Now that Gen 8 has pretty much been confirmed... let's review Gen 7...

It case you've been living under a rock or just haven't kept up with news, Generation 8 is coming next year on the Swtich.

So... let's review Gen. 7 shall we?




WORST. GENERATION. EVER.

1. The only good thing to come out of Gen 7 was Decidueye.

2. Gyms>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Trials

3. Bias against Kalos. No Pokemon Z. :irate-stare:

4. Alola is just... NO. JUST NO.

5. I'll admit the story for Sun & Moon was good, but that's about all it had going for it.

6. This generation has just been an overall FAILURE. The most obvious example being the anime version which is pretty much the worst season of the anime yet as they attempted to rip off from Yo Kai Watch to get it to succeed with FAILING results.

So... yeah... let's just pretend Gen 7 doesn't exist okay? Except Decidueye he can stay. kthxbye.

But... Gen 8 could make up for all this stupidity. At least if we go by this...

http://vgleaks.com/rumor-pokemon-gen-8-starters-leaked/

If these are truly the starters... it's a good start. Particularly the Fire and Grass ones. Which I quite like.

Look... all I want is for Gen 8 to act as if Alola doesn't exist. That's all I'm asking. Yes I know it's not going to happen but I suppose it's a possibility with how much of a FAILURE Gen. 7 was.

Because seriously. Bring Gyms back. Trials was an absolute joke.

#GymsBetterThanTrials



P.S.: It case it wasn't obvious, everything stated above is IMO. Which, the last time I checked, I'm allowed to have. =/

While I mostly agree with your thoughts, I don't see how you think those designs are a saving grace.
They're okay but nothing revolutionary.

define failure, and need more info on #4

I have no opinion on the anime, but I loved the Pokemon in Gen 7. Especially the fun ones, since I'd rather have pokes that I can have fun with instead of things being constantly angry or just trying to look cool.

Only thing I didn't like were that the dungeons were all super straight lines. Even the post game Guzzlord/Zygarde dungeon. Part of me feels like they had to cut down on area sizes/complexity due to the graphics upgrade.
I felt like if this was an older title, the Megamarket would have been the size of the Celadon department store with ghost elevator shenanigans.

On the plus side, The Pelago was great. Only time in the series I've ever stockpiled berries and mass daycare/happy spa was great.

Mantine Surfing is the only time I looked forward to farming BP.

Also you can high-five a sealion - which is amazing.

In general Gen 7 is a really great gen if you want something really happy and carefree, but at the same times its a Gen that never feels like it got to do everything it wanted to do due to maxing out the hardware - so I'd actually be pretty heart broken if the series tried to "forget" it, because it never felt like it got to say everything it wanted.

I thought Gen 7 was okay, all things considered. Of course, this is talking about the games more than anything else.

The Pokemon were okay, some of them more impressive than others.

I think what Gen 7 got right more than any other generation in the past is the theming part. I feel a lot more effort was incorporated to make Alola feel like Hawaii, and I really appreciate that kind of effort from Game Freak. In past generations, every single region felt almost the same because there was very little to no effort to incorporate a certain region's culture in the games beyond a few subtle things here and there. XY was basically shoving the Eiffel Tower in the middle of a city as if that's supposed to mean anything beyond "SEE, WE'RE BASED ON FRANCE". As much as I didn't mind Gen 6, there was no effort to really incorporate any French culture in the games. It just felt like any other Pokemon game in the past, which looking at it feels like kind of a letdown.

I suppose Unova is kinda sorta an exception with Castelia City... but that's about as far as it goes in incorporating "New York".

I hope, in whatever region we travel to next, I hope we explore more of that region's culture and actually learn from it, rather than it feel like another generic Pokemon game. Sure, SM and USUM has many flaws, but despite all of that, they're enjoyable games in their own right, I think. They're nowhere near bad, perhaps unexceptional, but I think still enjoyable for the overall theme and some of the characters.

I liked most of the Gen 7 Pokemon.

I don't think Ultra Sun/Moon deserved any hatred for being too similar to the originals. Most third games in the series are the same games with small differences.

colours said:

I thought Gen 7 was okay, all things considered. Of course, this is talking
I hope, in whatever region we travel to next, I hope we explore more of that region's culture and actually learn from it, rather than it feel like another generic Pokemon game.

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This so much. Though sadly I do feel the hawaii kind of fades out fairly quickly and then halfway through it turns to cowboy town, and then you get hit with two johto-centric towns. While every other person is constantly talking about Kanto.

Not to mention, that we had a volcano here, but we did not get to explore inside it at all.

I would have loved to learn more about hawaii.

While I mostly agree with your thoughts, I don't see how you think those designs are a saving grace.
They're okay but nothing revolutionary.

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I didn't say they were the greatest designs ever. I'm just saying it's a good start.

define failure, and need more info on #4

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Generally bad and unappealing region, bad Pokemon designs except for a few, lackluster goal and motivation to continue, bad in general.

Alola is honestly the worst region of them all if you ask me. It didn't even feel like a 'region.'

What it seemed like, is that they took the 'Orange Islands' from Gen 1 and tried to make it into an actual region. The result was VERY LARGE FAILURE.

In general Gen 7 is a really great gen if you want something really happy and carefree, but at the same times its a Gen that never feels like it got to do everything it wanted to do due to maxing out the hardware - so I'd actually be pretty heart broken if the series tried to "forget" it, because it never felt like it got to say everything it wanted.

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lolno

It's bad and they need to act like it doesn't exist. Except for Decidueye. Like I said.

To be honest... I actually haven't played Ultra Sun yet. Mostly because I have a VERY LARGE gaming backlog, the largest I've actually ever had, but I doubt it's going to make me feel any different. Which will be largely due to having to go through the ridiculous joke that is 'trials'

SERIOUSLY. GYMS. ARE. BETTER.

ZeoStar said:

I liked most of the Gen 7 Pokemon.

I don't think Ultra Sun/Moon deserved any hatred for being too similar to the originals. Most third games in the series are the same games with small differences.

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it's really a shame that's apparently something people just refuse to acknowledge

every single third game has felt remarkably similar to its predecessing games, because that's the entire point. B2W2 being the exception because it's a sequel, therefore it plays by a whole different set of rules.

but hey, people will have their opinions. if they want to hate, let him hate. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ it's really unfortunate i think, but alas.

I'm not a fan of Gen VII. However, I do not think that it did everything wrong.

Despite not liking the games, I do think many of the Pokémon are well designed. Many have their own unique gimmicks instead of just being a something like a fire bird or a flower, for example.

Game Freak wanted to try something different and I think we have to give credit where credit is due. Instead of giving us the same, rehashed Pokémon game, they gave us trials, Z-moves, and plenty of other new features. What we can't deny, no matter how boring the games may have been to play, is that Alola had its own distinct personality.

In my opinion, we have to look at Gen VII for what it is, not what it could be. At least Game Freak now has a better idea of what works and what doesn't, and can improve on this in later installments to the series. You can't please every fan.

I will agree, though, gym battles are better than trials.

I think they were above average.

I love Pokémon design. I would say I like about 90 % of the Pokémon introduced in this gen. I had really hard time choosing my team of 6.
The region is probably the memorable one. As colours said, gf nailed the theme and atmosphere.
Trials are one thing that wasn't executed in a good way. BUT I would take Trials instead of Gym alá Kalos. I mean, can any of you name all the Gym Leaders from Kalos and their signature Pokémon or their role in the story? I feel like Trials could've been interesting and GF showed that with Grass, Fire and Electric trials. But then there were things like Water trial that should've never been put in the game.
One thing that really put the game down for me and the reason why I played them only once and had to convice myself to even complete them is the pace of the games. I hated when I was stopped by either Lillie or Hau every few steps and wasn't able to leave the area to do some exploring. And there was almost no reason to return back on the island once its part in the story was completed.

But lately, I wanted to return to Alola and give both regular and Ultra version another shot.

Writer Eevee said:

I'm not a fan of Gen VII. However, I do not think that it did everything wrong.

Despite not liking the games, I do think many of the Pokémon are well designed. Many have their own unique gimmicks instead of just being a something like a fire bird or a flower, for example.

Game Freak wanted to try something different and I think we have to give credit where credit is due. Instead of giving us the same, rehashed Pokémon game, they gave us trials, Z-moves, and plenty of other new features. What we can't deny, no matter how boring the games may have been to play, is that Alola had its own distinct personality.

In my opinion, we have to look at Gen VII for what it is, not what it could be. At least Game Freak now has a better idea of what works and what doesn't, and can improve on this in later installments to the series. You can't please every fan.

I will agree, though, gym battles are better than trials.

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Sure. It was 'different' alright. Differently bad.

Also I don't have to give them credit for shit.

Okay I will. I'll credit them for making the WORST REGION YET.

I love Pokémon design. I would say I like about 90 % of the Pokémon introduced in this gen. I had really hard time choosing my team of 6.
The region is probably the memorable one. As colours said, gf nailed the theme and atmosphere.
Trials are one thing that wasn't executed in a good way. BUT I would take Trials instead of Gym alá Kalos. I mean, can any of you name all the Gym Leaders from Kalos and their signature Pokémon or their role in the story? I feel like Trials could've been interesting and GF showed that with Grass, Fire and Electric trials. But then there were things like Water trial that should've never been put in the game.
One thing that really put the game down for me and the reason why I played them only once and had to convice myself to even complete them is the pace of the games. I hated when I was stopped by either Lillie or Hau every few steps and wasn't able to leave the area to do some exploring. And there was almost no reason to return back on the island once its part in the story was completed.

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lolno.

Most of the 'Pokemon' didn't even seem like Pokemon at all and were just generally bad.

The trials were a joke and a complete waste of time. They were utterly pointless.

The Mega Champion said:

Sure. It was 'different' alright. Differently bad.

Also I don't have to give them credit for ****.

Okay I will. I'll credit them for making the WORST REGION YET.



lolno.

Most of the 'Pokemon' didn't even seem like Pokemon at all and were just generally bad.

The trials were a joke and a complete waste of time. They were utterly pointless.

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You know, man, I disliked the games just as much as you, but you're arguing as if everyone else has to agree with you.
This kind of topic isn't that important to get so worked up over. The generation is all but over now anyway, so, if other people appreciated the different style GF took for it, then just agree to disagree.

I don't think you're going to change anyone's mind doing what you're doing.

I just finished pokemon Moon and I can honestly say that the games were better than expected and my opinion on gen 7 has shifted. The 7th generation nailed a lot of the things that its predecessor lacked, including the amazing characters and story line. In my personal opinion, sun and moon arguably had one of the most complex and interesting story lines out of any pokemon game. Not only that, but the characters were phenomenal, they were extremely three-dimensional and you truly got an understanding of their respective personalities, ambitions, and backstories. Furthermore, all of the characters complemented each other well and each brought something new to the table. (Sure, Hau was a little flat and generic, but he felt more organic than the majority of the characters in X&Y). While the 7th generation isn't perfect, in fact, I wouldn't consider it a favourite. However, I think some of the backlash it's received is unnecessary. (Despite my comparisons to generation 6, I actually prefer gen 6).

I respect your opinion, and I can understand some of your points (the anime does suck), but I think you need to respect the views of others instead of dismissing them.

Okay so... I feel the need to post this. Some of this applies to this thread specifically, some of it doesn't. Either way, it's relevant, because it's something I've been thinking about for a while.

Each generation will always have its flaws. No generation is perfect, no matter how much anyone likes to pretend it is. Sure, we will always have our preferences in which generation is better than the other, and I think that's perfecly normal. But I personally think it's a rather ridiculous notion to either:

• make fun of;
• dismiss;
• or otherwise invalidate

other people's opinions purely because they like another generation and/or region than you. I would like to think that what brings us together especially on fan sites like these are because we like Pokemon as a franchise. Whether we like one generation better than the other is really insignificant and I don't get why some people treat it as some sort of huge thing when it isn't.

There are things that Gen 7 did right better than other generations. There are things Gen 5 did better than Gen 7, and there are things Gen 6 did better than Gen 5. So on and so fourth. You get the point. Again, each generation has its pros and cons. It's even fine for us to be passionate about it, because that's normal. Just respect those opinions.

The Mega Champion, I don't mind that you dislike Alola, but not everyone is going to share that same opinion. Shockingly, there are actually people that like the region despite the vocal dislike. I'd appreciate it if you let people have their thoughts and don't try to make any attempt to shove your own opinion in their face.

As much as I like to rag on gen 7. some gen 7 designs are alright, some became my favorites like Komala and Passimian. I do not like most UBs however. I know people like their bizarre otherworldly look but I just don't, looks like laughable designs submitted from some elementary school contest in Japan especially with the likes of Guzzlord. Also having copying good typings from other pokemon doesn't help. Heracross will always be the number 1 bug fighting

I respect your opinion as well as for anyone who shares yours. I honestly feel you were overreacting a bit, but whatever, to each their own. I'm getting tired of people complaining that 'Pokemon is getting worse' overall, though. I see tons of dudes who rant day and night about the confirmed 2018 titles while I'm personally looking forward to them. Every generation had it's ups and downs. I used to be like everyone too but now things have changed. but again if you thought the latest gen was bad then that's fine, we aren't forcing you to like it or anything.

Alright, I'll throw my two cents into this discussion and give my thoughts on Alola and this gen (WARNING: TEXT WALL!!):

OK, so I'm going to admit that I actually liked this generation. Around the middle of ORAS, I started wondering whether the Pokemon formula was getting stale or not, because the gyms formula has been done for six generations straight. Yo-Kai Watch outselling ORAS in a shorter timeframe didn't help either, and on message boards I saw people getting scared that Pokemon was going to get killed off by this new and fresh franchise, that had ignited a fever in Japan.

Tying in with this whole "Pokemon is getting stale" thing, the trials gave a nice change, even if it may have felt like an alternate take on the gyms formula. The Z crystals were actually written into the plot rather than just some collectable item that felt shoved in, and the totems were pretty challenging. I do agree though, the trials may have been easy (I'm looking at you, Kiawe...) but as stated before, the totems easily made up for it. Even underneath all the new formula and alternate take, it's still basically the same Pokemon game you've been playing since 1998, as the overarching goal is still the same (start game, do gyms/trials, beat evil team, fight E4). One thing I don't really like about the progression is how the player feels railroaded through the game, severely limiting the amount of freedom they get. True, there are some side areas that can be obtained by getting something later on in the game with some worthy rewards, but the constant railroading makes it easily forgettable.

The region design was also quite an interesting one. Sure, it's an island archipelago, but this is not the first time that Pokemon have done a region like this (previous examples include the Sevii Islands, Orange Islands and Oblivia), and the Hawaiian culture is perfectly woven into the aims of the game, rather than feeling simply shoehorned in to be all like "HEY LOOK AT ME WE'RE IN HAWAII!!" and there were a nice variety of biomes aside from simple grasslands - there's a volcano, an icy mountain and a desert to name a few. Some of the environments were even woven into the trials, such as Kiawe's trial and Mallow's trial. Unfortunately, the region design seems to bring its own flaws. For starters, everything seems to feel all compacted and disjunct, requiring you to fly, surf or take a boat to different islands, and this makes the region feel small. The dungeons were also pretty linear and basic, such as Diglett's Tunnel, and they lacked the true sense of exploration that earlier games' dungeons had, such as Mt. Moon and Chargestone Cave. However, Vast Poni Canyon was pretty well-designed and it felt like a true test of the player's abilities...if it weren't for Lillie running in every so often to heal the player's team. As for the more exploratory dungeons, a large number of them were optional, such as the previously mentioned Haina Desert, and Seaward Cave.

Alright, I'm about to talk about the plot, and I can already sense that you've got your pitchforks aimed at me like "OMGGGG THE CUTSCENES!!!!" but no, I'm not gonna just rag. Yeah, admittedly the cutscenes may have gotten in the way, and even I have to admit that not including a "speed up" or "skip" button was a bad move, especially considering how they often disrupted the flow of gameplay. However, they were pretty interesting to watch, even with the likes of intense ones like when Lusamine releases Nihilego in Aether during SM and the Necrozma/Nebby fight in USUM, and I enjoyed watching those. As for the game plot itself, it carries along at a brisk pace and offers a good sense of world-building. It's quite a good plot on the levels of Black/White, and for the first time since those games I actually wanted to know what was going to come next plotwise, rather than just rush to the end. It also gets pretty dark at some levels as well, especially shown during the Lusamine encounters in SM. As for the USUM plot, to start off with it is very similar to that of SM, with elements of the Ultra Recon Squad, and this can be enough to put players off. However, differences do creep in and with it comes new challenge, such as new totems, but they're not really that major. However, after Aether it really ramps up towards the climax and Ultra Necrozma, and the buildup was done pretty well; it actually feels like you're battling to save Alola. Rainbow Rocket was a pretty nice challenge as well, and a nice blast from the past. However, it would have been nicer if the player could battle other subordinates from the evil teams like Team Galactic Commander Saturn and Team Aqua Admin Matt.

However, a game (or a movie or a book, or any other media) is not without its flaws. One thing that's been cited a lot is the really slow pacing during the opening. It feels like the player's hand is being held all the time, and there's a lot of back-and-forth. While annoying to some, it was actually done with good intentions, as GF knew that there were going to be people coming in from Pokemon GO as their first Pokemon game. If they were tossed right in like previous games, they likely would not have figured things out easily. Another thing I've seen is people ragging on about how Festival Plaza was a step down from the PSS. Admittedly, the PSS was great and convenient, but the way the Festival Plaza approach was used (with the shops and whatnot) meant that it was not possible to simply reintroduce the PSS. Having to go into an entirely new interface is quite annoying though.

I may have flawed during this, but I haven't really done a lengthy review in quite a while...but this is what I think about Gen VII.

Charjabug debuted in this generation; therefore it is one of the best generations.

Ok lets be honest here, Gen 7 was Pkmn's saving grace. With almost 17-18 million sales, its the third highest selling NINTENDO (Not only Pokemon but other things like Mario, etc.) games on the 3DS, and it brought back many fans, not to mention pulled in scores of newer players. Yes Gen 7 was not the best, but its a step forward. Nintendo dumbed it down considerably. and I literally cruised through the game without losing even 3 battles unintentionally. In the end though, Gen 7 exists, it pushed the franchise forward, generated a crap tone of revenue for GF and Nintendo, but it also let us, the playerbase, express our opinions, and hopefully in Gen 8 we'll get what we ask for. Complaining is bad, but making fun of the games is fine. TBH, I agree with most of The Mega Champions points, and I don't like the starters for Gen 8. They just seem to be getting worse. IMO. Out of curiosity, does anyone agree that the quality of starters decreased slightly after gen 4? (With exceptions like Greninja, Forgadier (Froakie is ugly imo), Infernape, Torterra, and maybe a couple of others?)