What I'd want to hear is that this game is really goodBut something tells me Heron told you exactly what you might've wanted to hear? ;]
this sure turned insulting quickBut hey, if you want impressions by people who played it and aren't in any way paid for it, there should be enough on reddit and twitter as the game has been both street date broken and it's roms leaked.
Shouldn't be too difficult to look for some more.
But something tells me Heron told you exactly what you might've wanted to hear? ;]
Thursday I believe.Has it been confirmed whether the Scarlet/Violet review embargo would lift tomorrow or Thursday?
I mean, I don't want a rushed game or anything, but I feel like this depends a whole lot on how much you liked Arceus. I thought it was fine, a good idea even for a while, but I very quickly lost interest due to the (lack of) battling and combat changes, and the overall lack of anything to do other than catch Pokemon. So to me, this game already seems like I'll like it quite a bit more. That remains to be seen of course, but I'm pretty optimistic based on everything I've heard.It's not the game we were hoping for post-Arceus. It feels as rushed and "Game Freak-y" as ever. But you will have fun running around catching them all. I don't regret my purchase.
Sure. I judge these games purely as single player RPGs. For many people they're much more. I get that.I mean, I don't want a rushed game or anything, but I feel like this depends a whole lot on how much you liked Arceus. I thought it was fine, a good idea even for a while, but I very quickly lost interest due to the (lack of) battling and combat changes, and the overall lack of anything to do other than catch Pokemon. So to me, this game already seems like I'll like it quite a bit more. That remains to be seen of course, but I'm pretty optimistic based on everything I've heard.
Anyway, I'm back with some screenshots from my playthrough. These look much better on my laptop than they did on my 65' C1. And I do think a lot of people will prefer to play this game handheld for image quality purposes. Obviously there's some compression going on here but I think it's a fair representation.
Images that show the visual quality of the game world at a distance:
(You can really see on the bottom right of the 5th image where the "close and detailed" area ends and the LoD begins. Click through to that image to get it full size and look at the state of that bridge)
(If there's a better way to embed / post these let me know)
But when everything is up close it can look just fine. Even attractive, considering the low image quality:
And there's nothing wrong with battles:
Bonuses (pretty much ALL spoilers):
1. Bizarrely, there are clothes shops everywhere but you can never take off your school uniform. It's the weirdest thing.
2. BEST new pokemon. Slays Corviknights, slays dragons, beat the final boss's final boss pokemon. Best girl.
3. The elite 4 is so bad. It's just this blue room, and each enters and fights, all to a droning beat with no melody. Bad.
4. This is the "overly enthusiastic rival" like Hau or Barry, but done right. Very likeable character, good battles. Well done.
5. In a game that already had strong Harry Potter vibes with the school theme, this was just on the nose! Straight out of a Potter movie.
6. The final boss I mentioned earlier.
Sure. I judge these games purely as single player RPGs. For many people they're much more. I get that.
A couple people will say "tome ya" or some such (no idea what that means lol) but it's mostly just her.One thing I noticed with Nemona when I watched some gameplay is that she occasionally will say phrases in Spanish. Do other characters do this, or is it just her?
Anyway, I'm back with some screenshots from my playthrough. These look much better on my laptop than they did on my 65' C1. And I do think a lot of people will prefer to play this game handheld for image quality purposes. Obviously there's some compression going on here but I think it's a fair representation.
Images that show the visual quality of the game world at a distance:
(You can really see on the bottom right of the 5th image where the "close and detailed" area ends and the LoD begins. Click through to that image to get it full size and look at the state of that bridge)
(If there's a better way to embed / post these let me know)
But when everything is up close it can look just fine. Even attractive, considering the low image quality:
And there's nothing wrong with battles:
Bonuses (pretty much ALL spoilers):
1. Bizarrely, there are clothes shops everywhere but you can never take off your school uniform. It's the weirdest thing.
2. BEST new pokemon. Slays Corviknights, slays dragons, beat the final boss's final boss pokemon. Best girl.
3. The elite 4 is so bad. It's just this blue room, and each enters and fights, all to a droning beat with no melody. Bad.
4. This is the "overly enthusiastic rival" like Hau or Barry, but done right. Very likeable character, good battles. Well done.
5. In a game that already had strong Harry Potter vibes with the school theme, this was just on the nose! Straight out of a Potter movie.
6. The final boss I mentioned earlier.
Sure. I judge these games purely as single player RPGs. For many people they're much more. I get that.
Not so far, but I have no idea how much post-game content there might be. So far all I've done is beat all 8 gym leaders again to enable a school tournament with all the teachers in it.@Heron Do any characters from previous games appear for a short cameo? Like how Anabel and Colress randomly appeared in Alola.
Not so far, but I have no idea how much post-game content there might be. So far all I've done is beat all 8 gym leaders again to enable a school tournament with all the teachers in it.
I know I can battle the star bases again but haven't yet. And amazingly (and I love this) I haven't seen any sign of a single legendary pokemon yet. (Given Koraidon isn't really a legendary by story canon - story-wise Koraidon evolves into Cyclizar which evolve into Miraidon and there are tons of each, in the game obviously those evolutionary lines are broken due to the time difference. In fact, humorously enough your Koraidon is a little bitch apparently lol)
So I'm sure there are legendaries - I've been plucking dark sealing stakes from the ground and found a sealed door which I reckon has something to do with it. Maybe there's some story related content there.
Short answer: Almost definitely not but can't confirm.
Talk about damning with faint praise, jeezalouI just got the game a couple of hours ago and I must say that all the snappiness and responsiveness (even in the camera and character movement) from Arceus are absent here. It feels somewhat clunky, I was unpleasantly surprised. On the other hand, I thought it was gonna look uglier, so that’s good.
I swear we saw him in prerelease footage lol.@Heron is the guy who says "technology is great!" in the game?
I’m going with 83What's everyone's gut feelings on the final MC score? I'm thinking around an 80; the Pokemon gameplay loop is still as good as usual, writing seems to be strong, and the lack of railroading will definitely be appreciated but the game's fear of fully committing to open-ended design, missing improvements from Arceus such as battle pacing, and especially performance will ultimately restrain scores
Breeding is done through the picnics, so does that mean you can’t breed anything without building affection? That sounds like an issue if you want to get some eggs from your starter…I managed to keep the game challenging throughout with the endgame (haven't done any postgame) trainers actually being legitimate fights but I had to go to some pretty extreme lengths to keep myself below the curve and not immediately become really overpowered. If you want a challenge and dislike the affection mechanic from BDSP I would highly recommend to not engage with picnics at all till postgame. If you really want an okay challenge you need to look up the order of the gyms
As someone who largely aligns with the bolded this is great to hear. On top of the overwhelming praise for the final story, I might get SV after allOverall I had a lot of fun so far though, which is a good feeling as a giga SWSH h8er who felt he was done with Pokemon entirely at some point.
Isn't affection the same meter as standard friendship now? Worst case you can feed your starter bitter herbs and then breed the offspring afterwardBreeding is done through the picnics, so does that mean you can’t breed anything without building affection? That sounds like an issue if you want to get some eggs from your starter…
I'm sure it's possible to drop the affection, and I can't actually say if it's as bad as in BDSP because I just never bothered with picnics. Overall I wouldn't really recommend jumping through as many hoops to keep the game somewhat challenging as I did, save that for a later playthrough.Alot better than SWSH but still just okay is enough for me to keep my preorder, I suppose
Breeding is done through the picnics, so does that mean you can’t breed anything without building affection? That sounds like an issue if you want to get some eggs from your starter…
I think it'll start around the mid 80s then settle on like 83ish if I had to guess.What's everyone's gut feelings on the final MC score? I'm thinking around an 80; the Pokemon gameplay loop is still as good as usual, writing seems to be strong, and the lack of railroading will definitely be appreciated but the game's fear of fully committing to open-ended design, missing improvements from Arceus such as battle pacing, and especially performance will ultimately restrain scores
Absolutely nothing wrong with enjoying the games without getting into the competitive side - I daresay that would be the case for the majority of people here tbhAny impressions from non competitive players? I have played pretty much all of the mainline games but never have invested the time in being competitive. I basically just create a team of cool looking Pokemon and go from there. I don't even concern myself with eggs and breeding or anything beyond a simple turn based game. I understand I am missing out, but this is how I enjoy them! Anyway, is S/V still a good game for plebs like me?
Thanks for the reassuring words! I am pretty excited for this, based off what I have seen. One thing that that's not 100% clear - you can follow 1 of 3 campaigns or roads. However, if you pick one, are you gated from the other two? (i.e., if I pick Victory Road, can I not participate in the Legends research route?). I was referencing this video:Absolutely nothing wrong with enjoying the games without getting into the competitive side - I daresay that would be the case for the majority of people here tbh
By all accounts, you should have a great time. Sounds like the characters and story are good, the new Pokémon designs are mostly excellent (subjective of course, but seems to be a common opinion), and... I mean, come on, it's open world Pokémon, it's gonna be fun
Thanks for the reassuring words! I am pretty excited for this, based off what I have seen. One thing that that's not 100% clear - you can follow 1 of 3 campaigns or roads. However, if you pick one, are you gated from the other two? (i.e., if I pick Victory Road, can I not participate in the Legends research route?). I was referencing this video:
Btw. someone in the other forum found/compiled a list for a level-based "progression" for the games.
Putting it in spoilers just to be safe.
And it looks like it's missing everything after a certain point.
Katy (Bug Gym) lvl 15
Klawf (Rock Titan) lvl 16
Brassius (Grass Gym) lvl 17
Bombirdier (Flying Titan) lvl 19
Giancomo (Dark Team Star) lvl 21
Iono (Electric Gym) lvl 24
Mela (Fire Team Star) lvl 27
Orthworm (Steel Titan) lvl 28
Kofu (Water Gym) lvl 30
Atticus (Poison Team Star) lvl 33
Larry (Normal Gym) lvl 36
Ryme (Ghost Gym) lvl 42
Great Tusk/Iron Treads (Ground Titan) lvl 44
Tulip (Psychic Gym) lvl 45
Grusha (Ice Gym) lvl 48
Ortega (Fairy Team Star) lvl 51
Tatsugiri (Dragon Titan) lvl 55
Eri (Fighting Team Star) lvl 56
Elite Four
Elite Four are 56-59. Champion, Team Star and Titan Path bosses are 60-63, Titan Path being the highest on average. The actual titans can be done much earlier than you'd think because of how the fights are structured though.
Some of it yeah, it's also from memory because you can't rebattle most of these so I could be off by like a level here or there.Just to clarify, the stuff you posted is the stuff that's missing in the list i posted, yes?
Lol, oh. Hey, that works. Thanks!No no, you have to do all three to finish the game lol
Centro yesterday, Palkia Origin today. Nintendo ninjas coming hard.
Unfortunately they haven't taken Khu down. I don't know if I can handle another leak season full of his vile behavior.
Yeah, too little too late for this game lol.Are a little bit late to the party, them Ninjas, no?
Pikalytics is usually pretty great for popular builds and spreads, VGCguide is also a decent site if you're just getting started.What are the best resources for non-Smogon metagames like VGC or Battle Spot Singles these days? Looking to do some competitive this gen but I stick to the cartridge formats.
Interesting. Thanks for the write up. Was it hard to get that high of a % for the Regional Dex?Caught the four legendaries. Pretty cool. As far as I can tell that's it. Post-game over. There's not much there, but I don't mind.
Post-game is:
Rebattle gym leaders
School tournament
Rebattle team star
Find binding stakes to release four legendaries and catch them
Total time: 40 hours. Pokemon caught: 310/400 (actually 378 available I think)
Having gotten used to Scarlet and enjoyed it but remembering I thought Arceus was far better at first I went back to play 15 minutes of Arceus again to compare. And holy SHIT did it immediately hit me how much better that game is. Just.... by miles. The only way I can describe the difference in craftsmanship is that it's like a senior and junior dev teams made the two games, it's that apparent.
I'm not talking about gameplay decisions or battle systems here - I'm talking about gamefeel, UI, map, camera, performance - all the little things that make you say "this is a high-quality game". We really need side by side gifs of performance, of how battles flow, of the way lock-on works between them. Things of that nature.
No offense to Heron, but it feels like the main problem is that there was an expectation that ScarVio are like Arceus
Having gotten used to Scarlet and enjoyed it but remembering I thought Arceus was far better at first I went back to play 15 minutes of Arceus again to compare. And holy SHIT did it immediately hit me how much better that game is. Just.... by miles. The only way I can describe the difference in craftsmanship is that it's like a senior and junior dev teams made the two games, it's that apparent.
I'm not talking about gameplay decisions or battle systems here - I'm talking about gamefeel, UI, map, camera, performance - all the little things that make you say "this is a high-quality game". We really need side by side gifs of performance, of how battles flow, of the way lock-on works between them. Things of that nature.
Not at all. All I did was say "think I haven't caught that one yet" and catch it. Only exception was going hunting for the last two/three paradox pokemon in the post-game. I'd say the last 50-60 pokemon would be mostly those I haven't evolved and then some that are harder to find - I caught 3 eeveelutions but I know the rest are out there - all appear to be rare-ish spawns with the exception of Vaporeon who was everywhere lolInteresting. Thanks for the write up. Was it hard to get that high of a % for the Regional Dex?
It wouldn't surprise me if they put younger talent on the Arceus team and if they had some help from BotW UI staff. It feels like a more modern game unburdened by the conventions of old pokemon games with such a heavy emphasis on recreating BotW's gamefeel. Scarlet very much feels like a large open world game made by the exact same people who made the Sword/Shield wild areas - very similar gamefeel.That's super interesting... I wonder what the break up of the actual dev teams was like that lead to this