Has Pokemon jumped the shark?

rosac

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I was recently playing pokemon Heartgold and Pokemon Black, and an interesting thought came up: Has Pokemon actually jumped the shark?

Every generation has it's fair share of mechanical updates that are useful (TMs being reusable in Black/White, The physical/Special split which was a godsend) but also some... less necessary changes. I enjoyed doubles battles in ruby/sapphire, but Black/White introduced triple battles which to me seem a bit excessive, and I didn't actually enjoy playing.

Then X and Y introduced mega evolutions, which I can't really agree with.If powercreep is an issue, would it be such blasphemy to alter older pokemons stats? Some mega evolutions are pretty OP (Blaziken, seeing as many can't get Dreamworld Non-mega Blaziken) and some are actually seen as worse than the original (Garchomp). The fact that some pokemon receiving megas don't have any evolutionary relatives, so could actually evolve normally also gets on my nerves. X and Y also introduced Sky battles and horde encounters... Was fighting one on one or two on two really not enough?

So, what are your thoughts? Is pokemon starting to get more and more gimmicky just to keep going, or is it a genuine progression.

Disclaimer: Everything posted above is my opinion. I am not stating it to be fact, just my thoughts.
 

Elfgore

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I actually really hated all the battling types in Black and White. The triple, rotation, and whatever others existed just caused me to groan. Mega evolution, hordes, and Sky battles are right. Hordes offer some nice experience if you have a Pokemon that knows surf or some other floor clearing move. Sky battles are completely avoidable as well.

I think the issue is, there is only so much you can do to Pokemon. You can't change much without having to completely re-design the game. The simplicity is as much a bane as it a blessing.
 

Spambot 3000

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Well the thing with horde battles is that they speed up the EV training process by about 5 times faster. So yeah, extremely useful. Also introduced was Fairy types which is a pretty big impact to the mechanics as well and I think it could be classified as progression on that behalf (some might disagree).
So to answer your question: I don't know, maybe.
 

go-10

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triple, double, and rotation battles I REALLY like them, I also LOVED the battle subway, spent too much time in Pokestar Studios, the exp. share of X/Y is by far one of the best additions made to a pokemon game and the mega evolutions are downright awesome! I can't wait until fusions become a thing

so while you guys hate all these changes there's a lot of people on the same boat as me that actually welcome the simplification and accessibility of the Pokemon games
 

JayRPG

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I love and hate mega-evolutions, I think the way they were implemented was to cut down on copy paste builds, most of the pokemon given mega evos were already viable but now you really have a choice on your hands (in some cases).

I would have rather had seen them put onto pokemon that simply aren't viable, most bug types would be a start, Mega Butterfree or Mega Beedrill, or at least more pokemon from the 1st gen that are simply outclassed.

Though, I love my Mega Kangaskhan so I'm torn.

I don't really care for triple battles but Horde battles have an important function, EV training, and to a lesser extent, shiny hunting and hidden abilities.

Sky battles are pretty forgettable, really.

As has already been mentioned, the added fairy type was a game changer. I think X and Y have been the best in the series so far, not only did they totally revamp the look of the game but they managed to throw in more new stuff than any other generation I can think of.
 

duwenbasden

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I absolutely do not want Megaevolution. It seems like a desperate attempt to make existing characters look "cool". Charizard is cool, mega-Charizard looks like Grandparizard.

And I love the new Exp.Share, it means I have more than 1 team.
 

lachlan4567

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All I think ORAS needs to do is include a compelling, post game I remember I put probably the most in gen 4.
The battle frontier, a good plethora of legendaries, rare TM's to hunt down.
In X/Y all I felt I needed to do post game was the Looker guild thingy and mega stone hunting, which I think should be available through the game as everyone is just gonna trade there stones over anyway.

I also feel they are releasing too fast, the reason for a third game I always thought was so the next round could get even more dev time, while wild rosters, legendaries and such are altered. Now we just skip that and go into a remake.
 

VanQ

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As a Gen Oner and someone that has played every new gen when they came out, Pokemon is better than it's ever been. The games are better with every installment, even the remakes manage to be better than the latest flagship title whenever they come out and I'm willing to bet that Omega Ruby is gonna blow the previous games out of the water as usual.

Seriously, Pokemon is one of those games that has grown up with its audience and that's why it remains relevant.
 

Thebazilly

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Whatislove said:
I love and hate mega-evolutions, I think the way they were implemented was to cut down on copy paste builds.
I don't think Nintendo is even aware of the metagame. The Pokemon franchise has just made so many baffling choices in relation to it that they can't be keeping competitive battling in mind. They gave mega evolutions to the coolest Pokemon and not the ones that needed the stat boost.
 

Hero of Lime

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I equate each Pokemon game with more stuff than the type of battles it introduces. Usually it's the new Pokemon, the region, the new characters, and of course the new mechanics. For me, Pokemon has gotten better by deepening the mechanics, the Pokemon roster, and new activities including triple battles and the like. The Pokemon world is far more interesting than it used to be, it actually makes me excited to see new regions and Pokemon with each gen.

Admittedly, while X and Y were great, the game itself felt flat at times, it did not help that the post game kinda sucked. On the other hand it made it easier to get into the competitive battling, so I guess that could be the real post game they wanted us to play. I think the visuals are what made the game for so many people, and that it pandered to older fans a lot. Still I wouldn't call it jumping the shark, the 6th gen is my second favorite after the fifth.
 

Johnny Novgorod

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I have a hard time seeing anything even remotely relateable to "jumping the shark" in a product that has largely remained the same with little to no change since its inception. But if I had to pick out an example it would probably be the Digimon-esque "mega evolutions".
 

Aerosteam

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Sep 22, 2011
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Well, they had to add something, and it was settled on mega-evolutions. Seriously, after gen 5, what else is there to add to the battle mechanics? Also I'm just grateful that the main games are finally in full stylized 3D, even if I haven't played X/Y.

By the way, sky battles are completely optional and horde encounters significantly help EV training.
rosac said:
If powercreep is an issue, would it be such blasphemy to alter older pokemons stats?
You mean like this?
 

sextus the crazy

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Thebazilly said:
Whatislove said:
I love and hate mega-evolutions, I think the way they were implemented was to cut down on copy paste builds.
I don't think Nintendo is even aware of the metagame. The Pokemon franchise has just made so many baffling choices in relation to it that they can't be keeping competitive battling in mind. They gave mega evolutions to the coolest Pokemon and not the ones that needed the stat boost.
Well considering every game makes changes to iron out some of the problems with the previous metagames problems, I'd say it's very aware of the metagame, even if they don't follow say, smogon, specifically.

OT: Megas are fine because for the most part, they're not super OP and there are even a few megas that are worse than their originals. Personally I like the idea of having megas as a way to make older pokemon more viable in the modern metagame or as a way for a pokemon to have multiple play styles (like sun-sweeper regular venusaur vs. tank megasaur or tank tyrannitar vs. booster megatar).

The rest of the gimmicky battles don't interest me except for doubles, which was made really cool by VGC.
 

Canadamus Prime

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I stopped caring about Pokemon some time ago and I practically facepalmed when I heard about those mega evolutions. So yeah, I would say so.
 

Compatriot Block

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Well, people have been saying that it has since gen 2, so I'm gonna stick to my normal position of "Naw, dawg." Still the same fun I've enjoyed since my first game.
 

JazzJack2

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The only thing that pisses me off about the megas is the fact that Mega Banette is complete shit despite being the best designed mega by a mile and one that really deserved a chance to be useful given how useless regular Banette is
 

FPLOON

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Unless you really miss Black/White's inclusion of an "actual story" outside of the "general norm" most of the games still strive to achieve through their overall simplicity, then any claims of Pokemon "jumping the shark" are mainly through the eyes of the beholder...

Other than that, I would say that they have a shark in its own tank, yet instead of jumping over it, all they do is pace around it like it's waiting for that moment to catch the shark with [insert Pokeball here] before it decides to jump out and bite its head off because they were "looking at it funny"...
 

Eclipse Dragon

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At this point no, not even the mega evolutions. I would say the purpose of them being around is so they can slow the release of brand new Pokemon, yet keep up producing regular scheduled games, they're up to over 700 Pokemon and running out of remake possibilities.


Now when they start fuzing two Pokemon together[footnote]on a regular basis, Black and White Kyurem is an exception.[/footnote] to make one stronger one, that's when I'll say Pokemon has jumped the shark.
 

loa

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X/Y are probably the best pokemon games even though they are filled to the brim with infuriating issues that have carried over several iterations out of an inane sense of "tradition".

I don't like how they implemented mega evolutions though, making it depend on an item of which you only get 1 completely sabotages any trading, especially since there simply isn't any system for trading items in place.
And then they went full retard and added one mega evolution item into one version and made the actual pokemon to use it with exclusive to the other as if it wasn't obnoxious enough.

Oh yeah also we totally needed more trade-only evolutions too cause those are fun.