HGSS Johto has a traditional Japanese sound going for it, but that's mostly the music in Ecruteak City. I don't hear those sounds across the region.