5th Gen NPCs, Towns... Pokemon lost its feel?

[bobandbill]

I never noticed the truck in R/B/Y. I just noticed it in Hoenn since it stood out so much.

Still. Not a fan of how high-tech it's becoming :s

Woah nelly, slow down there...

Firstly - hi-tech in what manner? Is it the visuals, or the content, or both? Seems you're jumping to and fro...

Anyways, - you dislike how high-tech...it's becoming? As said this isn't something terribly new in Pokemon- you know, the game where you capture animals in devices and can transfer them back and forth to a computer storage system? That sounds rather hi-tech in the first place, and the introduction of a truck or car... doesn't change that. (If anything the car probably came first and seems to be established since R/B/Y - not only was there a truck there is also references to an old man saying he remembers the moon landing to the exact date... and logically a car would be invented before a small device which fits in your pocket that can contain huge monsters within them - certainly is the case irl. =P)

Furthermore there's the more obvious example of transport, the Magnet (Maglev) Train in GSC which honestly screams more 'high technology' then a truck to me - this is something that runs on magnets and transports you to another region at astonishing speed. I don't really see how there being trucks in 5th gen is any more technologically advanced than previous games. (Note that it is implied GSC/HGSS takes place the same time if not just before D/P/Pt, and RBY is thought by many to be around RSE's time slot). Never mind the high-class boats. In short, I just really can't see where you are going with this 'Pokemon has lost their feel' in this regard because it really is nothing new or amazing - if anything it's less impressive than other things before.

I'll never finish Pearl because it's just too Sci-Fi'ish (evil team wanting to wipe out Earth or w/e and praising space demi-Gods). I never liked the 3D lighthouse in HGSS either, so having 3D towns is really going to kill the "fun" I'll have playing. Not a fan of those graphics.

This sounds more a complaint with both plot (and who knows what the plot with B&W will be? The potential for a ying-and-yang theme though excites me more than 3rd/4th gen's plot) and the visuals here. On the former I'll note that there was no 'praising' of the legendaries going on in D/P/Pt, just a guy in charge of a large group whole manipulated them and wanted to use those legendaries for his own means. Rather different... (but you said you only played up to the fourth gym? Which probably explain it...) And the visuals part is down to personal opinion but doesn't actually change that much of th gameplay IMO (and certainly not the Lighthouse having a 3D part - you experience that for what, 5 seconds max if you go 'this isn't pretty imo' and just walk inside again). There's a difference between not liking the graphics and the 'feel' of the game changing, which wouldn't be due to 3D being used thanks to Game Freak making use of the DS's capabilities.

The characters look flat, too.

Everything else is 3D but the characters look flat lol It's really awkward o_o Like Paper Mario (only, Paper Mario was awesome.)

Hard to gauge with pre-release (by half a year thereabouts-good chance it's fair beta like certain pre-dp pics were to an extent) tbh. And on a previous not on the NPCs looking the same -besides repeating the 'it's may be beta', they've been reusing the same over-world (and battle) sprites since R/B/Y. =/ Sure it might seem a touch more obvious there, but I can't say businessmen looking like each other in an alley in one part of the game is exactly terrible in my view. *shrugs*

And again - bar the very odd picture all we have really seen is the city - which'd obviously be busier and more modern than smaller towns, etc. Still feel this judgement is given about a touch prematurely, is all.

 

[Natsu Dragneel]

Pokemon Really is high tech, remember the pokemon movie #5 Destiny deoxys? the city there is high-tech.

~Drak

 

[Ωmega]

I am actually excited for Black and White (or Negro and Caucasian as me and my friends refer to them as). Honestly, regions from Gens 1-4 were a little...bland to me. I couldn't really relate to them in the sense of a civilian. Now that the Isshu Region is more urbanized and the protagonists are older, I can relate more.

Nostalgia is good to have, but as Ausaudriel said: the games are evolving. The games are changing and we can't do anything about it. If you don't like it, then don't play it. I am excited for it. Black and White looks like a new frontier for Pokemon and it looks as if it is headed in the right direction.

Spoiler:

EDIT (25 June): Don't call me ignorant, whoever made the comment. I, myself, am African-American, and I only refer to the games around 2 people who are, by chance, white and mixed African-American and Caucasian blood. We refer to the games as such because we feel like it. So what if you call me ignorant or racist because I am not. By relating a game to races, I am suddenly racist? Would it make a difference to note that Sazh from FF13 was, obviously, of African heritage? Would it make a difference to note that Naruto is a victim of the Japanese subculture where one imitates a white person, blond hair and all? No, it would not.

 

[assasinn]

I know, in fact, 4th gen was even more confusing. This change, I can bare, besides, you can't take a bike every where.

 

[Waki Tobaye]

Pokemon Really is high tech, remember the pokemon movie #5 Destiny deoxys? the city there is high-tech.

~Drak

No! Mantain both canon apart. Anime is anime and videogames are videogames. They are not the same thing D:

On Topic, It obviously doesn't feel like older regions. Hell, even Nurse Joy is now gone from the Pokémon Center. It's a pretty big visual revamp, but we just have seen one (two, if you count the one screenie we got about the initial town) full city. We have just seen one. One. There's pretty much like 95% we haven't seen. Just because there's a city doesn't mean we have lost Pokémon. That's what I think xD

 

[Ninja Caterpie]

The NPCs, I agree. However, those are most likely still placeholders for the sprites they're yet to insert, as it's still in beta stages.

The "feel" of the game...I completely disagree.

Hiun City is meant to be the high tech city of Isshu. The one with the skyscrapers and fully tiled floor. It's meant to be high tech. There's always a town (maybe more) that's super big/high tech. In RBY, it was Saffron. In GSC, Goldenrod. RSE had Rustboro, Slateport and Lilycove. DPPt had Veilstone and Sunnyshore. Point is, every region has one or two really big cities with really big stuff in it. So what if there's A TRUCK. OMG THE GAME IS RUINED THERE'S A TRUCK. In GSC there was a Magnet Train. Your point is moot.

The one city they've showcased is meant to be super-new and high tech. I love how you completely neglect the fact that the starting village is still tiny and small and humble and insignificant.

I'll be willing to bet much of Isshu is still going to be small and laid-back.

 

[Ho-Oh]

I think it felt more normal for me in R/B/Y/G/S/C... sooo if gen 6 is the final generation, then they should use graphics from then, to give it a normal feel. Or those graphics to go back in time.

Either way, I don't like the graphics/feel of this game either, but meh idc much.

One of the things that I read about in an interview with the developers of the Pokéwalker is how they wanted to bridge the gap as closely as they could between real life and the Pokémon world. They brought the Pokémon world to us by introducing the walker; now they're bringing our world to the world of Pokémon!

Nick that sounds creepy :(

 

[pokedict]

rubbish, we're living ina modernised world, having high tech-pokemon stuff will be awesome, I mean, it's not like theyre banning us from the originals is it? It's good to have choice between 2 pixel squares moving acorss the screen and ultra-modernised pokemon and cities. :)

 

[Ivysaur]

Zelda comparison: I loved Zelda: Majora's Mask because it was a game that made you feel that the people in the cities were alive, doing things, having schedules instead of running around all over the place. If this game revives that feeling (and not TP's oh-I'm-too-busy-must-run feeling that the Pokémon Sunday trailer kind of implied), I'll be happy.

Technology: Honestly, what's wrong with cars? What's wrong with the character riding a motorbike instead of a regular bicycle? It's just evolution- if they want to set the game on a real-life country, we need cars and stuff. As long as they don't change the gameplay too much, it's fine.

Graphics: Again, evolution. This is a million times better than this. Now we'll have a smiliar city, but in 3-D. I know I love old-gen games, but as long as the graphics don't kill the gameplay, I don't see any problem with that.

 

[NA3LKER]

i am personally looking forward to it. this change will be, at the very least, refreshing.

 

[Bluerang1]

I agree, I don;t want too much modernisation. I like Heonn's balance of the two, Sinnoh was a bit to modern. But I also take the fact that it's still in development and the starting town is good. I wonder what I'll room will look like :D Finally, I wanted individual NPCs :(

 

[Yingxue]

Wasn't it Shigeru Miyamoto who said that they were going to make players think, "Am I really playing a Pokemon game?"

Also, I think those screens are a beta, it's not necessarily representative of what the city will actually be like...

 

[pokemongarnet]

I think it's just that city that's all high tech i think the rest will be fairly rural.

 

[livelyhans]

i like the detail too.. and i love it especially when the character walkin' around the city.. looks good.. but i think this version it's look like a harvest moon game...overall are good but it's awful with the starters

 

[Shiari Xero]

I personally cant wait till Black and White come out, they look awesome.

Its sad though, seeing how many people only play the game for the "feel" of pokemon. Where would it be without innovation? Stuck back in Gen.1 Now, i love gen 1 as much as the next person, but its time has come and gone. Newer, better in my opinion, games have come out, successors to the pokemon line. And you guys actually want it to look like Gen 1? For pity's sake, it would be like people telling the Final Fantasy people to never try something new. And if they would listen, we wouldnt have the awesome games of 6-9 and 13. It would all look like FFI. Technology is advancing, graphic engines are getting better, they can fit more on tiny carts. Change is bound to happen, and change is good. If you dont like change, go grab an emulator and play Red or Blue on it ;)
So in my opinion, as long as the story-line is good, and the graphics dont ruin gameplay, its a pokemon game thru and true. And ill play it :D

 

[Azzurra]

If you're talking about the starting town looking "unoriginal" then you're right. They're always the same, but everything? I'd have to disagree there. They look quite a bit different from my perspective, especially the cars and the whole town settings.

 

[cystar]

I think the towns are kimproving not going worse duhh

 

[moon]

I think it's cool that it evolves.

Next, I want to see a Pokémon mmorpg for PC/Mac. In full 3D and 1st/3rd person view. Hooray!

 

[Camara]

3D that works just as 2D (DPPtHGSS vs RBY) is a fail. 3D as you see your character from behind, now that's a 3D.

 

[Jerme]

There are vehicles in all gens.

true
1st gen-s.s anne, the "mew" truck
2nd gen-magnet train, s.s. aqua
3rd gen-cable car, the boat, trucks
4th gen-look how futuristic sunnyshore city is. and then there arn't even cars.

edit: and then there are the biker trainers (as in motorcycle) from gen 1 and 2

plus i like how the city looks like it actually has life to it. unlike a town with 5 enterable buildings, 20 buildings with no doors, and only 5 pedestrians

I do agree; Pokémon is losing its feel with these games, starting in Gen IV, but I know we'll eventually get used to it and we'll like it even more.

Oh, and looking at the moving Pokémon battle sprites...that kind of ruined it for me.

seriously? static pokemon sprites during battles is just boring, but i never had a problem with it. and i think the reason older gens didn't have this much detail is because they didn't have enough room/space/time/whatever to fit it all in...