Contradicting the Game Mechanics

[Charlie Brown]

"Aim for the horn, Pikachu!"

How do you feel when the anime contradicts the game mechanics - whether it's to do with (mega) evolution, the type chart, or otherwise?

 

[Aquacorde]

Ahahaha.

I think it's fun, honestly! Like the game mechanics are very good and for the most part make a lot of sense, but there are other things that the anime does that are more "realistic" in a way- like most recently, Rain Dance powering up electricity, and things like using electricity after an opponent gets wet is more effective. Other stuff like being able to bypass typing if you find a weak spot or using moves in unconventional ways-- I love it <333

 

[Pinkie-Dawn]

Ahahaha.

I think it's fun, honestly! Like the game mechanics are very good and for the most part make a lot of sense, but there are other things that the anime does that are more "realistic" in a way- like most recently, Rain Dance powering up electricity, and things like using electricity after an opponent gets wet is more effective. Other stuff like being able to bypass typing if you find a weak spot or using moves in unconventional ways-- I love it <333

I on the other hand absolutely despise it because it shows that the anime aren't staying true to the original source material mechanics wise. In fact, having trainers taking more than one turn and commanding their Pokémon to dodge 100% accurate moves is further deconstruction from the actual games.

 

[Aquacorde]

Yeah and the point of the anime is to take mechanics and source material and turn it into something that feels more real and plausible! It wouldn't be very immersive if trainers were constantly calculating numerical stats and damage in regards to things that are essentially animals for them~

 

[Charlie Brown]

^ I agree, I much prefer the more dynamic style of mechanics in the anime for the most part. The exception being bypassing type immunities which I'm a bit iffy on - I feel like those are harder to bypass. But things like dodging, using multiple moves/combinations of moves, working with the environment to power up attacks, etc, I find they add a lot of excitement and flavour to battles in the anime which I greatly prefer and think it works well for the medium.

 

[Aquacorde]

Some type immunity bypasses make sense to me, though, like... ground vs flying. A lot of ground moves make perfect sense to hit flying types, especially in particular circumstances- if a birdie is on the ground, there's no reason it shouldn't be able to get hit by Dig. Sand Attack is just kicking sand in their face- why would a bird be immune to that? Mud Shot, Mud Bomb, and Mud Slap are just projectiles that happen to be made of dirt. Bone Rush is whacking it in the face with an actual bone. Birds may be agile and can use the sky to get out of the way, but there's no real reason they should be immune to all of that.

 

[jjc927]

I don't mind the differences in the anime vs the game mechanics. The games are limited to whatever is coded into them, but the anime has more freedom. There are some things that don't make sense though, like in the anime some Pokemon having what seems like limitless moves while at least in the early games (I don't know if this is still true) they could only know four moves at once. I would've thought too especially for gym or league battles that it would be an official rule that trainers must make only one move at a time.

 

[Aquacorde]

I actually think a somewhat unlimited movepool makes sense! Pokémon are smart and remember what they've learned; it doesn't really make sense to have them limited to four.

 

[Charlie Brown]

^ And on top of that, I think having a wider arsenal of moves at a Pokémon's disposal makes things more varied and exciting. Things would get pretty stale imo if we just see the same moves over and over.

 

[jjc927]

That's true, more moves means more variety. It also wouldn't make sense for a trainer to make a Pokemon forget one move after learning another.

 

[Pinkie-Dawn]

I don't mind the differences in the anime vs the game mechanics. The games are limited to whatever is coded into them, but the anime has more freedom. There are some things that don't make sense though, like in the anime some Pokemon having what seems like limitless moves while at least in the early games (I don't know if this is still true) they could only know four moves at once. I would've thought too especially for gym or league battles that it would be an official rule that trainers must make only one move at a time.

Lt. Surge's Raichu knew more than four moves, which was listed as the #1 flaw of that episode from WTF Pokemon, which was an old web show that dedicated itself to listing out the top 5 flaws in each episode of the original series based on logical mistakes (both from the games and irl), plotholes, poor writing, and changes made by 4kids.

 

[Aquacorde]

I'm not sure that was an error- iirc the anime used to be much more lax about the 4-move rule. Regardless, that's just their opinion anyway- while the anime tends to stick to four moves, they don't talk about it much and it would be perfectly fine to have expanded movepools because it just makes logical sense~

 

[Charlie Brown]

On the topic of moves, how do you feel about moves that have added/different effects in the anime compared to the games? e.g. in the anime, Agility is often used to increase evasion, not just speed.

Personally I think it's fine and adds more dynamics to the anime as well, and I do feel that speed and evasion would go hand in hand so it makes sense for evasion to also increase when Agility is used.

 

[Boynsy]

I'm not a huge anime fan (in fact, I'm currently looking for somewhere to start watching them all the way through from the beginning right now) but I am of the opinion that, in moderation, it is a great thing to have a little variety. For example, Pikachu aiming for the horn is a pretty sweet tactical move and a great 'twist' if you will, but if it is used too much then it is just clearly disregarding the games as source material.

 

[Guest123_x1]

Every time game mechanics are bypassed by the anime, particularly the type chart, I tend to get a bit baffled, especially when an attack damages an opponent that would normally be immune to such attack (particularly when Ash's Pikachu is able to defeat Rock/Ground Pokémon such as Brock's Onix when the fire sprinkler was set off, Raymond's Golem in Mewtwo Strikes Back, and the aforementioned 'aim for the horn' incident.)

I never really got why Agility was always depicted as an evasiveness move more than a speed move-making said move just another version of Double Team.

 

[Iceshadow3317]

It has to be done. I am glad they do it. If they were to follow all game mechanics, it is just bad for a show. The battles would be extremely boring. That is why I prefer more logical/real life things in the anime.

The game mechanics are far too restricting. It is like that in all games. And if they were to follow game mechanics in a movie, do you know how bad the movie would be? How boring the scenes would be?

Onyx was defeated by Pikachu because it got wet, which makes perfect sense to me. Water conducts electricity, it doesn't matter if it is on the ground or not.

 

[Volcacross802]

It REALLY, REALLY, REALLY annoys me, even though yeah, it can make things more exciting/unpredictable/whatever, i just feel like there's something really infuriating about it completly disregarding the source material, please don't flame me, i just wish it would atleast follow the type chart better.

 

[Aquacorde]

It REALLY, REALLY, REALLY annoys me, even though yeah, it can make things more exciting/unpredictable/whatever, i just feel like there's something really infuriating about it completly disregarding the source material, please don't flame me, i just wish it would atleast follow the type chart better.

when does it not follow the type chart? beyond like, reasonable exceptions such as: ground pkmn not being grounded and therefore can be hit w electric; flying being hit by ground moves while on the ground

 

[Volcacross802]

when does it not follow the type chart? beyond like, reasonable exceptions such as: ground pkmn not being grounded and therefore can be hit w electric; flying being hit by ground moves while on the ground

well, the rules are inconsist, for some reason it's like, one moment, they CAN'T be hit by electric moves,
And even state that ground types can't be affected by electric moves, and then 2 episodes later, they CAN be hit by electric moves, it's inconsistent.

Maybe i just wish it would follow the games closer or at least make a set of rules and KEEP them.

 

[Kostas]

I actually disagree with this.
Anime is already following games enough in my opinion. Actually It's definitely more interesting for anime to have a different style than the games.