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Pokémon Community Thread: Gotta Catch 'Em All!

This potential early release means I'll have to speed up my Pokemon series playthrough. >.<

Finish Emerald -> Transfer FireRed Pokemon to Emerald -> Win all Gold Symbols in Emerald's BF -> Finish Platinum -> Transfer Emerald/FireRed/Platinum Pokemon to HeartGold -> Win all Gold Symbols in HG's Battle Frontier -> Transfer all Emerald/FireRed/Plat/HG Pokemon to White -> ??? -> PROFIT
 
I thought RBYG was a more balanced experience overall than GSC. GSC had a lot of forward thinking ideas such as the Pokegear, Apricorns, Time of Day events and breeding. Some of them weren't implemented very well and felt they put it in out of obligation. These ideas are refined and are actually well thought out in later generations rather than feeling like they were shoehorned in half-heartedly. For example, Time of Day events such as the Bug-Catching contest and the Week Siblings seemed just like the developers trying to pad the game out for more game time. Apricorns seemed pretty useless, as its only function was for creating circumstantial Pokeballs. I far prefer the berry system's implementation of being used as items as well as being Pokeblocks. I felt GSC did Pokegear and breeding very well though. RBYG didn't have as many innovations persay, but I didn't feel like any part of it was underdeveloped or cheap.

In terms of story events, I regard GSC as being quite well structured, although some of it is out of RBYG's book. For example, when you beat the last gym, you return to the home town before heading of to E4 felt like a moment of great game design in GSC but RBYG did the exact same thing. The whole return to Kanto in GSC was fun (although the gyms were way too underleveled) but some of it just felt lazy and uninspiring. For example, Cinnabar City becoming just a rock and a half felt like the developer's gave up. Viridian Forest, the closed Safari Zone and Celadon City are victims of this as well.

Ultimately, this is just my opinion and I just don't like it when people try to justify GSC as being heaps better than RBG, just because of nostalgia and returning to Kanto again. Some of it may sound like bitching about minor points or anything that doesn't agree with me but this is just what I think when I compare Gen 1 to Gen 2. I enjoy Gen 2 a lot but just not as much as Gen 1.
I'm fairly certain you don't add in innovations out of obligation&#8212;rather, you make games out of obligation, which is what has trapped Game Freak ever since they released the original and it caught on. But, while I do think that the advantages of GSC bring it above RBG for the most part, I can see what you're getting at. Johto itself feels spare and rushed due to the limited amount of time and resources GF had to make the game (and the same goes for the abandoned Kanto). And the story design and overall structure of RBG feels a lot more profoundly-coordinated than anything I saw in GSC (Blue's loss of innocence being a key element in that, also cooperating with a clearly-defined audiovisual focus).

Nevertheless, HG/SS was the superior remake.
 

ffdgh

Member
This potential early release means I'll have to speed up my Pokemon series playthrough. >.<

Finish Emerald -> Transfer FireRed Pokemon to Emerald -> Win all Gold Symbols in Emerald's BF -> Finish Platinum -> Transfer Emerald/FireRed/Platinum Pokemon to HeartGold -> Win all Gold Symbols in HG's Battle Frontier -> Transfer all Emerald/FireRed/Plat/HG Pokemon to White -> ??? -> PROFIT

emerald battle frontier has waaaay too much hax to get silver symbols.....heck even gold symbols
 

MikeMyers

Member
I thought RBYG was a more balanced experience overall than GSC. GSC had a lot of forward thinking ideas such as the Pokegear, Apricorns, Time of Day events and breeding. Some of them weren't implemented very well and felt they put it in out of obligation. These ideas are refined and are actually well thought out in later generations rather than feeling like they were shoehorned in half-heartedly. For example, Time of Day events such as the Bug-Catching contest and the Week Siblings seemed just like the developers trying to pad the game out for more game time. Apricorns seemed pretty useless, as its only function was for creating circumstantial Pokeballs. I far prefer the berry system's implementation of being used as items as well as being Pokeblocks. I felt GSC did Pokegear and breeding very well though. RBYG didn't have as many innovations persay, but I didn't feel like any part of it was underdeveloped or cheap.

In terms of story events, I regard GSC as being quite well structured, although some of it is out of RBYG's book. For example, when you beat the last gym, you return to the home town before heading of to E4 felt like a moment of great game design in GSC but RBYG did the exact same thing. The whole return to Kanto in GSC was fun (although the gyms were way too underleveled) but some of it just felt lazy and uninspiring. For example, Cinnabar City becoming just a rock and a half felt like the developer's gave up. Viridian Forest, the closed Safari Zone and Celadon City are victims of this as well.

Ultimately, this is just my opinion and I just don't like it when people try to justify GSC as being heaps better than RBG, just because of nostalgia and returning to Kanto again. Some of it may sound like bitching about minor points or anything that doesn't agree with me but this is just what I think when I compare Gen 1 to Gen 2. I enjoy Gen 2 a lot but just not as much as Gen 1.

The things that annoyed me most was that they nerfed my two favourite Pokemon - Venusaur and Gyarados. Still, I like GSC a lot.
 

frostbyte

Member
I can't really play black and white games(nopokepunsallowed) anymore personally.

I understand that sentiment. I find it hard to go back to certain SNES games even if I played it in my childhood. Without nostalgia, it would be doubly hard to get immersed.

I'm fairly certain you don't add in innovations out of obligation—rather, you make games out of obligation, which is what has trapped Game Freak ever since they released the original and it caught on. But, while I do think that the advantages of GSC bring it above RBG for the most part, I can see what you're getting at. Johto itself feels spare and rushed due to the limited amount of time and resources GF had to make the game (and the same goes for the abandoned Kanto). And the story design and overall structure of RBG feels a lot more profoundly-coordinated than anything I saw in GSC (Blue's loss of innocence being a key element in that, also cooperating with a clearly-defined audiovisual focus).

Nevertheless, HG/SS was the superior remake.

Oh yes, HGSS is a whole different ball game. I felt it added much more to the original than FR/LG did to RBG.

The things that annoyed me most was that they nerfed my two favourite Pokemon - Venusaur and Gyarados. Still, I like GSC a lot.

eh, personally, i don't really care that much about nerfing since I rarely play MP. I do like GSC a lot too, perhaps I enjoy it even a bit more than RBG. But objectively speaking, RBG is a better game overall.
 
This potential early release means I'll have to speed up my Pokemon series playthrough. >.<

Finish Emerald -> Transfer FireRed Pokemon to Emerald -> Win all Gold Symbols in Emerald's BF -> Finish Platinum -> Transfer Emerald/FireRed/Platinum Pokemon to HeartGold -> Win all Gold Symbols in HG's Battle Frontier -> Transfer all Emerald/FireRed/Plat/HG Pokemon to White -> ??? -> PROFIT

Yeah I think this extra time will result in me starting a new game again, with the one starter I haven't chosen yet, Tepig.
 
Just finished reviewing the original Pokemon soundtrack. It's hard to think of things to talk about for a score as simplistic as the original's, but there are some interesting things I put in the review referring to how well the soundtrack complements the plot structure and the game design.

My theory about Junichi Masuda goes like this: great at diversifying and offering a variety of interesting contexts, but never a truly great standalone composer and arranger, at least on the level of Go Ichinose, who does everything Junichi does but better. Junichi's battle themes, of course, keep gtting better and better, and that's never going to change. Go is also always improving, but he did considerably less work on B/W than the new guy, Shota Kageyama (who, might I add, is a lot like Junichi in every way, though even less remarkable since he does a little bit of everything, without as much polish and interesting ideas in his pieces).

—Wow. I'm big on this, aren't I?
 

Gravijah

Member
Just finished reviewing the original Pokemon soundtrack. It's hard to think of things to talk about for a score as simplistic as the original's, but there are some interesting things I put in the review referring to how well the soundtrack complements the plot structure and the game design.

My theory about Junichi Masuda goes like this: great at diversifying and offering a variety of interesting contexts, but never a truly great standalone composer and arranger, at least on the level of Go Ichinose, who does everything Junichi does but better. Junichi's battle themes, of course, keep gtting better and better, and that's never going to change. Go is also always improving, but he did considerably less work on B/W than the new guy, Shota Kageyama (who, might I add, is a lot like Junichi in every way, though even less remarkable since he does a little bit of everything, without as much polish and interesting ideas in his pieces).

—Wow. I'm big on this, aren't I?

is there a good resource for who composes each track?
 
VGMdb is your friend. Just search Pokemon and the soundtracks for each game should be easy to spot among all of the anime music releases. Only Gold and Silver never got any soundtrack release, though, which is really annoying.

Go Ichinose is the leader of the sound team, under which Hitomi Sato, Shota Kageyama, Junichi Masuda, Minako Adachi, and Morikazu Aoki contribute material. From what I've read in that interview I linked to before, the sound team is fairly open to newcomers—thus the reasons why Hitomi, who's also a game planner/designer at the company, also contributes to the sound team. Go is the de facto sound leader simply because he's only particularly good at his music, though he did help design Bushi Seiryuuden with Satoshi Tajiri 15 years back.
 

Emitan

Member
I decided to look through the Pokédex and make a list of all my favorite Pokémon from Gen V. I should make a team out of them.

dewott, whimsicott, krokorok, darmanitan, scrafty, tirtouga, reuniclus, emolga, escavalie, chandelure, accelgor, stunfisk, bisharp, TYMPOLE, Cofagrius
 

Sagitario

Member
I just realized I missed a lot of Dream World promotions [including my Espeon :(]

There is no chance for some of them to be available again, right?
 

Busaiku

Member
I just realized I missed a lot of Dream World promotions [including my Espeon :(]

There is no chance for some of them to be available again, right?

I missed my Leafeon but only because that site was so stupid...
I played the game, it said I got it, but then I never got it.
 

Emitan

Member
Man I should really learn to Pokémon and make a team.

But then I get frustrated and start hacking them and then I get mad and stop.
 
Man I should really learn to Pokémon and make a team.

But then I get frustrated and start hacking them and then I get mad and stop.

That's why I play the games for the story and to get a feel for the new pokemon and just to enjoy myself and end up using Pokemon Online for competitive battling; I like breeding and searching for the pokemon I want, but getting the right IVs and EVs diminishes my enjoyment.
 
Gen 4 i ev'd and breed and I actually kinda liked it , but never got interested in the whole ivs stuff. I never picked it up again due to crossgenerational egg moves, the 3ds coming out like 2 weeks after and various other reasons.
 

Emitan

Member
Gen 4 i ev'd and breed and I actually kinda liked it , but never got interested in the whole ivs stuff. I never picked it up again due to crossgenerational egg moves, the 3ds coming out like 2 weeks after and various other reasons.

YES. FUCK THAT. Wanted to make a Pokémon with a certain move, but that meant I would have to raise a Pokémon in Emerald and take it all the way from there to White just to breed. It's fucking ridiculous.
 
Agreed on the egg moves. On a related note, Pal Park when first introduced was a good idea, but now it just seems like a hassle. I like the fact that there's a way to bring your pokemon to the newer games, and I personally can't think of a better way to do it, but with the amount of pokemon and the time it takes to transfer, I can't see myself completing a National Dex in Gen V or beyond.

Unless of course newer games have all the pokemon in them. (or at least most)
 
Empoleon beats most Rain Dance abusers one-on-one too.
It's one of the reasons I always pack some form of electricity.
I should probably get around raising some of these guys. I already have a Tyranitar but didn't bring it cause I kept believing I will face a non Rain Dance team.
Always expect the worst. Every version of Rain Dance I have ever made has preperations for Blissey, Tyranitar, and Gyarados at least. I stopped playing competitively around the time Ferrothorn became huge in the beginning of 5th Gen, so I don't currently have a strategy for it (not that I need to think of one since I don't really play anymore).
 

Esura

Banned
Agreed on the egg moves. On a related note, Pal Park when first introduced was a good idea, but now it just seems like a hassle. I like the fact that there's a way to bring your pokemon to the newer games, and I personally can't think of a better way to do it, but with the amount of pokemon and the time it takes to transfer, I can't see myself completing a National Dex in Gen V or beyond.

Unless of course newer games have all the pokemon in them. (or at least most)

Why don't they just allow you to...I dunno, transfer all your Pokemons to your heart desires without any bull mini games once you beat the game? Just let me transfer six Pokemons per transfer and keep doing that without any time limits or other restriction besides just six Pokemons per transfer.
 

Lindsay

Dot Hacked
Can't blame me for trying. ;-;

I got Silver Symbols in the Battle Factory & Pike so those are possible... don't give up!

Why don't they just allow you to...I dunno, transfer all your Pokemons to your heart desires without any bull mini games once you beat the game? Just let me transfer six Pokemons per transfer and keep doing that without any time limits or other restriction besides just six Pokemons per transfer.

They need a new PKMN Box! Strange they only made that one.

Just remember you'll never be able to transfer your Knot-Eared Pichu pal ;_;
 

Lindsay

Dot Hacked
i never transfer pokemon. how can you disrespect your new starter by replacing him with the previous model?

I feel abandoning your trainer by sending all of your great PKMN & items off to another region & trainer is more disrespectful! Abandoning a game for dead is so sad. Sure your save files won't last forever but leaving your old games virtual ghost towns always felt wrong.
 

Suairyu

Banned
i never transfer pokemon. how can you disrespect your new starter by replacing him with the previous model?
Your starters are there for the main quest. A true bonding experience between you and your very first Pokémon as you brave the long journey to becoming a Pokémon Champion together.

Once that's done, fuck 'em.
 

D-Pad

Member
After catching the Pokemon he wanted, my brother would pretend his starter Pokemon was killed in battle and store it in the PC and release it. His journeys were always more interesting than mine.
 
They need a new PKMN Box! Strange they only made that one.

Just remember you'll never be able to transfer your Knot-Eared Pichu pal ;_;

That's actually a good idea, perhaps they could implement something when the eventual 3DS games come out, perhaps through an app you can download or something.
 
Alright—time to get advice. I'm finally getting around to doing a full run of B/W, and I'm trying to plan out my team. By the E4, I plan on having:

Samurott
Scrafty
Darmanitan
Excadrill
Jellicent
Haxorus

Haven't played in a while, but this should cover some type weaknesses and, in addition, I won't have to struggle for most of the later part of the game with a lack of good coverage (because I'd rather not wait until Twist Mountain to get started on a Volcarona).
 

upandaway

Member
Alright&#8212;time to get advice. I'm finally getting around to doing a full run of B/W, and I'm trying to plan out my team. By the E4, I plan on having:

Scrafty
Darmanitan
Haxorus

Haven't played in a while, but this should cover some type weaknesses and, in addition, I won't have to struggle for most of the later part of the game with a lack of good coverage (because I'd rather not wait until Twist Mountain to get started on a Volcarona).
You're good to go with either 2 of these 3.

Scrafty for his suspiciously fitting coverage against the E4 types, Darmanitan for his silly base~235 Flare Blitz, and Haxorus just out of having Dragon Dance

Hell you might be fine with either one of them by himself.
 

Emitan

Member
Scrafty for his suspiciously fitting coverage against the E4 types

*looks at Scrafty*
*looks at E4 typings*

MotherOfGod.png


My Darmanitan managed to Fire Punch his way through the whole game, though. I didn't use Scrafty because I already had a fighting type.
 

Anth0ny

Member
Okay cool.

In anticipation of Pokemon Grey, I've been playing a romhack called Pokemon Volt White. It's pretty much a difficulty hack of White. Here's a quick summary:

As aforementioned, the hack allows you to catch all 649 Pokémon in some way or another. This is unaffected by the version chosen to play; encounters are the same in both.

Every single trainer in the game has had their Pokémon edited, fitting a new level curve and increasing the difficulty overall. While not mind crushingly tough, they're sure to provide more of a challenge than the original games were able to. The level curve takes full advantage of the new experience system in Black and White.

A vast number of Pokémon have had certain statistics about them edited. This can be a number of things, including experience rate, typing, base stats and abilities. A lot of Pokémon have been given their Dream World abilities as an option, where applicable and/or useful.

Pokémon have also had additions to their moveset, including additions or alterations to their level up movesets as well as TM and HM compatibility. Level up movesets in particular have been edited for 600+ Pokémon.

There has also been editing of many evolutions, generally involving those Pokémon who generally had to be traded to be evolved. Blaze Black and Volt White are entirely self-contained; no outside contact is required for anything.

Items found in the field have been changed considerably, to include TMs, evolution items and fossils previously only found post-League. The items have been adjusted in such a way that makes it convenient for the game's progress. Where applicable, text has also been changed to reflect these changes. Multiples of certain items, such as the evolution stones, the Lucky Egg and the EXP Share are also given out, all in the name of convenience.

It isn't just trainers and wild Pokémon who have had their levels changed; event Pokémon such as Reshiram and Zekrom have also had their levels changed, ensuring that they don't become useless due to the sharp increase in levels.

All five in-game trades have also been edited, giving you new possibilities for your team.

A small number of attacks have also been changed to make them more useful, generally in terms of power (and rarely, type).

A number of documents are included with the download that allow you to see any and all changes made. Wondering what's new? Where to find something? Consult the guides!

More info here

I beat the Elite 4 last week, and this hack has been really fun so far. The difficulty is perfect. I really wish the actual games followed this kind of difficulty curve. Oh, and being able to catch every Pokemon in a single game is nice too. But don't expect that ever happening.

Give it a try if you want a time killer during the wait for B2/W2. I'm having a blast with the post game content (shit is MAD HARD).
 
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