5th Gen L=A Removed Like/Dislike

[Phazon]

I went to turn L=A on at the first chance I got. It sucks that they removed it :/

 

[Novia]

I never used it but my cousins love it haha.
I was more annoyed by the fact that I had to hold B to run. Unlike HGSS.
And my A buttons nearly dead so I also miss the fact that you could just touch A on the screen like in HGSS :(

I know! I really miss not holding down B and the touch screen A.

I didn't even know there was an option use L as A so I don't really miss it much.

 

[Guy]

When I first got White and looked for the option L = A and didn't see it, I was like "Whaaat?" D: I used that minor feature a lot when I was multitasking and playing the game in one hand. Just by habit, on occasion I still press down on 'L' as a substitute of 'A' and I realize, "Oh wait, it's not there anymore; Great!" ):

 

[JP]

Never knew it even existed, but I can see how it'd be useful. Shame they got rid of it.

 

[Imperator161]

I never used L as A, but I don't like that they removed Start as X.

Exactly my feelings on the matter. I never really paid much attention to the option of setting L as A, but I've used Start as X ever since it became an option. I've used Start to activate the menu for years now, and I have no desire to change that.

 

[fenyx4]

Hmm...well, I've hardly ever used L=A in Sapphire, FireRed, or Emerald, to be honest. I remember using it once just to see what it did. XD The only time I pretty much use shoulder buttons for anything is in Super Smash Brothers (I use it sparingly in Pokemon Stadium 2, and it's essential when I play my friend's copy of Marvel vs. Capcom 3)...

However, I did press the shoulder buttons much more often in FireRed, due to the Help System (the type matchup list was very helpful when I faced obscure type matchups). The ability of the Help System acting as a "pseudo-pause button" during battles also helped.

So yeah...I hardly ever used the L=A option, as I'm an A-button masher, but it sucks for the people who did use it. It doesn't seem like it would be that much trouble to have included it in BW. :\

I never used it.
I was more annoyed by the fact that I had to hold B to run. Unlike HGSS.

This. We go from having-to-hold-B to-run, to the awesome auto-run of HGSS, and right back to having-to-hold-B-to-run. -_-

I never used it myself, but now I think about it I realise it could be quite useful for one-handed multitask-playing.

The more important question is, though: WHY ON EARTH HAVE WE ONLY GOT ONE HOTKEY?! There's 4 face buttons, two shoulders and the Select/Start buttons. Clearly A and B are in use, but why do we need X to open the menu? It was far better in HG/SS as a purely touch-screen menu. And why can we not use Y, L, R AND Select to register 4 items instead of one? It's annoyed me since I can remember that you can only register one item. Imagine if we could have the Bicycle, the Map, the Super Rod AND the Vs-Seeker all just a single button press away...

Not that this is the only UI inadequacy in Pokemon games. For example, why can't we choose to Fly to a city straight from the Map screen? Instead we have to press B, go to our Pokemon list, select our Flyer, then click Fly, then find the city all over again... Urghh.

Sorry for getting off-topic. I did answer the question at the top though...

You know, I was only thinking about converting X to a hotkey button as well, but you've got a very good point. I mean, aside from the L=A people, other users basically never use the shoulder buttons, so why not give them some use. Same thing with the Select button (previously a hotkey in Generation 3). I mean, we could conceivably have 5 hotkeys by using X, Y, L-trigger, R-trigger, and Select and designate them to bring up 5 different items in the overworld!

I never used L as A, but I don't like that they removed Start as X.

This. That dampened HGSS a bit for me, especially since it was present in DP and HGSS's immediate predecessor, Platinum. Now what - you only use it to advance past the title screen, or what? (and IIRC, even that function is redundant as the A button does the exact same thing)

The Start button has been the menu button since Generation 1, and Start=X alleviated things by permitting two different methods of accessing the Menu in the newer games that changed the Menu access button...

Personally, I think Start should continue being the menu (for those of us that prefer buttons as opposed to touchscreens), with Select, X and Y (and L and R, when the player isn't using L=A mode) all becoming hotkeys. When you've got three to four buttons going unused, and you have to hold two buttons just for a certain action (running) when another button could easily toggle it, it's a problem...

Exactly my feelings on the matter. I never really paid much attention to the option of setting L as A, but I've used Start as X ever since it became an option. I've used Start to activate the menu for years now, and I have no desire to change that.

This. I don't see the harm in keeping L=A and Start=X in the games, and I wish they would return in the future, along with HGSS's interface for touchscreen users... I guess L=A was thought to be going unused, but according to this thread, the majority opinions seem like either people used the feature like heck or people weren't even aware that it existed. XD

 

[Jack Kentnon]

I always thought it was a pretty silly idea during the GBA era, and when the DS era started, I use the touch screen. So.... Yeah.

 

[bugsy555]

i miss it a lot. i loved being able to play with one hand and have a smoke in the other...i am currently writing a letter of complaint to gamefreak. heres what i have so far.
dear gamefreak,
you guys suck......

ill sort the rest out later

 

[Misheard Whisper]

I always used the L=A function in previous games, and loved it. Made it so easy to play the game with one hand. It was great, and I was extremely pissed when I discovered it was gone.

 

[s0nido]

It didn't really affect me. I noticed they'd removed it, but ever since they moved the start/select buttons to the other side of the console after the GBA to the NDS Lite, I never really saw the need for the button any more. I used to play one-handed using only one side of the console, since the movement buttons, the start button and the L=A button were on one side of the console. Now, they've been shifted around the console I lost the need for the L=A function. Besides, for some reason my L button always stops working in all my past DS'es. XD;

 

[phonastik]

Ohhh, I used to use this all the time. Being able to play Sapphire with one hand was something I never appreciated until the feature was gone... :(

 

[Azurina]

I really miss it, since I have a habit of playing using only my left hand while I'm lying on my side, and it's really inconvenient and kind of painful actually (I have small, unflexible hands) to reach all the way over to the A button.

 

[Rai]

I only used it occasionally. I forgot it existed over the years honestly. So its removal doesn't affect me much.

 

[The 100 Mega Shock]

That's just stupid.

Game Freak, masters of UI degression with every game.

 

[AusDon]

Pretty sure the poll options should be "like" and "dislike".
Opposed to yes and no.

But, yeah. I used L quite a lot. It made it easier to use your hands and the stylus simultaneously.

 

[Kokuo]

I personally never used it. I have a friend who was kind of annoyed it was gone though, he liked being able to play with one hand.

 

[Boarbeque]

Considering my L button is broken I don't think I ever even knew of this existing.

 

[hokala]

I never even knew you could do that! O.o

 

[Kjt]

This annoyed me so much. I loved playing with one hand and doing something with the other. Like I'd play and eat at the same time. It was also handy when trading between two DS-es. I don't actually see why they removes it. Seems like a stupid thing to do :O

 

[Rionix]

damn theres an L=A function for previous pokemon games???!

wish i could have a chance to play the previous gens...