Pokemon can be so much more.

[Dr.Henry_Killinger]

Lucas-Rio said:

Dr.Henry_Killinger said:

 

The deepnees and strategicness of pokemon takes place outside of the turns. It is only difficult when you face another player with there own strategy vs another AI. In that regard, pokemon wouldn't be any less strategic if the battle system was different. Most of the stats would perform the same, EV/IVs would perform the same. 

In this thread I discuss why pokemon is structured the way it is http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=189404&page=1 and one piece of evidence I over look is that the simplicity of the battle system makes it easy to pick up and hard to master. Which makes it more marketable.

 

Pokemon would be completely less strategic if you took away the turn based system. Only turn based game allow  time for deep thinking and strategy.

Exemple:

My Gyarados is facing an Infernape turn 1....

On paper, an easy win because Water/Fly is stronger than Fire/Fighting.... But let take some seconds thinking before I one shot him....

I know Infernape has a much better base speed (stats like speed would be worthless in action/reflex game with no turns) so I know he will hit first..... Let me think what could he do in that first attack....

Now, I remember in all the Infernape I met battling, around 30% were running thunderpunch, which would be super efficient *4 against my Gyarados and gives it an easy one shot KO...

Because I have thought that, I use my turn to switch to a ground type Pokemon, the Infernape does Thunder Punch, zero damage to ground type, next turn I will have a serious advantage over my opponent, because I anticipated what he would do, due to several things:  knowledge of the game,  time given to think your move and due to the fact that I can anticipate and use turn to switch in Pokemon at the right moment.

Actions games are for combos/skills, turn based is for strategy.

Again, that is a misconception. If you understand game design, and battle system construction specifically, the only difference between real time and turn base is the speed at which the player must make decisions. Because turn based is slower, it allows more deliberation per decision then a real time system.

Stats will mean different things in a different system but that is just because of the mechanics themselves. For instance, speed becomes response time/movement speed/execution speed in a real time analog. With the exception of bolded, everything else is not limited by the speed of the system.

For instance, if you play competitive melee, you are aware of the tier list. You are also aware of each characters mechanics, strengths, weaknesses, etc. 

Example:

I am a peach main, My best characters include Peach, Fox, and Ganondorf. Peach is has a negative match up against marth. 60 40 in Marth's favor. This is because Marth, has large grab range (makes him hard to sheild grab, and gives him easier combos on peach), high movement speed, and high range, high knock back moves. Against Peach, these are super effective, because Peach is floaty so she flies further than heavier characters, has medium movement speed, and short grab range.

By all accounts I shouldn't play Peach. In a tournament setting, I have to choose if I can counterpick or play with my disadvantaged character, that is strategy.

Realistically, though I know Peach has some key attacks like the turnip, dash attack, and downsmash that can completely mess up marth. Plus, I know that the majority of marth's at my skill level will rely on tippers and tilts which will massacre peach. That knowledge can be used to my advantage. This is called a mindgame. That is pure strategy. But until I'm actually playing then I'm only thinking, planning, making a strategy.

The only difference is that of decision speed, strategically, and to some degree tactically, they are exactly the same.

An even better example would be Peach v Jigglypuff.

Irregardless of a player's skill level, the mechanics of the characters alone make it an extremely difficult match for Peach regardless of skill level. At my school for instance there is a player named Vadim who I have never beat. However, my friend Ryan, who plays fox instead of peach was able to 2 stock his jigglypuff. And I, being much better than Ryan am able to 4 stock his fox with my Peach.  By all accounts I am better than Vadim but strategically I am at a severe disadvantage if I play peach and so I have to play a weaker character to have a better shot at winning.

Jigglypuff completly eradicates Peach. She has the fastest aerial movement in the game, and is much more floaty then Peach. In fact, peach does bad against floaty characters, which is why peach v peach isn't a good match for either players, her down smash does not work properly, and turnips can be easily avoided. Peach has good aerials, but a decent jigglypuff will abuse their air speed and move in and out hitting the peach and moving out before the peach hits them. Skill barely matters in that regard. Strategy is paramount.