Zero Punctuation: Pokemon White

[Caliostro]

It's all about competitive play, with the advent of wi-fi in D/P/P.

"Competitive", or in fact any sort of serious player vs player play, in turn based combat baffles me.

How can you be serious about something that can be completely predicted and therefore mastered with a fucking spreadsheet before it even happens...

Great review Yahtzee. I haven't played pokemon since Blue/Red, and it's nice to know I haven't missed anything in 15 years.

~ basing opinions off a ZP video? You should know better ;3

WHAT! HE DOESN'T LIKE SOMETHING I LIKE!? CLEARLY THE MAN IS BIASED BEYOND ANY HOPE!

 

[rembrandtqeinstein]

I just got through the 5th gym and tepig/pignite is a face-raping brute, so I'm glad I picked him. The other 2 starting choices look like wusses.

 

[RobfromtheGulag]

I'd pick up a Pokemon game every several years just for the secure homogenous gaming experience akin to eating at McDonald's in a new town, but somewhere along the line marketing stepped up it's game from snobbish to nigh complete ostracism of the player from the 'full pokedex club'. I'm not an obsessive completionist but if I go on a FAQ or a message board and it's aflame with 'Geodog is the best Pokemon' then I'll be damned if I don't get aforementioned canine. It's like a Final Fantasy where you can't have the ultimate weapon unless you trade with 20 people then go to a PR event. Or Doom with only the levels without the BFG playable.

 

[averagejoedev]

That 'intro to syndicate wars' reference is the narrowest reference you have ever made Yahtzee! Get back to the mainstream friendly references, I don't wanna google your references before I get them.

 

[Fanfic_warper]

I actaully like this series and I can't blame people who don't like. I've been a fan since gen 1 and have since played each gen. For me, it's a continouous improvment on a classically great game. It's simple and it's fun, what more could I want?

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

It's all about competitive play, with the advent of wi-fi in D/P/P.

"Competitive", or in fact any sort of serious player vs player play, in turn based combat baffles me.

How can you be serious about something that can be completely predicted and therefore mastered with a fucking spreadsheet before it even happens...

So chess or any card game in general is something nobody can be serious about?


Gotta inform all those people who actually are serious about those things, quick, run!




On a, yes, more serious note, you can predict only so much (and most competitive players don't need a spreadsheet, it's all memorized) but in the end it's always about strategy, mindgames and the usage of your foe's logical predictions against him. If you're playing the AI you may predict always right but a human will always get in your head and try to make you guess wrong, sorta, if not exactly like chess.

 

[michiehoward]

I want to know why some people think Pokemon is a super-complex game. Raising Pokemon is complex, but when it comes to battles between similarly-raised Pokemon it's just crossing fingers and hoping the other guy doesn't send out scissors when paper is in play.

http://www.smogon.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=144&prefixid=warstory

Pick a thread, read the battle report contained within and the guy's thoughts on what he was going to do next and why etc for a standard competitive Pokemon battle.

Then look me in the eye and say that again.

-butts into convo-

I don't know what to say while looking you in the eye except...thats fucked up. LOL

 

[Primus1985]

wish we could have heard about how he felt about the plot, but ah well, shit happens.

Nintendo game...Plot??? Since when?

 

[Ironic Pirate]

I've never liked Pokemon that much. I always just picked the cool looking ones, and all the cool looking moves, and I pretty much never lost. Got kind of boring.

 

[Amplify]

I want to know why some people think Pokemon is a super-complex game. Raising Pokemon is complex, but when it comes to battles between similarly-raised Pokemon it's just crossing fingers and hoping the other guy doesn't send out scissors when paper is in play.

http://www.smogon.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=144&prefixid=warstory

Pick a thread, read the battle report contained within and the guy's thoughts on what he was going to do next and why etc for a standard competitive Pokemon battle.

Then look me in the eye and say that again.

-butts into convo-

I don't know what to say while looking you in the eye except...thats fucked up. LOL

http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=102963

That one's a great example.

 

[blizzaradragon]

Personally I think pokemon is one of the best video game series out there. It hasn't changed much from Red/Blue because it hasn't needed to. They've done some changes like the physical/special move split or adding abilities, but those have just added to the fun by throwing in more strategy elements and making some pokemon actually worth using again. Plus the competitive scene is awesome and challenging, since there's over 600 pokemon your opponent could potentially use, with so many possible moves for each of them. You can't even go by type really anymore, cause if you do your fighting type that you use to trump their dark type gets hit by a psychic attack and faints. Plus all the items you can give them to hold add even more strategy.

On a side note though, people need to quit shutting the game off when they lose on wi-fi. Its very annoying and making a lot of people's records look like crap since none of their wins get recorded

 

[nuba km]

You got your game strategy thrown off by EMOLGA enough to complain about it? Pokemon wasn't EASY enough for you that a Gym Leader you COULDN'T sweep with one move is a negative point against it?

The bane of Yahtzee's existence.​

Yeah but she had TWO of the little bastards! And they switched out every time they used whateverthefuck move it is she has.

Still the Rock Tomb TM was in the area before the gym, and most Ground types can learn it. And should have learned it, expecting Flying types or not.

to be honesty I just found excadrill(which for me owned at every gym) with rock-slide to be enough to deal with it and most flying pokemon as it has higher accuracy and may make them flinch.

 

[Ghostrick Dorklord]

I'm a bit surprised that Yahtzee didn't get the version with the big phallic dragon. But hey we now know his weakness which is electric flying squirrels.

Now that squirrel should be a meme!

 

[AlternatePFG]

I love Pokemon, but I agree with most of the criticisms in this video.

 

[michiehoward]

I want to know why some people think Pokemon is a super-complex game. Raising Pokemon is complex, but when it comes to battles between similarly-raised Pokemon it's just crossing fingers and hoping the other guy doesn't send out scissors when paper is in play.

http://www.smogon.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=144&prefixid=warstory

Pick a thread, read the battle report contained within and the guy's thoughts on what he was going to do next and why etc for a standard competitive Pokemon battle.

Then look me in the eye and say that again.

-butts into convo-

I don't know what to say while looking you in the eye except...thats fucked up. LOL

http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=102963

That one's a great example.

Firstly, since I had to stop playing Pokemon games after Second gen, though I really wanted to keep it up, I had no idea people battled online....seems seriously interesting to me and addictive lol gonna give it a looksee. Damn the Escapist for introducing me to new things -shakes fist-

 

[Iskaminien]

So Yahtzee likes the other kind of cock fight, like not the one that Pokemon is based upon?

 

[SuperSuperSuperGuy]

Disliked this review.

While it was clear he actually did play the game, his criticisms are all moot.

Turn based is just how the game plays out. While its not YOUR cup of team, a real-time Pokemon game would be clunky.

As for "theres only one play style", thats wrong too. He said he power-grinded Pokemon to take on the gym, just because you can do massive damage to Pokemon of a weaker type. Thats not how I play the game at all. I have a team, which I teached varied moves, and I dont power-grind them. You can use Buff moves, intricate strategies, etc. OR choose to just balls-to-the-walls-grind and smash everything down with ease.

Part of the appeal of the game is that there are so many creatures: especially if you play the game competitively. Lots of mechanics to master. Once again, not everyones cup of tea.

He also complained about the ease, but also mentions how frustrating random encounters and the cycle of losing health/healing/losing health/healing etc. is.

This guy pretty much summed up my opinion on this review.

Another point is, if you don't like the random encounters in Pokemon, go to the store and pick up a couple dozen Repels. It's a great investment. The cycle of healing/losing health could be eliminated through exploiting resistances and copious amounts of Pokemon switching in battle to adapt to the situation. Teaching Pokemon odd moves using TMs and the Move Relearner is also quite helpful.

The games have changed quite a bit from the first generation, as well, so that's not much of a point.