#and idk how to count alola because i saw a lot of people not like the originals but liking ultra sun

[noiivvern]

guy whos opinion of the 4th gen pokemon games rapidly declined after the remakes

[emeraldmew]

I decided to replay Pokemon X. Some rambling thoughts under the cut.

I think the largest issue with it so far is just... “bloat” I guess? It just has so much stuff even early on (I’m still waaaaay early on in the game right now) but somehow there’s simultaneously too much and too little.

Like the rivals/friendgroup, for example. There’s the remaining “gets a starter trio” which makes sense. Then there’s also Trevor and Tierno. Then right after meeting them there’s also Dexio and Sina (and later on, their superhero alter egos, which I suppose count). It feels more like they’re throwing as many characters at you as they can in the hopes that you’ll like some of them without taking the time to properly develop the ones they already introduced you to.

For a specific example? Tierno’s goal is a dance team... which we see essentially nothing of outside of his pokemon being ones that happen to learn dance-based attacks. I feel like he’d feel a lot less tacked-on if we got to see some sort of dance minigame in the vein of contests (or even musicals, which you could interact with twice if your pokemon had arms) that he could introduce you to and be your rival in. As it is, we don’t get to see how he progresses in his goal - only how he builds his team for battles. He and Trevor collectively always struck me as just there so the friendgroup would still have male rivals if the player picked Calem at the beginning. There’s also the spooky house cutscene that... reminds you that the friendgroup exists, I guess? Idk, it just struck me as totally unnecessary since there is no horde of faceless men ever followed up on or anything so it just feels like bloat related to the too many characters to properly balance issue. Compare it to Hau, Lillie, and Gladion in Alola where they all got actual character development and each had goals you saw them progress toward and didn’t show up just to remind you they existed but actually had something to do (like continue the island challenge). Or Bianca eventually discovering her love of pokemon research and Cheren... becoming a caveman in his quest to understand battling strength until he emerges to become a gym leader. We never see how Tierno learns about dance by traveling. He says it’s because he gets to see different attacks, but we aren’t shown progress.

We do actually get to see Shauna use her interest in puzzles in finding Furfrou, but her moment of actually having the opportunity to affect the overall plot with her skills... is actually her using a device invented by Clemont to unlock the door instead. What does this have to do with character bloat? Idk, I just think she could have used her skills at a location taken by Trevor or Tierno instead so she could actually be seen using them more. A cave full of ice sliding puzzles, for example. Likewise for the Not-The-Player rival - you fight Tierno... twice (I think? - haven’t replayed to that point yet) before you get to fight the character designated as your official rival by their own words back in a cafe in Lumiose.

Then there are four Flare scientists... who are difficult to remember because they didn’t have much distinguishing them aside from their hair color from what I recall. I’ll admit I had a lot of real-life distractions when I played the Kalos games the first time, so that may be on me.

This extends to three full 150-mon dexes with no overlap. Don’t get me wrong, I love having as many pokemon available as possible for the ability to play through with different teams. However, having every “regional rodent” but rattata didn’t exactly strike me as adding variety considering how long it takes them to learn moves that really distinguish them from each other. They even give a second starter because... they were worried the first one wasn’t nostalgic enough or something? It’s not like there was a shortage of Grass/Fire/Water on the first few routes. Idk, I just think Alola did the separate within-the-region dexes better by allowing overlap.

What it does well, however, it does very well. Snorlax blocking the bridge could have been just a recycle of Kanto’s version of the event but it wasn’t. It actually provided flavor and history to the town it was near. Mamoswine refusing to carry people through the snow until its friend Abomasnow was okay felt like a real, solid roadblock that gave a fantasy quest sort of feel to things (like the Snorlax one). This is the kind of roadblock I love. I wish we would have more of that and fewer “we’re dancing for no reason” ones.

idk, just rambling I guess.