Arlong Park Forums

Ok, going in the plaza. What's your trainer name?

Gerardo. .

Noqanky

@maxterdexter:

Saw you, going to the plaza

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Gerardo. .

Ok, that worked ^^

Thanks!

maxterdexter

Things that bother me:
The nursery is slow.
There is no quick exit command for the menues, like back in x/y and the X button.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

Ok, that worked ^^

Thanks!

Likewise. I found the trade function fast enough, maybe because I was prepared for something slower, navigation menu wise.

Enjoy the EVs. That wingul was the only infected that I could part with

Haros

The sheer amount of stupid cutscenes is ridiculous.

I mean its ok the first time you see it once you start playing but after a while its just gets way too annoying.

anyone knows if arena trap or shadow tag works against wimpod? (for chaining)

MetaMario

Holy crap the little cutscene with the janitor and his son near Route 10 was…pretty heartwarming.

(getting close to the fifth trial atm)

Crossword

The first trial's down. My opening strategy was to poison Totem Gumshoos with Grimer but the game was two steps ahead of me on that front and I wasn't able to reapply it before Grimer fainted thanks to flinching. Litten eventually took it down (and its helper Yungoos) but not before it had gnawed through 2/3rds of my team. Current team is:

Litten (Lv. 14)
Wingull (Lv. 10)
Munchlax (Lv. 11)
Slowpoke (Lv. 12)
Yungoos (Lv. 11)
Grimer (Lv. 11)

maxterdexter

@Haros:

The sheer amount of stupid cutscenes is ridiculous.

I mean its ok the first time you see it once you start playing but after a while its just gets way too annoying.

anyone knows if arena trap or shadow tag works against wimpod? (for chaining)

Wimpod can't be chained, not only because his ability, but the "help me" parameter of his (and minior) are set to never. So, chain another bug, get a female wimpid and breed away.

GetsugaZoro

@Haros:

The sheer amount of stupid cutscenes is ridiculous.

I mean its ok the first time you see it once you start playing but after a while its just gets way too annoying.

anyone knows if arena trap or shadow tag works against wimpod? (for chaining)

At the start it was annoying because I wanted to play the damn game, but at the end of the day, it made this my favorite story in pokemon games(previously Gen5 had it), it made the characters familiar to the player and gave them actual personalities which is what I enjoyed most in BW also.

The bad thing is to those who want to make multiple runs all the scenes at the start are probably a factor to deter you from doing it.

Holy crap the little cutscene with the janitor and his son near Route 10 was…pretty heartwarming.

(getting close to the fifth trial atm)

There is a lot of that in this game, I really liked the one in the Melemele island cemetery also.

Demon Rin

I'm still worried about the over-leveling issue…

I'm about to do the Ghost trial, and I'm still ~10 levels above all the wild Pokémon and trainer battles I'm encountering. I've stopped fighting wild Pokémon almost entirely. If I encounter any wild Pokémon I have not yet caught, I catch it, but ANY wild Pokémon battle with a 'Mon I already have I run from.... yet I'm STILL overleveled.... wth?! Did they expect you not to explore and try to catch ANY Pokémon AT ALL?!

Nekketsu

Finally I'm climbing that mountain. And I must add the experience has been quite the thrill… and some first grade nightmare fuel in the middle.

I just can't believe I defeated the last Totem Pokemon with so much ease. Mudsdale hits like a friggin truck, but if on top of that you take advantage of the opponent's high Att. stat and launch a Counterattack after... well, let's just say the resulting damage was massive.

Crossword

The battle with Hala was pretty fun, even though I did get pissed at his Mankey's continuous dodging of Supersonic. Now that I can ride Tauros I'm going to take a victory lap around Melemele and get my team up to at least Lv. 15 before moving on to the next island.

Smiley

Reached 4 the fourth Island

! Guzma kicked my ass at the Aether Island had to use all my max revives because of that damn Masquerain.
Lusamine wasn't so bad thanks to Araquanid, tough during all that Aether stuff ,the ghost Owl being so slow really hurt's it.
As of now my team main problems are dual typing bug types and flying pokemon, need to get a good rock tm.

Edit: The SOS mechanic just made the most terrible pokemon to catch even more of a living hell, fuck you beldum.

Robby

I'm still worried about the over-leveling issue…

Raise a B team. Or a C team. Or turn exp share off.

They expect you to catch things… but also to use them.

Having about 10 mons total plus a couple other experiments is pacing me about appropriately it feels like, I had trouble at one of the trials because my team was as a whole about 4 levels behind the boss.

Wagomu

I'm still worried about the over-leveling issue…

I'm about to do the Ghost trial, and I'm still ~10 levels above all the wild Pokémon and trainer battles I'm encountering. I've stopped fighting wild Pokémon almost entirely. If I encounter any wild Pokémon I have not yet caught, I catch it, but ANY wild Pokémon battle with a 'Mon I already have I run from.... yet I'm STILL overleveled.... wth?! Did they expect you not to explore and try to catch ANY Pokémon AT ALL?!

I don't think they expected anyone to be building a catalogue as they went on, because tbh that's pretty tedious and sort of obviously not what the game wants you to be doing, especially in this gen where it keeps shuffling you through quest points. Overall, pokemon has become pretty anti-grind with the exp share upgrade and capture exp introduced in gen 6, and I don't really think that's a bad thing. If there wasn't so much wait time on the story stuff, I'd say that the game has a great pace and flow, keeping you about where you should be level-wise, as long as you're moving along with it. I had a pretty good time going through, since I never really stop to scout for pokes until after I've finished the game.

At the same time, I get that it sucks when the game punishes you for doing what the motto tells you to: catching them all. The anti-grinding stuff also makes it tough for them to really give you big optional areas, because you could easily overlevel in them. Their solutions limit their game design in a way that's sort of contradictory to the appeal of earlier generations. While I think that getting rid of the grind is a good thing, their solution doesn't really accommodate non-linear game design.

–-------------------------

A somewhat related thought that came to mind, and I wanted to discuss: for a game trying to work against grind, it is ridiculous that so many new gen 7 pokes have a 5% encounter rate, or show up in really obscure places (Dhelmise only shows up in the one fishing spot of Seafolk Village with a 10% capture rate is the spot is bubbling, and 1% all other times).

There's about 36 new lines of pokemon, not counting Alola forms and legendaries. Of those, 5 have an encounter rate of 5% in their specific areas, 4 more are 10% at best (including the aforementioned Dhelmise). On top of that, Type: Null is only obtained after the game, Wimpod has to be chased after, Sandyghast only exists in some specific spots of rustling sand (and a 20% of finding it in those), and Mareanie is only accessible by SOS battling Corsola in the 2 locations you can find them in. That's more than a third of the new pokes made difficult to find, which just encourages the grind.

It also makes the new gen feel very small. On top of those, you have 2 other starter lines that you won't have access to, and 2 version exclusives that you won't find in your game. 17/35 gen 7 pokemon lines that you either can't or likely won't encounter. That's about half. In addition to those, I missed Morelull, Dewpider, Bounsweet and Bruxish, because I didn't spend time revisiting those trial sites, or fishing. Vikavolt and Craboniable also don't get fully evolved until late game (and it took me a while to even run into Crabrawler, since I never got rustling berry spots), which doesn't really add to the list, but is an additional frustration in new mons.

This gen's pokemon distribution is pretty ridiculous, and I don't think we really got anything that bad ever. Even gen 4, though it had a few less new pokemon lines (32 total), at least made those accessible (except for Spiritomb and the bullshit sorcery needed to catch him).

KzTxL7

Not sure how to overlevel that much.

I had exp share on for practically the entire game and only used 6 Pokemon. I overleveled a couple of times but the Level Curve always caught up or surpassed me.

Best advice I can give to solve that problem is turn Switch Mode off.

Demon Rin

I'm not trying to catch them all (yet). If I run into a wild 'Mon while traversing the route, I try to catch it, but I don't run around the grass until I'm sure I've encountered every single one or anything.

I intend to do that at postgame, but I'm just enjoying the plot and the story at moment. The only semi-grindy things I've done are breed a couple of 'Mons for folks around me. For example, I bred for a female Salandit and Snorunt so I can get their Gender-specific evolutions….

But breeding literally does nothing for your 'Mons' levels. Especially now, it doesn't even level up the 'mons in the daycare.

Robby

Yeah, the rates on the new things kind of sucks. But at least, if you see them once on a trainer the pokedex marks pretty close to exactly where to find them.

But yes, the rates on these things are atrocious.

Even good ol mascot Pikachu is kind of rough. Only pichus appear in the very first area, at a 5% chance, and that's it. They can SOS a Pikachu sure (after you've unlocked SOS battles….) but that's it. Considering I wanted to try out an Aloan Riachu that's kind of dumb. (Also dumb, Raichu's ability relies on electric terrain... which is not a move it can personally learn without breeding a high level togedamaru.)

Also annoyed that ice sandshrew is now a stone evolution when it wasn't before. That's totally unnecessary.

Oh, and after some breeding and trading... current team.
Current team

! Sadly, even though there are TWO water bugs this gen and I love both their first forms, I kind of hate the second forms on both of them.
Also, I love Passimian's design and could use a fight type… but not a big fan of its ability that is useless in 1 on 1.
! Skadi Kaldr Amaterasu
! Draco Malfoy Applejack
! Rotating
! Arachne Nox
Scylla Sylvanus (everstoned until he learns spore) Awilix
Poseidon Vamana
Hun Batz Hercules (I already know its evo… I don't think I like it.)
! Things I want (that I know of)
! spiny thing
! Things I probably won't use anymore
Bastet Frampt Jing Wei

Demon Rin

Ok, I may have caught up to the game… Now things are only about 5 levels under me instead of 10.

Wagomu

@Robby:

Yeah, the rates on the new things kind of sucks. But at least, if you see them once on a trainer the pokedex marks pretty close to exactly where to find them.

But yes, the rates on these things are atrocious.

Even good ol mascot Pikachu is kind of rough. Only pichus appear in the very first area, at a 5% chance, and that's it. They can SOS a Pikachu sure (after you've unlocked SOS battles….) but that's it. Considering I wanted to try out an Aloan Riachu that's kind of dumb. (Also dumb, Raichu's ability relies on electric terrain... which is not a move it can personally learn without breeding a high level togedamaru.)

Yeah, Alolan Raichu got the short end of that stick lawl. Apparently he works well coupled with Tapu Koko, which makes sense, but also means you get two electric dudes on your team, including a legend.

Togedemaru also doesn't get a great encounter deal, considering he's a 10%er found only at Blush Mountain, which is out of the way, locked off by the island police until you complete the correct trial, and pretty unremarkable, otherwise. I completely missed it on my playthrough, even though I remember passing by the gate before I could unlock it.

On a lot of my post-game reflection, it settles at a pretty low spot in the franchise for me, which is a shame since it does add a lot of nice things (best story, beautiful scenery, cool integration of pokemon into the world). It's just that we get those at the cost of a bunch of important things (pacing, decent pokemon spreads, puzzles, optional content). I had a lot of fun playing it, but it probably settles in the bottom 3 for me.

MetaMario

At that rate, they should've had the <80 regular mons be pretty common, with the Kanto/non-Alolans be a little more rarer. Like how Unova did things.

The chances of finding them is killing my vibes, catching pokemon is my favorite part of the game!

Wagomu

The Alola mons at least mostly have good rates, though you don't encounter Exeggute or Sandshrew/Vulpix until kind of late, one of the latter is exclusive, and as Robby pointed out, Pichu's rarity makes Raichu hard to obtain.

GetsugaZoro

I'm still worried about the over-leveling issue…

I'm about to do the Ghost trial, and I'm still ~10 levels above all the wild Pokémon and trainer battles I'm encountering. I've stopped fighting wild Pokémon almost entirely. If I encounter any wild Pokémon I have not yet caught, I catch it, but ANY wild Pokémon battle with a 'Mon I already have I run from.... yet I'm STILL overleveled.... wth?! Did they expect you not to explore and try to catch ANY Pokémon AT ALL?!

! I was over leveled a bit, but when I got to the league my team was about the same level as the trainers there.

Nekketsu

Crabrawler has got to be one of the pokemon that takes the longer to evolve. Mine finally evolved after getting to a certain area.

Kubihige

Noq, is there anything you're looking for in exchange for a Ninetails? I don't have much atm, but I need one of those, so I'll hunt if I have to.

.access timeco.

GUZMA KICKED MY ASS!!!

Man, this is the first time I lose a fight in a Pokémon game as far as my memory goes. Granted I underestimated him and some of my pokémon weren't with full HP. Also, I was stupid enough to decide to train a Pancham I just caught so it could evolve and I entered their HQ right after that, so I had Pancham in my team (not that much a hindrance, though, since it evolved right away and was only a few levels behind).
When I fought him a second time, knowing what to expect, I managed to win easily without losing anyone, but still that first fight was amazing (and when this long waited defeat comes against a Bug user - and one using two of my current favorites -, I am very pleased).

I'm still worried about the over-leveling issue…

I'm about to do the Ghost trial, and I'm still ~10 levels above all the wild Pokémon and trainer battles I'm encountering. I've stopped fighting wild Pokémon almost entirely. If I encounter any wild Pokémon I have not yet caught, I catch it, but ANY wild Pokémon battle with a 'Mon I already have I run from.... yet I'm STILL overleveled.... wth?! Did they expect you not to explore and try to catch ANY Pokémon AT ALL?!

Around Ghost trial I finally managed to not be overleveled (my team was just 1 level higher than the totem pokémon). I keep Exp. Share off, have a big team (10) and, just like you, avoid fighting pokémon I already have. Also, when I catch a pokémon I see it is near the level it needs to evolve, I put in my team and start using it to random trainers and etc. instead of my actual team.

Nekketsu

I don't think I'm going to be able to get any sleep tonight.

! That fucking Cleafable…! No, actually, ALL of Lusamine's pokemon looked friggin evil when you battle her for the last time in that place. I thought I was just seeing things, but when I saw that Cleafable not smiling I was like "OH SHI-"

MetaMario

@Wagomu:

The Alola mons at least mostly have good rates, though you don't encounter Exeggute or Sandshrew/Vulpix until kind of late, one of the latter is exclusive, and as Robby pointed out, Pichu's rarity makes Raichu hard to obtain.

On that note, some people feel like it's just Kanto pandering. I would've liked more Alolan variants myself, but I'm fine with what we have. Sassy Meowth is my personal favorite.

Robby

On that note, some people feel like it's just Kanto pandering. I would've liked more Alolan variants myself, but I'm fine with what we have. Sassy Meowth is my personal favorite.

Sassy Meowth is great. Just a shame fat Pursian is awful.

Wagomu

On that note, some people feel like it's just Kanto pandering. I would've liked more Alolan variants myself, but I'm fine with what we have. Sassy Meowth is my personal favorite.

The problem is that they're only forms of gen 1 mons, while there's a bunch across the gens that could have used those forms. They are pretty fun, though.

MetaMario

@Wagomu:

The problem is that they're only forms of gen 1 mons, while there's a bunch across the gens that could have used those forms. They are pretty fun, though.

Yeah it'd be cool to have sprinkles across the gens.

Robby

Gen 1 needed it the most in terms of outdated stats, typings, and movesets, but it really should have been across the whole of the franchise and not just the handful of gen 1 mons that didn't get megas. The fix will also be awkward come next game/remake that isn't set in the region.

(though there are about 30 mons that got subtle stat increases to try and fix power creep, and about 20 that got new abilities)

Noqanky

@Kubihige:

Noq, is there anything you're looking for in exchange for a Ninetails? I don't have much atm, but I need one of those, so I'll hunt if I have to.

I already got most of the stuff I needed. Still lacking Rowlet I guess, but don't need it that much aside from filling that weird pokedex gap. A good-natured Ditto (modest/adamant) would also be helpful down the line, probably.

But all things considered I have enough Vulpix still crowding my boxes to where I'm fine handing them out. Just let me know when you're available.

Disclaimer: I can only provide vulpix. If you want it to be ninetales you have to provide your own ice stone.

andre

On that note, some people feel like it's just Kanto pandering. I would've liked more Alolan variants myself, but I'm fine with what we have. Sassy Meowth is my personal favorite.

I definitely feel it would have been sensible to have more alolan variants and that it was definitely pretty explicitly pandering to gen 1 for the 20th generation. Still, that a mon like Corsola, Corphish, or Hariyama along with loads more didn't get Alolan variants is pretty disappointing to me. So much wasted potential for the idea, with some duds, as far as designs go imo. (Persian, Geodude line, dugtrio) Alolan Raticate and Marowak are great, though.

Kubihige

I already got most of the stuff I needed. Still lacking Rowlet I guess, but don't need it that much aside from filling that weird pokedex gap. A good-natured Ditto (modest/adamant) would also be helpful down the line, probably.

But all things considered I have enough Vulpix still crowding my boxes to where I'm fine handing them out. Just let me know when you're available.

Disclaimer: I can only provide vulpix. If you want it to be ninetales you have to provide your own ice stone.

I've got a Rowlet you can have. Just Vulpix is fine. It's the Snow Warning ability that I care about I'm sure I'll end up doing some breeding of it eventually anyway.
I'll be available around midnight EST. Maybe a little earlier.

Speaking of trades, I think I still owe you a Sandshrew, Wags? I have it now.

Nobodyman

Currently making my way through…

! The Aether Foundation, and man is this segment a grind. I beat Lusamine before I decided I had to take break. Still, it's not like the battles themselves are that hard (considering my team is close to or at level 50), it's just…long. As for my team:
! -Decidueye
-Mudsdale
-Charjabug
-Crabrawler
-Salazzle
-And one open spot for leveling up other Pokes
! Man, did they really have to make it so you have to wait so long before you finally evolve Charjabug and Crabrawler?

.access timeco.

Going to fourth island and, well, trying to not get overleveled payed its price…

! My team was around lv38~39 while Lusamine was 40~41 and, damn it, that was hard. If the difference in level wasn't enough, Clefable's Metronome seemed rigged, because that shit pulled out super effective moves 100% of the time and actually managed to freeze Lurantis (the only one in my team with a super effective move against Fairy). I don't use healing items during fights, but this time I realized I couldn't avoid it when Lilligant basically OHKO'd everything with her Petal Dance. Some revives and potions later, Lurantis finally had a chance to connect a Poison Jab and kill the damned thing.
! But, seriously, the RNG god was angry in that fight. Super effective Metronome all the time, frozen solid, confusion always blocking the attacks, paralysis… if there wasn't so much talk after the last save, I would have probably given up at some point.
! On a side note, Guzma so far was a big disappointment. While the Skull Grunts are all amazing, Guzma is just a boring plain bad guy so far.

Crossword

While the concept of the SOS system is good and some of the things they do with it is neat (like the Pokemon inadvertently calling a predator that turns on it) Game Freak really needs to tweak it for Stars so that they can only call for help when they're in the red. Almost getting wiped by Fury Attack-spamming Spearows is rather embarrassing.

Satsuki

@Wagomu:

Remember that, for some reason, affection and happiness are two separate values for some reason. Happiness is earned through leveling up, time spent with you, items used, and some other factors. Affection is what you get by feeding and petting your pokemon through refresh. Sylveon evolves with Eevee having a fairy type move and high affection. Espeon evolves with sufficient happiness.

This is true. I also looked it up and apparently in this gen Evee only needs 2 hearts instead of five.

@.access:

Don't let it learn Baby-Doll Eyes (or delete it at the Move Deleter) and it shouldn't be able to evolve into Sylveon. Or don't let it have two hearts in Refresh, if you absolutely want B-D Eyes for whatever reason…

It doesn't know Baby Doll Eyes!!

I think I'm going to have to give up on Espeon for the time being and go get a Dragon type, like Drampa. Until I can catch it I'll swap in a Mudbray/Mudsdale.

I also caught a Skarmory! Now I have to debate whether I trade it in for my Toucannon.

Noqanky

Well, I'm somewhat bored now so I want to write my thoughts about this game. Spoilers of course.

! I like it far more than other people seem to, and while it has negatives, I'd easily consider this one of the better pokemon games.
! Pros:

World. I love how developed the world is. I was always a fan of Gen V having the gym leaders involved and active, and while this one doesn't touch the same levels as that, it is still incredibly refreshing to have all characters actually involved and collaborating, and meeting you and overall giving you that sense of reality other games just don't have.
For example, Kukui as a whole justifies himself as a legitimate professor and authority in this world by constantly being present, having an ambition of his own that he accomplishes, and having a life wih a wife and a secret luchador alter ego… truly great stuff. Sycamore had hints of being involved but never did much, and professors before that were even less involved. So this was just awesome.
And then you have little things like buses existing for traveling, people in pokemon centers saying things like "I just got a mewtwo on GTS!", and everything having to do with the Team Skull grunts... it just feels great. I always love it when a game is self-aware as a game and has fun with that, and things like these kick it out of the park.
Black and White had this, X and Y did a lot with world-building but botched the characters, but this one has hit a really nice balance of immersive world and involved characters. Also, I know a lot of people seem to hate on Lillie... but no, sorry, I'm cool with her. X and Y had Shauna and others being a gigantic pain and your "rivals" in all of gen VI never amounted to anything. Meanwhile, like with Kukui Lillie actually has a character arc with ambitions of her own and DEVELOPMENT. Holy jesus is it nice to see character development. And nope, I guess it's a taste thing, but the cutscene stuff did not bother me at all. It was more of an anime touch where you're not completely isolated in your adventure, and part of me thinks that may be the intended effect. And I am so down with that.

! - The pokemon. The designs feel clean, and even the ones I hate have grown on me and the pokedex entries and design choices all have logic behind it. The pokedex entries are amazing in this. The movesets that these things have, and the stupid stats some of them have... there are so many things in here that have something viable going to them. I never ever once thought the koala would be good, what with not evolving at all, and then comes Hau rocking one that's outright dangerous. When Mimikyu and Bewear were revealed it was hard to care about Bewear and bam, there he goes being an outright fluffy, bulky beast.
And then on that note, the game itself has bits like the trials and NPCs asking for info that push you towards interacting with new and rare pokemon to boost your pokedex. I haven't felt compelled since Ruby and Sapphire to complete a pokedex but in this it outright feels organic. Even when it involves finding a 5% pokemon in a patch of grass, it makes sense to me that not everything is going to be easily available.
On that note, props on actually making people work to get Pikachu/Local electric rodent. Usually it just feels like they shove them in your face, but nope, this time they're actually rare again.
And alolan forms are a huge plus to me. Rattata and Geodude were no longer a "oh man, this thing" moment. It was actually interesting to come across them the first time and try them on the team. Regrettably zubat didn't get the same treatment, but still, props on the dev team for that. It also makes a ton of sense for pokemon to change based on regional habitats, weird that it took this long for this to happen.
! - The half of the plot involving the island challenge. It was extremely refreshing not having this random 8 gym thing to do that most of us were doing on autopilot. Instead, random, unexpected events and challenges the entire time. Second island with Mallo, Kiawe and Lana definitely feels like the weakest part of the island challenge, and EVEN THEN you have moments that are sheer gold like the fire trial just being outright hilarious. Acerola hangs out with you for so long before you even get to battle her, and even when you do there's an in-game logic as to why it's her and not Nanu. Nanu, who by the way, is the most likable Dark-Type trainer ever. I can relate so hard with an old cop who's too old for this shit.
It is extremely, extremely pleasant to have this segment of the plot develop so organically in a way that lets you get intimately acquainted with the region. I really really hope we do not go back to entering random building where random person is waiting eternally to give you a badge before being forgotten for the rest of the game.
! - Poke Pelago. It's a pokemon thing to forget old systems that worked to introduce new ones, and I feel this is one of the more successful ones. Not the one I used the most, because I admittedly spent too much time on refresh raising the affection of all my mons... but still, there are things in here I really really appreciate.
One of those is that berry growing feels considerably easier in this. Makes you wait for a long time, but unlike previous games it doesn't feel like a tremendous pain to raise berries, and I really appreciate that. Out of the other ones, the only other one I'm using extensively is the cave explore one and don't feel too strong about that, but it has that same tone of developing a system that allows you to manage on a daily basis the obtaining of important items without having to be heavily involved. Which is really nice when you have to stop being in perma-vacation mode and actually have to get back to work or other tasks.
! - Pacing and Difficulty. Yup, I found this game to be stupendously paced. It was nice being able to start up the game at any point in time and know where it is that I am supposed to go. It was nice to begin with a controlled experience that slowly evolves into more open areas, that later on open up much more if you go back to them with new options available whenever you want.
A lot of people are saying the game is handholdy and... yes, yes it is. But I honestly, truly feel like the previous games were too. I heavily remember Ruby and Sapphire having you go back and forth the first two-three routes for a while before letting you explore anything else. I heavily remember a lot of gen I routes being conveniently blocked before the game gets to the point where you can choose which out of three gyms to do next. So in that context, the beginning stuff of this game makes perfect sense.
It also makes sense for the developers to introduce a bunch of new features most people playing this game won't know about. It makes sense for the beginning to feel slower given that what before used to be a quick and dirty "get your pokemon, go do adventure because why not" now actually involves character development, introduction, world-building, set-up for later story points, and your pokemon actually being given agency.
This is the first time the starter actually has a word in what is happening, and while it's hamfisted and makes no sense in the context of the game I really really like that in terms of, again, world-building. Mostly because before it made no sense that this one partner pokemon meant to be your unique best friend and ally in forever was really just a ball chosen without input in the first 3 minutes of the game.
But back to pacing, to me it felt on-point. Didn't have to pause for hours to grind or do anything absurd just to enjoy the rest of the story... only time I paused was by personal choice, to breed Vulpix since I wanted to be able to use it in-game. I also got to see someone who hadn't played a pokemon game since Gen I go through the adventure and have a blast with it, with the story, with the characters, and feel compelled to complete it. That felt nice. Took like 3-5 days to complete the main story, with lots of exploring and other activities in between, and that felt nice. Time will tell how memorable it will be, but unlike a lot of pokemon gens before this one there isn't any one segment of the game that feels like a blank spot in my memory. But again, time will tell.
Difficulty-wise, I used the experience share, and there were still battles that genuinely had me challenged, throughout the game. The totem pokemon employed actual tactical moves, and the allies they summoned outright fucked me over several times. Wishiwashi summoning Alomomola, Lurantis summoning Castform... things that are annoying but excellent in adding that layer of difficulty gym leaders just have not had for a while, and moments where it actually pays to know your moves, your abilities, as well as those of the enemy. I had a final battle with Kukui at the end that was outright ferociously fought and decided by me being the one to succeed in setting up rocks. Setting up rocks and spinning away his hazards actually decided the outcome of my final battle. Super rewarding and engaging.
Oh, and this time you get to remain champion and defend your title. Why did it take so long for something so basic to happen?
! - Thank you for removing HMs gamefreak. And allowing for a pocket in your bag where you can put stuff you use often. Took way too long for this.
I also dig the interface communicating effectiveness and tracking status changes. Nice to introduce gamers who haven't bothered memorizing the typings, type combos, etc. And having a balls pocket instantly accessible by pressing Y is nice, but I think that was an ORAS feature. Glad they kept it.
! Cons:

Poke finder is trash. I was honestly somewhat impressed at its inclusion when revealed, but then after the tutorial it became clear that it's highly gimmicky and doesn't actually allow for sharing but just automatically generates "thumbs up" and comments from somewhere. Truly stupid. Add to that highly limited locations for it that limit how many pictures you can take/keep and that also limit how many good pictures you can take and... yea, this was a waste of time and space.

! - The Aether foundation half of the plot. Don't get me wrong, I liked this. I like that the people you kept finding in your journey were highly involved in the plot instead of just douchey kids hanging out with you. I like that aether was presented as good but wound up with sinister undertones, particularly Faba. Really liked how Lusamine's behavior underscores a negative side of how one would approach a pokemon adventure, with wanting to collect them all and horde everything for yourself, and that it led to character development for Lilly and her relationship with Nebby. And how the legendary BEING Nebby evolved actually led to me giving a fuck about the legendary due to having hung out with it before.
BUT, all that considered, the whole Ultra Beast concept and wormhole thing just didn't really go anywhere. The segment of UBs being released into the world didn't really go anywhere big, just post-game looker stuff. UBs wound up feeling like nothing more than just more pokemon to catch. There was also just simply not enough time to interact with Guzma and Lusamine, so it defaulted to a lot of their friends/family convincing you they are redeemable characters, but nothing in the game showing it. I love that there was an effort to clarify it's not just evil people and the rest but that they had a redeemable, saveable side, because I like complex villains, but it should have been the villains themselves doing things to make you question their "evil".
On that note, I don't quite get why it was necessary for Team Skull to be working with Aether. They were fun as a whole just by being vandals and stuff, and they could have easily linked Plumeria/Guzma to Lusamine without having to go that way.
There's also a lot of legendary lore that went unexplored. What's the deal with Necrozma? Was Marshadow hinted at anywhere? What about the full moon and radiant sun forms of the legendaries... did I miss that info somewhere? Seriously hope this isn't some of that "maybe on the third version" content that X and Y never got. Because there's a lot of X and Y that was really just up and dropped without closure.
! - The high amount of Gen I catering. I understand that pokemon go made millions and Gen I is the one people know the most. I get that people really really have nostalgia for those games. But it seriously, and legitimately gets in the way of this one several times.
It's extremely unrewarding and annoying that when wanting to find new pokemon, new things to catch and fight with, you first have to find several boring pokemon from previous generations, particularly Gen I. No gamefreak, I still DO NOT want a zubat. Also, I know some people here really like Butterfree, but nope, sorry, I'm kinda sick of it by now, because it feels like nearly every game has to shoehorn caterpie or weedle, pidgey or spearow. And fuck man, is the magikarp-gyarados thing still that interesting to people that we need Magikarp in EVERY GAME? And goldeen. And Tentacool. Fuck man, I am sooooo bored of finding these things in every goddamn game when what I want to be seeing are the new pokemon unique to that area.
This is most definitely a personal gripe, because it is definitely a conscious decision to leave in familiar things as people like what's familiar. But it was notable enough that I outright stopped exploring areas and patches of grass/water because I just didn't feel like encountering more of that same stuff from the past 20 years, and thereby missed out on things like stufful or komala that I had to later go back to in order to obtain.
In this sense, huge props to Gen V still, because it had the balls to just outright drop old pokemon during the main game experience. I want more of this, even though I know it can't happen by now since the gens are getting smaller, but heck, at least drop old things that don't have alola forms or stat/ability upgrades.
Also, what WAS the point of Samson Oak? Almost forgot he was even in this game.
! - Lack of Gen 6 options that had made the game better. The dexnav from ORAS was sorely missed, and the SOS battle mechanic that replaced it, while not something I hate tremendously, is still just not as nice for searching out for unique mons. Too time-consuming and lacking in player control. Hordes being gone is also a shame, but I guess I'm ok with those seeing how SOS battles do satisfactorily provide an alternative that is much faster to make up for the EV training uses of hordes.
Rotom dex had some nice features, but why have ORAS give you the option to see what you have and haven't seen in an area and then not have that again? Sorely, sorely missed.
The UI front overall is just not as strong. I actually miss super training, mainly for reset bags if nothing else. I miss the PSS, even though I have considerably less issues with navigating Festival Plaza than seemingly everyone else. PSS was just a clean, simple way of doing a lot, and I hate the idea of it being kicked out in favor of Rotom Dex. Which reminds me...
! - I hate you Rotom Dex. As a Pokedex, there's a lot of good function, but jesus christ could you please shut up so I can look at the map? Piece of trash.
! - No friend safari? Shame, that was another small incentive to trade and interact with others that will be missed. I'm sure this one was axed in order to focus on Festival Plaza as the main incentive to participate with other players, but that's still a loss since festival plaza is more of a miss than a hit.
! - Why not give the main trainer more than one face? Maybe if you hadn't wasted assets and time with stupid-ass poke finder... It just plains look unnatural for the characters to be smiling all the time. Which brings up another point
! - While I like a lot of the characters and world-building, I truly dislike Hau. Lame in the beginning, and never amounts to anything, even with strong and interesting pokemon he just fizzles into the nothing that he is the entire time. Gladion burning him and calling him out on his shit was nice, but it sucks he never really got a serious moment to call to action that it's not all fun and games for a kahuna.
I also dislike Illima for being so weak and uninteresting (STOP TELLING ME YOU'RE CAPTAIN ILLIMA) and STRONGLY dislike Mina. Two fairy-type trainers so far in the canon and they are both uninteresting and cannot function in the real world. Seriously, I get Nanu not giving a fuck, but Mina just all "oh hi, I'm some person you've never met, I should have had a trial but nope, can't come up with one so here you go, fairium-z." Way to phone it in.
! Neutral stuff:

I have not explored Battle Royal at all so can't speak much for it, but it still seems unintuitive and uninteresting, particularly against CPU players who conveniently keep stealing your kills.
I have also not touched the Battle Tree or a lot of the post-game content (since I'm still breeding... ), but at the most basic I am aware of several areas I have yet to explore and Battle Tree seems not too different from previous iterations of similar places.
Hyper training has yet to happen. Seems intuitive and easy, though they really do make you work for bottle caps. As a whole though, it's pretty liberating not feeling like I have to worry about IVs when breeding, unless I really wanted a specific hidden power.
Music. I enjoyed the music in the game, but while some tunes were excellent (team skull, totem battles), others that I hear way too often seriously annoy me, like that hillbilly jingle from riding pokemon. I also come into this game from just playing ORAS, which had a phenomenal soundtrack.
Performance. The chugs in gameplay affected me very rarely, so I was overall pretty ok with the performance of the game on an old 3DS. Still, the game sometimes taking a bit to load battles/moves can be annoying. The game looks nice enough and it happens rarely enough to where it wasn't something truly detracting from the experience constantly, at least for me. I do know other people have had worse performance.

! Overall, in terms of pokemon games this is one of the ones I've enjoyed the most and while still playing it and having it fresh in mind I'd call it my favorite of the bunch. That said, once the dust settles and I get to replay other things later on I could see this one having to be compared heavily with Gen III/ORAS and Gen V before coming out on top. I can say for sure enjoyed this more than Gen I, II, IV and VI. Everything Gen VI promised this game just took to the next awesome step, aside from the PSS.

RoboBlue

I think gen II is extremely overrated. There I said it.

Thinking back I had a ton of fun with Silver and have really fond memories of that experience. But when I revisit it, it's a huge pain in the pokeballs, more so than Gen I. Meanwhile, revisiting Gen III or V is just outright fun.

As for this gen, I think it's up there with V as a favorite. Really loved the world-building, and the experience had a sense of freshness and unpredictability that hasn't existed for a long time. Also felt the pacing was on point.

Gen II made arguably the biggest gameplay improvements of any generation: breeding, online trading, mystery gifts, downloadable events, dark and steel types to balance out the broken psychic type, holdable items, and a ton of other improvements and glitch fixes.

The main quest is a bit dull and the physical/special split hadn't happened yet, so I can see why someone wouldn't enjoy it as much now.

Noqanky

@RoboBlue:

Gen II made arguably the biggest gameplay improvements of any generation: breeding, online trading, mystery gifts, downloadable events, dark and steel types to balance out the broken psychic type, holdable items, and a ton of other improvements and glitch fixes.

The main quest is a bit dull and the physical/special split hadn't happened yet, so I can see why someone wouldn't enjoy it as much now.

That's really the main point. Historically the game adds a lot, but as an isolated experience I find it pales in comparison to later pokemon entries, so in that sense I don't understand or agree with people looking back to it as one of the better ones.

Kubihige

I'm good to trade now if you're still up for it, Noqanky!

Noqanky

@Kubihige:

I'm good to trade now if you're still up for it, Noqanky!

Yup, I'm around. Going online then. What's your trainer name so I can find you?

Kubihige

Funny (?) story: my roommate and I set out to catch Dhelmise earlier. On his first toss, he has bubbles and he reels one, but his Golisopod takes damage and accidentally runs away. Almost an hour later of both of us fishing, I put a baby Vulpix on GTS and get a Dhelmise when I check 5 min later >_>

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