Board 8 > Rate the VG Story Day 415: Pokemon X&Y

(+) Yeah! (+)

Todays game is Pokmon X & Y. How would you rate the story on a scale from 1-10?

You can still rate previous days games if you want or change your score, just post the name of the game and the score. If you want to know which games you have rated or what score you gave a game, just ask me. If you want to know what you rated a previous game just let me know. Nominations for future days are welcome.

Previous Results:
Clannad - 9.75 (4 votes)
Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers - 9.68 (11 votes)
Outer Wilds - 9.61 (22 votes)
Silent Hill 2 - 9.5 (20 votes)
Planescape: Torment - 9.5 (13 votes)
Higurashi When They Cry - 9.5 (9 votes)
Eternal Darkness: Sanitys Requiem 9.38 - (13 votes)
Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker - 9.33 (10 votes)
428: Shibuya Scramble - 9.27 (9 votes)
Nier Automata - 9.25 (31 votes)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC - 9.2 (20 votes)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations - 9.19 (35 votes)
Judgment - 9.17 (6 votes)
Last Window: The Secret of Cape West - 9.15 (10 votes)
Deus Ex - 9.14 (13 votes)
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim - 9.1 (14 votes)
The House in Fata Morgana - 9.06 (11 votes)
The Witcher III: Wild Hunt - 9.04 (8 votes)
Yakuza 0 - 9.03 (13 votes)
Red Dead Redemption 2 - 9 (8 votes)
Final Fantasy XIV (overall) - 8.98 (11 votes)
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - 8.95 (31 votes)
Steins;Gate - 8.94 (9 votes)
Mother 3 - 8.91 (15 votes)
Umineko When They Cry - 8.89 (14 votes)
Zero Escape: Virtues Last Reward - 8.88 (21 votes)
Return of the Obra Dinn - 8.85 (10 votes)
Silent Hill 4: The Room - 8.83 (6 votes)
Suikoden II - 8.8 (11 votes)
Persona 3 - 8.76 (22 votes)
Nier - 8.75 (18 votes)
Omori - 8.75 (8 votes)
Grim Fandango - 8.75 (14 votes)
Xenogears - 8.73 (24 votes)
Tales of Berseria - 8.71 (15 votes)
Metal Gear Solid - 8.68 (28 votes)
Final Fantasy Tactics - 8.67 (27 votes)
Shadow Hearts: Covenant - 8.67 (6 votes)
Pyre - 8.64 (7 votes)
Portal 2 - 8.64 (19 votes)
Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward - 8.64 (11 votes)
Bastion - 8.63 (12 votes)
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty 8.63 (32 votes)
AI: The Somnium Files - 8.59 (13 votes)
Yakuza: Like a Dragon - 8.58 (6 votes)
The Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask - 8.57 (28 votes)
Persona 4 - 8.56 (32 votes)
Disco Elysium - 8.56 (17 votes)
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance - 8.53 (18 votes)
SOMA - 8.5 (6 votes)
The Great Ace Attorney: Resolve - 8.48 (11 votes)
Fate/Stay Night - 8.48 (12 votes)
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - 8.47 (16 votes)
Undertale - 8.45 (42 votes)
Dragon Quest V - 8.44 (16 votes)
Mass Effect 2 - 8.44 (29 votes)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd - 8.43 (12 votes)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice - 8.42 (17 votes)
What Remains of Edith Finch - 8.41 (19 votes)
Chrono Trigger - 8.4 (41 votes)
Shadow Hearts - 8.38 (8 votes)
Blasphemous - 8.38 (4 votes)
Shenmue II - 8.38 (4 votes)
Snatcher - 8.33 (6 votes)
Final Fantasy X - 8.31 (56 votes)
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door - 8.31 (17 votes)
Final Fantasy VII - 8.29 (38 votes)
South Park: The Stick of Truth - 8.25 (18 votes)
Dead Space - 8.25 (8 votes)
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus - 8.23 (6 votes)
Fallout: New Vegas - 8.23 (13 votes)
Lunar: Silver Star Story - 8.22 (9 votes)
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective - 8.21 (19 votes)
Parasite Eve - 8.19 (9 votes)
Dragon Quest XI - 8.19 (17 votes)
Final Fantasy VI - 8.19 (43 votes)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - 8.19 (43 votes)
The Walking Dead Season 1 - 8.16 (22 votes)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies - 8.15 (17 votes)
Wolfenstein: The New Order - 8.14 (7 votes)
The Last of Us - 8.13 (35 votes)
The Witcher - 8.13 (7 votes)
Fire Emblem: Three Houses - 8.12 (14 votes)
Conkers Bad Fur Day - 8.11 (9 votes)
Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals - 8.11 (9 votes)
The Wolf Among Us - 8.11 (15 votes)
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - 8.11 (17 votes)
Hellblade: Senuas Sacrifice - 8.1 (5 votes)
Horizon: Zero Dawn - 8.06 (18 votes)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky - 8 (18 votes)
Portal - 8 (26 votes)
Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna: The Golden Country - 7.98 (5 votes)
Xenoblade Chronicles - 7.98 (28 votes)
Uncharted 4: A Thiefs End - 7.97 (16 votes)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel - 7.96 (14 votes)
Hades - 7.96 (22 votes)
Tsukihime - 7.94 (7 votes)
Inscryption - 7.93 (10 votes)
God of War (2018) - 7.93 (14 votes)
Ace Attorney Investigations 2 - 7.92 (13 votes)
Persona 5 - 7.92 (27 votes)
Life is Strange - 7.92 (32 votes)
Alan Wake - 7.91 (8 votes)
Spec Ops: The Line - 7.9 (17 votes)
Cyberpunk 2077 - 7.9 (7 votes)
Bloodborne - 7.88 (20 votes)
Kid Icarus: Uprising - 7.86 (13 votes)
Killer7 - 7.85 (10 votes)
Night in the Woods - 7.8 (15 votes)
Silent Hill - 7.8 (15 votes)
Psychonauts - 7.79 (7 votes)
Deadly Premonition - 7.77 (11 votes)
Final Fantasy IX - 7.77 (26 votes)
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn - 7.75 (14 votes)
Mario & Luigi: Bowsers Inside Story - 7.75 (10 votes)
Silent Hill 3 - 7.75 (8 votes)
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future - 7.75 (6 votes)
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain - 7.75 (4 votes)
NEO: The World Ends With You - 7.75 (4 votes)
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind - 7.75 (4 votes)
Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors - 7.73 (32 votes)
The Last of Us: Left Behind - 7.73 (11 votes)
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor - 7.73 (11 votes)
Mega Man Zero - 7.71 (7 votes)
Kentucky Route Zero - 7.7 (10 votes)
The Sexy Brutale - 7.7 (5 votes)
Vagrant Story - 7.67 (6 votes)
Bioshock - 7.65 (24 votes)
Skies of Arcadia - 7.63 (15 votes)
Suikoden - 7.63 (15 votes)
Paper Mario: The Origami King - 7.63 (6 votes)
Radiant Historia - 7.62 (13 votes)
Doki Doki Literature Club - 7.61 (28 votes)
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver - 7.6 (5 votes)
Final Fantasy VII Remake - 7.58 (20 votes)
Ys IX: Monstrum Nox - 7.57 (6 votes)
Celeste - 7.56 (26 votes)
Half-Life 2 - 7.55 (10 votes)
Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake - 7.54 (12 votes)
Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair - 7.51 (31 votes)

Policenauts - 7.5 (5 votes)
Erica - 7.5 (4 votes)
The Last Story - 7.47 (6 votes)
Mortal Kombat (2011) - 7.46 (13 votes)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - 7.44 (8 votes)
Marvels Spider-Man - 7.43 (16 votes)
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity - 7.42 (6 votes)
Dragon Age: Origins - 7.4 (10 votes)
Perfect Dark - 7.4 (10 votes)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II - 7.38 (13 votes)
Tales of Symphonia - 7.38 (30 votes)
Her Story - 7.38 (8 votes)
Phantasy Star IV - 7.37 (6 votes)
Earthbound - 7.37 (20 votes)
Ghost of Tsushima - 7.36 (7 votes)
Amnesia: The Dark Descent - 7.33 (8 votes)
Halo 3 - 7.33 (6 votes)
Mass Effect - 7.33 (29 votes)
Resident Evil (2002) - 7.32 (11 votes)
Batman: Arkham Asylum - 7.27 (24 votes)
Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma - 7.27 (20 votes)
Tales of the Abyss - 7.25 (29 votes)
Bravely Default - 7.25 (12 votes)
Hotel Dusk: Room 215 - 7.25 (12 votes)
Red Dead Redemption - 7.23 (11 votes)
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - 7.21 (30 votes)
Devil May Cry 3: Dantes Awakening - 7.21 (12 votes)
Resident Evil 4 - 7.19 (25 votes)
Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony - 7.17 (25 votes)
Mass Effect 3 - 7.16 (21 votes)
Resident Evil (1996) - 7.16 (10 votes)
Resident Evil 2 - 7.13 (16 votes)
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots - 7.11 (23 votes)
The Stanley Parable - 7.11 (14 votes)
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars - 7.1 (30 votes)
Broken Age - 7.1 (5 votes)
The Last of Us Part II - 7.09 (16 votes)
The Last Guardian - 7.08 (6 votes)
Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal - 7.08 (6 votes)
To the Moon - 7.07 (7 votes)
INSIDE - 7.06 (16 votes)
Warcraft III (overall) - 7.06 (8 votes)
Assassins Creed II - 7.04 (13 votes)
Hollow Knight - 7.02 (23 votes)
Final Fantasy VIII - 7.01 (31 votes)
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter - 7 (6 votes)
Halo 2 - 6.96 (12 votes)
Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood - 6.95 (11 votes)
Super Paper Mario - 6.95 (24 votes)
Paper Mario - 6.95 (13 votes)
Fire Emblem (2003) - 6.93 (21 votes)
Dragon Quest VII - 6.91 (8 votes)
Gone Home - 6.91 (18 votes)
Batman: Arkham Knight - 6.9 (5 votes)
Bioshock Infinite - 6.88 (20 votes)
Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling - 6.88 (4 votes)
Xenosaga Episode III: Also Sprach Zarathustra - 6.86 (14 votes)
Assassins Creed: Brotherhood - 6.83 (6 votes)
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch - 6.83 (6 votes)
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA - 6.82 (12 votes)
Death Stranding - 6.81 (13 votes)
L. A. Noire - 6.8 (5 votes)
Outlast - 6.8 (5 votes)
The World Ends With You - 6.79 (24 votes)
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne - 6.79 (7 votes)
Firewatch - 6.77 (11 votes)
Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Bose - 6.77 (13 votes)
Silent Hill: s***tered Memories - 6.75 (6 votes)
The Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening - 6.74 (19 votes)
Dragon Quest IV - 6.73 (8 votes)
Batman: Arkham City - 6.71 (12 votes)
Pokmon Black & White - 6.7 (15 votes)
Halo: Combat Evolved - 6.7 (10 votes)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice For All - 6.7 (34 votes)
Deus Ex: Human Revolution - 6.68 (11 votes)
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King - 6.68 (11 votes)
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga - 6.68 (13 votes)
Dark Souls - 6.63 (20 votes)
Suikoden III - 6.63 (8 votes)
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc - 6.62 (30 votes)
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker - 6.61 (19 votes)
Dark Souls III - 6.6 (5 votes)
Golden Sun: The Lost Age - 6.58 (12 votes)
Grand Theft Auto V - 6.58 (12 votes)
The Witcher II: Assassins of Kings (7 votes)
Octopath Traveller - 6.54 (12 votes)
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - 6.54 (26 votes)
Catherine - 6.54 (13 votes)
Metroid Dread - 6.54 (13 votes)
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones - 6.53 (15 votes)
Chrono Cross - 6.53 (18 votes)
Valkyria Chronicles - 6.5 (16 votes)
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - 6.5 (13 votes)
Transistor - 6.5 (8 votes)
Resident Evil Village - 6.5 (7 votes)
Katana Zero - 6.5 (6 votes)
Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth - 6.5 (5 votes)
Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag - 6.5 (5 votes)
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard - 6.46 (13 votes)
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker - 6.46 (12 votes)
Viewtiful Joe - 6.45 (10 votes)
Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht - 6.43 (15 votes)
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories - 6.43 (20 votes)
Dishonored 2 - 6.43 (7 votes)
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos - 6.43 (7 votes)
Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne - 6.4 (5 votes)
A Hat in Time - 6.39 (12 votes)
Professor Layton and the Lost Specter - 6.38 (4 votes)
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - 6.36 (36 votes)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - 6.35 (10 votes)
Bioshock 2 - 6.33 (9 votes)
Fire Emblem: Awakening - 6.33 (20 votes)
God of War II - 6.3 (10 votes)
Final Fantasy V - 6.28 (27 votes)
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time - 6.28 (9 votes)
Valkyria Chronicles 4 - 6.25 (4 votes)
The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures - 6.23 (12 votes)
Saints Row the Third - 6.21 (12 votes)
Bayonetta 2 - 6.2 (10 votes)
Kirby Super Star: Revenge of Meta Knight - 6.2 (5 votes)
Professor Layton and the Curious Village - 6.15 (15 votes)
DOOM (2016) - 6.15 (13 votes)
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes - 6.14 (7 votes)
Tales of Vesperia - 6.13 (24 votes)
Golden Sun - 6.06 (17 votes)
Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria - 6.05 (6 votes)
Banjo-Kazooie - 6 (12 votes)
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes - 6 (9 votes)
No More Heroes - 5.96 (12 votes)
Shadow of the Colossus - 5.94 (27 votes)
Assassins Creed III - 5.94 (8 votes)
Star Fox: Assault - 5.93 (7 votes)
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds - 5.86 (11 votes)
God of War (2005) - 5.83 (15 votes)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - 5.82 (17 votes)
Sonic Adventure 2 - 5.81 (27 votes)
Final Fantasy IV - 5.8 (33 votes)
Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception - 5.8 (24 votes)
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII - 5.79 (7 votes)
Tales of Arise - 5.78 (9 votes)
Dark Souls II - 5.77 (12 votes)
Banjo-Tooie - 5.72 (9 votes)
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - 5.72 (9 votes)
Star Ocean: The Second Story - 5.72 (9 votes)
Metroid Prime - 5.72 (25 votes)
Tales of Xillia - 5.71 (12 votes)
Dishonored - 5.7 (10 votes)
Star Fox 64 - 5.69 (27 votes)
Hyrule Warriors - 5.67 (6 votes)
Hitman - 5.65 (6 votes)
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 - 5.64 (7 votes)
Tales of Xillia 2 - 5.63 (4 votes)
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - 5.59 (14 votes)
Dragon Quest VI - 5.58 (6 votes)
Valkyrie Profile - 5.58 (6 votes)
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII - 5.6 (10 votes)
Braid - 5.59 (11 votes)
Detroit: Become Human - 5.58 (6 votes)
Metroid Fusion - 5.56 (13 votes)
Journey - 5.56 (17 votes)
Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth - 5.55 (20 votes)
Sonic Adventure - 5.55 (16 votes)
Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days - 5.55 (10 votes)
Kingdom Hearts - 5.51 (33 votes)
Persona 4 Arena - 5.51 (9 votes)
Dead Rising - 5.5 (4 votes)
The Wonderful 101 - 5.5 (4 votes)

6.5

4

Pokemon has low standards for a story, but this one failed to even meet those. Too many throwaway characters, very little personality, a villain that you know is the Big Bad immediately, and absolutely no memorability in any writing-related department. It was a huge step back after Gen 5.

4

2

Up.

2

Criminal to release this after BW.

3.5

They might have improved it had they ever released Z, there was much more to explore there, but that's no excuse

I think long dialogues are a detriment to Pokemon games now because their plot is usually nothing more than generic boring crap so at least I don't remember X and Y having those.

Legends Arceus had a story that bored me into quitting the game. Even the gameplay loop was getting repetitive to be honest. I might have actually finished the game if the script wasn't as bland and uninspired as it was.

I really hope the next Pokemon game either really tries with their writing (voice acting, innovative story with mystery and world building) or just flat out cuts out the story to be the bare minimum like Pokemon Red/Blue because at least we don't have to suffer through boring texts that literally makes me feel like it is killing my brain cells one by one.

4/10

6

Axl_Rose_85 posted...

I think long dialogues are a detriment to Pokemon games now because their plot is usually nothing more than generic boring crap so at least I don't remember X and Y having those.

S&M were particularly terrible with having constant interruptive cutscenes. Like... hurry the heck up, I don't want to watch a boring two-minute scene that only serves to tell me to go next. If you're going to have sizable cutscenes, they need to help tell a story so I can care. Instead of doing the opposite.

Axl_Rose_85 posted...

Legends Arceus had a story that bored me into quitting the game. Even the gameplay loop was getting repetitive to be honest. I might have actually finished the game if the script wasn't as bland and uninspired as it was.

I never beated Legends Arceus, either. Got to the third area. It was incredible at first but the overall plotlessness and redundant gameplay of having to hide yourself long enough to navigate through your bag to get the thing you wanna chuck at a Pokemon got a bit stale. I too would've played farther if there'd been actual reason to care. They waited too long to actually give the game plot. If you don't hook the fish when it bites, you're not gonna reel it in. The same is true with writing. Find some reason to make the person consuming the media care. Doesn't matter if that's a good sense of humor, a smart plot twist to get things started, or an intriguing overworld to explore - just something to get someone to keep going. Pokemon has struggled with that. Part of why S&M were so unplayable was how there was no reason to care and yet they constantly intruded upon the gameplay that used to make the games fun.

2.5/10

Underwhelming, even by Pokemon standards

BlueCrystalTear posted...

I never beated Legends Arceus, either. Got to the third area. It was incredible at first but the overall plotlessness and redundant gameplay of having to hide yourself long enough to navigate through your bag to get the thing you wanna chuck at a Pokemon got a bit stale. I too would've played farther if there'd been actual reason to care. They waited too long to actually give the game plot. If you don't hook the fish when it bites, you're not gonna reel it in. The same is true with writing. Find some reason to make the person consuming the media care. Doesn't matter if that's a good sense of humor, a smart plot twist to get things started, or an intriguing overworld to explore - just something to get someone to keep going. Pokemon has struggled with that. Part of why S&M were so unplayable was how there was no reason to care and yet they constantly intruded upon the gameplay that used to make the games fun.

This is literally how I feel and I quit at the exact same spot in the game except I wouldn't call my initial impressions 'incredible'. It was refreshing to see Pokemon do something innovative and different for a change though.

Also bland story and endless pointless dialogue aren't exclusive to Pokemon. It is becoming a JRPG staple as of late. Games like Bravely Default II, Ys IX and Tales of Arise's final act are prime examples of the writer putting too much material with very little substance in their script which ends up being exhausting for the player. Side quests are an egregious exercise in tedium because most are fetch quests and kill enemy this, get loot that, repeat ad nauseum. Somebody on the board said it best when they said, it is better to have no side quests in a game at all rather than the generic redundant side quests which only serve to pad the game's length.

If you look at the Final Fantasy games especially the classics from 6-10, they have very very little to no fat in their dialogue and scenes. The pacing is tremendous in those game. There are hardly if any fetch quests at all. Hell the side quests in those games are more memorable than most other JRPG plots. A single disc in a PS1 Final Fantasy game has more plot coverage than most 70 hour RPGs that release nowadays. Not saying there are no good RPGs that have released lately because I'm literally playing what is turning out to be one of my favorite JRPGs of all time in Xenoblade 3 right now.

Bottom line is, if you are gonna have long dialogue and cutscenes, make it meaningful and do it if it is necessary to cover the scope of the game's ambitious plotline. If it is a gameplay centered game like Pokemon, leave the identity crisis at the development studio, and have the resources (which GameFreak of all things should have in a surplus of abundance) be put to better use to refine the gameplay elements and innovate better and more creative ideas. If you wanna tell a good story, don't half ass it with 3 minutes of pointless text that is gonna put the player to sleep. Get better writers, make the story better, get voice acting to make it more immersive and if certain scenes require lengthy scenes and dialogue, then do so. Such things will only feel authentic and entertaining if they actually try rather than shoehorn in.

A 10 minute scene in a Yakuza game feels like it passes in the blink of an eye, whereas a 3 minute scene in Pokemon feels like an hour provided you don't doze off in the middle of the dialogue. That is the difference between good story telling and bland I just wanna make the game as long as possible story telling.

Axl_Rose_85 posted...

This is literally how I feel and I quit at the exact same spot in the game except I wouldn't call my initial impressions 'incredible'. It was refreshing to see Pokemon do something innovative and different for a change though.

This is why it felt "incredible" to me. It felt like a refreshing take on an old staple. I enjoyed the first area immensely because of that, after which it got very redundant, and thus I slowed down.

Axl_Rose_85 posted...

Also bland story and endless pointless dialogue aren't exclusive to Pokemon. It is becoming a JRPG staple as of late. Games like Bravely Default II, Ys IX and Tales of Arise's final act are prime examples of the writer putting too much material with very little substance in their script which ends up being exhausting for the player. Side quests are an egregious exercise in tedium because most are fetch quests and kill enemy this, get loot that, repeat ad nauseum. Somebody on the board said it best when they said, it is better to have no side quests in a game at all rather than the generic redundant side quests which only serve to pad the game's length.

My Berseria playthrough is still up (currently doing Zestiria in there), if you wanna read my frustration with the inane amount of sidequests between the climax and the final showdown. Like... they had the momentum from the climax and threw it out the window by putting 100 sidequests only unlockable afterward in there. Much of it felt like padding that should have either been earlier on or thrown out the window (there were some that were plot relevant, at least). I'm still writing my own JRPG off and on and the "sidequests" will be minimal, as it's meant to tribute the things I enjoy without having the things I don't. If I want the player to experience it, it will be in the story in some shape or form. If it seems to be an egregious detour that doesn't satisfy its initial purpose, it can be cut.

I still need to play Xenoblade 1 in full - didn't get that far - before I play 3. It sounds like somebody can do something right still. But the biggest reason JRPGs have been a dying genre is the lack of care and effort by developers. The sidequests are bland and unnecessary padding. The plots are too recycled. A lot of the dialogue is pointless. There are some exceptions, of course. But padded scenes don't work. Some of those three-minute Pokemon scenes could just have the relevant NPC block the way until talked to. You talk to them, they move, boom. Over in 20 seconds, and you've learned all you need to know. The only reason you should ever have redundant dialogue is if a character has a quirk that they repeat themselves regularly and use it for humor. Pokemon... takes three minutes to do what can be accomplished in five sentences of dialogue, and it feels wooden.

By writing my own, I want to feel like the dialogue is meaningful, and there isn't too much discussion of where to go next. No, it's heavily focused on building a rapport between characters, which is important too. How many recent JRPGs have had casts that hit it off really well? Very few. Pokemon tries to say "These are your friends" but... they never really feel like friends, aside from Cheren and Bianca in BW1.

Pokemon Moon is one of the worst games I've ever played and is something I highlight as an example of what NOT to do. The dialogue is terrible. There is no real gameplay since the game tells you what move to use. There's no fun to be had. I haven't played Ultra Sun/Moon, Sword/Shield, or Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl due to how bad that was. Legends Arceus looked different and cool enough to give a chance, and I'm glad I did for my initial impression, followed by the subsequent realization that Pokemon is no longer made for someone like me. I will just go back and enjoy Platinum and White again and again and again.

XIII_Rocks posted...

Criminal to release this after BW.

"Criminal to release the best mainline game since GSC after the worst mainline game in the series" is how I read this. I know my opinion is extremely out of the norm but I truly don't understand how people enjoy Gen 5. I thought it was miserable.

Anyway, I'll give it a 7. Obvious villain was obvious but I liked the AZ storyline.

Underleveled posted...

"Criminal to release the best mainline game since GSC after the worst mainline game in the series" is how I read this. I know my opinion is extremely out of the norm but I truly don't understand how people enjoy Gen 5. I thought it was miserable.

Anyway, I'll give it a 7. Obvious villain was obvious but I liked the AZ storyline.

I didn't mind XY overall, I put a lot of hours into it and used it to finally put together a living dex.

I was talking strictly story-wise

4/10. I didnt hate it but it was a big step down.