Pokemon Discussion Thread: Generation II

[Andsed]

God fuck Cynthias Garchomp. That fucker has ended every run on the leauge I have done so far. Grinded Dialga up to level 70 and I am hoping that and an x defense can let me tank a fucking earthquake and hit back with blizzard and kill that fucking thing.

So, anyone getting Legends? I’m torn at the moment. I’d been waiting for it and was going to buy it on release, but the leaked pokedex is so lackluster I’m not sure if I’ll buy it at all anymore.

I am considering it. I like the whole pokemon able to attack you thing.

[Alvecia]

So, anyone getting Legends? I’m torn at the moment. I’d been waiting for it and was going to buy it on release, but the leaked pokedex is so lackluster I’m not sure if I’ll buy it at all anymore.

I'll be buying it tomorrow when it comes off preorder. The change up in the standard format has me really interested, and a lot of reviews have been coming out pretty positive.
I've never been particularly affected by limited dexes, so it doesn't bother me

[New haven america]

So, anyone getting Legends? I’m torn at the moment. I’d been waiting for it and was going to buy it on release, but the leaked pokedex is so lackluster I’m not sure if I’ll buy it at all anymore.

Nope.

I'm poor, don't have a Switch, and somehow Monster Hunter Tri released back in '09 looks better than it. (Legends is basically MH with Pokemon)

[Tethys 13]

So, anyone getting Legends? I’m torn at the moment. I’d been waiting for it and was going to buy it on release, but the leaked pokedex is so lackluster I’m not sure if I’ll buy it at all anymore.

I played it for eight and a half hours today. I am greatly enjoying it.

Edit: With 12 hours of playtime in it now, here are my early thoughts:

- My goodness the game world is big, and quite enjoyable to explore.
- The battle animations are vastly improved, even some of the idle animations (Cyndaquil’s line finally have their flames lit in battle permanently, rather than just when attacking).
- The story and characters seem fun so far.
- The catching mechanics just feel like a direct upgrade from Let’s Go. You can try for free catches (with the Feather Ball in particular feeling like a sniper rifle the first time I used one), set up bait to sneak around for advantage, or go classic and battle them down.
- The battle Styles add complexity, and I have seen some Alphas pull off devastating combos (a Scyther going from Agile Swords Dance into Strong X-Scissor, for example).
- I love the aesthetic. Everything about the buildings, clothing and environments warm my historian heart, even with the occasional anachronism.
- The subquests are charming, though I got envious of Beauregard getting a Cascoon while all of the Wurmple I evolved turned into Silcoon.
- I have only seen a few of the new designs so far, but none of them have missed the mark.
- They seem to finally have size right, and gone even beyond that. Not only are already large Pokémon huge, they have size variation within species, and that variation is actually visible!

- There is no getting away from it – the graphical quality of the models is not as good as that of the other Switch Pokémon games, and it really shows in certain cutscenes.
- I have still yet to really get my head around the battle order system, so sometimes I feel like I am just sacrificing my first Pokémon as the enemy launches attacks before I even have a chance to pick a move.
- Save-resetting does not seem viable (with Autosave turned off, of course). I wanted a particular item from a Space-Time Distortion, so I tried saving just before it went active and going back to that save when I did not get the item I wanted, but the Distortion was no longer there when I reset, so I just lost the rare Pokémon I had caught during it. Plus, the overworld Pokémon have the same issue as in Sword and Shield, that their data is fixed until you leave the zone (which, in this case, seems to mean returning to Jubilife).
- I understand them changing the moves, but it really throws me off that they kept old names when the effects are so different – Double Hit is now a damage boost, Water Pulse now does not miss, etcetera.

Overall, 8/10 so far, give me more.

[Necroghastia]

MY FIRST EVER NATURAL SHINY AND IT'S AN ALPHA DRIFLOON

LET'S GOOOOOOO

[Tethys 13]

MY FIRST EVER NATURAL SHINY AND IT'S AN ALPHA DRIFLOON

LET'S GOOOOOOO

Congratulations! I adore shiny Drifloon and Drifblim, and getting an Alpha is some crazy luck.
I found a Grotle today, but it was a regular one from an outbreak.

[Jetan]

I bought it. Feels a bit empty and somewhat aimless, but I’m digging it. I wish there were more trainers but overall I like the capture/battle system, though I’m not sure I agree with move and attack order changes. Not convinced by the noble pokemon boss fights.

[Tethys 13]

I bought it. Feels a bit empty and somewhat aimless, but I’m digging it. I wish there were more trainers but overall I like the capture/battle system, though I’m not sure I agree with move and attack order changes. Not convinced by the noble pokemon boss fights.

If it has a gameplay weakness, the battle mechanics are definitely it. I am still enjoying it, but the action order has 'lied' to me far too many times, and there are other questionable choices - two different physical-attacker biased Pokémon not getting a single physical move for one of their types? A slightly Special-biased tanky Steel type Pokémon not getting Flash Cannon, only the horrendous Steel Beam? The vast majority of the new Pokémon being very slow, when Speed seems even more important than before (if I am understanding the sequential combat even slightly better)?
As for the boss fights, I have done four of them so far and had to repeat two due to what felt like unfair mechanics, but given that I beat both on my second try, perhaps that is just the rage of the moment speaking.

Oh, an amusing thing that happened today (Spoilers mentioning some of the Pokémon revealed in the early trailers):

I spent several hours hunting for Alphas in the Alabaster Icelands, moving between the zones for Basculin, Rufflet and Bergmite. Eventually I got a Basculin Outbreak, and reset a few times on that before finding a Zorua outbreak instead, which I eventually managed to get an Alpha from. Then, after returning to the previous Alpha search, I found a full-odds shiny male Basculin. Several hours without Alpha success later, I was about to quit when there was another Basculin outbreak. I popped over, and in the first batch was a shiny female. It fled a few times when I was trying to False Swipe it, as chucking Poké Balls in the water is awful, but then I just tried catching it in battle at full health, and it played ball (ha ha).
Some grinding in the volcano later, I have both shiny Basculegion! (Still no Alpha though).

[Pikachu Peoples]

Pikachu and Charmander are best buddies

[Pikachu Peoples]

Meganium is cute

[Welskerland]

Political Pokémon:

- Barack Obamasnow
- Donald Phantrump
- Joe Rhyden
- Joe Hitmonchin
- Komala Harris
- Mitt Romnamyte
- Spearow T Agnew
- John McCainine
- Mike Huckabeedrill