Destiny-Smasher

@GetontheStiix I am hella late to spot this and reply
but NO, it would not surprise me lol
I was already aware of that sad fact about the series — and I completely agree, at this point it feels painfully obvious that they are just pushing out the games as a tool to feed more character designs into the marketing machine. It dilutes the entire thing imo, it's depressing.

Even Legends ZA here feels more like it was made to reintroduce Mega Evolutions as a big marketing thing throughout every other aspect of the brand. Rumor has it we were supposed to get a Legends Johto game instead but they scrapped it, reused content for that for Kitakami, and pivoted to THIS.

And that. All. Makes me depressed. But mainline Pokemon games under GameFreak and TPC have indeed made me depressed more and more with time. SO! I am revisiting older ones I have not played before, like HeartGold and OmegaRuby.
Or the FANTASTIC fangame Super MarioMon, which I strongly recommend.

Been... fine? So far? Switch 2 version feels like a 6 or 7 to me. Fine, good in ways, even, but nothing spectacular or specifically impressive. Switch 1 version would probably be a 5 or 6 if I was playing that like my spouse is.

It middling to fine to good imo. I am RENTING it, if I paid 70 bucks for this I'd actually be miffed, honestly. I'm also playing Ghost of Yotei, Hades 2, and Silksong alongside it, for comparison.

If this game wasn't a Pokemon branded game I feel like the entire conversation would be so much smaller and more averaged out. People would by and large be ignoring it. The IP carries GameFreak's games HARD, and they know it.

@riccyjay Yeah, agreed. They're crunching these out way too quick, without proper resources invested into their production. GameFreak just never got around to PROPERLY upscaling for HD console development, and their games continue to suffer for it, not JUST technically but artistically and also game design-wise. And they have zero reason to change this pattern, because look how many millions and millions of copies they sell for cheaping out. This issue isn't going to get fixed any time soon, not at this rate, but I would love to see the Switch 2 era at least nudge things to a more acceptable level.

@wollywoo Honestly, I would strongly recommend trying out Black and White 1/2. I'm serious, I skipped the entire DS generation but within the last year, year and a half, I've played them for the first time. Black/White 2 just might be the best overall game in the series so far imo, in terms of quality, pacing, content, and gameplay. And that feels completely backwards and insane for me to say and feel, but that's the state the franchise is in these days, imo.

The Switch era games aren't like, BAD bad games, they're just. Not full retail, contemporary first party feeling games. And are also lacking in a lot of design aspects, if you ask me. If I had to recommend any single Switch era Pokemon, it's be Legends Arceus, though, because what it lacks in polish (like its fellows SwSh and SV) it makes up for in actually mixing up the gameplay and setting.

I was so excited to see what kind of setting they'd deliver after that game and THIS... woof. This looks like such a major step backward on multiple counts, at least for what I am looking for.

@GetontheStiix I completely agree, but I also would point out Pokemon is a bizarre exception in this regard, so far as Nintendo series are concerned. Being kid-friendly and being made for kids SPECIFICALLY are different. Pokemon STARTED as the prior, and has morphed into the latter. While other Nintendo franchises have continued to grow in quality and design and presentation over the years — Pokemon has taken a major dip every since they shifted to home console, and GameFreak/TPC seem quite content cheaping out because... as you say, kids don't have standards. But I'd argue that when it comes to The Brand, a lot of adults don't, either. And hey, that's fair enough, we all have our weaknesses.

But this mega franchise (pun intended) deserves better.

@FirMatt This is EXACTLY what I have been suspecting since gameplay was first revealed. I'm giving the game a rent to make sure I have an educated opinion on it, as a Pokemon fan. But I've also been VERY disappointed and even frustrated by Pokemon basically ever since the Switch era started. I really enjoyed Legends Arceus, though (despite having notable gripes with it), so if anything, I figured the game mechanics could appeal me to this. Sounds like I will enjoy the combat... and not much else lol

@Bobobiwan believe the estimate is around 50GB for the whole thing, but if it's like the PS5 version, you will be able to manage the three modes as separate installs if you want.

I actually love the way it has been with the boxarts being front and center. I DO love the idea of merging all of the retro games together under one app, though. And giving us more control and customization would be great. But the more sterile-looking approach to displaying the boxarts here bums me out a little, so I hope we're giving some control over that.
Also, I am ASSUMING all of our save data from the separate apps carries over, right...?

Did... Did not enough people show up at those demo events they've been having, or something...?

@dequesi It means for an in-game phone, ie your menu.
When you hit the menu button in the lobby or World Tour mode your character whips out a phone — so... I guess this means you're unlocking special little backgrounds for that? Very minor bonus. The songs, however, you'd theoretically be able to have playing in the background during battles, if they work like all the other unlockable music.

@Spider-Kev Dang, did they? I can't find ANY listings for them anywhere, let alone a way to pre-order. I can understand a bit of a bump but that's nearly double the cost, kinda crazy. I may stick to just continuing to collect older ones I don't have, though I really want Riju, at least.

@Ulysses I hear you, I'd actually have a bunch of amiibo cards of pre-existing ones if they existed and were a lot cheaper.

I was hoping to get the Luke and Kimberly amiibo but if those are $30 USD each big oof, i may consider the cards instead? Or just skipping and getting other amiibo at less than half the cost lol

@Roibeard64 They are brand-new characters, introduced in this specific game. They represent the 'new generation'. So I can get why folks are confused, but with the way Capcom has marketed the game, these three actually do make the most sense.

@Bobobiwan Not sure if cross-save is confirmed but I'm pretty sure cross-PLAY is confirmed, and I play on PS5, so this means I may have some potential friends to play with on Switch 2 in the future.

@N8tiveT3ch The pattern with these three is that they are all 'new blood' for Street Fighter 6 — the 'new generation' of fighters, brand new characters.

I was pretty excited when these got revealed, but 30 US DOLLARS per each one? OOF. I feel like I could potentially get a full on SF6 figurine for cheaper, possibly... I might do.

I'll wait to see the official final UK prices, but I had been hoping to pick up Kimberly and Luke. If these are $30 a pop, I might still get one, but man. I'd maybe be better off getting two other amiibo I don't have yet for cheaper instead...