mZuzek said:
hershel_layton said:
What is Pokemon meant to be? In case I'm wrong Pokemon is simply the term for Pocket Monsters. it has always changed. New types, IV's, EV's, Mega evolution, Z-moves, double battle, 2d to 3d, new villians, etc etc. If we kept the pokemon you envisioned, this game would be nowhere near the success it is having. Leaving Japan was a great decision for Gamefreak. they could've done more with france, but for Hawaii it's obvious they paid attention. the world is huge, we can now have travel pokemon, and Pokemon snap has "returned" by being a new feature. If you ask me, this change is great.
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Now with Sun/Moon, there were A LOT of huge changes like Mega Evolution (UBs, Z-moves, Alola Forms and the lack of gyms altogether), to the point where it just becomes weird and hard to accept for a lot of people. I actually know a lot of friends who were super hyped for Sun/Moon and eventually grew to the point of disgust just like I have, and that's because all of them, and myself, feel like they no longer know the same franchise.
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First of all, you didn't even mention the biggest changes: no more grid movement, dynamic camera angles, realistic proportions of character models, realistic sizes of buildings, cities actually looking like cities, trainers visible in battles, better attack animations, more fully rendered 3D Pokémon in the overworld, better animations in general, real interaction between Pokémon outside of battles (Ride Pokémon, which means the REMOVAL of the much hated HMs), etc.
You might wonder what all these things have in common, it's very simple actually: immersion. Pokémon Sun & Moon's big focus is to bring more immersion to the Pokémon series and it is doing so fantastically.
Alola Forms aren't a radical change at all: it's based on evolutionairy principles that island climates have a unique biodiversity compared to the mainland. It's part of the theory of EVOLUTION. You know, the whole freaking principle Pokémon is based upon? It's a natural evolution of the series and a very clever idea. It makes the Pokémon world feel more alive and dynamic and gives us more background information on Pokémon. I really like to read WHY these Pokémon have changed the way they did and how they adapted to their new environment. All the Alolan Forms are also from the first generation: it's quite clear what Gamefreak's intentions are: fan-service and attracting nostalgic people who grew up with the first generation. This will actually lure the people back who dropped out after the first or second generation. And if you don't like them you can simply ignore them; nobody's forcing you to catch them. There's plenty of new Pokémon to catch.
The Z-moves are no big deal really... They're just eye candy: flashy attack animations to impress the player. If you don't like them then don't use them... You'll still be able to play the singleplayer campaign of the game just fine without them (and mega-evolutions). And it's not like the inclusion of Z-moves is going to ruin the online battle-system anyway. And if it does, I'm sure Gamefreak will balance things out like they always do.
We don't know enough yet about the Ultra Beasts to say what kind of effect it will have on the franchise. It might be a stark departure from the original formula, but that doesn't necesarrily mean it's going to be bad. Pokémon is notorious for having crappy, forgettable, simple and bland stories. This should change things up for the better imo. I've already forgotten pretty much everything about X/Y. Honestly, those games were meh, not ambitious enough.
And lastly, it's about time they got rid of the Gym mechanic, it got boring and stale very quickly. Gym battles didn't even feel special: Gym Leaders were just slightly stronger than ordinary trainers. There's really nothing good about gyms: they're just trainer battles... And there's still plenty of trainer battles left in the game. The Trials offer new gameplay elements and more diversity: it's something that's radically different compared to standard trainer battles, so it stands out more. It leaves more of an impression on the player. The concept of Gyms should have been abandonned after the second generation.
It's about time the franchise started to make some decent changes... No other franchise has been able to get away with such incremental updates for each new game... Well, besides Monster Hunter that is.
And you're wrong that these changes scare away a lot of people, in case you weren't aware: you're in a thread about how Pokémon Sun & Moon became the most pre-ordered Nintendo game ever. It's looking very likely that this will be one of the most succesful Pokémon generations since the first two generations.
