Topic: Pokémon Winds and Waves

So, the main characters holding Anti Gravity board that can sliding on water and gliding in the sky??

I'm gobsmacked by how good this game looks. Not to oversell graphics but, when you're playing a video game, the aesthetic appeal is a huge part of the experience. Doesn't need to push realism, but a coherent, pleasing art style is huge. And this game finally nails it.

But it's not just the visuals. It's the music, too. Listen to the orchestral theme for Winds and Waves. This is really good stuff! I've never thought of good music when playing a Pokemon game. Until now, that is.

ORCHESTRAL THEME

They really need voiced dialog for this one. That would be the cherry on top that sets everything off.

@Bolt_Strike
That makes sense, actually. They're very careful about revealing new mechanics in the first trailer.

I've seen some people online talk about this strange Gyarados-shaped cloud from near the end of the reveal trailer. I noticed that too on my initial viewing, and it immediately brought to mind the game Sea of Thieves. In SoT, peculiarly-shaped clouds can appear on islands to designate some sort of event happening on that particular island. I could definitely see something like this happening in Wi/Wa, with clouds potentially signalling the player that an island is presently playing host to a Mass Outbreak, a rare boss Pokemon, or something else entirely.

It could also easily just be a coincidence, but hey, I like to speculate.

@Anti-Matter Please spoiler that for those that don't want to see the Teraleaks and waiting for the official reveal (probably not for months given the 2027 release).

But that's what the leaks are indicating, yes.

Also GVG posted this video comparing the graphics to SV and New Pokemon Snap.

As someone who's an outspoken critic of graphics even I have to admit, the difference between SV and WW especially is pretty striking, it's impossible to deny. This is what an extra 1-2 years of development gets you, glad that they listened to the fans and are taking their time with this.

@JaxonH I've always been a big fan of Pokemon music (especially the OSTs from Gens 4-6), but I must say this orchestral Main Theme is quite unique, and stands out from many of the Pokemon series' previous tracks. It has a surprisingly imposing quality, in stark contrast to the bouncy and jovial title theme of SV, and now has me wondering what general tone they'll be aiming for with this game for this to be the main theme.

I'm glad that Gamefreak finally figured out how to make an appealing looking HD video game.

I'm still all in on the idea of HD-2D B/W, and maybe this is just lower standards but this does feel above the "its 3D graphics now so who cares if its good?" approach to modernizing classic video game series that I've grown to hate. Between this, Mario Wonder and to a lesser extent the new Megaman, nature is healing.

@Bolt_Strike The fact it's being developed for a substantially stronger hardware definitely helps, too.

Got to say, really quite impressed.

@JaxonH
A couple of those screenshots remind me of New Pokemon Snap.
Perhaps they learned something from that game.

@Uncle_Franklin
Funny you say that. Going in, my hopes were to see a Pokemon game on par with New Pokemon Snap, and yet, I feel it even exceeded that.

Courtesy of the GVG comparison:

Feels like this could be the Zelda BotW of Pokemon, if they add voice acting to the beautiful visuals and spellbinding soundtrack. Even if it's a half-step compared to Zelda BotW, that would be good enough for me.

@UpsideDownRowlet
Music makes such an impact on the gaming experience. And I adore orchestra.

Likely means they're taking audio more seriously this time. Perhaps we'll get 5.1 surround and new audio samples for minor sound effects?

@JaxonH I don't even need voice acting, I just want little "gasp" and "woah" noises. Those go such a long way in making it not feel stupid.

I can't imagine adding voice acting to a game and it being a half step compared to BOTW. What...is the voice acting going to be even more rarely used and even more mediocre than in that game? :V

@Uncle_Franklin The GVG video does post some comparison shots with New Pokemon Snap and it does look quite similar (and in fact slightly better, but that's to be expected with stronger hardware), so it's quite possible. TPC may have picked up on some tricks or hired some employees from Bandai Namco after finishing New Pokemon Snap that helped them with this game.

I like the settling they're going for in the games. 🙂 Looks like a pretty region to explore. And I like seeing the Pokemon in their natural habitat too. Makes the world more realistic.

If this game's gonna be open world like SV, I'm all for it! It's bound to be great to adventure through.

Also, if this game's gonna be a seafaring adventure like Golden Sun: The Lost Age, sign me up. 👍 Lost Age in particular was fantastic to play because of the multiple routes at sea to take and what you would find through each path - stories, abandoned and fascinating temples, lore, treasure to obtain (in the form of weapons and armor) and music to set up these exciting discoveries. All those experiences together felt like an imaginative and swashbuckling journey. Also, traveling through the ocean and seeing nothing but water for a time helped contribute to that feeling of discovery and thrill. Winds and Waves can actually have a lot of potential if it takes from GS: TLA.

And it's coming in 2027? It looks like they are gonna spent more development on this one it appears. Wouldn't it be crazy if we didn't get news for this game this year until 2027 and the game actually released 2027 in Oct. or Nov.? It's hard to believe a Pokemon game releasing that many years after SV's launch, but I'll take it if it means we'll get a better game because of that.

@kkslider5552000
Wasn't really referring to voice acting specifically when talking about a half-step. I meant overall in terms of advancing the franchise forward.

Zelda completely reinvented combat and the gameplay loop, in addition to great audio, visuals and scope. I was saying even if it doesn't go that far- perhaps combat and gameplay loop isn't reinvented, but the audio and visuals are a leap forward, the scope is large and it adds voice acting, that would be enough.

That said, yes, even a half step in voice acting would be great. As @CaleBoi25 mentioned, even just adding little grunts would go a long ways.

I'm honestly glad that Gen 10 is going to be another year away. It's better this way, since it means that they're actually making sure they don't rush this one out like they did the last few games. They could have released it this year and made their money, but they're taking the criticism from Gen 9 to heart and actually trying to make a quality product that both the devs and the fans can be proud of.

This being said, I really really like the stuff we were shown this far. I love the way that the game looks with the dense hand-crafted environments. It feels like a massive step up from Paldea, where the majority of the region was a bunch of empty fields with no landmarks of note sitting on them. The return of diving is really interesting to me, and it feels like as a whole we're sort of moving to something that feels like an Open World version of Alola or Hoenn. I think they made the right move making a game based around the ocean and islands, since it really seems like it's going to help in creating more focused areas.

I feel like the starter trio is strange, but it's really growing on me. Browt is my clear favorite by a long mile, but I also like Pombon. I think the only one of the trio I have qualms with might be Gecqua- and mainly because of the head being larger than the body for that Pokemon. I'd say that maybe my opinions on the starters will change when I see their evolutions, but I'm going to try to not look at those and go in pretty much blind on that front. I did that for Gen 9 with Fuecoco, and it felt like I had developed a stronger bond with the Pokemon due to not knowing what it would turn into.

I also think it's really interesting that this is one of the few games that breaks the Red and Blue color coding that they tend to go with for each entry. This time it's green and blue for the logos.

I think the general idea of Scarlet and Violet was to try to recreate New Pokemon Snap's art style, but they ended up failing in the end. Gen 9 seems to be retrying that same art style but actually succeeding and realizing that initial vision that Gamefreak had.

The one bad thing about Gen 10 that I can think of right now is that the stupid word filter for trainer and Pokémon names will continue to plague the series. Even FireRed and LeafGreen, which are supposed to be straight-up ports of the original releases, bring in that damn filter, which I am very mad about, since it makes it so those games are no longer the same as they were before, they're fricking censored.

They should seriously just let people name their Pokémon whatever they want, and maybe require a mandatory name check to use your Pokémon in online play or something. That would be better than the unnecessary and painful word filter that currently exists.

One thing I wonder is if a Pokemon game will ever change up the starters? Obviously this one won't, but in the future. Grass/Fire/Water have a really nice RPS feel, but (I could be wrong since I've never played a Pokemon game so idk how it works) aren't there other typings they could have the same pros and cons?

@Nep-Nep-Freak having the filter be only for online play could work, but then what if you named you Pokemon "poopety pooper pants" and then later want to use it online? Do you have to rename it? Use an auto generated name? They've gotta have some restrictions, even if it makes folks mad.

@CaleBoi25 The way I look at it, the grass/fire/water trio sort of has to stay. Yes, there are other functional type triangles, but they aren't nearly as intuitive. Fire being super effective against grass but weak to water makes sense to basically anyone, but (using the example of a fighting/dark/psychic trio) there isn't really an easily comprehensible reason for fighting to be highly effective against dark and for dark to be super effective against psychic. Starter Pokemon are an important way for new players to learn about the mechanics of the game, so I doubt the starter type trios would be changed ever.