Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl

[Karo]

I honestly don't think I will be picking this up, but if I were to pick it would I would probably have a hard choice between choosing the starters I really do love Turtwig and Piplup, but not Chimchar though mainly because his typing is the most boring out of the starters.

I swear fire and fighting is just pure boring now.

[Dragon Lord]

If I could ask the development team one question, it would be this -- Why the hell does Zubat have Absorb instead of Leech Life?! I don't know if this is a change that Gamefreak made in Sun/Moon or Sword/Shield, but it makes no sense for Zubat to have a grass-type move. The fuck?

[Moonface]

@Dragon Lord: According to Smolgon, Zubat got Absorb in SM, but also kept Leech Life. It seems that hasn't changed even in this game, so it gets both moves it seems.

[Dragon Lord]

Talk about the most pointless moveset changes. There's no reason why Zubat needed Absorb and again, giving Zubat a grass-type move just seems really weird.

Also, I really hate how you get stuck on EVERY. SINGLE. CORNER. in this game. How did they playtest this and think that was okay?

Been watching a vTuber I follow (Sayu) go for a Shiny Piplup. So far she's 40+ hours and 1,100+ resets into the hunt.

[Moonface]

This game has free movement while the original was grid based right? Maybe the characters are getting stuck because the geometry is designed for grid based movement and as a result hit boxes are janky or something. Not excusing it of course, just trying to figure why it could have become a problem.

I forgot who it was doing it but I know a streamer was doing a shiny only run and spent like 30 hours I think just to get the starter to be shiny. Is Sayu doing an entire shiny run or just the starter Piplup?

[Karo]

I think I remember watching a review talking about how the system still seem to be some form of grid based oddly enough so maybe that why they are getting stuck on walls? I know Pokemon games really try to keep to their classic style as a throwback, but honestly I think it okay for them to let go of some things such as the grid. XD

@Dragon Lord I kinda see them giving Zubat absorb as a way to give it more type coverage, but honestly early form zubat never really standed out as a powerful Pokemon to me and absorb and leech life never struck me as these golden moves unlike Charmander gaining metal claw in FR/LG

[ShiraNoMai]

I was hearing from a game dev that this is a Unity collision problem and the devs didn't bother fixing it for whatever reason. It is silly, and you see it a lot in areas like the Eterna City gym.

The Absorb thing is odd, but definitely not as odd as Abra having fucking Energy Ball (a grass type move). I've seen three separate people encounter this and get absolutely wrecked because no expected to encounter this combination.

[Karo]

Honestly from what I am hearing this is actually a pretty challenging Pokemon game which might actually change my tune and I might pick it up. Worst case scenario I have another Pokemon game to add to my Pokemon home collection!

I do like Sinnoh Its just it really doesn't feel like the definitive edition considering all the Pokemon we used to have access too and I much prefer the style of Sword & Shield over this throwback to D/P/Pt...I do hope when they eventually get to Black & White they just do a genuine upgade and considering how those game function the lack of national dex really won't hurt them.

I'd love to see the Black & White cinematic in the Sword & Shield engine characters actually emote and it will feel very grandiose plus out of all the stories I read for Pokemon that one really did keep my interest. The moral implications of basically cock fighting the mysterious N and the fact that your two childhood friends both feel like they have distinct personalities and they would still fit into the nice rival category, but I can believe it unlike says the X & Y Trio and I feel like they kinda did it well for Hop, but he feel like kinda a rehash of previous rivals (Though since it the first game based on an American region I'll admit I might just be looking at it with rose tinted glasses)

[Dragon Lord]

I like that they made it so you can find some different Pokemon in the Underground than what you'd normally find. Found a Swablu down there and I was like hell yeah I'll take that as my flying type over Staravia. Also found a Houndoom, but opted not to catch it because I don't believe in catching pre-evolved Mons.

Maybe I can find the pup instead, but already having Monferno kind of makes catching Houndour/Houndoom pretty pointless outside of collecting. Hoping to find some other nice surprises down in the Underground as well.

[Moonface]

Also found a Houndoom, but opted not to catch it because I don't believe in catching pre-evolved Mons.

Ah, a fellow no pre-evolved player. I never catch an evolved Pokemon unless that's the only way to acquire it in the game outside of trading, but I'll use it to obtain the lowest evolution form via an egg and then toss the evolved Pokemon in the trash when I'm done.

[Dragon Lord]

Yeah, pre-evolves are garbage. They usually have shit movesets lacking any of their actual worth-while ones. Also, I'm not sure if it's different now days, but I think it used to be back in the day that wild pre-evos had worst stats than ones you raised from low level. So like a level 50 Golbat you raised from a wee level 5 Zubat would have better stats than a level 50 wild Golbat. I THINK. I could be misremembering/thinking of a different mon raising game, but for some reason I feel like that's how Pokemon used to be. Could be I'm wrong or they may have changed that some where along the line and I am unaware of it.

I also tend to avoid using no-evo Pokemon. They've just always felt like shit to me power-wise compared to Pokemon that evolve (Legendary Pokemon being the exception, obviously).

Also, I don't know who else is playing this here, but here's my current team/progress: Two badges currently (on my way to the city with the third gym) with a team of...

Floatzel (LV26)
Golbat (LV26)
Roselia (LV28)
Monferno (LV29)
Luxio (LV28)
Egg (Swablu would normally go here)

Running Floatzel as my water mon right now, but not sure if I'm really feeling it with her. Might go hunting for a different Water Pokemon soon. Would love to put Vaporeon here instead, but Eevee isn't available until after getting the National Dex. Sadge.

This will definitely not be close to my final team though. Monferno and Golbat (Crobat) are the only two locks in this team right now. I will 100% for sure be adding Garchomp and probably Froslass to this team. Might find a different Electric type to use instead of Luxio as well.

Roselia is probably also another one I'll drop because having two Poison types is pointless, and I like Crobat more than Roselia/Roserade. Grass Pokemon in general always seem to be a waste of a team spot, because there's better options for hitting the same weaknesses (Ice or Water for Ground/Rock, Electric for Water).

[Dragon Lord]

So I started over in this game because I wanted to do my team different from the start.

So, I didn't take Chimchar this time, taking the penguin instead (with full intentions of boxing it). My goal is to use all dual-type Pokemon without having any overlapping types.

So far the 'Mons who are 100% locked into my final team are...

Garchomp (Dragon/Ground)
Froslass (Ghost/Ice)
Houndoom (Fire/Dark)
Lucario (Fighting/Steel)
Gardevoir (Psychic/Fairy)

This leaves me in a bit of a spot with only one spot left open. I'd like to have both a Water-type and an Electric-type, but no room for both (unless there's one of the Electric/Water types available in the game, I don't remember).

I kind of also want to keep Roserade or Crobat on the team (can't have both due to them sharing Poison typing). I always use Crobat in Pokemon games, so I'm leaning towards not using it for once. So that would give Roserade the spot instead.

I have Gyarados on my team currently, so I could just stick with him for Water/Flying, and then ditch Lucario and maybe fill in an Electric type... though I could also just teach my other Pokemon electric moves. I lose the type boost, but oh well. I know Houndour/Houndoom can get Thunder Fang, and I'm pretty sure I can teach Gardevoir Thunderbolt/Thunder via TM.

I could also just stick with the penguin for Water/Steel typing, but I just hate Empoleon's design. Don't want to use that thing at all.

This is proving to be an interesting way to go about the game. It doesn't add any challenge to it, but it does make me think about my team a little more than normal. Usually I just use whatever I want regardless of having multiple of the same type on my team.

I will say though, I hate that they made it so the only way you can get a Houndour is by catching two Houndooms in the Underground (one male and one female obvs) and breeding them once you get to the town with the Nursery. Houndour itself is not available any where in the game outside of an Egg.

[Moonface]

This leaves me in a bit of a spot with only one spot left open. I'd like to have both a Water-type and an Electric-type, but no room for both (unless there's one of the Electric/Water types available in the game, I don't remember).

Chinchou looks to be the only one that has that dual typing. The few others that do are in much later generations so they aren't in these games.

I forget if I asked this question to anyone, but besides the obvious improvements like the visuals and the additional new features like the underground biomes, is there anything about the original game that was notably improved in this remake or wasn't but someone wishes was?

[Dragon Lord]

I wish they would have added the ability to "trade" Pokemon to yourself. I don't want to go online with randoms to find a Haunter/Geodude/Machoke/Kadabra/etc. to get them evolved. Back in the day the traded Pokemon were a fun idea, but it should be something that can be done some way in-game by yourself.

I'd say through NPCs like they have done in the past, but I don't really like that because they usually have some stupid nickname and traded Pokemon from other people level up faster and that bugs me, because then my team gets out of alignment level-wise.

Other than I'm actually pretty happy with the remakes. Sure, they could have changed a lot more, but part of me is happy they are mostly the same as the originals.

I am happy they brought back the ability to have your Pokemon follow you though. Having my Houndoom follow me around just feels right. Maybe it's just because having a dog type Pokemon just feels right, Like I'm out taking my good doggo for a walk. Though having Gyarados follow you is pretty hilarous, because it looks like it's chasing you and trying to kill you.

[Moonface]

I wish they would have added the ability to "trade" Pokemon to yourself. I don't want to go online with randoms to find a Haunter/Geodude/Machoke/Kadabra/etc. to get them evolved. Back in the day the traded Pokemon were a fun idea, but it should be something that can be done some way in-game by yourself.

@ShiraNoMai has Brilliant Diamond and if you can trade to a specific player you could always trade with her to get the evolutions you need.