While I am wholly unqualified to provide an opinion on the current generation of Pokemon, having not played Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee or Pokemon Sword/Shield and have no plans on doing so, I will provide an opinion because that is what a stubborn, ignorant, unhappy fan does.
How do I relate to the global Pokemon community? I think that must be the first question I answer. The first games I played were LeafGreen and Emerald, and somewhere along the line I picked up FireRed. I played Diamond until Crasher Wake, then lost the cartridge. I think that Pokemon XD Gale of Darkness is my favorite Pokemon game, and Pokemon Sun and Moon, which I have also not played, is my favorite generation.
So what does that even mean? I just provided a bunch of weird, quirky, likes and dislikes about Pokemon games from generations past. It matters because it demonstrates that my relation to the global Pokemon community is not one of console playing. I don't complete the games, except XD Gale of Darkness, but that isn't a game created by Game Freak, it was a game created by Genius Sorority. Before I even considered starting this post, I would have said that my favorite generation is Generation 3. The story of Hoenn, is incredibly interesting, lore-filled, and has a lot of personality. Seeing as I've never played a full game past Gen 3, there is definitely bias. And I've realized this because as I have been trying to semi-casually playthrough FireRed, I've been ground to a halt because of the physical/special split problem.
So for those who don't nerd out about the mechanics behind Pokemon generation development, a lesson on the Physical/Special split of the first 3 generations. The physical-special split was a mechanic that determined which move types used the attack stat of a Pokemon, or the special attack stat of a Pokemon. The reason that I am currently stuck grinding in FireRed is the fact that Sabrina is a Psychic gym leader and the super effective types to Psychic are Ghost, Dark, and Bug. Ghost in Gen 3 is physical, and Dark in Gen 3 is special. Ghost being physical heavily reduces the potential of Gastly and Haunter to OHKO Sabrina's Kadabra and Alakazam before being counter OHKO'ed. The other problem is that an attempt to use a psychic type with a ghost type move is also an awful idea simply because ghost as an entire type is physical. Even worse, is the fact that most dark type moves are put on Pokemon that are physically good. Dark type moves are special in Gen 3, which would not only ruin one of the strongest non-legendary Pokemon of all time, Tyranitar, but would heavily reduce any chance of viability of a dark type move to take on the gym. Right now I'm working on a ridiculous Mr. Mime, Meditate, Shadow Ball, Light Screen, Reflect set to sweep the gym, but it's rough.
Anyway, if you're still here, the reason I mentioned the Physical/Special split and my favorite generation switch to Gen 7 is because of freedom and creativity, otherwise known as simply having more options. As mentioned before, I'm not a player of the Pokemon games, however, I am a player of the Pokemon game. That is the singular competitive game that gets updated everytime a new set of games comes out. The current game that is being played is Pokemon Sword/Shield, and please, please, please, allow me to say that the metagame is not very fun.
A lot of better competitive players will say that the Sword and Shield competitive scene is better than the Gen 7- Sun and Moon competitive scene, simply because the majority of the allowed Pokemon in Gen 7 leaned towards a very defensive, non-direct, boring style of play. There is also a second viewpoint that the incredibly large number of Pokemon and the variety of moves and items that could be run on any Pokemon and change how the Pokemon worked were too unpredictable and severely impacted the way that skill in the game could be scaled and valued.
I can agree that this is the way that it was. But looking at the current game, I cannot say that the type of play that is currently trending at mid to low levels of play, which is most indicative of the state of the game at the beginning stages of a generation, is not similar to the type of play at the end of Gen 7.
Generation 7 leaned towards a very defensive, boring style of play because those were the new tools that were provided from a very offensive, straight-forward Gen 6. Toxapex was brought into the game. Enough said. The Ultra Beasts, such as Celesteela and Kartana ruled the metagame with immediate threat or immovable bulk inversely. Despite these heavy influences to the metagame, is it not the players' and the developer's responsibility to experiment, create, and try to do new and interesting things to allow a game's life to be prolonged without a sour taste being left in the player's mouths after its prime?
Maybe, I'm a madman. I have no competitive acclaim to speak of. I think the most is that I signed up for an online tournament, was predicted to lose round 1, memed on my round 1 opponent to survive to the next round, and then got chewed up and spit out and questioned on my poor teambuilding choices. So what right do I have to be putting an argument up against winners. I'm almost certain that if you are reading this far, you consider me a narcissist for constantly talking in the first person, asking you why I have the right...etc. I would agree, and I apologize. This is a blog run by a single person without a focus, talking about Pokemon, manga, anime, and the like and its extremely casual. Ex: run-on sentences.
However, this is something that I need to get off my chest anyway. Gen 8 is not good. Instead of a versatile bulky Pokemon like Celesteela, we got the 2nd arrival of Skarmory, in Corviknight, who has two tricks, the constant Roost, Defog, U-turn, or the Bulk Up/Iron Defense, Body Press. We got Dracovish whose most destructive move can only be restricted by 1 Pokemon, and whose viability rests upon Dracovish. Generation 8 has allowed the move Teleport to be useful in battle to switch out with another Pokemon, allowing Pokemon who normally wouldn't be able to provide Volt-Turn momentum to provide it, which shouldn't be a thing that Cloyster or Clefable, threats on their own should be allowed to do.
The question that I ask myself in that case is, "Am I afraid of a game where there is no answer that has no risk or no losses incurred?" The answer that I provide is yes... in certain circumstances. If I knew that maybe every 3 generations, there would be Pokemon that simply would not have perfect answers, I would reply, I just won't play that generation. If Pokemon was a perfectly balanced game, I might be perfectly happy, but would that satisfy the community? Of course not, because then what makes a game interesting? Nothing. Every Pokemon has the advantage and disadvantage against every other Pokemon. There is nothing to change the momentum and every game would come down to low HP and whoever was faster.
That's not Pokemon.
So, I have to be satisfied with an imperfectly balanced game. In that case, wouldn't I want it to be fun. I wouldn't want overpowered Pokemon that reduced the amount of options that I could use to win. And before that I should've mentioned that not desiring complete victory is a necessity when it comes to experimenting and trying new things in a generation defined as boring, because when you view winning as a greater necessity than having fun or keeping a play style free and open, then I believe even out of a video game it's wrong. However, the way you currently prove yourself in the competitive Pokemon community is through wins.
In which case, Pokemon Generation 7 is a great example of a mix of fresh, full of new options, still having undiscovered content, and interestingly balanced. And the player's themselves through discovery can use the variety available for movesets to custom balance the game of Pokemon.
I've completely lost what I'm saying. I think I said what I wanted to say, and I think my point was that Gen 7 is better than Gen 8 because Gen 8 is restricting and doesn't give you many options to change this restriction because Dynamax, the mechanic that could impact the restriction is also broken and restricts the game. And while there were Pokemon in previous generations who could force a metagame restriction similarly, there weren't any to the point that could overwhelm their counters with as much success as Dracovish or early Galarian Darmanitan. I'm getting into too much detail again. Sorry. I wanted to write a post and I got overwhelmed with my frustration for current Pokemon. But maybe expect more of these selfish, uninformative, ridiculously poorly structured posts about random topics.
Quarantine sucks, and please don't imagine that we are all immune now that it's been several months since country shutdown. Continue to practice safe health practices. Thank you.
Griffin Yamada
How do I relate to the global Pokemon community? I think that must be the first question I answer. The first games I played were LeafGreen and Emerald, and somewhere along the line I picked up FireRed. I played Diamond until Crasher Wake, then lost the cartridge. I think that Pokemon XD Gale of Darkness is my favorite Pokemon game, and Pokemon Sun and Moon, which I have also not played, is my favorite generation.
So what does that even mean? I just provided a bunch of weird, quirky, likes and dislikes about Pokemon games from generations past. It matters because it demonstrates that my relation to the global Pokemon community is not one of console playing. I don't complete the games, except XD Gale of Darkness, but that isn't a game created by Game Freak, it was a game created by Genius Sorority. Before I even considered starting this post, I would have said that my favorite generation is Generation 3. The story of Hoenn, is incredibly interesting, lore-filled, and has a lot of personality. Seeing as I've never played a full game past Gen 3, there is definitely bias. And I've realized this because as I have been trying to semi-casually playthrough FireRed, I've been ground to a halt because of the physical/special split problem.
So for those who don't nerd out about the mechanics behind Pokemon generation development, a lesson on the Physical/Special split of the first 3 generations. The physical-special split was a mechanic that determined which move types used the attack stat of a Pokemon, or the special attack stat of a Pokemon. The reason that I am currently stuck grinding in FireRed is the fact that Sabrina is a Psychic gym leader and the super effective types to Psychic are Ghost, Dark, and Bug. Ghost in Gen 3 is physical, and Dark in Gen 3 is special. Ghost being physical heavily reduces the potential of Gastly and Haunter to OHKO Sabrina's Kadabra and Alakazam before being counter OHKO'ed. The other problem is that an attempt to use a psychic type with a ghost type move is also an awful idea simply because ghost as an entire type is physical. Even worse, is the fact that most dark type moves are put on Pokemon that are physically good. Dark type moves are special in Gen 3, which would not only ruin one of the strongest non-legendary Pokemon of all time, Tyranitar, but would heavily reduce any chance of viability of a dark type move to take on the gym. Right now I'm working on a ridiculous Mr. Mime, Meditate, Shadow Ball, Light Screen, Reflect set to sweep the gym, but it's rough.
Anyway, if you're still here, the reason I mentioned the Physical/Special split and my favorite generation switch to Gen 7 is because of freedom and creativity, otherwise known as simply having more options. As mentioned before, I'm not a player of the Pokemon games, however, I am a player of the Pokemon game. That is the singular competitive game that gets updated everytime a new set of games comes out. The current game that is being played is Pokemon Sword/Shield, and please, please, please, allow me to say that the metagame is not very fun.
A lot of better competitive players will say that the Sword and Shield competitive scene is better than the Gen 7- Sun and Moon competitive scene, simply because the majority of the allowed Pokemon in Gen 7 leaned towards a very defensive, non-direct, boring style of play. There is also a second viewpoint that the incredibly large number of Pokemon and the variety of moves and items that could be run on any Pokemon and change how the Pokemon worked were too unpredictable and severely impacted the way that skill in the game could be scaled and valued.
I can agree that this is the way that it was. But looking at the current game, I cannot say that the type of play that is currently trending at mid to low levels of play, which is most indicative of the state of the game at the beginning stages of a generation, is not similar to the type of play at the end of Gen 7.
Generation 7 leaned towards a very defensive, boring style of play because those were the new tools that were provided from a very offensive, straight-forward Gen 6. Toxapex was brought into the game. Enough said. The Ultra Beasts, such as Celesteela and Kartana ruled the metagame with immediate threat or immovable bulk inversely. Despite these heavy influences to the metagame, is it not the players' and the developer's responsibility to experiment, create, and try to do new and interesting things to allow a game's life to be prolonged without a sour taste being left in the player's mouths after its prime?
Maybe, I'm a madman. I have no competitive acclaim to speak of. I think the most is that I signed up for an online tournament, was predicted to lose round 1, memed on my round 1 opponent to survive to the next round, and then got chewed up and spit out and questioned on my poor teambuilding choices. So what right do I have to be putting an argument up against winners. I'm almost certain that if you are reading this far, you consider me a narcissist for constantly talking in the first person, asking you why I have the right...etc. I would agree, and I apologize. This is a blog run by a single person without a focus, talking about Pokemon, manga, anime, and the like and its extremely casual. Ex: run-on sentences.
However, this is something that I need to get off my chest anyway. Gen 8 is not good. Instead of a versatile bulky Pokemon like Celesteela, we got the 2nd arrival of Skarmory, in Corviknight, who has two tricks, the constant Roost, Defog, U-turn, or the Bulk Up/Iron Defense, Body Press. We got Dracovish whose most destructive move can only be restricted by 1 Pokemon, and whose viability rests upon Dracovish. Generation 8 has allowed the move Teleport to be useful in battle to switch out with another Pokemon, allowing Pokemon who normally wouldn't be able to provide Volt-Turn momentum to provide it, which shouldn't be a thing that Cloyster or Clefable, threats on their own should be allowed to do.
The question that I ask myself in that case is, "Am I afraid of a game where there is no answer that has no risk or no losses incurred?" The answer that I provide is yes... in certain circumstances. If I knew that maybe every 3 generations, there would be Pokemon that simply would not have perfect answers, I would reply, I just won't play that generation. If Pokemon was a perfectly balanced game, I might be perfectly happy, but would that satisfy the community? Of course not, because then what makes a game interesting? Nothing. Every Pokemon has the advantage and disadvantage against every other Pokemon. There is nothing to change the momentum and every game would come down to low HP and whoever was faster.
That's not Pokemon.
So, I have to be satisfied with an imperfectly balanced game. In that case, wouldn't I want it to be fun. I wouldn't want overpowered Pokemon that reduced the amount of options that I could use to win. And before that I should've mentioned that not desiring complete victory is a necessity when it comes to experimenting and trying new things in a generation defined as boring, because when you view winning as a greater necessity than having fun or keeping a play style free and open, then I believe even out of a video game it's wrong. However, the way you currently prove yourself in the competitive Pokemon community is through wins.
In which case, Pokemon Generation 7 is a great example of a mix of fresh, full of new options, still having undiscovered content, and interestingly balanced. And the player's themselves through discovery can use the variety available for movesets to custom balance the game of Pokemon.
I've completely lost what I'm saying. I think I said what I wanted to say, and I think my point was that Gen 7 is better than Gen 8 because Gen 8 is restricting and doesn't give you many options to change this restriction because Dynamax, the mechanic that could impact the restriction is also broken and restricts the game. And while there were Pokemon in previous generations who could force a metagame restriction similarly, there weren't any to the point that could overwhelm their counters with as much success as Dracovish or early Galarian Darmanitan. I'm getting into too much detail again. Sorry. I wanted to write a post and I got overwhelmed with my frustration for current Pokemon. But maybe expect more of these selfish, uninformative, ridiculously poorly structured posts about random topics.
Quarantine sucks, and please don't imagine that we are all immune now that it's been several months since country shutdown. Continue to practice safe health practices. Thank you.
Griffin Yamada
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