4th Generation: The Physical/Special Split

[Sydian]

Before Diamond and Pearl's release, we found out that they were splitting the physical and special attacks, meaning that Hyper Beam, a physical move with no physical contact, was now a special move, and Bite, a special move that made physical contact, was now a physical move. What were your initial thoughts about this change?

I'm putting this in 4th Gen since I want to discuss your initial reaction to the change, plus this feature was new in gen 4 so yeah, but if you wanna move this to PGC Nathan, feel free to. :>

[Suicune™]

tbh i didn't know about it until around a year after the release of DP, i didn't really read too much into it prior to the release. It was only after I started on the forums when I learnt about the Physical/Special split, I do think it's a great idea however it took me a while to adjust to the split moves.

[Arlo]

This was the single change that I most wanted to see in Pokemon, particularly after gen III introduced so many pokemon with mismatched stats and typings (Absol, Shiftry, Sharpedo...) or dual types with one physical and the other special (Breloom, Camerupt, Altaria...). I clearly remember thinking how awesome it would be if there were both physical and special attacks for each type so that, for instance, Gyarados could finally get a decent water attack or Absol could actually use Swords Dance and a STAB attack, so I was thrilled when they actually did it. And it's turned out to be everything I'd hoped it would be.

And I always think that this is a thing that should be taken into consideration when people start criticizing DPPt. As the generation that introduced the physical/special split, I think it stands tall immediately, just for that reason alone. Everything beyond that is bonus.

The only sort of disappointment connected to it is that it's made it that much more difficult for me to replay anything before the 4th gen. I've been doing a Nuzlocke of Sapphire lately, and it's okay, but I really notice the difference.

[Sydian]

At first, I wasn't particularly excited, but I'm never really happy about change. As I played my games more before the release of DP, I realized how many moves just didn't make sense, like my example of Bite...it really bugged me back then. So I started to be more open to the idea, and I think it was definitely a change for the better. It gave those Pokemon Arlo mentioned a chance to shine, as well as some before gen III (however we've yet to let Flareon get the boost it needs...come on, GameFreak!).

Also, with playing older games before the split in mind, it's a bit weird to go back to them, but it also gives you a chance to think of different ways to go about that Pokemon, so I'm open to that challenge. I find it fun. But yeah, it was still a change for the better and it makes sense.

[Hikari10]

I wasn't even aware of this until I read a Pokedex handbook for DP (which I still have lol) but I'm glad they dismantled the old type-based system and now base it on the move itself. It helped make some once-useless Pokemon now have moves that can work off their best attacking stat (Sneasel, Gyarados, Misdreavus etc.). Had this change not occurred, Gyarados wouldn't have decent STAB or some Pokemon with good stats may have still been useless.

I would never want to play my old Ruby again cos I loved this new system.

[Brendino]

Quite honestly, I didn't even know about the change until well after the fact. I'd been playing the games for nearly a decade prior to my jump to 4th gen, but never really paid much attention to the difference in Special and Physical attacks. Even when I first realized that Pokemon had seperate Attack and Special Attack stats on Sapphire, I just assumed that Special Attack was for STAB moves, and Attack for everything else. It seemed logical enough, so I never bothered looking any further into it.

Now that I actually do understand the Physical/Special split, it really changed the game for the better. Things like Bite never made sense as a Special move, and vice versa with moves like Swift and Gust. Just like Hikari, I'm almost a little hesitant to go back and play some of my older games, since I'm so accustomed to the better system that we have now.

[Curious.]

I never really paid much attention (still don't) to those sort of things, so the switch didn't really have much affect on me because I didn't really realise it had happened haha.