An Exhaustive Look at Pokémon Brilliant Diamond
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- čas přidán 14. 01. 2024
- Patreon: / shoogles_
Big thank you to Nana for all their help: / nanadouken
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#pokemon #brilliantdiamond #bdsp
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Links and Credits
(Please let me know if I've missed any!)
CNET on Animal Crossing: New Horizons delays: tinyurl.com/yc4ujxp8
Sonic Adventure 2 - Did You Know Gaming? Feat. Jimmy Whetzel: tinyurl.com/yc7z7pr2
Masuda on Dexit (USGamer): tinyurl.com/4tz2fmcm
Masuda on Dexit (Nintendo Treehouse 2019): tinyurl.com/2ahamskj
Masuda on Eggs: tinyurl.com/ynwdrn96
Masuda and Kawachimaru on Giratina: tinyurl.com/mrwepcaw
Masuda on Platinum and the "ultimate" world: tinyurl.com/yc47uaju
Ogasawara on Mr. Mime's name: tinyurl.com/3avcjbse
WolfeyVGC - Why Pokemon NEEDS the Critical Hit: tinyurl.com/2ff8z2z7
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0:00 Intro
03:24 Twinleaf Town
04:44 Verity Lakefront, Lake Verity
09:15 Route 201
10:37 Sandgem Town
11:53 Visuals and Controls
21:42 Route 202
23:28 Jubilife City
35:40 Route 203
42:05 Oreburgh City
46:07 Oreburgh Mine
48:15 Oreburgh Gym
57:01 Oreburgh Gate
57:39 Team Galactic, Box Link
1:00:42 Jubilife TV, Mystery Gift
1:02:51 Route 204, Ravaged Path
1:04:13 Floaroma Town
1:09:56 Interlude
1:11:00 Valley Windworks
1:14:33 Route 205, Eterna Forest
1:17:26 Eterna City
1:22:10 Grand Underground Catching
1:27:22 Eterna Gym
1:28:34 Team Galactic Eterna HQ
1:30:29 Cycling Road
1:32:28 Old Chateau
1:35:05 Route 206
1:42:25 Trade Evolutions
1:50:34 Wayward Cave
1:54:08 Route 207
1:56:34 Mt. Coronet South
1:58:28 Route 208
2:02:57 Hearthome City
2:06:41 Amity Square
2:13:47 Route 209
2:18:41 Lost Tower
2:21:36 Solaceon Town
2:24:35 Solaceon Ruins
2:26:52 Route 215
2:30:30 Veilstone City
2:38:12 Veilstone Gym
2:42:53 Galactic Warehouse
2:45:17 GWS
2:48:52 Redemption
2:53:48 Route 214
2:57:33 Valor Lakefront, Hotel Grand Lake
3:02:44 Route 213
3:04:51 Pastoria City
3:05:49 Great Marsh
3:18:10 Pastoria Gym
3:22:09 Galactic Grunt Chase
3:27:57 Grand Underground
3:37:45 Breeding
3:49:08 Route 210
3:59:16 Celestic Town
4:01:46 Route 211
4:03:24 Route 212
4:11:50 Pokémon Mansion
4:13:50 Berries and Honey
4:18:35 Super Contest Hall
4:30:20 Hearthome Gym
4:34:02 Pokémon Design Discussion
5:11:54 Route 218
5:13:05 Animation Discussion
5:51:17 Canalave City
5:52:33 Canalave Gym
5:59:02 Wayward Cave B1F
6:02:21 Oreburgh Gate B1F
6:05:16 Fuego Ironworks
6:08:56 Routes 219, 220, 221
6:12:07 Iron Island
6:19:48 Canalave Library
6:33:02 Lake Valor
6:36:27 Lake Verity
6:37:31 Mt. Coronet North
6:42:42 Routes 216, 217, Acuity Lakefront
6:51:04 Snowpoint City
6:54:48 Snowpoint Gym
6:58:42 Lake Acuity
6:59:56 Galactic Veilstone HQ
7:09:57 Mt. Coronet, Spear Pillar
7:33:30 Route 222
7:55:00 Sunyshore City
7:59:34 Sunyshore Gym
8:04:47 Rock Climb and Waterfall
8:07:00 Route 223
8:08:34 Victory Road
8:27:40 Pokémon League
8:54:10 National Dex
9:02:07 Poké Radar
9:14:17 Fight Area
9:16:30 Route 225
9:33:33 Survival Area, Route 226
9:36:40 Route 227, Stark Mountain
9:42:07 Route 228
9:43:18 Route 229
9:44:36 Resort Area
9:48:58 Route 230
9:49:50 Legendary Roundup
10:05:18 Sendoff Spring, Turnback Cave
10:11:04 Outbreaks
10:12:49 Victory Road, Route 224
10:18:12 Mythical Roundup
10:24:19 Pokémon HOME
10:35:05 Vs. Seeker, Gym Leader Rematches
10:41:08 Pokémon League Rematch
10:43:48 Battle Park
11:03:29 Conclusion - Hry
CORRECTIONS and CLARIFICATIONS:-
2:23 I make a point of not acknowledging games released after the game I'm discussing. I ought to have mentioned that in the introduction.
1:37:14 Steelix can be caught in the wild.
2:21:36 CONTENT WARNING: SEXUAL ASSAULT. The "bunny girl" costume is not as benign as I made it out to be. Japan has very high sexual harrassment and sexual assault statistics. Japanese critics have argued that objectifying women in media, even for young children, is a contributing factor to these statistics. Having played so many Japanese games I'm desensitised to a lot of this stuff, which is exactly the problem; nevertheless, it ought to have occurred to me to interrogate it. Please accept my apologies.
2:59:10 Your options are more than doubled in Doubles. 4 moves x 4 moves = 16 combinations in a turn before we even account for switching or items.
5:00:00 This interaction is not unique to Mareanie and Corsola - Sableye and Carbink behave identically.
5:17:33 My understanding of why health depletes so slowly was incorrect. So long as there are more Hit Points than pixels in the HP bar, the game counts down each number in its own individual frame - as the Gen IV games run at around ~30FPS, the game will take 1 full second to take away 30HP.
6:22:56 The Ainu people are still around today; I unintentionally imply otherwise.
10:23:01 Arceus is not an event Mythical; it's locked behind completing all main story missions in Pokémon Legends: Arceus.
I have a correction for you on the lopunny thing, if you’re open to it. The reason we see women openly sexualized in shonen for young boys is because of a culture of sexism and sexual assault, reinforced from a young age due to culture. There’s a lot of great feminist writings from Japanese women out there, especially before twitter went to hell, but basically, 1 in 3 women will be molested in Japan by age 18. A large part of that horrifying problem is the media produced for young boys reinforces women as sexual objects first and foremost from an extremely young age. Things like my hero academia sexualizing teens have HUGE effects on how men treat women there, or like you showed, putting women like bulma in sexy outfits. For many men in Japan they can only see women as potential bunnies to have sex with, that also happen to do their job for them at work. It’s frustrating how Americans and Europeans (not you, but others) have completely adapted this sexism without any commentary. A lot of prominent Japanese feminists kindly ask Americans and other English speakers to be more thoughtful with how they present Japanese media to foreigners, because context matters. This isn’t an error, just more context I feel might add to that piece. Like I said, there’s a lot of writings on the topics by women born and raised in Japan who really emotionally plea to the reader to internalize how they consume shonen and anime. Of course this isn’t the point of the video at all, sorry- I just think it’s important to bring attention to. Great video, I thought your discussion of how your critical viewpoint has changed was really thoughtful and insightful!
Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I think it's important and I think you're right. There's a lot of weird shit in Japanese media. A lot of it isn't navigated but instead internalised by English-speaking audiences, and that includes me. I'm desensitised to it by this point, and I just flatly assumed the bunny girl thing was okay because, well, it's everywhere. But I hadn't heard that statistic before. 1 in 3?? That's truly shocking.
I'll issue a correction here with proper content warning. I've raised the point, but I don't want to further normalise that attitude.
@@shoogles_ what a nuanced and empathetic response, you seem like a really cool person
@@shoogles_ I really appreciate that, man. Yeah, when I went as a kid the trains were really nerve producing, even though people were super kind. You gotta have a few people with you if you’re a young girl, even if you’re a foreigner, because men will stare at you and it’s super scary. It’s such a weird double standard because they’ll compliment you and be super kind but you can tell they want something from you. Obviously I can only speak to my limited experiences with sexism in Japan but the statistics for others are very horrifying, especially racial minorities. The prosecution system is jacked as well, so a lot of cases get thrown aside, like that guy who’s still allowed to publish manga despite being caught with so much illegal material. I do have to say the majority of people from japan are NOT like this- it just sucks that it’s an everyday accepted thing, at least it used to be in 2016. But yeah, I really do appreciate this being taken seriously because it affects everyone, not just Japanese people or those related to them. Anyways you rock, thanks. I’m sure you’ll get some gamergate dudes in here arguing that actually Anime is Good and Not Weird and the bunny girl trend in kids media is actually Very Cool but I appreciate being heard, so I hope it’s not too bad lol. :-)
Thanks for the Lopunny commentary. This kind of cultural norm throughout a lot of Japanese media is a big reason why Pokémon is the only Japanese franchise I’ve ever really jived with. Excellent video, congrats on getting a project this huge out! It’s nice to hear that other people love Sinnoh for so many of the same reasons I do. Cheers! 🎉
it’s MY sleepover. i get to decide the movie
Tell me you did not do this in real life.
This is totally something a ditzy character would put on the tv on a cartoon episode of a sleepover
Movies*
It would just be a over
@@toastytoad8154I did it, so what nerd
Just want y’all to know if he made this a show with 30 min episodes, it would be like 22 episodes long. Bro produced an entire show
Flat out 2 cour anime
@@Dragonatrix So you either watched a full 11 hour video less than 20 hours after it came out or didn't watch it and are saying it's full of filler... if the first, why didn't you stop? If the second, why lie?
An average TV episode is actually closer to 22 minutes in length because of commercials, so this would take up 30 episodes of programming
wtf how is there a discussion on a comment that is essentially “11 * 2 = 22 😱”
Jujutsu Kaisen moment
I'm surprised you didn't talk about Buneary in Eterna Forest. I've always thought that was a brilliant little detail, and an awesome introduction to friendship as a mechanic. Buneary always knows Frutration, and is the only Pokemon who can learn it naturally, a move that becomes stronger the lower your Pokemon's friendship value. Buneary then evolves when it's friendship is high enough into Lopunny, who learns Return on evolution, and is the only Pokemon to learn it naturally, a move that gets stronger the higher your Pokemon's friendship value. It's a beautiful way to let you mechanically feel the otherwise kind of arbitrary feeling friendship stat, as you see Frustration slowly grow weaker, and get rewarded with this hella powerful move at the end of it. And all that comes from the area where you're first introduced to the idea of fighting alongside a friend.
Buneary is also the only non-legendary Pokémon that has 0 friendship when caught, which makes Frustration stronger. Practically every Pokémon other than box legendaries and mythicals starts at 35 or 70 friendship. Other than Frustration, I like this for three reasons:
1. Apparently rabbits are some of the hardest pets IRL to get to be affectionate.
2. Lopunny is really strong for the point in the game you can get Buneary, so it's a good balancing move to put that little extra obstacle there.
3. I think it's really funny that of all normal Pokémon, it's only the cute smiling little bunny that hates your guts when you first catch it.
thats such a cool detail! that is a really interesting bit of game design. shame about them axeing frustration and return but at least in the originals this is really fun characterization
Unfortunately Return and Frustration don't exist in BDSP :\
I think there's something very charming and funny about this video's empathetic approach to game development. In this age of internet hot takes, it feel almost absurd to apologize for something as commonplace as calling a dev team lazy or a previous video's unnecessarily strong stance on something. And yet i think it lends a very wholesome and forgiving air to the critique that makes the actual criticism come across as all the more valid, because you know it comes from a place of love for the game and empathy for the devs and fans.
I wish I'd been able to articulate why I did it this way as well as you have, thank you so much!
The ability to look back at a previous work and make corrections and call out past mistakes or past opinions which are now outdated is genuinely rare and valuable, especially in our age of absolutes.
Appreciating the mediocrity (in its etymological sense) of something has become a very rare quality as well. It adds nuance and raises the quality of the critique as a whole.
In the same way, being able to focus about the matter which is critiqued without looking to attribute blame shows a level of respect and maturity lacking in the current media.
For all of this and more, thank you very much for this great video!
Wanted to show appreciation that this 11 Hour Behemoth is subtitled!!
Oh my God it is!! Absolutely wild
"a slag heap is what we call maggie thatcher"
"we used to race snails, which was just as exciting as you'd expect"
God im so fucking happy we've got a new video. your one liners crack me the fuck up. gonna be so good to dive into this over the next few days
There's literally a mechanic RPGs already have for making sure not every player can catch every legendary: Meaninful choices. They don't even have to be like good/bad endings. Say the volcano heatran lives in is erupting and you can either catch Heatran to calm it down, or go catch Shaymin to protect the wildlife around the volcano.
Or, the sleeping kid with the nightmares. Either you fetch Cresselia to heal him, or catch Darkrai to make them knock it off, and once you have one, the other avoids you, fearing it's counterpart..
Permanently locking you out of a pokemon in a collectible focused genre is horrible. Pokemon already has major problems with this because of the limited events, adding even more is just not it. Other RPGs can do that because they're focused on gameplay and good stories and don't focus themselves around collectable pets.
@@Cr3zant I mean... There's this ancient technology called multiple save files.
If you wanna prioritise people beign able to grab everything, then, well... Dexit needs to go first and foremost, but then you could always just let someone transfer between saves.
@@Cr3zantwell technically aside trading, it’s not really locking out of anything. That’s essentially what you do w every Pokemon game since its first released Yellow, and even that game didn’t have all mons incl but it would the REALLY superior vrsn. The best I can think of is HGSS where you can get access to both legendary, you technically can only get 1 of each starter from 1-3, and you also get access to the whole trio of birds and roaming legendaries excluding Latios-as depending on which version. Also can get all hoenn catchable legendaries so I don’t really see a big deal in this, esp if their Mythicals (w.o heatran) they can go the route of giving you 1 specifically locked mythical but then again, we come back to your statement bc they did that for ORAS w deoxys. And like commenters said above me: you can have multiple save files or trade really since access to all Deoxys forms on their own is possible :)
@@Cr3zant there's been precedent for it since the first generation. Version exclusives, starters, fossils, all to encourage trading. Having choices that make sense in the sidequests is a lot more interesting to me than version exclusives, personally.
@@000Dragon50000having a limited pool of Pokemon to catch doesn't make "gotta catch em' all" a worthless goal, that's the reason why natdex and regional dex are two entirely different things. It isn't about literally having every single living thing in existence, it's about completing the game.
And transferring between saves or other people would only bandaid the issue of a playthrough that is incomplete. It'd be more understandable if multiple playthroughs yielded a universal reward like a Pokedex viewable through the title screen. Doing another playthrough to retroactively complete a previous one doesn't sound like coherent game design imo.
Pokemon like Cinderace also feel more like characters than pokemon. They have so much inherent personality for something that is supposed to be an entire species. If one person's fire-rabbit happened to be obsessed with football, and acted very much like a stereotypical football player, that's fine. But the entire species? That is so weird to me.
I feel like this is remedied by the fact that, unless you breed or trade, there will only be the one fire rabbit that happens to like football. I can simply pretend that the other members of its species would develop different interests and personalities, since I’ll hardly get to see them anyway.
@@kamileon7065 I see where you are coming from, and whatever works for you is genuinely cool, but I just don't want to have to rely on head-canon with this type of thing, especially knowing the designers' intent
@@kamileon7065Except that isn’t true since there logically have to be other fire rabbits for yours to exist in the first place. It isn’t a legendary. It’s a starter, so there ARE more than one, otherwise Leon shouldn’t have a Charizard since you would’ve had the only fire lizard back in Kanto. They’re just rare. And the fact of the matter is, every fire rabbit turns out the same. You can pretend whatever you want, but it doesn’t change the fact that my fire rabbit and your fire rabbit will turn out exactly the same.
That’s the problem with bad headcanon. It falls apart so easily that the only way it can work is if you literally stop thinking.
Animals in real life have innate instincts that make each member of an entire species have similar personality traits.
Maybe its like that.
As a kid I loved discovering new animalistic Pokémon and was genuinely interested in all the different species, I'd read up their Pokedex entries and even these days I might look up some trivia about them and see where the inspiration for the Pokémon came from. I've pretty much always ignored humanlike Pokémon since Red/Blue, so seeing this bigger focus on those humanlike ones in the new games makes it real difficult to care.
I remember being nervous about my Feraligatr upon learning that they're known to never let go of a bite, from something who's mouth alone was bigger than my entire body. I don't get that sense of curiosity with a lot of the newer ones overall, humanlike or not.
Just want to point out how much your scriptwriting has improved since the Omega Ruby video. Feels like going from a uni thesis to a column in the paper. Real wordsmith you've become
Aw, that's really lovely to hear, thank you!
I think there's a pretty elegant solution to the HM problem - contextualize it as a learning moment for the trainer character that enables them to get their Pokémon to do things for them. Something like "You learned the Push command!". Then, when you try to push something, the game checks if any Pokémon in your team can learn Strength (without needing to learn it), and if they can, it tells you "You asked Machoke to push the rock. It did so happily!" - prior to that growth moment it could say "You asked Machoke to push the rock. It doesn't seem to understand you..." or something along those lines. If you don't have a strength mon, then the game can either not let you push (the annoyance of which is mitigated by immediate access to your box - maybe it can even tell you that there's a Pokémon in your box that COULD push and ask you if you want to swap out), check your box and have the Pokemon help out automatically ("No one in your party could... But Machoke heard you and jumped out of the box to help!"), or just default back to having a random Pokémon from the grass help you out (I like this one least), depending on how lenient you want to be. This way you get rid of the weirdness of the growth coming from an item and it still prioritizes that team effort aspect, doesn't force wasted move slots. There's even precedent for your trainer learning to be a better trainer having an impact on mechanics - the traded Pokémon level cap for obedience increasing with each badge in earlier games.
That's brilliant, I really like that.
This would actually be cool and is really similar to the system of field moves in pokemon ranger.
I feel like either the "Your Pokemon jumped out of the box ro help!" or the wild mon solutions are the best ones of these suggestions. The idea of needing the mon to be in your party to do the task being balanced by the ability to access the boxes anywhere sounds fine on paper, but in practice it ends up kind of being a tedious thing to switch a pokemon in and out of the box just to cut down a tree or push a rock and then swap them back in. Its a lot of menuing for no real additional benefit
What if using Pokémon to do them for you was necessary at first, but later you're given a tool that lets you do the actions yourself, skipping the tedium later on and turning it into a progression thing. So say early on you'll need a Pokémon to cut trees, but at some point you obtain shears so certain types of Pokémon are no longer required for that.
It would help if you have to find the items too rather than be part of the main story progression, maybe the shears can be found by exploring a city and talking to the clerk at the gardening shop, or exploring the forest and speaking to a lumberjack who lends a random 10 year old his old axe just because they asked him for it.
@@Invisibool The only problem I could see with this is the implication that a Pokemon can just leap out of the Boxes at any time. It works for the Pokeballs because they're more physical, always kept on you. But leaping out of the PC might make newer players confused about how it works.
I wish so badly that ambipom had an ability that let it hold two items. That would give it such a niche that no other Pokemon can compete with, and potentially made it actually decent in battle despite being middling otherwise. It wouldn't help the design much but it would give it a reason for being like that that makes it super unique.
oh my god thats genius. its probably be a bit overpowered off of ambipoms 100 base attack stat (life orb+choice band+stab would be ridiculous) but itd definitely be really cool. i like that idea
@@appointmenteer My brain just went to Choice Scarf + Band. They would just out-speed everything and hit like a truck without additional issues.
Make it so it holds one permanent +one consumables :) this can give it a niche like holding the water bulb, or cell battery or if not too frail, a weakness policy would be super scary
I'm not trying to be that guy, but don't "decent" and "middling" mean the same thing?
@@haruhirogrimgar6047 when Ambipom becomes mid-power-level Galarian Darmanitan
Somehow every single time there's a joke it feels like it comes completely out of the blue and cracks me up, no matter how many times I can never see it coming.
IT'S FINALLY HERE
POKÉMON BRRRILIANT DIAMOND
LET'S GOOO
IT’S HAPPENING!
33:20 he was most likely joking, but for anyone wondering, the coin toss landomg on heads that many times was a 1/64 chance lol
Crazy that getting a shiny is rarer than that
Fun fact, those are the chances of breeding a shiny from another shiny in Gen II.
Destroying the universe would be considered vandalism, because many people have property inside of the universe which you have destroyed.
It wouldn't be considered vandalism, because there wouldn't be anything left to consider it as anything after the fact. Nothing would happen. Everything would just be gone.
@@turntsnaco824 Surely you could be punished for attempted vandalism in a case like this
"Mine badge now" made me laugh far more than it should have.
Pierce Brosnan ate Mrs. Fitzsimmons' sea bass
I've long maintained that your Omega Ruby retrospective was likely the best-written Pokémon video of all time. Now, over 6 years later, we get to tackle an even more controversial entry into the series, and with even more hours of entertainment and insight. Beyond excited to dive in - props to you for creating what I'm sure will go down in community history!
(Also I find it very amusing that, commenting 7 hours after it was uploaded, I can know for a fact that not a single individual on CZcams has watched it in its entirety 😂)
um actually 🤓 people could've watched it in 2x speed in that time
but that doesn't matter anymore it's been 15 hours
@@catapultato1733 I only watch these types of videos in 2x speed. Otherwise it is like listening to molasses.
@@haruhirogrimgar6047 I use extentions to go even further beyond.
No matter who is or isn't to blame, the point still stands that bad localization is distracting and takes you out of the game. Bad games also still cost full price, and it's clear somebody on the chain messed up royally when a mechanic or part of the game doesn't hold up. Arguably, everyone in the chain messed up, but I'd place more blame on the higher ups. It's their job to catch that sort of thing, bad gameplay or bad depictions.
I think blaming NOBODY is absurd, but I respect that you argue the logical point that blaming is itself a distraction. Although, sometimes there legitimately is a person in a position that they should not be in and is bad at it/causes problems for everyone else, anyone who's worked a corporate job knows this.
I absolutely agree with your sentiment. Though from what I can tell, his point isn’t that nobody is to blame - it’s that he (or we as fans) don’t know who exactly to place the blame upon. Thus placing blame on a person or everyone isn’t fair.
I actually don’t really care to have this discussion but I’m pretty sure it’s good for his engagement.
Can I just say, thank you so much for taking the time to dedicate an entire segment of the video to the Route 216/217 music? It's my favorite song in all of Sinnoh, and my favorite route theme ever, and I thought you did it so much justice with your well thought out analysis of the composition and instrumentation! 👏
Honestly the best route theme in the franchise
after watching this once through, i think my absolute favorite moment is when you held down a gym-badge for too long and got gym-badge jumpscared. the incredulity was like watching a tiger cub play with its enrichment toy
Timestamp? 🥺
@TheBeastlySort02 8:30:30 :)
I'm so excited to watch this! My girlfriend used to live 3 and a half hours away from me and I would listen to your Omega Ruby retrospective on the drive up there and back every time I went to visit her. It's one of my favorite pieces of media ever so I can't wait to really dig in to this!
Did your girlfriend think you had a vaguely Scottish accent? That's what happens to me whenever I listen to the Omega Ruby video.
@evanever
I always pick up accents and speech quirks after listening to people speak for ages. It's a genuine problem.
@@evaneverI get the exact same issue whenever I watch these videos, and admittedly it’s kind of cringey. Does help that I’m from Scotland though
Hour 6 and I'm still going strong! Great work on this video. As someone who actually quite enjoyed Brilliant Diamond despite the general consensus, I really found this video refreshing. It's even got me wanting to replay it again now. Keep up the great work!
Thank you so much!! While I have you I just wanted to thank you guys - I binge-watched your stuff while getting back into Master Duel a couple years back! Hope you're all doing well!
It makes sense to me that Team APS would enjoy a Pokemon game derrided by "hardcore" fans.
He pulled it off with aplomb
EDIT: I DIDN'T KNOW HE MADE THIS JOKE
THE FOLLOWUP TO THE GREATEST POKEMON RESTROSPECTIVE OF ALL TIME IS FINALLY HERE!!! YESSSSSS!!!
Thank you for all your hard work Shay/Shoogles, sincerely. We all appreciate you more than you know.
Excuse me, I need to timestamp the Pokemon High Fantasy Yuri moment: 7:23:12
only an hour in and as someone who actually quite adores these games for all their flaws, i'm really appreciating the thoughtful criticisms of the game.
"kings, queens, and themperors" is such a funny and inclusive line, thank you for making me giggle through an ad break tonight
I didn't recognise the channel name but thought i'd give it a watch anyway. I click play, then go back to working on my first screen and then i hear it. The unmistakable rolled R of Shaymay, only 00:00:02 seconds into the vid. We get the follow up we've wanted for so long :)
Oh hell yeah. Love your work, dude. Congratulations on finishing such a large project.
Can't wait to listen to this during work all this week.
Cyrus being described as a funko pop version of Xavier Renegade Angel is something I didn't expect to hear.
Every character looks like a funko pop in this game. My childhood cries.
Shay, your Ruby video has been a favorite of mine for years - I still put it on in the background and spend an entire day listening to it. I can’t wait to spend a whole day listening to this one, too!
It’s wild getting to a video this long after it’s only been live for 3 hours. Cause that means NO ONE has finished it yet. And no one will for a while. But seeing all the happy messages and the excitement for the vid is super heartwarming. Looking forward to watching this!
I finished it 😎
Just poking my head into the comments to say that I really enjoyed the "Kwisatz Spinarak" joke, I feel like not a lot of people are going to get that one but I did and I chuckled
I feel the animations discussion gets misconstrued constantly.
A Game with 1000 pokemon and great animations on everything is impossible. But a game with 1000 pokemon and bad animations is certainly possible. A greatly reduced pokedex and great animations, conversely, is also possible.
The issue is that game freak gave us a reduced pokedex AND bad animations.
then perhaps they shouldn't have went into 3d... they wouldn't need a 1000 good animations since they already cut out over half of the pokedex yet pokemon pbr has far better animations with 400+ pokemon and that game came out over a decade ago.
@Blanktester685 Battle Revolution did have 3 generations of animations to build on from Stadium and Collesseum. X/Y built like 600 pokemon from scratch.
I almost got into a car accident while listening to this. Love it!
2:55:00 It's actually surprising to hear most people skip as many trainers as they can. Throughout every pokemon game, I purposefully fight every single trainer on every route to stay properly levelled the whole game. Strange to hear how many people just... Don't, lol
I used to do that, but the newer games are easy enough that I find myself skipping trainers just to prevent overleveling.
Yeah, same. I would’ve never guessed people would get their levels out of Wild Pokémon when some of the games even explain you get more exp from trainer battles.
I always thought skipping trainers was pretty bizarre. Like, the primary mechanic of the game is Pokemon battles. You probably bought the game to engage in Pokemon battles. So when the game gives you battles to do, why would you simply…not do them?
Trainers tend not to be very interesting fights, though sometimes it's fun just to take on these mindless battles with your Pokemon.
@@MisterZebra42I do make sure to fight all the trainers because completing everything gives me serotonin but I definitely don’t buy the games for battling which is why PLA is my fav. Even though I do like to complete things I never bother with the battle tower stuff because even the idea of doing so bores me to death
Your look at Omega Ruby brought me so much joy that I thought it had to be a one-off video. But this couldn’t have dropped at a better time. I have been incredibly ill-more ill than I ever have been in my adult life-and I couldn’t imagine a better video to keep my comfort while I was forced to sleep on my bathroom floor. It’s silly, and at risk of sounding like I have a parasocial relationship, but instead of feeling isolated and alone, this video made me feel like a friend was distracting me while my body tried to violently eject everything in my digestive tract (I’m okay for the record!). I don’t think anybody who hasn’t made a video essay of this length can fully grasp the amount of hard work, the sleepless nights and stress, that went into this masterpiece. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
Also, tfw when ur a fucking pupy
The way you articulate your points and thoughts, while already very good in the Omega Ruby video, have skyrocketed so much, and it's so easy on the ears, this was an absolutely great piece to listen to and you managed to articulate a lot of feelings i think many of us have had about these games but always fail to actually express. Fantastic video
I think the biggest problem with the "you can simply trade with your friends to get Pokemon that you need for your competitive team" is that the Pokemon Company literally discourages this; during the last World Championship they "improved" the system they use to identify hacked 'mons and told people that if they wanna be 100% sure that they won't get caught with hacked Pokemon, they should NOT use any Pokemon that they've received through a trade.
Also locks off parts of the available monsters from people without internet access.
I hear you, but I don't think that's a fair interpretation of the Company's message. Reminding/cautioning players of the risk in using pokemon obtained over the internet or from a stranger is not the same as discouraging social-play.
If they had banned all traded pokemon outright, or if genuine pokemon could be mistaken for hacked ones _because_ they were traded-then you'd have a point. But there's nothing to dissuade collaborating with trustworthy friends when you can all verify the pokemon are genuine.
also, mythical Pokemon are literally unable to be traded on the GTS :/
I'm pretty sure that just means "you can't guarantee any Mon you get from a trade isn't hacked," not that legit mons will get flagged by the system just because they are traded
@@ianknielAnd that’s only applied to official tournaments, too. You aren’t going to get banned for using a hacked Pokemon ingame, so there wouldn’t be any issue with using them unless you’re taking them to actual tournaments and trying to compete with them. It’s incredibly disingenuous to take a statement about tournament conduct and acting like it’s supposed to discourage people from TRADING completely.
Congrats on finally getting this out. We know it's been an overly-rough journey but you heckin' did it man. You're gonna make my entire work week more interesting by giving me this monster to listen to!
Not entirely sure I buy the semi-defence of Sword and Shield's models, there. X and Y, in 2013, had to make entirely new models and animations for *721* Pokémon and 30 Mega Evolutions, plus probably approaching 100 alternate forms. For all the flaws of those games, that's objectively an incredibly impressive feat. I can forgive the end product being a little watered down with the context of the Herculean effort that must have taken.
Comparatively, base Sword and Shield had to make models for around 80 new Pokémon and 25 Gigantamax forms, and to remaster I think around 350 old models. Not saying that's nothing- but is it really such a big task for a AAA studio working for the world's largest intellectual property? Surely, if we're getting fewer creatures than in the last 7 or so installments, then they ought to at least look good? I would call that the bare minimum. It looks doubly bad when you consider that X and Y had more content outright from a singleplayer perspective. Sword and Shield were a downgrade on almost every level except visual, which made it all the worse that they had downright embarrasing models and textures, and some utterly amateurish visual errors. It isn't just that the series is struggling to keep up with competitors- it's outright offering less, for more money, with each iteration.
I hardly think that people are unreasonable for complaining about that, or even being angry. Yes, making video games is hard, but they were AAA games being released for £50 on a home console. Not the product of a small indie studio. When a series that people like is so openly whittled down and compromised over time, entirely for the sake of profit, then yes, I think strident criticism is warranted, just as the backlash against Bethesda for Fallout 76 was warranted. The issue is, as you say, systemic, but should individual anti-consumer decisions not be challenged? If they introduce gatcha mechanics and lootboxes in the next game, will it also be futile, toxic nerd rage to complain about that as well? Is it not something of a "moral outrage"- albeit a very small one- when a corporation so openly prioritises maximising profit over artistic integrity?
I'll also opine that I think your particular reading of Masuda's comments is rather generous, and I can perfectly understand why not everybody would arrive at your same reading. Certainly, your interpretation is potentially valid- but it can be read in multiple ways. "Higher quality animations" can *either* be interpreted as animations that are at a higher quality (due to the greater resolution of the Switch), *or* animations which are actually *of* a higher quality. Personally, I find the latter interpretation potentially more convincing, if only because he mentions visual fidelity seperately in the passage. But either seems possible.
Given that we don't know the time constraints or stipulations the team was working under, yes, it is entirely possible that it was too big a task.
I will say Arceus and S/V seem to have improved in the animation department.
I just want you to know, having finally finished this video after four days of off and on watching, your voice is downright therapeutic. You have one of the smoothest, most listenable voices I've ever laid ears on. I could (and I guess have) listen to you speak for hours. I don't care of you're speaking on geopolitical conflicts or reading a damn phone book, your voice is smoother than butter.
I've just reached 3:21:51, and your explanation of the strengths of ORAS' Gym Theme makes for perfect juxtaposition to why I enjoy DPPt's theme as much as I do. To put it simply; in ORAS, the emphasis is on your struggle against the gym leader, here the focus is on the synchronicity between you and your Pokémon. The brass isn't challenging the strings in DPPt because they're working in harmony to crash into the Gym Leader with the full force of the orchestra. That's the justification for Sinnoh's heavier emphasis on the rhythm section. You, as the player, are barreling into these gyms with everything you have, and you're putting on a show doing it.
Meanwhile, the Gym Leader has been built up as an obstacle by everyone you meet in their section of the game. Whether it's 10,000 light-years Brock or Volkner's overwhelming apathy, every Gym Leader in these games has people telling you how tough they are. Wake being on screen is perfect for this. Your rival, of all people is outside of his gym bragging to you about becoming his apprentice. For the time they're on screen and you're in their building, they are the singular focus of your attention. It's up to them to weather the storm of you and your Pokémon giving your all. Fighting them with this music in the background always peaks my emotional investment, regardless of the outcome. If I win, the game was cheering me on the entire time, and riding the (emotional) high feels fantastic. If I lose, my defeat is that much more jarring. "My Pokémon and I tried our hardest out there. What happened? What did I not consider?" Giving the player more wind in their sails by almost assuring their victory with this theme elevates the tension no matter how the battle actually goes.
That, and uh, it's a banger. 🔥
Let's go with that.
That comment about Pokemon being a resource management game hit pretty true for me. I remember as a kid that I hated how gen 1 only had 20 item slots in the bag. As an adult, who now knows how to use the PC, I enjoy coming back to gen 1 for the added challenge of managing the inventory, in addition to the critters I choose and what attacks they can use.
idk, when there's so many danged key items you use once and never get rid of, it gets grating imo
Ngl, thats my unfulfilled dream. There is a whole universe of potential for a pokemon side game series that explores greater dungeon exploration and resource management. I mean even the general type difference has begun to disappear due to different game design directions. A team could go on for years iterating on the concept "pokemon feel + traditional dungeon diver mechanics"
@@assortmentofpillsbutneverb3756 pokemon mystery dungeon?
@sock7896 yeah thats definently a way to explore that route when you think about it.
I think I'd prefer an attempt at dungeon features added to the mainline though. Im thinking breaking gym linearity with mostly skippable dungeons you can delve into throughout the map kind of vibe
Accidentally putting your bike in the box and leaving it there might be the funniest thing you could do. You might find yourself in an area where you can't use it as liberally, so when you finally have to navigate to it in your bag it's just not there lmao
god this went by so quickly i'm always blown away by how good you are at these, pokémon platinum was the game that made me love games when i was very young, and it shaped so much of what my tastes are even now. sinnoh's commitment to a believable environment and its unique sort of quiet atmosphere, that contentment to just exist in a space, gently shrouded in myth and mystery was a perfect second home for me to let my young imagination run wild beyond what was probably ever intended. to see you care about these games so deeply and highlight those very specific qualities that felt like these intangible childhood feelings, and put them into words made me so so happy, like no word of a lie i got a bit choked up when you were describing route 209's theme, amazing stuff
I really appreciate your thorough analysis on Sinnoh culture's abd themes. I skipped these remakes, but Gen 4 is a favorite of mine and I enjoyed learning about inspirations and connections I wasn't aware of before.
I always got the implication from TMs that they were meant to be demonstrational videos that are shown to the Pokémon-like a fitness instructional video.
In that case, even if single use, you should be able to show it to multiple pokemon at a time.
No, TMs, combined with storing items/pokemon in a pc, and the existence of Porygon, leads me to believe it is a file that you somehow use on your pokemon.
I remember as a kid I decided to just keep running to see how far the game would let me go and I ended up beating Crasher Wake first. I always felt so cool for doing this, and it kind of upset me when Platinum removed the option to do so.
Never realized that was possible in DP lol, but it's interesting to hear about something lost in the transition to Platinum (which largely polished up many of DP's earlier issues like the slow surfing speed, the fact a lot of newly introduced Pokemon weren't even available until post-game, the low Fire-type count etc.)
@@ArbitraryOutcome Platinum really does clean up so much stuff, but there are a lot of little interesting things that kind of just got lost to the wayside. I remember wanting to use a Misdreavus in Platinum but I couldn't get on in the forest like you could in Pearl.
@@uraaliceThat's my biggest gripe with Platinum too. Mismagius is my favourite Sinnoh Pokemon but I can't even use it! Luckily I have an old copy of Pearl but, still, why lock it away like that?
@@evaneverHonestly, my biggest gripe with Platinum has always been the opening. In DP, we have the opening where we get attacked on the overworld, but in Plat we don't and instead get given the pokemon by Rowan before we jump in. Plus the video at the opening is weaker going from the Red Gyarados to some documentary.
@@NotSpecialDudeI've felt the same too! The intro with the Starly always left such a strong mental image. I wish these remakes could have just lifted some stuff from platinum (like the more complex gym designs and new looks for the routes) if nothing else
In the best way possible, this didn’t feel like 11 hours-great pacing, compelling content. I loved the “what if” characters, including the art. Thanks for all the work this must’ve took (and for adding “themperors” to my lexicon).
"The only way I could possibly enjoy Sinnoh on the same level I did back then, is if I could somehow go back in time."
Ah, so we're doing Legends Arceus next then, eh? ;)
By god, the weekly search for a new Shaymay video is done.
Can't wait to hear you talk about pokemon for the next two days.
One of the best notifications my phone ever brought. Missed your content.
As someone who really isn’t a fan of Sinnoh this gives me a much better appreciation for it, even if I might not always agree. The effort you put in really shows and pays off.
Felt obligated to share that I called my first Mudkip 'Ranger' after Glasgow Rangers cause he was blue, but y'know, just Ranger, because there was only one of him.
I was recommended the video in a random tumblr post, and its been absolutely wonderful thus far. You have a way of being able to talk about things with the nuance and depth that makes it incredibly interesting to listen to, constantly bringing up opinions and perspectives i hadnt even considered, all while keeping it entertaining with jokes and pacing never feeling too much or too little. Thanks so much for the video!
10:52:28
I pride myself on doing everything legitimately but you hit the nail on the head here when it comes to available information. Tons of people that would otherwise be interested in battling at a higher level (not necessarily competitive) would want to know about stat allocations that each wild Pokemon give you, and this would be very easy information to put in the games via the Pokedex, but it just outright isn't there. The same could be said about egg moves, movepools in general, and base stats. Not everyone have the time or resources to learn the processes/best routes/best way to keep track of EV allocation. Even in your training, you didn't realize that gift Pokemon always set 3 IVs so if you wanted to get the best stats, you could breed Pokemon you originally received from fossils and get them to spread their perfect stats with a Destiny Knot. Once again, the game never tells you that the Destiny Knot even has this functionality.
A lot of people don't like the grind but I do because it's kind of the whole point of training your Pokemon to begin with, but it is very obfuscated and I can't imagine that this is even intentional to sell guides, because as far as I know the only guide that I read that tells you anything about this system was the FireRed/LeafGreen official guide (then again I haven't owned an official guide in 15+ years since Serebii exists).
It’s insane how the Pokémon company remains so obstinately against supporting competitive training in their games by obscuring the exact mechanisms behind IV’s, EV’s, and breeding. It’s hostile to new players trying to get into more serious battling, and forces people to seek out third party services to just learn the basics.
@@johnpaulcross424 It's really got a vibe similar to Bethesda's view on glitches; "Why should we bother doing anything? Just let the players document/mod it!"
Not considering how many months it takes for calculations on a new gen to be complete and accurate. I remember Gen VIII where the officially documented method for KO-shiny hunting was incorrect, and as far as I remember, GF still has yet to fix that particular glitch.
Rest assured, I *will* find an 11 hour opening to watch this in one sitting.
I mean I feel like this goes without saying but, this shit is absolutely incredible. You are a fantastic writer who leaves absolutely no stone unturned and somehow manages to maintain interest for 11 hours straight.
madman actually hid his AU yuri fic behind the 7 hour mark
I made sure to use gender neutral pronouns (but I knew exactly how it would end up)
Saw this on my home page and I just yelled "NO WAY DUDE!" at the top of my lungs, haha.
You have picked the PERFECT time to make another one of these! I am going to devour it. Thank you for your hard work! Can't wait to see the whole thing!
Cassette Beasts is a game you might like, which does a lot better of a job weaving it's various creature collector mechanics into it's worldbuilding, and also introduces a lot of other neat ideas to the mix. (And lets you find your own path through it's main story with freedom to mostly do what you want.)
It's not perfect, but considering it's the dev team's first game in that style, it's incredibly promising for whatever they do next.
5:00:09
This blew my mind.
It's so obvious, but I never connected Regional Forms and Ultra Beasts as both being part of a bigger "invasive species" theme of the Alola games.
Throughout all of Generation 9, I've often tried to make the case that in Scarlet and Violet, the new twist of revisiting old designs in the form of Wiglett and Toedscool, seem to be there to set the stage for the more outlandish Paradox Pokémon; as both of those share the broader concept of "lookalikes", in other words, things that have strong resemblence but aren't directly related.
As probably many others, I've also immediately thought of Paradoxes as sort of a counterpart or successor to the Ultra Beast concept:
bizarre Pokémon from alternate worlds... just with the UBs focused on the extreme in space/distance, and the other pushing to the extreme temporally. As a result of these concepts, they're also opposites, by one being extremely "different" from what we're familiar with (feeling outright abstract in terms of creature designs), while the Paradoxes are all about (superficially) looking familiar, when they're not what we know.
So the funny thing about this, is that I did not realize that this parallel between Alola and Paldea is even stronger than I thought. As even in Alola, one could see the Regional Forms as a concept to be the more basic, realistic and natural introduction to the theme of "invasive species", before the game eventually pushes that idea to the extreme with Ultra Beasts being a thing and literally invading the region.
YES A fellow Lake theme enjoyer! The Lake theme from these games is probably my favorite piece of music from the entire franchise. So underrated.
Lake of Rage from G/S is my favorite
The Honeytree section of the video really made something clear that I dislike about these games, despite loving Sinnoh as a whole.
I'm always intrigued by how the devs characterize trainers by their choice of Pokemon. And having Barry of this game - the notoriously impatient, headstrong and rash rival - have two Pokemon on his team that require the use of a mechanic involving patience and waiting around for hours is the most baffling mischaracterization of a trainer in the series thus far. Especially given that both Pokemon are exceptionally rare even within the mechanic, requiring an ungodly amount of patience if you want to catch a Munchlax that Barry just does not have.
Barry is just that good
On the contrary, I'd say the way the mechanic works would make it perfect for someone like Barry, especially given the time frame in which he gets those two Pokémon - as the last members of his team. Slathering honey on a tree is so low-commitment it's easy to imagine him doing so quickly before rushing off to the next thing, and by the time he's backtracked to the tree again because of the layout of the region, bam! Something's waiting for him, and a couple of times he was lucky enough to find Heracross and Munchlax.
Pierce Brosnyn ate mrs. Fitzsimmons sea bass!
So I've just gotten to the part about 5h 40m in where you take an aside to talk about the complex mechanics of critiquing a profit-driven company, and I have to say I agree with what you're saying but not the conclusions drawn.
It's true that Pokemon exists in a larger capitalistic framework and that TPCI's decisions make sense in terms of raw profit motive. And I agree that you cant really criticize the game devs for decisions made above them. But that doesn't mean the profit-driven nature of the decisions somehow makes them above reproach just because it "makes sense". The single year release cycle is reckless, it is evidently the cause in the decline in quality, it is the fault of the people at the top of the corporate structure, and we should criticize them for it. Just because a shareholder would be mad about a decision doesn't mean it's the wrong one; angering your player base is not necessarily better than angering the stockholders. And that brings up the fact that the yearly release schedule is *not* necessarily the best decision for profits. It might be good in the short term, but the Pokemon brand is becoming synonymous with cheap, and that's bad for player retention/long term profitability.
Ultimately, I guess I just dont get the point of the aside. If you can't criticize things when they would negatively affect the bottom line, why bother making this video? If we only value critique based on practicality/likelihood it'll be implemented, I cant imagine how participating in this discussion is worth while at all... Because TPCI ain't listening to any of us.
5:20:36 "And there is just no way that Nintendo would accept the series not taking advantage of their new console's unique selling point."
But that's exactly what they did.
Most of the time the games aren't even in 3D, and in battles for XY/ORAS there's not too much of a sensation of depth, except for a few water attacks, which look nice! =D
In order to find what's done wrong, you have to find what's done right. Quality isn't zero sum, but many design decisions are made at the deliberate expense of certain mechanics due to an attribution of focus. Understanding this helps us not only attribute faults and why they exist, it helps us understand how we can perfect those flaws as best we can under the intent presented. If we aren't doing that, we might as well be making a different game. Glad you understood something many nowadays unfortunately refuse to, even your past self.
It’s amazing what can be accomplished when you give yourself the room to address topics concisely in its own time. Algorithm aside, having these exhaustive looks allows for you to cover these topics with as much detail and attention as they deserve without being pressured to cut your thoughts short and I love it. I hope you’re able to continue to do these so long as you’re not exhausted yourself!
I grew up with Diamond and as much as I had my issues with this remake, seeing this video helped me remember what captivated me back in 2007 and why these games still hold a special place for me. I’m still barely through this video but would love to hear your thoughts on Legends Arceus sometime too in relation to Sinnoh’s themes/concepts as a whole
I really really like the Omega Ruby video's understated ending. While the notion that the video is pointless because it probably won't affect the series is very disagreeable, I figure that's just for comedic effect and all. Otherwise, I love the delivery of it, particularly "yeah... somethin' to do, I suppose." It just feels like a very appropriately quiet way to end it, so to speak.
By contrast the beginning of this video - the lil preamble and credits followed by the in-game intro - is delightfully indulgent and equally enjoyable for it. The music there is perfect, and though the vast majority of the rest of the video lacks its excitement, it doesn't feel remotely out of place or unnecessary. (It was also made better for me by the fact that I finished a semi-big project of my own less than an hour before this video's release and was ready to wind down somehow, and that I was already anticipating the video.) I specifically really liked "Unsound Specky Shay Pals." Uncertain if that's appeared before, very good nonetheless.
The montages here are executed well too! I often find them tedious and disruptive to pacing in other videos. Here they were very much welcome though! I uh... can't reasonably talk about them in specific given the length of this video >w> but the ones I remember worked nicely. The Vaporeon and Aplomb ones were especially great! (Probably due to recency bias!) Nice subversion of expectations there _twice over_ amidst all the (fully justified) defeatist discussion of the Battle Park. Bringing in Aplomb also just felt really neat! The montages convey an endearing excitement and care for their respective moments... There are a few that start up completely unprompted while you're letting the game's music play, and I love that palpable energy where you're so into the track you're showing off that you almost can't help yourself but to do something with it in editing!
The real reason _An Exhaustive Look at Pokémon Omega Ruby_ was a waste of time was because it didn't have a sapphic kiss, so I'm glad that's been addressed here. This one is objectively Worth Watching
...acttyly a couple more things
I'm not tremendously shy about putting videos on in the background and just _listening_ to them, but here I watched the whole thing. I don't know if that actually says anything about the video or if it's just a circumstantial thing, but perhaps noteworthy nonetheless.
I also feel compelled to echo sentiment about the development in your critical approach. I take issue with _a lot_ of ways that CZcamsrs and audiences treat numerous subjects, and it's great to hear someone actively advocate for better perspectives. It's a lovely sort of conviction to see, and while it'll never stop all bad faith engagement with criticism, at least you really tried. Feels like so many don't.
This game was such a deep disappointment to me I gave it a shot despite its graphics and art style, but it felt so slow. The final straw was when I was recreating my team from Platinum, and when I evolved my Scyther it didn't learn bullet punch. The devs forgot to give it to them. They patched it later but that one moment ruined so much more me.
Shay I just want to say that the love and effort you put into this project cannot be understated! This is such a lovingly-crafted video and I hope that you are as proud of yourself as we are of you! Much love and respect for finishing such a huge passion project! Congrats man!
Thanks so much Zen!!
Sorry, I respect your opinions, but I think the Dexit explanation doesn't really hold water. While it is true that the models had to be ported to an HD system, the models were already available in HD. That's why pokemon like moltres always caused the 3ds to lag. It was a much high quality model that was downscaled for the 3ds.
Since launch people have compared the models of Sword and Shield to those of XY, and they are wired the exact same. They are the exact same models, ported over. Hell, a fan was able to port Omastar over to Sword and Shield with the exact same animations it had on the 3ds. compared to creating the models, porting the models over was really not that big a project. They didn't need to fully re-animate every model that was available in HD, they already had a future-proofed base of models. That is what frustrated people. If, say, the models had all been adapted to a new style, I don't think people would have complained as much.
The quote you used from USGamer is also incomplete. In the next sentence, that isn't highlighted, they continue to explain that the biggest reason for slimming the dex was balance, which is a just not true. At the first opportunity, they chose to reintroduce almost every legendary the series has had. So balance from a competitive sense was completely off the table. If they meant balance from a "catch-'em'-all" perspective, other games in the series handled that way more elegantly by using the regional dex to highlight the pokemon in the region. Only after the game was finished, did they allow you to bring over your old favorites that were not present. That was not a system that needed revision.
I don't want to come across as a butthurt pokemon fan, but in the end, their explanations are just not solid enough for me to let it go. Combine that with the fact that Japanese fans were never even informed dexit was happening, and it is easy to become cynical. The only way you can see all your pokemon from the past, is by paying for a subscription service that keeps them in a cloud where they can't be interacted with in any meaningful way. It is, for all intents and purposes, a hostage situation.
I just need you to know that the whole time you were discussing the two hypothetical party member characters representing the theme of tradition vs progress I kept saying "and then they kiss, right?" The SCREAM I let out when you went ahead and made the same joke 😅
Your Omega Ruby video is one of those things that I find myself going back to every other year or so. It's so comfy and I have so many fond and painful memories of where I was or what was going on in my life when I would watch it. It's nice to have another one to binge over a few days once a year for the next ten years
I wasn’t sure if I’d ever have a viewing experience like the Omega Ruby review again. This is truly a gift.
thank you so much for including such well crafted subtitles. i appreciated your omega ruby video years ago and im sure ill enjoy this!
Damn. Truly one of the best CZcams videos of all time.
What is really interesting is that here you didn't just talk about bdsp. In this video, you took every opportunity to look at pokemon as an entire series, touching everything from basic mechanics to level design to EVs and IVs.
I truly appreciate the gigantic work
Absolutely incredible. This and your ORAS video are truly some of the best Pokemon-related content on the platform, and possibly *the* best in terms of overall depth, objectivity of critical analysis, and (importantly) long-term value for the franchise as a whole, its fans, and game developers at large new and old. Not only that, but in a world where video game preservation is constantly threatened, having videos like these out there serve to better encapsulate what these game were and how they fit into the overall narrative/dev-story of the series. I know it may be too much to ask of one person, but hope you have it in you to continue this series with other Pokemon games on the Switch. At the very least it would be incredible to see both PLA and eventually a SV video, not just for what they are, but for how they fit into the overall franchise and how they square with your observations in ORAS and BDSP. That, and I'll be honest, I just really like hearing your voice. Amazing work, as per usual, please keep at it. You're an amazing human being.
"-- I know it's a bird --", as always, top tier, no other dry analysis gets these reactions out of me 😂 Not even 10 minutes and you've got my attention for 11 hours
I’m working from home and my deadline got me sat down for the majority of the day this month. I just finished the entire video; leaving it as a podcast while I worked/cooked/did house chores helped me keep my mind away from the stress during the last 2 days. I enjoy your voice and the calm tone you used throughout the entire video. I’m absolutely awed by this project - congratulations on it and best of lucks for your future endeavours!!
Even if you don't do another "Exhaustive look" I'm really happy with the final result, I know these kind of videos are really hard to make and take a lot of time hence why I really appreciate that you took the time and effort to make it, listening to your thoughts while I played pokémon myself was an oddly satisfactory experience and it was fun to see where we did and did not agreed, you raised a lot of very good points that got me thinking for some time and the way you phrased everything made the experience very easy to listen and process tbh i got surprised one day when i realized I listened to it for four hours straight without knowing, I can already see myself revisiting this video lated on multiple times just like i have done with the Omega Ruby one
You are seriously amazing and I wish nothing but success and happiness in the future 💖💖
“Pierce Brosnan ate Mrs Fitzsimmons’ sea bass”
Very excited for this one! Great work on completing such a huge undertaking Shay!
I really appreciate your decision to focus on the shortcomings of the game on its own terms, rather than attempting to attribute blame (outlined from around 12:00 - 16:00). Pointing fingers is generally unhelpful at best and oftentimes downright harmful. This willingness to reflect on your past work and change, I think, is a great demonstration of your growth as a critic
I think breeding is important because of, rather than despite, its repetativeness.
Pokemon is a very repetative game, and people are going to find ways to knock their head against a wall regardless of whether those things are in-built. For example, I spent a couple months soft resetting for a shiny torchic. This was fun, but it felt a bit depthless. While I enjoy having something to busy my hands with while I watch CZcams or TV, and shiny hunting is a great way to do this, as I can use the fruits of my labor to play the game actively when I'm done watching TV, soft resetting has got to be the least interesting way to shiny hunt--and yet, without breeding, in many cases it is the most efficient--or only--way to get a shiny.
When I eventually got into breeding, I found it had quite a bit more depth. Instead of mindlessly tapping the same couple buttons over and over, there were three seperate stages of tasks. First you collect eggs, enough to make a trip to the hatching grounds worth it, but not so many that you end up with a lot of eggs left over, then you hatch the eggs (usually I just jam a penny under the 3ds circle pad and check back every couple minutes--in this way, it's a bit like an idle game), then you release, or better, wonder trade away all the rejects. If you wonder trade them, now you have a stage of sorting to go through before you release, where you must decide whether you want to keep or release the ones with silly names or the hackmons or the foreign ones or the scatterbugs.
Since you can only hold six pokemon in your party, and eggs take up a slot, every five eggs you must return to the pokecenter to deposit or pick up more eggs, adding another small layer of complexity. The 3ds games (i dont own a switch) have rotom or O powers which you can use to make hatching go faster and is another resource to keep track of.
This is far more interesting and engaging than pressing a few buttons in the same order for tens of hours, while not being so demanding that you can't do anything else. It is, essentially, a fun little minigame that you can do on your lunch break or while watching TV, or making dinner or whatever. Hatching itself is so hands off I can sit at my desk and draw, just reaching over occasionally to press the A button a couple times. And I haven't even mentioned any of the prep work: egg moves and flame body and the masuda method and various other genetics and ditto and so on
Even if you could find a way to make features like the ability to get nearly any pokemon at its lowest possible level possible without breeding, the feature itself is so interesting and robust that removing it would be a real shame.
I'm aware that the way I like to enjoy pokemon, and honestly, games in general, is quite a bit different to most (the battling and story in pokemon are an annoying chore I have to endure before I can get to the fun gameplay of putting together and managing a living dex, and if I don't have several wiki pages open and a notebook filled with things to do and numbers and min-maxing tactics, I'm not having nearly as much fun as I could be having), but there's enough people who think similarly to me to make the mechanic worth having.
The best part of breeding is that it isn't required. While I can't speak for competative players, who unfortuantly have to endure this system, for the most part, breeding most benefits the players who are most likely to enjoy it: completionists and shiny-hunters. Casuals and speedrunners and challenge runners can--and often do--just ignore it.
I appreciate you explaining this, thank you!
It's interesting how a lot of the issues you pointed out with these games (the story's intent, hidden mechanics/stats, evolution methods) all seem to stem from a lack of effective communication. It makes sense: how can you possibly manage your resources effectively when you don't even know what your options are? Anyways, don't really have much else to add that hasn't already been said, thanks for making another another fantastic video!
I’m not usually one to comment but I gotta say this is an excellent piece on the appeal of Pokemon and a wonderful deep dive into what I consider my home Pokemon region. It’s inspired me to finally beat Pokemon Red and note down my thoughts on it as a writing exercise. Absolutely incredible stuff🔥
havent finished yet but i love how much detail and love you pour into the music analysis! ive played bdsp but i never realized just how good the music was. the route 216 theme is very quickly one of my new favorite pokemon themes ever
MY OPINION AS A CYRUS-LIKER
His Crobat is one way the game shows that he is a lying hypocrite. Cyrus has a close relationship with his Pokemon because he DOES have emotions despite his best attempts to repress them (the reason for this repression being a little bit predicated on whether you believe in the "troubled childhood" backstory, which I do, but it doesn't matter). He doesn't see emotions as a flaw because he thinks he's above everyone for not having emotions, Cyrus is actually VERY emotional (evidenced by his anger at failing, especially in Platinum) and he wants to get rid of emotions because he doesn't know how to cope with them. Cyrus preferring machines isn't an example of being emotionless, it just means that he's antisocial. You might think that this quality undermines the supposed charismatic personality that's amassed a whole team of people, but as ShayMay said, he's convinced the kinds of people who desperately need goals and a sense of belonging. Cyrus believes so strongly in his ideals that it shows when he speaks about them, even if he's a little awkward- and this passion is another example of how he's not really emotionless.
Loved your OR video, and I loved watching this over the last couple days. It went through the rollercoaster of emotions I've been experiencing with the series since gen 7 while still giving me some food for thought. Excellent work. Can't wait to see you a few years from now with the 15hr video: "An Exhaustive Analysis of Truth Black"
A reason why I never finished my copy of Diamond, or even got that far into it, was also due to the pokemon selection:
in Gen 1, it's a whole new game, so that's setting your standards.
Gen 2 is a sequel but it's really more just building off of Gen 1 and improving on it. Again, there's still no major expectations being set, but I think while it doesnt introduce as many new pokemon as I'd like, it still feels sufficient in mixing up new and old pokes. Just having a new pokemon in general following the hype of the first is enough to carry interest.
But in Gen 3, it's not only a step up graphically but it has a lot of new unique pokemon, I know it's not fully exclusively new but it definitely felt like I was in a unique region at that point, even if some patterns are starting to emerge here (the rattata archtype, the bird archtype, the bug pair archtype), it still feels fresh cause you don't see old faces as much until lategame. This was for Hoenn of course, which was followed by the gen 1 remakes where you get all those old pokemon again.
Gen 4 however, it's too much of a mix of old things with new that I can't help but feel like a retread. I see abra and go "oh, this song and dance again? Do I really want to have abra as my psychic rep AGAIN?" I already had 2/3 adventures with Kanto guys at this point. I know that you can just not catch/use pokemon but it's really more about having to weigh the same old options again. Taking the remake into account this was my 5th pokemon adventure and I felt like I was going through the motions, so I lost interest.
Gen 5 felt like a great breath of fresh air by comparison. That's leaving out a ton of other things it improved on that helped with pacing and presentation, but a big factor was having all new pokemon cast, which really gave it it's own identity, and helped make that point where we saw the old pokes return feel interesting by then cause it occurred late/postgame.
Also... this annoys me a lot but when I bring it up people always chirp about "oh there's your problem your should have played platinum, it fixes gen 4". The last time I got a third version type was Pokemon Yellow, and I didn't really try it much cause... guess what, I'm not that hyped for playing the same exact game with a few minor tweaks. If I wasn't that into Gen 4's first game, WHY would I WANT to pick up a version with slight tweaks, which I would have no way of knowing if it addressed the problems I had or not? It's a moot point cause they already made a bad first impression for me.
if your aware that plat is better then just buy that and not the dp... if you aren't aware then one google search would tell you.
I maintain that "third version" was way less of a thing than people who complained about it at the time thought it was.
* Yellow wasn't a "definitive Gen 1 experience", it was just another Gen 1 game which added some elements familiar to the crowd of people who got interested in Pokemon from the cartoon (e.g. Team Rocket was retooled to more closely resemble Jessie and James with their signature Koffing/Weezing, Ekans/Arbok and Meowth).
* Crystal wasn't a "definitive Gen 2 experience", it was Nintendo using Pokemania to sell hardware like they did throughout Gen 1-3 since it used the mobile adapter in Japan. The intent was lost in translation since we didn't have Japanese mobile phones so we just got a normal game that happened to feature Eusine for no good reason.
That just leaves Emerald and Platinum to be "third versions" providing the definitive experience for their respective generations. Then Gen 5 gave us sequels instead and the "cycle" was broken before it had even formed, much like people who expected Mega Evolutions to keep coming back because they were in Gen 7.
"piplup's a fish" 8 mins in and this is already gold
i cannot express how insanely happy and hyped i am for this
I just finished watching through this, all the way, just wanted to say thank you so much for putting this out there it was such a delight. It’s a shame to hear you won’t be making any more of these but totally understandable. Regardless, you’ve earned my subscription and respect.
Finally finished this Goliath of a video! Thank you Shoogles. I had a great time watching it, and will likely watch it over and over again in the months to come. This is a very well put together piece of art, and I cannot overstate my appreciation for your having put it together. Thank you : )
I've rewatched your OR video more times than I can count, the excitement I feel is palpable and I know this is gonna be in common rotation. Thanks for everything Shay 💕💕💕
I'll never like dexit, I'll never be convinced that they couldn't make it work, but honestly I think if they're cutting pokemon anyway, they should take the full step and cut every mon that's not part of that game's regional dex. Keep stuff like pikachu and charizard if you must, but otherwise make the dex newcomers only
And also not pretend that you can do anything with old Pokemon if you can't bring them to new games. Unless they have something like a natdex battle sim, home is just a waste imo.
I think it could be a fun one-off, but old favourites are an important part of Pokemon to me.
For what it's worth, they probably *could've* made it work for a while longer, but it was never going to work in perpetuity, not in a practical way anyway.
I think they really fumbled the bag on how they handled it, they should've just been more direct about the scale issue from the beginning. That being said it was a given they had to do it *eventually* , I can't hold that against them.
I agree though, if every Pokémon being available for use isn't a guarantee, there's not really a point in not having them all available to catch in game.
The surprise at 11:00:21 made me jump for joy.
This video was a blast to watch over a few days and you have my undying respect for getting it across the finish line. Awesome work.
Wow, never knew there was a real-world equivalent for Magcargo AND it was discovered after the pokemon was made. That's incredible.
Yup! This is why I'm a zoologist 💜 Animals are amazing.