6th Gen "But we already know how to catch pokemon."

The Pokemon X and Y games are sure to target new younger and older audiences, in which from various pokemon games, there are tutorial systems to help them out. But, what about veteran audiences? You know, the people who have played pokemon games since the late 1990s?

Yes, it stands to reason that these games should also target new audiences, who don't really know how to play pokemon as well, but, bare with me for a second and look at it from another side: don't veteran pokemon fans already know how to catch a pokemon, how to battle pokemon, and pretty much anything that has to do with pokemon in general? Even when they've completed pokemon games, these veterans, or just people who completed pokemon games in general, still have to go over the tutorials, even if they've already completed pokemon games over, and over again. Except for certain things that might be changed of course, like how a Pokemon Center or a Pokemon Mart would look like.

So, what I'm asking here is, how do you think the tutorial system play out in X&Y? Should there be an option to skip over the tutorials completely for veterans?

Or, could there be another way to view the tutorials, other than playing it through the main story of the games? For example, in FR/LG there's teach T.V, where you can go over basic stuff in the pokemon game, like catching pokemon, how to battle, etc. There's even an help mode, where you can go over basic materials in pokemon.

Do you have any other thoughts on this?

Derk beat me to it. I think having the Teachy TV was one of the best ways to introduce tutorials. It kept capturing Pokémon mandatory to view (which it probably should continue being, as new players could get confused by that and they should be told how to do it), while the rest of them were totally optional. It was pretty much the best of both worlds for new players and old players alike.

I just don't want my hand held TOO much as we're playing through these games, as it just makes me feel like I'm not doing any of the work anymore. Having optional tutorials while keeping the ones that are absolutely necessary for gameplay required to view just seems like the best bet to me.

I always prefer a good visual tutorial than just reading logs of dialogue. Except it tends to get a bid tiresome on later replays. That's why the Teachy TV, as mentioned already, was such a great tutorial device in FireRed and LeafGreen that I wouldn't mind seeing again. So long as there aren't a lot of tutorials as there appears to be in B2W2 though, then we're all good.

It would be nice if they were optional though...

I'm sure it's going to be like just about all the others. Your first hour is spent going back and forth, learning how to battle, learning what Pokeballs do and how to use them, learning how to use a potion, wondering when you'll finally get your running shoes, then backtracking to your starter town because someone forgot to give you a map of the region. :P

Sigh... Fire Red and Leaf Green... They had such a good way of using tutorials... But alas, even they made "How to catch a Pokémon" mandatory. As for Diamond/Pearl/Platinum, seriously, WHAT THE HELL, you could catch Pokémon before you were even taught (Yes, you could actually buy Poké Balls in the Poké Mart before the tutorial, making catching Pokémon before tutorials possible). That was so annoying. If you could catch Pokémon before you were taught, there is no need for a tutorial at all.

So yeah, Fire Red and Leaf Green had some pretty good mechanics... Which should actually return again, but this time actually not to make the Pokémon Catching Tutorials mandatory at all. After all, it wouldn't hurt to bring back an old mechanic which was made almost a decade ago, so why not? It may also get more veteran players to play the games. But if they do use the same technique they use usually, my main say is: Do NOT make Poké Balls accessible before their own tutorials.

I'd like the catching tutorial to be like Gold/Silver/Crystal: The dude comes up to you and asks you if you want to know, and it's possible to decline the offer. This makes it completely optional. I'm not sure if they made that part mandatory in HG/SS, but this is the best way to implement it. New players can learn how to catch Pokemon, and veterans don't have to sit through something they've already known how to do since the good old days.

I don't mind the FRLG style of tutorials and help but...

Please please please don't bring it back to the L/R buttons. Put it all on the Teachy TV-like item. It was kinda annoying when I accidentally hit L or R. lol

I think everything needs to be optional though, well, I guess except the things specifically new to Gen 6.

Umbr30n said:

Sigh... Fire Red and Leaf Green... They had such a good way of using tutorials... But alas, even they made "How to catch a Pokémon" mandatory. As for Diamond/Pearl/Platinum, seriously, WHAT THE HELL, you could catch Pokémon before you were even taught (Yes, you could actually buy Poké Balls in the Poké Mart before the tutorial, making catching Pokémon before tutorials possible). That was so annoying. If you could catch Pokémon before you were taught, there is no need for a tutorial at all.

Click to expand...

You know what? I remember that. I pulled out a ROM version with visions of doing a playthrough (ATM I haven't tried out my video and voice recording together, but have posted some Youtube entries of other screengrabs recently), got my team up to each of the unique Pokémon available, and then moved to the newest Route...and was taught how to catch a Pokémon. I had a full party (or at least five). I mean, come on, dummy; I know what I'm doing. (BTW, in Emerald, you "learn" via teaching Wally how to catch a Pokémon as well; you've already gone through Routes 101, 103, and 102 by then before meeting the character's Dad, Norman, from which the tutorial stems. I am unsure if you can buy Pokéballs before this event, however.)

But yeah, I can see why that tutorial is mandatory. If someone new skips it, that's a very important thing they can't redo, plus in most games it's the only tutorial needing to use the battle system. Thus, they make sure it's covered. I don't think there would be a problem with "Do you want to skip this tutorial?" followed by an "Are you sure?" confirmation, but that's me.

Cyclone

Please God, not more tedious tutorials. I get rather annoyed (not the words that first came to mind, but anyway) when I have to go through how-to-catch-a-Pokemon and other tutorials.

Okay, the newcomers may need to know this stuff (unless they've looked it up on the internet before getting the game).

Having said that, there should be a question like "Have you played games in the Pokemon series before?" when you set up your character. This could set a flag so that the tutorials are automatically skipped. Probably won't happen, though.

Meh.. Just give them a Teachy TV or something. Then we won't go through all that I again.
Arceus christ, just waiting for that tutorial to finish takes like 6 hours to me.

This tutorials are annoying and I bet I spent like 24 hours of my life watching that already. Nevertheless, Nintendo and Game Freak are going to troll me and put that tutorial thing because there might be new people who are new to the series but at the same time, they still want to troll people like me, who have been playing the series for like about 10 years already.

I remember playing LeafGreen briefly and saw the whole Teachy TV thing. I'd really want to see it make a return someday, and hopefully X and Y might be a good time to bring it back.

Tbh the usual catching tutorials which involve an NPC catching a Pokemon were just so long and boring. Or else I'd like to see an optional catching tutorial like in Gold/Silver/Crystal.

Why not just write it in the manual? If kids can play the game, they probably know how to read.

ZetaZaku said:

Why not just write it in the manual? If kids can play the game, they probably know how to read.

Click to expand...

Manual?

(This is meant as a joke, I know they still produce these. The note is that PC games don't often, or they're on the CD-ROM.)

Cyclone

The problem with only putting it in the manual is that people aren't guaranteed to read it. They'd prefer (I'd imagine) that the new players know for a fact how to do things like catch Pokémon, and by putting it in-game instead of the literature in the box it's guaranteed that the players will have less confusion of how to play.

I figured people might be reluctant to read the text bits that's in the beginning of LG/FR, where it just explains information about pokemon in general, as well as in Gen 4, where'd they have to select an option to tell them about how to play pokemon, etc. So, maybe a tutorial in-game seems like the easiest way to learn, hence why I was thinking that maybe there can be an option to skip it if you've played with pokemon mechanics already, or if you've beaten the game.

If there was a variable for the game to store if you've completed the game already, therefore turning off the tutorials, that'd I would actually love. It'd be pretty much as simple as turning a false variable to true for the tutorials, so I don't think that'd be too hard to implement. But yeah, with the text intro for DPP I'm pretty sure 99% of people just skipped right through it =x

Here's an idea. Have a character (maybe the professor or your rival or whoever) tell you early in the story, "You can log onto your PC and watch tutorial videos on everything you need to know."

So that way, it's right in the game itself, new players will know exactly where to look since they're told, and veteran players only have to sit through maybe 2 lines of extra text, which is nothing compared to a whole big long tutorial. It'd be nice if the PC did real-life-PC-like things like showing videos. I'm sure it couldn't be that hard to code in...

The problem with that is even with it there, how many people are really going to go look at them? Game Freak and Nintendo can't guarantee anyone will look at them, so it's still easier for them to put a mandatory "this is how you catch a Pokémon!" tutorial that lasts a few minutes so they can make sure no one gets too confused.

That's not to say I don't like that idea, because I'd actually prefer it =P