Party Chat: Pokemon Presents 2021

*Cracks knuckles* I’m pretty happy with the presentation. Not surprised about Snap coverage, we had only had the one trailer prior. I’m surprised that they actually showed new games though instead of dedicating 20 minutes to Pokemon Unite pffffft.

Happy about the Diamond/Pearl remakes! I’m more neutral leaning towards being happy with the designs. The lighting looks a little drab and I kinda wish they went a bit more in line with how the Link Awakening remake looked. But otherwise looking forward to it.

Legends…I’m cautiously optimistic? Honestly I’d have to see more. I’m not a big fan of open world games, so I’d need more information about characters/story/how the game actually plays before settling on my feelings. I do like that they’re breaking away from the mold of the main games and actually using past regions for something other than remakes

Interesting…Anyone else think that Pokemon Legends Arceus looks like ass?

Yeah they’re not gonna have enough time to clean it up, as is always the case it seems :/

It’s gonna get delayed like crazy. Late 2022 at a minimum. 2023 more likely.

Mmmmmm since it’s Pokemon idk. If it’s not meant to coincide with some anime or card release then yeah.

It said early 2022 so I expect April 2022.

If it releases in early/mid 2022, it’s gonna be shit. 1 year of dev won’t be enough time to fix what they displayed.

There’s a lot worrying about Legends, from mechanical concepts to those graphics (the frame rate on roaming Pokemon? Excuse me?)

Not I. It’s an early build. It’ll look better upon launch.

Oh Game Freak, Game Freak…

I worry about you. I get what you’ve done here – you’ve remade generation four in two ways, in an appeal to classic fans as well as contemporary ones. But the end result is… really safe? Like, I think BD/SP look very cute despite the lighting being a bit bland like @Kierra said, but if it’s as faithful as the promotional material promises, why don’t I just go and play my original Pearl version on my functional Nintendo 3DS? I expect they’ll combine Platinum’s additional dungeon and content into this, but even then, I find this a bit too nostalgic.

I was hoping the chance to remake Sinnoh would help Game Freak get back in touch with their roots and old environmental design, and that they would iterate in a way that honored the original, but Legends is a step in another direction that feels bizarre.

To keep it brief, we obviously know very little about Legends as of right now, but if you’re going to have an open-world game, you’ll need to construct reasons for why certain areas are more or less dangerous than others, and you’ll need to explain the difference between battling and catching.
If you want to make a spin-off title, why not make the battles a bit more action-oriented, as well? It seems bizarre to me.

Actually, apparently Game Freak has not labeled Legends as a spin off. But I do feel that Legends could work as a gameplay alternative and I would also say that it bears so much DNA in common with Let’s Go! that we might as well call it a spiritual successor.

Legends looks like what a lot of people expected Sw/Sh to be. While there is a lot to change and still develop, what I saw made me pretty happy. A developer with a year and tons of money for resources can accomplish much. Here’s hoping we see more about it by winter time.

Also the D/P remakes are cute. But I feel this lends better to handheld play and doesn’t focus at all on docked mode. This is kind of a win on their end, because less detailed models will show up better on the smaller screens of the Lite, and at its core this entire franchise is made to be played anywhere and everywhere. Would I prefer it to be in the same engine as Sw/Sh? Hell yes. But I’m okay with what I’ve seen. I got what I wanted out of the announcements and it would be too greedy to complain after that.

Sue me, I’m greedy.

And that’s fine. My own views are for governing myself, not others ^__^

I wanted Breath of the Wild with Pokémon and it looks like I got it. I’m actually working on an article in which I’ll go deeper into my hopes for “Legends” but I couldn’t be more excited.

It looks like the trainer will level up certain abilities in true RPG fashion. I can’t wait to see how that is integrated. I’m hoping the bond you have with your Pokémon will fit into that in some way…and not just wanting to play fetch with you or something.

The potential in this open world direction set in the past is limitless in my opinion. I can’t wait for Pokémon Legends: Mew that takes place in vintage Kanto. I could be 40 by the time it happens, but whatevs.

Diamond and Pearl remakes? The art style is questionable but I think it’s Game Freak’s best effort at pleasing both younger and mature players. The Chibi art style of BD/SP obviously is meant to entice the younger crowd. The open world of Legends will attract mature trainers. The strategy will pay off in spades…and billions.

Yeeeeeah I don’t think there’s any indication that the trainer will level up, or that this is more mature. But it is different and this is apparently the new direction they want to take the series and I’m curious to see how much, or how little, this is different. Looks like more of the same as of right now.

Maybe “level up “ was an inaccurate term but I could’ve sworn that I read the trainer will be able to increase certain attributes.

As I’m thinking about this, they’re definitely capitalizing on the open world feel. I do like the sneak mechanics and I see that catching Pokémon seems to be done by lobbing apricorn Pokéballs at them. I’m not super sure on the fighting aspect though? I wonder if they are going for a Yo-Kai Watch 4 approach that lets you control your protagonist and partners directly? This would be fine. There’s just so little info on combat that I’m just dying to know.

@Elias it seems that battles just occur wherever you encounter the Pokemon. If you lob a Pokeball containing a Pokemon in it at a wild Pokemon, you initiate battle, and the battles are turn-based in nature. This is stated in promotional material.

I’m curious to see how (or if) gyms are presented in this game. If it’s truly open world, how would the strength of the gym relate to the strength of your Pokémon? Another question that leads me to believing that the trainer will progress in some form or fashion.

From the trailer and info they gave my impression of the game is that you’ll be tasked to move between the village and the surrounding wild area to complete missions and challenges. In other words, I get the sense that there will be no gyms to travel towards and challenge (albeit maybe the central hub will have a gym-like competition to compete in) but the open-world is going to feel very restrictive against the true kind of open-world pokemon we all want–where you’re on an adventure going from town to town and village to village, taking on gyms and meeting interesting npcs along the way.