Ancalagon
03-24-2009, 12:13 PM
So... it was released a few days ago for those of you lucky enough to live in the USA or Canada. Has anyone bought it yet? Anyone care to share some impressions?
I'm thinking about sacrificing my free time to the God of Pokemon again, I'm considering ordering it through an eBay retailer based in the states cos it only comes out in the UK in 2 months. That being said, having recovered from my Poke Addiction of a few months ago, I'm not as driven as I was to buy it.
I was looking for some reviews on the game, and found this (http://www.gamesradar.com/ds/pokemon-platinum/review/pokemon-platinum/a-20090323111759430020/g-20081007154021142008/p-2) page which I thought had some interesting comments.
Better Pokemon storage system – When there were a mere 151 Pokemon in the good old days of Red/Blue/Yellow, the rudimentary PC boxes worked just fine for storing your catches. As our Pokedexes expanded several times over in subsequent generations, the storage system for captured Pokemon unfortunately did not keep pace. In fact it hasn’t really changed at all.
Above: Psst... put the Pokemon in here, please! If a Wailord can fit into a Poke Ball, surely all your Poke Balls can fit into a Pokedex
Collecting Pokemon has always been a cornerstone of the franchise, but for fans who really want to catch ‘em all, the 540 available slots in your PC’s 18 boxes are not nearly enough for the 493 available Pokemon, especially if you’re collecting variants like the pink and blue Gastrodons, Wormadams, all 28 Unowns, event-only Pokemon, Shinies, etc. To make matters worse, the PC system offers little in the way of organization, so collectors can easily waste hours shuffling Pokemon around in different ways. Why not integrate Pokemon storage with the Pokedex itself? You’d be able to look up captured Pokemon via various parameters like species, type, gender etc, and access Pokemon you’ve captured via their Pokedex pages. It’s a simple thing that would make life for serious collectors much easier.
More acknowledgment of the hardcore fanbase – Many of us spend tedious hours IV breeding to gain a competitive edge, so why not reward our toils by at least including an IV calculator Poketch app?
Above: IV breeding should be more transparent, but let's keep Shiny hunting a secret for the select few
And how about more in-game challenges that push the player to explore more of the game’s depth? Just playing through the single player game, you’d have no idea how much complexity lurks beneath the surface of Pokemon. Just like the news reporter in Solaceon Town who awards you with Poke Balls for showing him a specific Pokemon each day, it would be awesome if there were some structured challenges and rewards for fans who want to delve deeper into Pokemon’s endless possibilities.
The Battle Frontier does offer a general challenge, but we’re talking about specific battle, training or breeding related challenges that would push the player to expand their strategies. For example: use a STAB move effectively against the type it's weak to, use a particular status effect or weather condition to your advantage, breed a Pokemon with a specific advantageous nature, and so forth. This would allow solo players to enjoy more of what Pokemon has to offer without forcing them to sift through various fan sites and message boards on the internet.
Rerelease with all four regions accessible – Nintendo loves repackaging the old as new, so why not put out a super Pokemon compilation with all of the previous regions (Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh) available on one game? ‘Nuff said.
Personally I agree, they havent done enough innovation in the series. I mean, dont get me wrong its still addictive as all hell, but they could use some better UI mechanics and general usability improvements.
I'm thinking about sacrificing my free time to the God of Pokemon again, I'm considering ordering it through an eBay retailer based in the states cos it only comes out in the UK in 2 months. That being said, having recovered from my Poke Addiction of a few months ago, I'm not as driven as I was to buy it.
I was looking for some reviews on the game, and found this (http://www.gamesradar.com/ds/pokemon-platinum/review/pokemon-platinum/a-20090323111759430020/g-20081007154021142008/p-2) page which I thought had some interesting comments.
Better Pokemon storage system – When there were a mere 151 Pokemon in the good old days of Red/Blue/Yellow, the rudimentary PC boxes worked just fine for storing your catches. As our Pokedexes expanded several times over in subsequent generations, the storage system for captured Pokemon unfortunately did not keep pace. In fact it hasn’t really changed at all.
Above: Psst... put the Pokemon in here, please! If a Wailord can fit into a Poke Ball, surely all your Poke Balls can fit into a Pokedex
Collecting Pokemon has always been a cornerstone of the franchise, but for fans who really want to catch ‘em all, the 540 available slots in your PC’s 18 boxes are not nearly enough for the 493 available Pokemon, especially if you’re collecting variants like the pink and blue Gastrodons, Wormadams, all 28 Unowns, event-only Pokemon, Shinies, etc. To make matters worse, the PC system offers little in the way of organization, so collectors can easily waste hours shuffling Pokemon around in different ways. Why not integrate Pokemon storage with the Pokedex itself? You’d be able to look up captured Pokemon via various parameters like species, type, gender etc, and access Pokemon you’ve captured via their Pokedex pages. It’s a simple thing that would make life for serious collectors much easier.
More acknowledgment of the hardcore fanbase – Many of us spend tedious hours IV breeding to gain a competitive edge, so why not reward our toils by at least including an IV calculator Poketch app?
Above: IV breeding should be more transparent, but let's keep Shiny hunting a secret for the select few
And how about more in-game challenges that push the player to explore more of the game’s depth? Just playing through the single player game, you’d have no idea how much complexity lurks beneath the surface of Pokemon. Just like the news reporter in Solaceon Town who awards you with Poke Balls for showing him a specific Pokemon each day, it would be awesome if there were some structured challenges and rewards for fans who want to delve deeper into Pokemon’s endless possibilities.
The Battle Frontier does offer a general challenge, but we’re talking about specific battle, training or breeding related challenges that would push the player to expand their strategies. For example: use a STAB move effectively against the type it's weak to, use a particular status effect or weather condition to your advantage, breed a Pokemon with a specific advantageous nature, and so forth. This would allow solo players to enjoy more of what Pokemon has to offer without forcing them to sift through various fan sites and message boards on the internet.
Rerelease with all four regions accessible – Nintendo loves repackaging the old as new, so why not put out a super Pokemon compilation with all of the previous regions (Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh) available on one game? ‘Nuff said.
Personally I agree, they havent done enough innovation in the series. I mean, dont get me wrong its still addictive as all hell, but they could use some better UI mechanics and general usability improvements.