What's the post game like for you?

[Sheep]

When finishing the main storyline, do you usually go to complete the post-game story (if there is any)? Do you also try to complete the dex, hunt for shinies, maybe breed/build the best Pokémon? Oooor do you just put the game down and consider it complete? (Maybe it depends on the game for you?)

 

[giradialkia]

Totally depends on the game.

The first game whose League I defeated was Gold, and I've been ruined ever since. It totally spoiled me by giving me a complete other region and 8 more badges to collect (in hindsight, GSC Kanto leaves a lot to be desired, but at the time it was mind boggling).

For other generations, I would strive to beat the Battle facilities; this was most fun in Emerald and Platinum/HGSS (they both had Frontiers rather than just Towers), and the PWT in BW2.

Come gen 6, I gained an interest in completing a Living Dex, and since then that's usually been my goal. Complete/update my living dex, and once that's done, get the game as prepped as possible for competitive. Build up money, TMs, items, so I can create and modify Pokemon for competitive as easily as possible.

I very rarely just put the game down once I've finished the story; but if I'm not liking the competitive scene (or where there IS no competitive scene like BDSP or Legends Arceus), I tend to leave it down after I've completed the Dex.

 

[GameBunnyAdvance]

Rarely, I've just never found it to be particularly interesting or worthwhile. I think I've only ever really bothered in the spinoffs, and with Legends Arceus they basically gated off the entire story behind the postgame, which was a tad ridiculous. For all that people complain about postgame content in Pokemon games, I really don't understand WHY when it's all been tedious, mindless rubbish. Since they stopped programming every Pokemon into the game, hunting for them has lost its appeal too. Once I'm done with the main "story" of the games (and I use that term very loosely to describe it) I tend to put the games down and forget about them.

 

[Corveone]

I mean, does post-game refer to actual additional content provided by the game, or stuff like spending hundreds of hours shiny hunting and breeding perfect Pokémon? Because obviously quantity ≠ quality.

I'm personally not a fan of the whole "post-game" thing, especially when it means nerfing the main game so that after watching the credits you can finally enjoy the great stuff... that would have made the whole experience better if you could enjoy it during the main game.

Post game should be merely a bonus. A game that needs the post game to pick up the pace and start to shine is an obvious indicator that developers have done something wrong.

Things I enjoy and welcome in a post-game:
Additional region, characters and storyline
Additional Pokémon
New trainers to battle

Things I don't care about:
Dex completion
Shinies
Catching dozens of legendaries that are just going to get boxed
Rematching late game trainers that should have been already strong in the main game but held back for the sake of padding
Anything that involves grinding

 

[Devalue]

Varied by game quite a bit. Reflects some changes in interest, perhaps.

Post-game story: Yes in all(?) cases. Feels like something major left in-game to do.

Pokedex completion: Left that for later, if at all, for most generations. May not have done it at all in Generations 2-5. Started doing it sooner (although typically after a short break?) since Sword/Shield. Sees someone with the other version at Christmas. Releases these games in late November. Cannot wait too long. Might not do it, if not for that. Trades with nobody else because of online being a paid service (among other reasons).

Hunt for shinies: Only in Scarlet/Violet after a break. Dropped the required time to a reasonable level. Doubled as resource gathering.

Battle Facility: Bothered with this mainly in X/Y, a long time after beating the game. Spent a handful of times between Black/White, Sun/Moon, and Sword/Shield. Cannot recall Crystal. Enjoyed it once. Never presented anything different enough to feel new since then.

Breeding/Training: Requires something in mind to use it for. Likely took a break between that reason and the main story. Tried it out a little in Black/White because of the Battle Subway. Racked up several hundreds of hours in X/Y and Sun/Moon for the Battle Chateau and Wonder Trading, respectively. Remembers breeding for some community raid days in Sword/Shield, although not much after that. Raised a ton of Pokemon for 7-star Tera Raids

 

[Explorer of Time]

I usually explore all the new postgame areas, if any, and battle all the trainers there, but I don't usually try and complete the dex. I'll usually only challenge the Battle Facilities to get exclusive items or TMs I want for my team, since I find trying to get long streaks of wins to challenge Frontier Brains very stressful. How much postgame time I spend really depends on the game, though. Games like RBY and XY will be over an hour or two once I'm done with the League, but I'll spend quite a long time on Gen 4 and Gen 5's expansive postgames.

 

[Setsuna]

The first thing I'll always do after the credits roll is complete the dex! Ever since Gen VI I've kept a living dex in every game and it's sorta just become a tradition for me, like a little bonus to get a bit extra out of the games. In games with multi-use TMs I'd always go out of my way to collect all of them or with things like Mega Stones or Z-Crystals I'd go and collect all of those too. I guess just, collecting all of the things I'm interested in is my simple answer.

If there are any particular Pokemon I want as shinies that I don't already have, then I'll go shiny hunting. I spent my post-game in Sword shiny breeding with the Masuda method, then spent my post-game in Shining Pearl learning how breeding for IVs and natures and everything worked (since I'd never really done it myself and wanted some first-hand experience with it) and intended to breed for 5IV shinies in Violet before I realized I just don't really enjoy breeding or shiny hunting with the changes in SV. I got my shiny Tinkaton and I'm satisfied with that. I don't do any competitive battling, but I like to have things like that in case friends need them or to have something cool on my own save file I worked hard for. I think if they returned to the old breeding method with the daycare anytime soon, I'd spend a lot of time in that generation shiny breeding lots.

 

[Maserati777]

I still have a few more gyms to beat in Scarlet but I lost complete interest in almost everything in the game so stopped doing any plot stuff and am just now shiny hunting. Not sure I'll ever complete Scarlet.

 

[ReKoil]

I finish off whatever is left of the PokeDex to complete as I already work on that while playing through the game. Then I do any postgame/DLC story.
Raids are boring to me so I occasionally shiny hunt if there's nothing else to do.

 

[Janp]

I barely touch the game after beating the story. The rare exception is Gen II, in which I revisit Kanto and beat Red. In Gen VI, I sometimes finished the Looker storylines and in Gen VII, I sometimes go and catch Ultra Beasts, but otherwise I don't really bother with it. I'm usually burned out of the game at that point or I'm just paying challenge that ends with credits, so I have no motivation to continue. Haven't touch Gen IX games despite there being new content added.