Pokémon Brilliant Diamond And Shining Pearl

OrangeRakoon wrote:

"Set" is technically more balanced but in reality it just slows the game down without making it actually harder

It's not even balance, it's the 'fairness' thing Buska brings up that's why I play it like that. I'm already much better than every CPU without giving myself an advantage none of them have. The affection things fall into the same bucket: are we supposed to expect that nobody else likes their Pokémon enough for them to 'tough it out so they won't feel sad'?

I've just toppled gym seven and I've only just assembled a full team which is incredibly unusual for me at this late stage in the game (Turtwig, Staraptor, Floatzel, Luxray, Riolu, Rapidash).

I've enjoyed my time in this game so far and I don't know whether it's just the fact that it is a straightforward Pokémon game or if the nostalgia has played into it a lot. I suspect it's a mixture of the two.

Balladeer wrote:

The affection things fall into the same bucket: are we supposed to expect that nobody else likes their Pokémon enough for them to 'tough it out so they won't feel sad'?

Yes.
Isn't the point of every single game's story that you are so in tune with Pokemon that you can become champion through the power of your love?

Yeah you're always some kind of child prodigy pokemon savant, most normal people struggle to maintain a bond with even a single pokemon. I like it most in Sword/Shield where the adults are trying to solve the problems and let the children be children, but eventually concede they will have to get the insanely powerful kid involved to fix things.

We've ding-donged on the benefits and otherwise of that before I believe OR, so I'll leave that one. I feel like if you are to be portrayed as a savant the games should probably make a bigger deal of your chosen one-ness.

In this game the trainers you beat are often wowed by your abilities.

Balladeer wrote:

I feel like if you are to be portrayed as a savant the games should probably make a bigger deal of your chosen one-ness.

Nope, hard disagree, that would ruin it

It doesn't have to be explicitly showing how you were born in a laboratory to have maximum affection towards Pokémon, although that would be good too. It could just be scientists saying, 'How do they love you so much!? We've never seen anything like it!' and then later in the game you find them trying to recreate the conditions by feeding Pokémon curry and being confused as to why it doesn't work. As things are for me personally it feels like you have abilities nobody else has for no good reason. I absolutely don't believe Leon and his Charizard can't tough out a few hits.

But he's not in BDSP so I should probably be quiet.

Back in RBY it was a thing that Red was a great trainer because he loved his Pokemon and Blue was great, but not as much of a prodigy because he was too competitive and didn't show enough compassion and love wins all and doody doody doo. Regardless, the 'your Pokemon squeezed out the poison because they love you!' thing is something I think other Pokemon could in theory do for other trainers and not just you.

I'm about to take on the 8th gym. I'll share thoughts more generally once I finish the game, but I think everything Cappa has said on it, I agree with. Also, wtf was up with Hearthome's gym? It's literally a basic maths challenge. What a copout.

I'm at the third gym; her Lucario took me out at the end of my most recent stream. A trip to a Pokémon centre and a little more thought in my battle techniques would probably win it, but I needed the toilet so I called it there! Since then, I've dashed back to the Jubilife TV station because I never acquired Mystery gifts, hatched some eggs so I can dump them in the box, and done some clothes shopping. I may muck around underground before the next stream.

Balladeer wrote:

 I absolutely don't believe Leon and his Charizard can't tough out a few hits.  

Maybe they do but you don't notice it because you're not privy to what goes on between another trainer and their Pokémon?

Balladeer wrote:

I feel like if you are to be portrayed as a savant the games should probably make a bigger deal of your chosen one-ness.

Would Star Wars have been better if everyone was in awe of Luke from Empire Strikes Back onwards?

I don't think the two are comparable, but I'm probably the wrong person to ask because (whisper it) I don't care much for the original Star Wars films anyway.

Any two things are comparable by some measurement!

Not sure how comparable this is either but now I'm thinking of games where you are the chosen one but not treated like it. Zelda maybe? Like in Ocarina, you're the Hero of Time but certainly most characters don't treat you like it.

Doesn't this happen in most Chosen One stories? Either that, or the hero refuses to accept they're the chosen one while others believe in them.

Here's me been giving it big licks for weeks about how easy Shining Pearl is, but I'm now stuck on the Elite Four Champion. I've probably lost to them ten times now, I've just got no response to their last two Pokemon.

I squeaked past her on my second go, but only because I lucked out that her Garchomp used a status move and not an attack move, because if it'd done the latter I'd have been scunnered. I found it a bit frustrating because she was always difficult, but because the remake is so easy she really comes out of nowhere. After almost a whole game being overlevelled, you're suddenly against someone whose team is at the same level as you and actually has strong Pokemon, not just a team of Bronzors and Glameows!

I also hadn't really bothered making any kind of tactical movesets for my team because I didn't really need strategy - I could just steamroll everyone until I got to the Elite 4...!

Good* to know they kept the original's fidelity regarding that as well!

So, what teams did we all finish with?

Started with Piplup - I'm usually a sucker for the water type, and a metal Napoleon penguin is pretty dope.
Roserade was the surprise MVP - laying down poison and leech seed, tearing through ground, rock and water types, and being able to soak up a couple of the Earthquakes which otherwise were tearing through my team.
Bastiodon. Dinosaur, innit?
Luxray is just an inevitability on a Sinnoh team, but it does what it does bloody well! Very fast, big chomps, zaps. What more could you want?
I have Magmar in there because this game has new features which let you catch monsters which weren't in the D/P regional dex. How about that?
The only one I feel a little embarassed about is Palkia. I often feel that it's a little cheap adding the box legendary to one's team, but at the point when I caught it I had a Bronzong which meant three of my six Pokémon were steel type, and five of my six were vulnerable to Earthquake. I asked Twitch chat what they thought, and I think it was Muss' girlfriend who said I should just go ahead and add Palkia to the team. Having a dragon came in clutch against Cynthia's Garchomp, but it turned out I was wrong about Palkia's type. I thought it was Dragon/ Psychic but it's actually Dragon/ Water.

Is that Thwomp's cousin on the far left?

Thwomp and Reznor's dirty little secret

I don't think there's any shame in having Palkia in there, I always include the box legendary in my team as I feel it makes sense in terms of the story, I've just caught this unbelievable Pokémon after saving the world, you bet your ass I'm gonna flex on the Elite 4 with it.

I don't have a team I've finished with, I'm at the 6 badge mark and have for the second time dropped this, I seem to be coasting through too easily and everything feels so slow that I can't really be bothered with it anymore. Feels weird to be this unsatisfied with a Pokemon game, perhaps it's the fact I exhausted this back in the day and it feels too familiar.

I'm hoping to finish up before Arceus comes out. But I'm on 6 or 7 badges (can't even remember) and I've lost interest. It's a drag.

Yeah, whatever else you think about the 4th gen games, I don't think anyone can argue against them having pacing issues.

Where are all the bears?