No pun intended but although I own a Switch 2 I have not yet started to play this video game.

>>58899307
I'm training my recent captured xerneas, because I doubt I would advance that much otherwise (ye, I'm SO far behind)

>>58899753
You can't lose points, you will always advance as long as you keep playing. Even if you get last in every battle you should still earn some points.

Couldn't even be bothered playing last season for the mega stone, it's too stale

>>58899784
It takes literally two battles to get the mega stone if you win both of them.

>>58899784
The idea is to win using unconventional mons so you get more satisfaction. It only gets boring when you spam psuedos and legends.

I run in with tinkaton and runegrigus and golurk and its fun. anybody can get double digit KO's with the meta mons.

>>58900057
>The idea is to win using unconventional mons so you get more satisfaction.
Using a Pokemon with a bad typing = big dick energy.

>>58900070
multi weakness mons invite in weakness policy fun. screens weakness policy tar is fun stuff

>>58899307
Gotta finish training up my new team, got a nice alpha Chesnaught I want to try out plus a shiny Clauncher.

>>58899307
Did the bare minimum for the Mega Stone and dipped. Got old by Bax’s

I still can't even get all the pokemon to use in Ranked because of these hyperspace randomizers.

>>58900057
Nah, it's just boring. Using unconventional Pokemon doesn't make up for the shallow mechanics and severe lack of map variety and gameplay modes. I had fun for a few weeks when it was new it but clearly wasn't designed to have longevity.

>>58899307
>enjoying pokimans in the year of our lord 2005+21
No?

>Getting the Fissure off with my Golurk Mega

feels so good
sucks Golurk finally gets Fissure in a game with no abilities.

I was done after season 4.
It's clear they're never doing anything more with this game than free for all.

>>58900780
You're accidentally revealing that you hate literally every other Pokemon game.

>>58900878
PvP in the standard Pokemon games has none of these problems, it's a refined system that's been tuned for decades

>>58900878
You just revealed that you've touched any VGC at all. You should try it anon, you may have *fun.
*fun is optional not guaranteed.

>>58900935
Yes the "map variety" in SV PvP is immaculate. Very aesthetic. Very nothing else.
"I didn't actually explore these games because I'm better at randomized chess because I at least get 30 secs to think" is perfectly fine to say.

I'm surprised how good spikes are in post mortem KOs. I think stealth rock is too obvious to use.

>>58900949
I played plenty of VGC. None of it was fun but it was the only way to play Pokemon. Beyond more than 80% of the communities authorities being unlikable as shit, I don't consider the spirit of Pokemon battles to be reminiscent of chess with random elements of all things. As time goes on, I hope that you all come to realize that, much like how Arceus changed the game when it came to catching with targeting and lures, the turn-based battle system was a result of a hardware limitation and could've always been more reflective of an idk actual battle and not some board game.
Pokemon always had the potential to be way more interesting and I hope Champions allows Pokemon to actually do great things without chessbros being mad.

>>58900977
The turn based battle system is preferable, ZA is genuinely shallow crap.
I agree that overworld catching was excellent in Arceus, but even that game was dragging by the time I reached the snowlands.
I don't want to see a different combat or the Bethesdafication of Pokemon. Streamlining is not the victory you think it is.

>>58900950
Turn based games don't rely on good map design like action games, so no it's not a problem.

>"I didn't actually explore these games because I'm better at randomized chess because I at least get 30 secs to think"
Funny how it's always deflecting with "b-but it's not turn based" and nothing positive said about ZA itself. I could easily say real time games are for retards who want to button mash and hope to get lucky KOs.

>>58900977
I agree, Z-A's battle system was a breath of fresh air compared to the past 20 years of the same turn-based RNG battles. Definitely wasn't perfect, but it was a good first attempt and with more refinement, like adding abilities and giving you more control over your pokemon, it could end up being much more engaging. Can't say I'm interested in the current ranked mode though, it does feel pretty shallow. 1-on-1s or 2-on-2s might have been more fun, but instead we just get a kill-stealing free-for-all that doesn't even let us take advantage of the terrain since all the maps are flat aside from some minor hills/obstacles. It would be a nice side thing since almost any pokemon can do alright in that sort of environment, but there's not enough depth to be the main competitive mode. Either way, I still had more fun with it than I did any of the previous games.

The turn based formula is superior, but I do appreciate the different battle system ZA has. Its not supposed to be some long term engaging system with a ton of depth, its more like playing 4 player free for all Smash with items on. But its fun when you approach it for what it is.

>>58901086
It's more like ZA just promotes enduring you get 1hkos. That's the entire meta, send out mon, boost up, attempt to surprise or snipe opponents already battling.
It's almost never worth running protect or adding an extra layer of depth. You consider all the strategy we lose, predictions, mind games, pins, etc by switching to a real time battle system and it would be a staggering blow to the franchise which is consistently growing its VGC participation.
I don't think we're going to see a massive to change to the generational entries. If Pokemon wants to experiment with the legends series, go for it.

>pay2win

>>58901124
Completely and wholeheartedly agreed.

I've got no issue with PLZA doing what it does, but its not going to carry over as the primary battle system, nor should it. People can whine about RNG all they want, but the fact of the matter is the turn based system has a shit load of depth to it and has been refined and played for 30 years now, including an entire branch of TPC dedicated specifically to it.. its not going away.

>>58900977
>I don't consider the spirit of Pokemon battles to be reminiscent of chess with random elements of all things
>the turn-based battle system was a result of a hardware limitation and could've always been more reflective of an idk actual battle and not some board game.

I dont agree whatsoever.
Pokemon has ALWAYS emphasized that the key to being a strong trainer is strategy. The Pokemon have the power, the trainers have the means to command, formulate a team, and use complimenting members to accommodate strengths and weaknesses. A turn based system perfectly represents this.

>>58901135
RNG has never bothered me that badly, some people may think that because there are twice as many Pokemon on the field than singles, that VGC would experience more problems with it, but I found the opposite.
Usually if a match comes down to RNG, a needed miss or a critical hit then I didn't play well enough to avoid that in the first place.

I think a fifth player would have really helped online. It would keep things engaging, helps insure against ragequitters and AFKers somewhat. As of now, the balance is too delicate. If one person leaves, or goes afk, things get too skewed.

>>58901124
NTA, but none of those are the fault of Z-A's battle system; that's just its ranked mode. If they don't give up on it after one half-baked game then we could have all that and more after some improvements are made. The possibilities are endless with the freedom a real-time battle system brings, while the turn-based system feels like it's barely changed since the first games. Like sure there are new additions, removals, and other miscellaneous balance changes which shift the meta, but it always feels the same to play. Maybe it makes sense to keep doing that for the mainline games since people clearly like it, but I want to see this new battle system get the refinement it deserves too.

>>58901143
I see it form both sides. Ideally, there'd be less of it involved, I think they can conceivably work out things like accuracy within the same system with the right balancing (for example, I think PP is an underutilized system, they could probably see to lower PP on higher powered moves as the trade off instead of having lower accuracy)

That said,
>Usually if a match comes down to RNG, a needed miss or a critical hit then I didn't play well enough to avoid that in the first place.
This. Players are notoriously bad at self reflection, and would rather jump to blaming luck rather than their own plays. When a system HAS luck in it, that becomes the defacto scapegoat, even though 99% of the time there's something the player could've done differently that they didnt think of.
Stalling a turn longer, recognizing better wincons that dont involve accuracy, knowing where to place incoming damage, etc... Risk management is a skill itself.

Additionally, I think RNG in some cases is a good thing, as it helps keep some systems in check (crits preventing omni defense boosting), or creates natural tension and cuts down on foregone conclusions.

>>58901151
The changes between gen 6 and gen 7 vgc alone were monumental. Gen 5 to 6 was also huge for several reasons.
If it feels the same to play, the core is always there, but what actually happens is very different mechanically.
I'm fine with them exploring different systems in the Legends game, the Galar Legends leaks seemed to hint at a slight Pikmin direction.

>>58900977
ZA is currently just a fun side venture, but it would take full commitment for the real time battle system to completely replace turn based as the main competitive meta going forward.
I'm talking drastic changes like completely reworking how the base stat system works. Speed in its current state has no reason to exist.

>>58901164
Those sorts of changes don't feel monumental to most players though, and the core never changing is why it gets stale. The strategies change, but the game is always the same.

I'm not looking forward to Legends Galar because it feels like the same shit they've been doing from XY onward where they add a gimmick and then immediately scrap it for a new gimmick the next game instead of building on it. Pikmin-based gameplay seems like a total departure from the systems they introduced in Z-A unless it's just a side thing they're doing for the giant battles. Have to wait and see on that one though. If they do build on Z-A's systems then pikmin-like controls might solve the pokemon positioning issues for standard 1-on-1 battles.

>>58901190
This is why I'd rather real-time be the main system moving forward, since it definitely takes a lot more work than turned-based to get right. I don't want more half-assed games like Legends has been unless they actually use the knowledge they gained from those experiments to improve the games they put more effort into later. Putting more time/effort into the Legends games would work too, and be a better solution overall since plenty of people still like mainline as-is, but I don't know if that's viable for them compared to just focusing on mainline from a business standpoint.

>>58901213
I genuinely don't think you interacted with VGC as much as you claim to have, I also don't think you grasped what I said about generational mechanical changes.
You're enamoured with this real time system just because of its novelty, not because of its merits. I never want that to be the system going forward in anything except Legeneds games or spin-offs. Turn-based systems are not easy to make and there's certainly nothing like Pokemon's in any other game.

>>58901213
>Those sorts of changes don't feel monumental to most players though

If you dont engage competitively, sure. The main campaign doesnt change much with those changes.
Competitively however, theyre massive shifts. Each generation has its own highly unique identity in all competitive formats.

This is more of a failure of how Gamefreak designs their campaigns than a failure of the battle system though. They dont work to use any in game encounters as actual tutorial-ization for more complex systems that already exist, and instead just rest of the tired set of type-specialization Gym leaders and call it a day. We've gotten glimpses of it with things like Colosseum, or Raihan's gym battle, but never any actually engaging system to push the player to need to use and understand the game's systems.
THIS is what leads to the staleness for your average player. Not the system itself, as evident by a thriving competitive scene.

Ironically, we do see these things play out in their battle facilities, so they have an understanding of their own systems, but theyre too afraid/lazy/overworked to inject even a fraction of that into the campaigns.

>>58901213
>Those sorts of changes don't feel monumental to most players though
That's a different can of worms. The issue is that casual players are never required or even incentivized to engage with VGC oriented mechanics in any depth. No shit the battle system will seem stale to them.
There's always going to be a divide between casual and competitive players, but the fact that the official PvP meta is a completely different format from what is expected by casuals is a huge barrier. VGC may as well be a different game.

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>>58899307
>ARE YOU ENJOYING IT??
Surprisingly yeah. I usually don’t care for competitive Pokémon in the slightest but training up teams and trying out new Megas here was fun. Also like the fact that stuff like PP and weather aren’t in the game. Shame this will be gone in Gen 10 as I’d be interested in competitive a lot more if it was like this.

Its fun to get ahead of meta mon abusers.

>>58899753
bro it's not that hard I've been shitting on people with only non-zygarde ground types since release
literally just train a garchomp and something to swap to when faced with ice spam

>>58901221
It's not just novelty, almost every single attack has more depth than its turn-based counterpart due to having hitboxes, sizes, startup time, targeting, AoE, movement, cooltime, etc. and it's fun to figure out different ways to use them together on different Pokemon. All but the weakest or most poorly-implemented moves have some value in Z-A. That's why it's frustrating that they picked such a restrictive ruleset for ranked. I guess it's probably so they didn't have to worry about balance as much, but it's such wasted potential.

>Turn-based systems are not easy to make
I didn't say that turn-based systems were easy to make, I said that this real-time system takes more work to get right. That is objectively true considering how much more they need to consider with how every pokemon/move interacts in a 3D space and it's obvious that they didn't put in the work needed when you've got shit like Aegislash's slow animations or being unable to protect against moves with an invulnerability period in a 1-on-1. They couldn't even be bothered to put out balance patches to fix basic issues like that.

Also, I am aware of the mechanical changes between each generation and the different metas that emerged from those, but they do not make the core gameplay any more interesting to someone who isn't into turn-based battles. You're right though, there isn't really any replacement for people who are. It would be best if they could just keep improving on both rather than replacing one for the other.

>>58901235
>>58901240
Didn't intend to include casuals who'd never engage with competitive either way there, so "most players" was an error on my part. I'm talking about people who are interested in competitive play, but Pokemon's typical battle system isn't engaging for them even at a high level where they understand how all the systems work and how to strategize around them.

>>58899307
Z-A has been more fun than any pokemon game since Black and White 2. Everything in it was an improvement over every Pokemon game since X and Y in that it felt engaging to play and not a boring slog. I know the bottle cap and mint system have been around for a while, but I actually felt good about wanting to do better in this game to actually care to use them. Natures being gone are fine with me since everyone just dogpiles onto the same build anyways with everything. They could bring back weather skills since that would be cool to have a small area of the map actually be affected by said moves and interacting with the environment in such a way. Now this is about the rouge mega battles, but the mega battles actually require you do play a video game and not just spam the same 1-hit kill skills and be done with it.

The characters in this game are actually memorable and have realistic personalities and aren't afraid to be annoyed with other characters. The whole team flare nova stuff was nice and made me actually remember what it was that team flare was about. In short, I would prefer this game to be the standard on future games since it was VERY well done for what the package was advertised as. Plus the music alone is a 10/10 and they should outsource it back to the same people again. Plus, Ansha is very cute and her theme is very nice mood pick me up.

>>58901086
All this nonsense just to say you're mad because you're not allowed to think for 30 seconds before making a decision.

>>58902008
I liked the characters in the main game but by the DLC I felt their character gimmicks were starting wear thin with the constant weak excuses for all the double battles in the story and side quests.

>>58899753
I just play for fun with my Starmie Meganium and Delphox, don’t use any legendaries. Delphox Fire Blast one shots Metagross every time.

>>58902333
I feel the DLC double battles were just an excuse to have character interactions between people that wouldn't meet other wise along/extra tidbits. The hyper space battles were just dream battle events after all.

>>58899307
Worst format by a mile. Xerneas wishes it could've been the hitler that the weather trio are. Sucks too because season 4 was pretty cool format with all the new mons and megas from the dlc. Now that it's all but assured we aren't getting more more maps all that's left to change things up is the new chomp mega and mega blaziken.

Rayquaza is fucking lame

>>58902470
Honestly I find the weather trio pretty manageable, it's fucking obnoxious Garchomp and Swampert everywhere that are the worst.

>>58902806
Surely solarbeam handily takes out the swampert trash

>>58902806
Solar beam eats through a lot of shit and swampert.
Ice is always nice.

If anything amarouge sniping with meteor beam and solar beam seems to be a more common thing.

I fucking hate Meloetta users so much

>>58902980
I was playing around with Melmetal, who is pretty good and fun to use, but holy shit Amarouge just melts him from the other side of the map.

>walls suck
>hazards suck
>status moves suck
>literally just boost attack and spam AOE or lasers to win
Perfect battle system for room temperature IQ retards such as /vp/ who get brain aneurysm when they gotta do something more than click EQ with Garchomp to win

>>58903100
Given the current state of VGC I'd take this any day.

>>58903103
You dont have much time left, Champions will kill whatever little online playerbase this game still has.

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>>58903038
u mad?

>>58899307
post usage stats

>>58903100
Walls are good wtf are you yappin about

>>58904275
Good at standing around and not racking up KO's.

You'll take too long and someone else will steal your kill.

MAN Fissure is fun

Maybe I'll try Sheer Cold next

>>58904508
You put them on your first mon and then swap out.

is mega swampert any good?

>>58904538
It's ok but you're on the field for two seconds before someone's switching into their solar beamer

>>58902806
Swampert is easily handled by solar beam, which should be on at least one mon on your team because of how strong the plus move is neutrally. Same with chomp, as everyone should be running an ice or dragon move somewhere. Ray is awful because if you guess wrong on the moveset you lose. Groudon is awful because of how strong precipice blades is. Primal kyogre has every move under the sun and doesnt die.

>>58904968
>Ray is awful because if you guess wrong on the moveset you lose
He instantly dies to any ice move (which, as you said, you should be running)
>Groudon is awful because of how strong precipice blades is
Implying you see anyone running him
>Primal kyogre has every move under the sun and doesnt die
Everyone’s running grass moves already to counter swampert, kyoger’s a non-issue if you aren’t running anything weak to water

>>58904512
Highly recommend sheer cold for trolling
>so long as you can tank a hit you’re all but guaranteed to get it off
>massive range everyone underestimates (even larger if used as a + move)
>long windup lets you catch anyone rushing in late or attempting to swap dodge
>guaranteed OHKO against anything weak to ice
>even if it doesn’t kill you annoy your opponents by freezing their ‘mon

>>58904512
I'm running Steelix just for it, so much fun to have with it.

>>58899307
Are rankeds or ZA PVP any fun?

>>58900780
>lack of map variety
This is really weird since all they're doing is shoving barricades on existing locations. How hard is it to add more?

>>58906001
>How hard is it to add more?
small indie company, please enderstandu

Any particular reason it's always night time?

>>58906342
That's when trainers battle in the Z-A Royale, people have lives to live on those streets during the daytime

>>58903100
Try winning more, VGCuck. Tends to unblast the ass