Pokemon - Played my first one since Gold. It's fun but excruciatingly slow.

I'm getting to be almost 40. Pokemon red would have come out when I was 12 or so, Gold a few years later. The first and only one I ever owned was Gold and I remember playing for a gym or two before stopping. Over the holiday weekend all my nephews and nieces and one of my brothers were all playing the newest Pokemon game. I decided to join in the fun and bought Violet over this weekend.

I'm actually having a blast playing it. My BIGGEST complaint, and it directly effects my enjoyment, is how slow everything is. I was using a Pokemon that had big boxing gloves and an onion head and it had an attack that goes 3 to 5 times. WHY does it have to show the animation 5 times? Show it once, tell me it hit X number of times. Changing Pokemon mid battle? My god it's long, like an animation to bring in your old one with a speech bubble, a pause of a second or two to load another animation, then another animation and speech bubble. I also don't need to know my dude is Paralyzed every turn. I'm aware. A speech line popping up is just unneeded.

It just feels like every battle takes 20 percent too long at a minimum. Even with the text speed turned to high. Has this been a common complaint about the games?

I'm horrible at remembering the names but my team right now is the Ice Duck, the onion head punchy dude that evolved into a grape leg dude with huge hands that slaps the shit out of stuff, Jigglypuff, Pikachu, this small bright pink gummy thing with a hammer that upgraded into a slightly bigger gummy thing with a hammer and a ponytail, and this tiny fire ninja guy that I called an Axem Ranger. I've finished two gyms, two titans, and one of the team star locations.

My favorite pokemon is big dick bee

AlabamaLove posted...

My favorite pokemon is big dick bee

I don't know that one. I saw a queen bee and this little pixel art looking bee with three faces or something. It was kind of cool.

Haven't played any Pokemon game on Switch yet, but there should be an option to turn off the battle animations IIRC. That usually speeds things up quite a bit.

WrkHrdPlayHrdr posted...

I'm horrible at remembering the names but my team right now is the Ice Duck, the onion head punchy dude that evolved into a grape leg dude with huge hands that slaps the shit out of stuff, Jigglypuff, Pikachu, this small bright pink gummy thing with a hammer that upgraded into a slightly bigger gummy thing with a hammer and a ponytail, and this tiny fire ninja guy that I called an Axem Ranger. I've finished two gyms, two titans, and one of the team star locations.

I have hundreds of hours in every pokemon game and I can not for the life of me figure out what the fuck it is you're talking about. Onion head with boxing gloves? I'm so lost LOL. Except the last two, that's Tinkatuff and Charcadet. Two really good new designs. Tinkaton is probably my favorite of this gen.

But yeah, modern pokemon is absurly glacial. SV is actually the best one recently in that regard. BW are probably the fastest mainline games. But there's a reason I haven't played any pokemon game outside of SV on official hardware in years. Emulation speed up really does change the game. pokemon is so much better when it doesn't waste your fucking time.

Cemith posted...

I have hundreds of hours in every pokemon game and I can not for the life of me figure out what the fuck it is you're talking about. Onion head with boxing gloves

It's Hitmonchan I think

TheSavageDragon posted...

It's Hitmonchan I think

Ah that makes sense. I didn't even know they were in this game.

It's a shame that Pokemon S/V are the first playable, non-tedious games in the series in a long, long time but the graphics and shitload of technical issues are so overwhelmingly bad and distracting that they take a lot from the gameplay.

Think onion head is Makuhita based on his description of the evo.

Okay I looked at a picture I took to send to my brother of my team to get their real names.

Howard - The Ice duck with the pompadour. I forget his actual name and is the only pokemon I gave a nicknake to, naming him after Howard the Duck.

Makuhita - Onion head dude.

Tinkatink - Pink thing with a hammer.

Charcadet - Fire Axem Ranger.

Cemith posted...

Emulation speed up really does change the game. pokemon is so much better when it doesn't waste your fucking time.

Yeah, a fast forward would help a TON on this game. I've used that feature on backups I played on a handheld emulation machine. It's such a nice feature.

TheSavageDragon posted...

Haven't played any Pokemon game on Switch yet, but there should be an option to turn off the battle animations IIRC. That usually speeds things up quite a bit.

I'll look again. I thought all I saw was text speed. This would be great if there was one.

Yeah, as a long time Pokemon player, the slowness of the battle system nearly 30 years later is a real sorespot for me. It needs a complete overhaul to make it acceptable for the modern day, but Game Freak is already struggling to keep the game itself together, so I guess that's asking too much from them.

WrkHrdPlayHrdr posted...

Makuhita - Onion head dude.

Oh yeah, forgot about Makuhita.

WrkHrdPlayHrdr posted...

I'll look again. I thought all I saw was text speed. This would be great if there was one.

Just looked it up. For some reason they thought it was a good idea to remove an option players have been using for nearly 3 decades. So you're out of luck. Shit like this is why I mainly play Pokemon fan games and rom hacks

Try Cassette Beasts. It's fun.

TheSavageDragon posted...

Just looked it up. For some reason they thought it was a good idea to remove an option players have been using for nearly 3 decades. So you're out of luck. Shit like this is why I mainly play Pokemon fan games and rom hacks

Also highly recommend Rom Hacks. Gaia and Unbound are leagues better than anything GF put out between X&Y and Sw/Sh

WrkHrdPlayHrdr posted...

I've finished two gyms, two titans, and one of the team star locations.

Look at a list for the proper order. First half of the game is easy enough to follow the order but the second half is random as hell in my opinion.

Sounds like I'll have to look into ROM hacks for it.

Makeveli_lives posted...

Look at a list for the proper order. First half of the game is easy enough to follow the order but the second half is random as hell in my opinion.

Yeah, already got one. My brother told me that it isn't really straightforward at some points so he sent me one if I wanted it. I think my next target is the electric gym.

Like I've said, the game itself is fun. I bet when the first Pokemon game came out that Scarlet/Violet was what they dreamed they would be playing one day. I'm genuinely having fun running around the world and checking for anything new I haven't caught yet. But shit, I dread almost every time I run into an enemy because I know it will slow down the game for two minutes. And this is from a guy whose peak RPGs are all turn based ones. I'm fine with a slower paced combat. But not this.

There was this battle I did yesterday and there is no way I will remember the name of the pokemon but it was this flower thing. It would immediately sleep my Pokemon and had this heal mechanics that I swear to god took 15 seconds each time it used it. It sent out some little orbs or roots or something into the ground and those had an animation and then it healed him and had to put up a text saying it healed him because seeing the lifebar go up apparently isn't enough of a clue. Then it would also drain health from my Pokemon which took more time. I spent 5 minutes on that guy and with all the sleep he did and the health regen and our level differences in that 5 minutes I got him like 1/6th of the way dead. I ran. I wasn't dealing with that shit anymore.

WrkHrdPlayHrdr posted...

Sounds like I'll have to look into ROM hacks for it.

Yeah, already got one. My brother told me that it isn't really straightforward at some points so he sent me one if I wanted it. I think my next target is the electric gym.

Like I've said, the game itself is fun. I bet when the first Pokemon game came out that Scarlet/Violet was what they dreamed they would be playing one day. I'm genuinely having fun running around the world and checking for anything new I haven't caught yet. But shit, I dread almost every time I run into an enemy because I know it will slow down the game for two minutes. And this is from a guy whose peak RPGs are all turn based ones. I'm fine with a slower paced combat. But not this.

There was this battle I did yesterday and there is no way I will remember the name of the pokemon but it was this flower thing. It would immediately sleep my Pokemon and had this heal mechanics that I swear to god took 15 seconds each time it used it. It sent out some little orbs or roots or something into the ground and those had an animation and then it healed him and had to put up a text saying it healed him because seeing the lifebar go up apparently isn't enough of a clue. Then it would also drain health from my Pokemon which took more time. I spent 5 minutes on that guy and with all the sleep he did and the health regen and our level differences in that 5 minutes I got him like 1/6th of the way dead. I ran. I wasn't dealing with that shit anymore.

The move is leech seed. Flower thing isnt enough of a description to figure out the grass type.

I don't have a switch, so I've played every DS game, and I think all of the 3DS a bit... All on emus. The speed up alone makes it so difficult to play games on the actual handheld.

Makeveli_lives posted...

The move is leech seed. Flower thing isnt enough of a description to figure out the grass type.

That was enough to look it up on a wiki. I believe it's Skiploom. Also to be fair, I don't know all the weakness so I was probably using the wrong three pokemon on that battle. It didn't help that they would get slept or something the very first round they were out.

FolkenRawr posted...

I don't have a switch, so I've played every DS game, and I think all of the 3DS a bit... All on emus. The speed up alone makes it so difficult to play games on the actual handheld.

The problem with finding a Romhack for this is it's on current gen hardware and I would assume that trying to play Roms on the switch would be an issue. I bet my PC could handle it though and I could play it on my handheld emulation machine through Moonlight and wifi maybe.

WrkHrdPlayHrdr posted...

The problem with finding a Romhack for this is it's on current gen hardware and I would assume that trying to play Roms on the switch would be an issue

When we mention rom hacks, we don't really mean those for Scarlet/Violet as it is way too soon for those to be complete or any good. It's mostly referring to the GBA/DS/3DS games. There's hundreds of em. Just look up a list of best pokemon rom hacks and you're good to go.

I'm currently playing Pokemon Infinite Fusion which is a fangame based on the first generation of Red/Blue/Yellow, made in the style of the GBA games and also features the region you explored a bit of in Gold. The main gimmick of that game is that you can fuse 2 (and later on even 3) Pokemon together to create a new one with new typing combinations.

TheSavageDragon posted...

When we mention rom hacks, we don't really mean those for Scarlet/Violet as it is way too soon for those to be complete or any good. It's mostly referring to the GBA/DS/3DS games. There's hundreds of em. Just look up a list of best pokemon rom hacks and you're good to go.

I'm currently playing Pokemon Infinite Fusion which is a fangame based on the first generation of Red/Blue/Yellow, made in the style of the GBA games and also features the region you explored a bit of in Gold. The main gimmick of that game is that you can fuse 2 (and later on even 3) Pokemon together to create a new one with new typing combinations.

Currect.

And I don't even play the funky versions and mods. I literally just play the main series games. Just sped up.

Edit: Worth mentioning that I watch a lot of Pokemon youtubers. S/V is wildly uninteresting to me.

TheSavageDragon posted...

When we mention rom hacks, we don't really mean those for Scarlet/Violet as it is way too soon for those to be complete or any good. It's mostly referring to the GBA/DS/3DS games. There's hundreds of em. Just look up a list of best pokemon rom hacks and you're good to go.

Ahhhh okay. I thought it was a simple 1:1 Rom with combat sped up somehow. I guess I'll finish Violet since I'm already chugging through it.

FolkenRawr posted...

And I don't even play the funky versions and mods. I literally just play the main series games. Just sped up.

That's just a rom though. A rom hack is what you describe as the "funky versions and mods"

TheSavageDragon posted...

That's just a rom though. A rom hack is what you describe as the "funky versions and mods"

I know. That's why I originally said I just play on emu >_>

WrkHrdPlayHrdr posted...

Ahhhh okay. I thought it was a simple 1:1 Rom with combat sped up somehow.

Nah, the increased speed is a function many emulators have.

Yeah, unfortunately, Pokemon games are just slow. It has to have a textbox for every little thing, and no matter how fast you make the text, that will be slow no matter what.

For example, the move Quiver Dance increases Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed. So, in Pokemon, it'll go
"[Pokemon] used Quiver Dance!"
"Its Sp. Attack was raised!"
"Its Sp. Defense was raised!"
"Its Speed was raised!"

So, four textboxes, each on screen for like a second. It adds up. Then you have stuff "[Pokemon] was buffeted by sandstorm!", "[Pokemon] was hurt by poison!" and such. It can be quite a drag. Other RPGs will combine the effects into one textbox, or have an icon indicating something changed, but Pokemon still insists on this slow method, presumably so new players can grasp every single piece of info.

The worst part, the developers know how to streamline how info is presented, as the previous Pokemon game, Pokemon Legends: Arceus, had a bit of textbox streamlining and icons. It's still slow, but not as slow.

I wandered off for good in one of the 3DS games, when it constantly insisted I care about the story.

I just want to beat up 'mons and catch 'mons to beat up more 'mons. I don't care at all about this long-ass conversation at a picnic table.

M-Watcher posted...

For example, the move Quiver Dance increases Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed. So, in Pokemon, it'll go
"[Pokemon] used Quiver Dance!"
"Its Sp. Attack was raised!"
"Its Sp. Defense was raised!"
"Its Speed was raised!"

Yeah this is an example of what I was talking about. If you want to do a text box to explain it that's fine. But make it something like:
"X used Quiver dance. It's Speed, Sp Attack, and Sp. Defense were raised."

Not a separate one that hangs there for a second or two each time. It isn't that they have text pop up that's the big problem, it's that each one is separate like you said. You don't need to get rid of all the text, but it can certainly be streamlined and made faster. I noticed they have a ribbon pop up on the side of the screen at certain times showing information.... make the text pop up on that ribbon or something.