Pokemon: Brillant Diamond and Shining Pearl Previews are being released.

[Birdie]

I honestly like the QoL of having the ability to switch boxed Pokémon at any point...makes things easier but kind of fun to experiment with weaker Pokémon.

ExP Share should really be a switch on and off though...preferably it'd rock if you could do it on a Pokémon by Pokémon basis.

 

[Leo]

I'm not a Pokemon player. I've only played Let's Go (meh) and New Snap (incredible!).

Gotta say this looks more appealing to me than Arceus precisely because of the old school elements. I might pick it up if it reviews well. Are these generally well regarded? I know Pokemon fans hate every Pokemon game so it's hard to tell.

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The originals are great games, people are upset because these remakes are almost 1:1 to the point of dissing new QoL features that had been stablished in previous games while the visual upgrade is marginal, to say the least (I personaly think the DS games look better). So those aren't really issues for someone who has never played the games, it's more that the remakes seem irrelevant and redundant if you have already played them.

That said, if you don't like LGPE, there isn't much else for you in these games. The structure and gameplay loop is exactly the same, the only major differences are BDSP feature wild battles and random encounters. The Sinnoh region is also a lot more intricate than Kanto and the game is quite longer, but the core experience in Pokémon games is kinda always the same.

 

[Aleh]

I thought Let's Go had its charm, but just sort of ran out of steam after about 20 hours. I didn't like the control scheme and I was in some super long dungeon (a tower maybe?) and just said that was nice but I've had enough.



I wouldn't expect more than this from a Pokemon game really. I'm OK with easy breezy stuff.

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The control scheme in these games should be much better then. It still has some long dungeons however

 

[platocplx]

Very nice with the HM Change

 

[dunkzilla]

Why... not both?

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With EXP Share being an option? Sure that's great.

 

[J.Gusto]

Lol why is exp sharing a topic of conversation when it has been here the past few games. Pokemon games have never been hard regardless of it.

 

[KillstealWolf]

Yeah, but a slightly more informed player could definitely take a Blastoise all the way. And speedrunners are of course some of the most informed players around.
There's a quite a few speedruns that do switch mains throughout the run but none that really use a party of Pokemon(for battling) as far as I know. Interestingly the Pokemon Shield run, which is quite different from Sword's, was one of them. Not sure if that's still true today though.

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Sw/Sh runs now are dive into Crown Tundra, do the Dynamax Adventure and use the Level 60 you get in the first battle to blitz through the game, it's a fair bit different. I think Alolan Raichu is considered one of the best ones to get.

But the more informed part is key because if there wasn't a reason to become more informed, why would you. I mainly learnt most of the battling system and matchups from Pokemon Stadium than I ever did from Red or Blue just because of the same levels there. Closer battles let you get more fun out of the game for some people (Obviously not all, some people do just get satisfaction out of Getting Big Numbers and crushing all that stand before you) and that's become ever harder with the new EXP changes.

I'm planning to do a big write up post on my thoughts of this, but one thing I would really like to be seen done, and this goes for all RPGs not just pokemon, is use something like The World Ends With You Level Capping system.

You have a max level that you increase with EXP as you play the game, but you also have the option to lower the level of your characters whenever you wish to make things more challenging with a slider. With the incentive being for every level lower than your maximum that you fight at, the greater chances you get at getting rare pin drops from the enemies.

For a pokemon equivalent, you can make it something similar where if you chose to set your team to a lower level than they currently are, you can get a post-game currency rewards like Bottle Caps or Armorite Ore or Battle Points. Something that won't matter to a person that just wants to beat the game as quick as possible, but would be tempting for someone that wants to go into post game battles and such.

And it also just allows the player to make things a bit harder on themselves if they wish to if they are finding the games a bit too easy for their liking at the moment. Something which the more mature playerbase would probably appreciate.

 

[Arcia]

It looks… fine. But I still just can't help but think this could have been so much more. I look at the other remakes and how they took the original and elevated it and this one is way too plain in comparison. And it's not even made by the main team.

I'm bummed out now

 

[Leo]

I will not be disappointing. It's incredibly obvious the difference between the trainer battle theme (a temp midi file) and the wild battle theme (the final orchestrated theme).

The music is the last step of development.

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What footage are you talking about? Because in the IGN video, the wild battle theme isn't orchestrated at all. The midi instruments sound slightly better than the trainer battle, but it's still midi and still bad.

 

[Quinton]

Pokemon preview threads:

"Information"
"Wait, Exp Share is mandatory?"
"You didn't think it would be?"
"They never listen to fans"
"Fans didn't want it off in the first place"
"Yes, they did"
"No, it's not like the games are hard so who cares"
"Wait, people care in the first place?"
"Hasn't this been a thing for years?"
"Yes, and that's bad"
"Agreed, this is terrible"
"You're complaining over nothing"
"No, you are"
"Hey, can we talk about anything else"
"Sure, the whole game looks bad"
"I disagree, it looks OK"
"It would look OK if we could disable Exp Share"

 

[Atheerios]

 

[Alexhex]

I think exp share toggle is a fine substitute for a difficulty setting but that's not even the worst part. It fundamentally changes how you apporach training and team management in a way that waters down both the gameplay and the roleplaying aspect

Needing to train up a weak pokemon throughout a campaign is fun concepually and even strategically, it makes you feel like a real trainer! Stinks that this series has less and less interest in pushing that feeling but it seems like people are just okay with stripping any complexity or friction away if it removes "the grind" or whatever

Like if you want to painlessly slide through an rpg without engaging with the aspects that, make it an rpg, fine! But please don't pretend to be bewildered by people's dissatisfaction with gf sanding all the edges down

 

[KillstealWolf]

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I'm waiting for a video that has all the B-Roll with no speaking over so we can get to hear all the music as best as possible. This so far is pretty good for hearing most of the Wild Battle theme.



And for the comparison.



Yes that is the comparison despite it being listed as the Trainer Battle Music, I don't know why but for some reason the Wild Marsh wild pokemon are using the Trainer Battle music, it didn't do that in the originals.

 

[Fnnrqwin]

The games tend to be balanced around it now

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I disagree with this. In my playthroughs of Sword and Shield I never went out of my way to grind, only fought the NPCs on the way to the Pokémon League, and still ended up with a party about 12 levels higher on average than my opponents. Same thing's happening on my girlfriend's playthrough, and she tends to skip every other gen and plays super casually, so it's not like she's approaching this with the same strategies hardcore fans are.

I have no issue with the EXP Share being mandatory in theory. It does make raising teams much less cumbersome and gives players access to much larger variety. But the games are absolutely not balanced around it. I don't think just increasing the opponents' levels would solve the issue either, as that's just more EXP for your entire team to soak up, thus over-leveling you more. I have no idea how they would solve this while keeping it mandatory.

 

[shem]

I think exp share toggle is a fine substitute for a difficulty setting but that's not even the worst part. It fundamentally changes how you apporach training and team management in a way that waters down both the gameplay and the roleplaying aspect

Needing to train up a weak pokemon throughout a campaign is fun concepually and even strategically, it makes you feel like a real trainer! Stinks that this series has less and less interest in pushing that feeling but it seems like people are just okay with stripping any complexity or friction away if it removes "the grind" or whatever

Like if you want to painlessly slide through an rpg without engaging with the aspects that, make it an rpg, fine! But please don't pretend to be bewildered by people's dissatisfaction with gf sanding all the edges down

Click to shrink...

There is already a difficulty toggle in pokemon games with set vs switch mode. A mandatory on EXP share allows GF (or in this case ILCA) to properly scale a difficulty curve running throughout the game.

"Oh but i'm going to be over leveled"...yes...because you "[engaged] with the aspects that make it an rpg" by battling a lot of pokemon and all optional trainers. EXP management is entirely something that you can do through the use of repels, avoiding optional trainers, and challenging gym leaders early. I have watched dozens of hardcore nuzlockes with detailed EXP management, even with mandatory EXP share and its entirely possible. It just requires you to engage with more of the RPG while the more average player has a better paced challenge and level curve throughout the game.

This is a good change, i'm glad they made it, and it should stay this way in all pokemon games going forward.

 

[gardfish]

Fundamentally, what's so frustrating to me about the Exp. Share thing is that:
1) It directly affects my enjoyment of the games to a much greater degree than something like the dex cut.
2) It's never going to get the same level of fan outcry as the dex cut, since it's such a niche mechanical aspect of the game.
3) It would be MUCH easier to fix than the dex cut.
4) It's an option that was in all of the 3DS games and removed for no reason.

Even IF the games were balanced around mandatory Exp. Share (they aren't), there's no reason to remove the option.

 

[RochHoch]

They forced perma EXP share into a fucking remake?

I guess I'm just done with main series Pokemon. So sick of all these dumbass design choices.

 

[Atheerios]

I'm waiting for a video that has all the B-Roll with no speaking over so we can get to hear all the music as best as possible. This so far is pretty good for hearing most of the Wild Battle theme.



And for the comparison.

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Yup.. The difference between the wild and trainer battle theme is enormous.

 

[Deleted member 33533]

Yeah, I don't disagree. I just think it is odd how the only RPG game series that gets a racket for this exp share is Pokemon. Any other RPG that has this is always a pro, not a con.

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It's pretty simple. Because Pokemon doesn't balance itself around the shared exp so it makes the game too easy to the point you don't have to think or engage in the mechanics anymore. It was also a feature added fairly late into the series unlike those other RPGs you mention. OG Diamond and Pearl didn't have this feature but they're still pushing that this game is the way it is to be "faithful" to the originals. It's not odd at all that people who have played these games for years have a problem with this - you must not know the history. Pokemon has streamlined itself continuously over the years to the point that it has no teeth anymore. People will say "oh it's a kids game so the mandatory exp. all is good" forgetting that the games were also for kids all the way back in the 90s to the 2010's.

 

[crimsonECHIDNA]

So people dislike the exp share because it makes the games easier?

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I'm kind of of the mind that, with SwSh especially it became way too easy to over-level in the game.

I just wish Gamefreak would just offer difficulty levels again like they had finally started to in Gen V (in the most roundabout way possible, but still lol).

 

[GrinWithoutaKat]

I don't think mandatory EXP share is really the problem, but more the fact they don't usually consider it while balancing the game. No EXP share doesn't really make the game harder, just longer as you have to grind up on all of your team, but admittedly with it on, your Pokemon will get over-levelled without even trying.

 

[EddyZacianLand]

I am indifferent to exp share but I think it not being an option is stupid.
Tms being single used is really stupid and goes against modern QoL features they said they were going for.
I am still going to get BD and I am sure that I will enjoy bc I love Pokémon that much and I haven't not enjoyed a mainline game.

 

[KillstealWolf]

Yup.. The difference between the wild and trainer battle theme is enormous.

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For some reason, the Wild Marsh IS playing the Trainer Battle Theme for wild pokemon though.

I don't know why because it certainly didn't in the original.

 

[EddyZacianLand]

They forced perma EXP share into a fucking remake?

I guess I'm just done with main series Pokemon. So sick of all these dumbass design choices.

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They already did it with LGPE

 

[Sanatana]

Again with the permanent EXP share? Why?

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I've been out of the loop with modern Pokémon games post-Gen 4. Have most of the new games been enabled with this?

 

[brinstar]

Pokemon preview threads:

"Information"
"Wait, Exp Share is mandatory?"
"You didn't think it would be?"
"They never listen to fans"
"Fans didn't want it off in the first place"
"Yes, they did"
"No, it's not like the games are hard so who cares"
"Wait, people care in the first place?"
"Hasn't this been a thing for years?"
"Yes, and that's bad"
"Agreed, this is terrible"
"You're complaining over nothing"
"No, you are"
"Hey, can we talk about anything else"
"Sure, the whole game looks bad"
"I disagree, it looks OK"
"It would look OK if we could disable Exp Share"

Click to shrink...

lol all I needed was to watch the vids and read this post and now I got the gist and can leave

 

[Quinton]

lol all I needed was to watch the vids and read this post and now I got the gist and can leave

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Haha, yeah.

Like I realize I'm being reductionist and I don't mean to insinuate there's never any good conversation to be found - if folks are enjoying themselves, cool! - but that's really how it feels to me every time.

 

[Aleh]

You can tell this is a thread on Era by how everyone is disappointed by the lack of exp share toggle AND NOT HOW THEY MASSACRED THE MINIGAMES 😩

 

[KillstealWolf]

I've been out of the loop with modern Pokémon games post-Gen 4. Have most of the new games been enabled with this?

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Gen 6 changed the EXP Share affect the whole party, but it was a key item that you could toggle on and off. When off, EXP worked like it did in previous games (Only pokemon that participated in battle get EXP)

Let's Go and Sw/Sh removed the EXP Share key item so now it always affects the whole party.

 

[Phellps]

I've been out of the loop with modern Pokémon games post-Gen 4. Have most of the new games been enabled with this?

Click to shrink...

It's been a thing since Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee.

 

[Deleted member 33533]

There is already a difficulty toggle in pokemon games with set vs switch mode. A mandatory on EXP share allows GF (or in this case ILCA) to properly scale a difficulty curve running throughout the game.

"Oh but i'm going to be over leveled"...yes...because you "[engaged] with the aspects that make it an rpg" by battling a lot of pokemon and all optional trainers. EXP management is entirely something that you can do through the use of repels, avoiding optional trainers, and challenging gym leaders early. I have watched dozens of hardcore nuzlockes with detailed EXP management, even with mandatory EXP share and its entirely possible. It just requires you to engage with more of the RPG while the more average player has a better paced challenge and level curve throughout the game.

This is a good change, i'm glad they made it, and it should stay this way in all pokemon games going forward.

Click to shrink...

Changing between set and switch doesn't really make the game that much harder when you're overleveled anyway. You can switch without consequence most of the time and often you don't even need to switch at disadvantage.

Hardcore fans going out of their way to make the game more difficult by skipping large amounts of content and self-imposed rules outside the game's programming to get even a little bit of challenging feedback from the game is a symptom of the game not providing quality challenge and engagement in the first place. If you're asking the player to do all of this extra stuff to make the game have some bite, that's a game design problem. Are you gonna tell people to play with their eyes closed and never use super-effective moves to make the game harder? By your logic that's "engaging with more of the RPG" but it's literally the opposite. You're engaging with less of the RPG to artificially get some challenge out of it.

An RPG balanced around its exp gain system usually means that if you fight most of the enemies in your path on the way to the objective, you should not be overleveled but not underleveled either. Pokemon is definitely not that. You don't even have to go out of your way to fight every trainer in your path to snowball into being overleveled. It baffles me how anyone could have a problem with just having a toggle for it. There's no argument against the toggle that makes any sense.

 

[Alexhex]

There is already a difficulty toggle in pokemon games with set vs switch mode. A mandatory on EXP share allows GF (or in this case ILCA) to properly scale a difficulty curve running throughout the game.

"Oh but i'm going to be over leveled"...yes...because you "[engaged] with the aspects that make it an rpg" by battling a lot of pokemon and all optional trainers. EXP management is entirely something that you can do through the use of repels, avoiding optional trainers, and challenging gym leaders early. I have watched dozens of hardcore nuzlockes with detailed EXP management, even with mandatory EXP share and its entirely possible. It just requires you to engage with more of the RPG while the more average player has a better paced challenge and level curve throughout the game.

This is a good change, i'm glad they made it, and it should stay this way in all pokemon games going forward.

Click to shrink...

I agree that it's possible to still squeeze challenge out of the games with mandatory exp share, I did it by rotating a large team of mons and limiting the number I could have on my team by gym badges. It made swsh pretty fun, like I'm no stranger to imposing limitations to make your runs harder and I'm fine with that! I do it in all the games to some degree

But my main gripe is that I find it kind of annoying and too micromanagy in the last two games. I don't want to have to swap party members constantly--I don't like free access to your pc either for the record--and the fact that some mons level faster or slower makes keeping everything on the same page completely obnoxious. I just don't buy the benefits of the new sytem considering how flexibile and elegant the old games were, and I don't even necessarily believe that they are able to better balance the level curves because they weren't good in swsh to begin with


And again that's just difficulty and not even getting into how it effects team building

 

[Zombine]

I just want to know if we are going to get any exclusive forms or anything worthwhile for us old guard folks. I'll happily play this, but I'll 100% the dex immediately if there is nothing new for us like there is in Arceus.

 

[KillstealWolf]

I agree that it's possible to still squeeze challenge out of the games with mandatory exp share, I did it by rotating a large team of mons and limiting the number I could have on my team by gym badges. It made swsh pretty fun, like I'm no stranger to imposing limitations to make your runs harder and I'm fine with that! I do it in all the games to skme degree

But my main gripe is that I find it kind of annoying and too micromanagy in the last two games. I don't want to have to swap party members constantly--I don't like free access to your pc either for the record--and the fact that some mons level faster or slower makes keeping everything on the same page completely obnoxious. I just don't buy the benefits of the new sytem considering how flexibile and elegant the old games were, and I don't even necessarily believe that they are able to better balance the level curves because they weren't good in swsh to begin with


And again that's just difficulty and not even getting into how it effects team building

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By all accounts it looks like they've done absolutely nothing to account for the new EXP System in this remake. All the trainer pokemon sets and levels line up exactly with what they were back in the original Diamond and Pearl.

 

[IzzyRX]

I don't mind the Exp Share, but we wouldn't need to have this discussion if they just balanced the game accordingly or just used difficulty toggles for those who want them, it's a simple solution.

 

[WrenchNinja]

I just want to know if we are going to get any exclusive forms or anything worthwhile for us old guard folks. I'll happily play this, but I'll 100% the dex immediately if there is nothing new for us like there is in Arceus.

Click to shrink...

It is curious. This is the first time they've shown a game with literally nothing new form or Pokemon wise. Hopefully something gets revealed closer to release.

 

[Leo]

Pokemon preview threads:

"Information"
"Wait, Exp Share is mandatory?"
"You didn't think it would be?"
"They never listen to fans"
"Fans didn't want it off in the first place"
"Yes, they did"
"No, it's not like the games are hard so who cares"
"Wait, people care in the first place?"
"Hasn't this been a thing for years?"
"Yes, and that's bad"
"Agreed, this is terrible"
"You're complaining over nothing"
"No, you are"
"Hey, can we talk about anything else"
"Sure, the whole game looks bad"
"I disagree, it looks OK"
"It would look OK if we could disable Exp Share"

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It's not like there's a whole lot else to discuss this time. The game has nothing new.

 

[night814]

Wait… TM's are back to being single-use? For fuck's sake.

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That is absolutely baffling

 

[Axe]

So are statues the only items you can decorate secret bases with now? Because that's pretty shit if so

 

[btkadams]

Pokemon preview threads:

"Information"
"Wait, Exp Share is mandatory?"
"You didn't think it would be?"
"They never listen to fans"
"Fans didn't want it off in the first place"
"Yes, they did"
"No, it's not like the games are hard so who cares"
"Wait, people care in the first place?"
"Hasn't this been a thing for years?"
"Yes, and that's bad"
"Agreed, this is terrible"
"You're complaining over nothing"
"No, you are"
"Hey, can we talk about anything else"
"Sure, the whole game looks bad"
"I disagree, it looks OK"
"It would look OK if we could disable Exp Share"

Click to shrink...

Oh my word lol this is shockingly accurate.


I'm really looking forward to this release. Ready for the nostalgia hit.

 

[Mik317]

I don't mind EXP share. Never was a fan of having to throw out some weak pokemon and then switch them out to get real progress.

HOWEVA

they need to start building the games around that more if anything. As stated earlier a large chunk of the single player has been "do you have the right type advantage? Yes. Then spam away. No? Then as long as you are at disadvantage. Then it is a level check. Ok bye". Then most of the late game simply ends up as 1 hit KO fests. More trick teams and actually using status effects and items from the AI would be a nice thing. But nope lil Timmy wouldn't like that probably according to GF and TBF they are the actual main audience....even those said main audience play and thrive in waaaay more complicated games. I watch the kids play fornite and suddenly feel mad old and bad at game lol. But as with everything...until it directly effects the bottom line...not going to change really.

I think the majority simply like to turn off their brain so to speak and chill through the games every year or so..and thats fine. Saw a skit on the Dex thingy and the bulk of it was "i just want to collect like 8 pokemon, beat the elite 4 and call it day". Then you got the super hardcore are simply into it like sports gamers in it simply being the new platform for their competitive things. We need to realize that despite it being games; this community simply does not register most of the time in terms of what they want. Make peace with that now and do w/ it what you will

 

[pokéfan]

The games tend to be balanced around it now

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You can't be serious, because it doesn't work. I had a squad of over 20 Pokemon in SwSh and was still over levelled. Having a mandate EXP.SHARE is a joke for us experienced players.

 

[DinoBlaster]

And here we get to the awkward truth regarding every Pokemon game.

The essence of difficulty boils down to: "Use whichever Pokemon type is strong against whichever Pokemon." If you don't have it it's just a matter of tanking hits from the opposing Pokemon until you can wear it down.

That's literally all it has been regarding mainline Pokemon games outside of the competitive scene with EV training, and such. The difficulty in every game before Gen VI all came from how much time you were willing to spend grinding to make sure the rest of your team was up to speed.

Click to shrink...

This is not true at all. There are plenty of strategies available to beat trainers even if your team is several levels lower

 

[TheRaidenPT]

Million dollar question is there a Distorted World Episode a la Delta Episode? For me Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire have been the best remakes thus far, that was Game Freak on their prime right there.

 

[JakeNoseIt]

maybe my brain is broken, but i love the tiny pokemon roaming around here lol they look so cute

 

[Alexhex]

By all accounts it looks like they've done absolutely nothing to account for the new EXP System in this remake. All the trainer pokemon sets and levels line up exactly with what they were back in the original Diamond and Pearl.

Click to shrink...

yeah lol I never would have expected everything being rebalanced considering they just slapped it onto oras without considering the side effects but at the very least they still graced you with options back then

 

[KillstealWolf]

This is not true at all. There are plenty of strategies available to beat trainers even if your team is several levels lower

Click to shrink...

Yeah, Smallant actually did a video on this that takes this to the logical conclusion.

Can you beat Pokemon X and Y if every trainer pokemon was level 100?

And no grinding on Wild Pokemon either.

 

[Mediking]

Heh. I'm gonna have so much fun making the OT for this lol I'm still very excited for it

 

[riq]

Disheartening to see posters who constantly engage in exp. share discussion still acting like they don't understand the complaints.

Exp. Share criticism FAQ

Q: Why do you dislike the Exp. Share?
A: We don't. Most of us understand that it makes the games more accessible. What we want is the option to toggle it off.

Q: Would developing such a toggle take too much dev time?
A: No, as both Sword and Shield and LGPE have it but it isn't accessible for the player.

Q: But wouldn't it be confusing to young players having to toggle it on?
A: In gens VI and VII it is toggled on by default, no reason to make it any different.

Q: Do you enjoy grinding?
A: Some of us do, but most would rather just be underleveled. Being underleveled makes enemy moves hit stronger thus necessitates more strategy to overcome.

Q: Why don't you play the game with one Pokemon at a time in your party then?
A: Since we're underleveled, switching in battle is a constant necessity. That's why the whole team must be in the party. It also adds a layer of constant and boring micro management.

Anything else?

 

[pokéfan]

With these previews and what we've seen thus, Platinum is the superior Sinnoh game.