Pokémon Diamond/Pearl video... and it ain't looking so good.

[LaorBR]

Girl character walking around (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sfzzxsp0GuY)
A Battle scene (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuBA-twK4KM&mode=related&search=)
Another Battle scene (you can see a pokémon faint, bad quality) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wKIBk8cgfE&mode=related&search=)
This is probably ancient news, but hey, I'm not trying to take Andre's place or anything.
I just want to start a thread with an unnecessarily big post and lots of hatred and complaining.
So shall I get started?

First off, the biggest dissapointment: the graphics. They are strikingly outdated.

Ruby and Saphire already looked outdated on GBA, but this time instead of improving they kept it the same. The buildings/trees/hills are 3D boxes wrapped up in low-res textures standing over a flat patch of ground.
It looks like some sort of neat layering effect that a Megadrive or SNES could pull off. The difference is that it doesn't look neat on a DS.

Then, the blocky character sprites. Let's just say you could replace your main character with the old 8x8 bi-colored sprites from Gold/Silver without any graphical clash at all.
Really, I mean it.

Now I'd like to make a quick comment about the Pokémon designs. They simply ran out of ideas. The monsters somehow all look familiar, and the two birds/dragons displayed on the title doesn't look like anything new or interesting. Check out this slideshow (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5L8UPEdsqI&NR) for some new pokémon, and you'll see that you could find at least two in the old 300 that are similar to very one them.

Now, the battles. I can't tell much about the strategy, but from what I saw on the videos, it's still
slow like hell. It certanly wasn't annoying back at the old times, but now it is. Also, no cool animations, just static pictures jumping around. Not even an animation when a monster goes down.

The attacks still display the same rpgmaker-ish explosions from Ruby/Shaphire. Definately not pretty. Also, now you can have 6 moves instead of only 4. Isn't that great?

Now here comes the revolutionary ground breaking features: We have a brand new Day-Night system we already had in Gold/Silver, a new Pokédex with useless gadgets such as comparing the weight and size of different pokémon and playing back their robotic voices, and, it even comes with an awesome built-in calculator.
Man, not even in my wildest dreams I'd think a gameboy was capable of doing math. Isn't it just awesome? Really useful ingame too.[/sarcasm]

Seriously now, the only improvements I could think of was the music, and most of them were remixed stuff anyway, and the WiFi support. Actually, the only thing that showed potential so far was the WiFi.
[/rant]

Ok, enough hate. I know I sounded like an a$$, but I expected much more from Gamefreak. You can tell from their great job on DrillDozer (a platformer for GBA) that they have plenty of fresh ideas and they are utterly sick of Pokémon.
But someone is forcing them to go on with this series, and ironicaly, the games seems to be taking the same path of the Animé: exhausting repetition.

Do you guys agree? I'm interested in some opinions, and as much as I hate these games for now, I swear I won't flame anyone.

[Mr.Patch]

i cant believe pokemon is still popular , its nearly a decade old but yet there popping out with a new game each year , and inventing a new pokemon every few seconds that just dont make any sence.
pokemon games didnt change much....its still the same you cacht , fight repeated battles over and over , while solving some problemes.
if they could only redo the whole combat system , there no real strategy if you know the weakness you have mastered the game.
and how many pokemon is there now? 400? 675? 942?
i find that pokemon has become bland and boring....they just keep inventing new odd things....i just cant stand pokemon games anymore....
(im not insulting the pokemon fans im just saying stop wasting your money on POKEMON!)
a friend once told me as quoted "Pokemon a parents nightmare."

[Grey Jinjo]

I won't be satisfied until they make a super pokemon game with all the worlds. I think it would be cool to start off in the world from Red/Blue, with only the first 151 pokemon, then move on to the Gold/Silve world with 152-251, then by plane to the Ruby/Sapphire world with the ones after that, etc.

I'm more interested in that one where you play AS the pokemon.

[LaorBR]

I'm more interested in that one where you play AS the pokemon.
Oh, I played the japanese GBA version a bit, and it felt a lot like a Chocobo's Dungeon rip-off to me. It's not exactly a bad thing though, CD is really fun, especially if played with a friend.
But don't trust what the magazines say, the combat system is completely turn based, there's absolutely no realtime action.
Even walking a square takes a "turn". Unless they change that on the DS version, that is.

[Gruntling]

From my standpoint I think the next rendition of Pokemon looks right on par. Visually speaking it's not, "Oh wow! Spectacular!", but I can see the improvements. I actually enjoy the slight birds-eye angle, and I can appreciate the similar stylization of its predecessors. I think what the developers here were getting at, was a tried-and-true formula for success. The Pokemon games have never really been about graphics anyway... I think the attraction from Pokemon comes from collecting and numbers (in more ways than one). If the game were completely in 3D or focused to much on dazzling effects, then I fear it would turn into another Pokemon XD or Pokemon Colloseum -- slow, short, and boring.

[Dricenticore]

MR Patch, Pokémon ISN'T still popular, some people just like thinking for themselves.

I tihnk gruntling said anything I had to say. Not anohter colloseum PLEASE!

EDIT: From the looks of things, Mr patch IS thinking for himself. He's the only one in this thread who dislikes pokemon games for BEING pokemon games other than the writer, who explained why he made this thread.

And just for the hell of it, I would like to say that if you hate the games so much why are you looking up videos and pictures on google and youtube and then complaining about it and telling everyone?

[LaorBR]

Yeah, nice points, but at least the battle effects should've been improved.
I mean, it's a freaking DS cart, for crying out loud! They could've used a bit more of animation, or at the very least, a background.

Whatever was the reason they kept the graphics exactly like they were on Ruby/Saphire, I'm sure it wasn't because of space limitations.

And yep, I felt very dissapointed with Pokémon XD aswell.

[Mr.Patch]

Hehe you might be right there Dricenticore , i enjoyed them.... but they dont improve on anything much...and i hate the fact that they make 2 version blue/red , silver/gold they should just make one game with all the pokemon so you can catch em all....

EDIT: wait nvm about only one version then trading wouldnt mean anything , if you could catch em all in one game.

[Grey Jinjo]

http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.html?poll=2442 The hell it isn't.

[Dricenticore]

Wow that was a close one there. Interesting.

Oh and one of the most popular items and 4 of the characters in SSBM are pokémon based. (Plus 2 levels)

EDIT: Mr patch they did make a game like that and it was a huge flop (Pokémon green).

Especially the sprites. I mean just LOOK at these http://www.pokemonelite2000.com/picsgreen.html . Point of intrest : Charizard.

[Hakey Wake]

Pokemon Green was a flop? How?

It was the equivalent of Pokemon Blue in Japan which I can only guess sold equally as much as the Red version.

[s.w.a.t]

IT looks axactly the same as Ruby/Saphire.

And I don't understand how hard it is to make animations and non-static images.Take an extra year.

[Dricenticore]

That's right, hakey, I get them confused.

And swat there are a LOT of things you don't realise there are. Lot's of coding and variables(Like EVs). Not just commands and pictures. They probably ran out of room.

[s.w.a.t]

So you're saying that Golden Sun, which is bigger, has a more complex system, and great animations is the same size as something that doesn't move? And what about SM64DS? That HAS GOT ot have more data then Pokemon R/S/E.

[Hakey Wake]

That's right, hakey, I get them confused.

Indeed, but what did you confuse it with? (Even though there a bazillion 'mon titles around now)

[LaorBR]

on Red and Pokémon Green were the first Pokémon games released for the Game Boy in Japan. Both are independent games and feature the same story, the only difference is in which wild Pokémon species are present in the game. While both games can be played independently, gamers must trade between the versions if they wish to collect all of the Pokémon.

In Japan, Pokémon was first released in Red and Green version while Red and Blue was released in the U.S. In Japan, Pokémon Blue was released after the original Red and Green. It contained Pokémon that could be found in places not originally in the Red and Green versions. An example is that Ditto is added to the Rock Tunnel and Lickitung could be caught in the wild. Also, Cerulean Cave was totally remade, which is used by the English Red and Blue versions.

Although it seems like Pokémon Green was never released outside of Japan, the English version of Pokémon Blue is based on the Japanese Pokémon Blue's engine and graphics, with the Japanese Pokémon Green's wild and trade Pokémon. Similarly for the English version of Pokémon Red, it too was based on the Japanese Pokémon Blue's engine and graphics, with the Japanese Pokémon Red's wild and trade Pokémon.

Ok, so let me see: the green version was renamed by Nintendo as Blue in the rest of the world, and the actual Blue version was never released outside of Japan. The japanese (and actual) Blue version had more rare pokémon than the other versions, but still didn't have all 150. And it wasn't a flop.

So I guess this will clarify things up.
Here's a non-wikipedia article for those who don't trust wikipedia (http://serebii.net/green/)

Also, I second what Swat said.
Fully 3D games such as Mario64 or Metroid Prime Hunters have much more lines of code than any 2.5D RPG such as PKMN Diamond/Pearl. Yet, the textures and graphics used in Metroid are very detailed.
Golden Sun was a game for an outdated system and it still had much more complex coding and graphics.

[qwertybub3]

Oh, I played the japanese GBA version a bit, and it felt a lot like a Chocobo's Dungeon rip-off to me. It's not exactly a bad thing though, CD is really fun, especially if played with a friend.

Azure Dreams, Chocobo's Dungeon, and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon are all "Mystery Dungeon" type games, so they will rip off of eachother. However you're right that "It's not exactly a bad thing".

But don't trust what the magazines say, the combat system is completely turn based, there's absolutely no realtime action.
Even walking a square takes a "turn". Unless they change that on the DS version, that is.

Nintendo Power seems to know that it's completely turn based.

[LaorBR]

I don't read Nintendo Power, but I've seen people previewing the game as an action/rpg, secret of mana style. And that's very inaccurate.

And your "mystery dungeon" excuse isn't valid. ;)
Seriously, I played both games and they have a lot in common to be mere coincidence. Not just the gameplay but also the same style.

[dmoss]

Well, after watching the videos, I can safely say that the games look generally like Ruby and Sapphire did. However, when you see the character move around town, it appears that the movement is a lot smoother than we have seen in the past. I can forget all of the crappy, just as long as we have a new game with new Pokemon. o-O

http://www.diamondtalk.com/forums/images/smilies

[Dylan Yoshi]

I'm actually looking forward to this, simply because of online play. See, the other Pokemon games were kinda pointless because in order to catch ALL the Pokemon, you had to trade. To trade, you needed the link cable AND a friend who caught all the Pokemon in his/her version of the game, including the one-of-a-kind starter Pokemon (besides Gold and Silver where you could trade the eggs) AND the one-of-a-kind legendaries. Online play fixes this.

[Soulreaper41392]

Pokemon has gotten old and pointless to me. All you do is play as a kid who wants to be the best at something, everytime, fight a generic and utterly under-used enemy (Team Aqua/Magma comes to mind), and a "friendly rival". The thing is, you never really knew much about the enemy, other than that they were evil and must surely be stopped.

And as for the kid who wants to be the best, well you know what? I want to be the best at playing the guitar, but I'm not going to make YOU sit through every single training session now am I? Give the kid more of a point than that to make me play, maybe his parents were kidnapped by someone and he finds a secret about his family and his past, hell, it's cliched, but at least it's an little compelling.

As for the pokemon themselves, I love the original and the second gen pokemon to death, but now they're acting like "FTW, we're going to make new pokemon now!", which is perfectly fine, if only the developers didn't have memory loss. They make pokemon we "have never seen before and are shocking!", and they turn out to be almost exactly like the old pokemon. Take Plusule and Minun for example. Who do they remind you of? Certainly not Pickachu or Pichu, oh no, they most certainly do NOT remind you of those two memorable pokemon. And when they try to make a new pokemon, it turns out dumb and uninspired. Nosepass for example. What the hell? A giant rock with a giant nose? Exactly.

So, one, I don't feel compelled to play because of the pointlessness. It used to be entertaining and fresh, but now it's old and boring. Two, I don't feel like colleting 200 + faceless monsters with no real personality. Three, the battle system is crap. This list goes on, including broken innovations, annoying things throughout the game and many more. For my entire rant, buy the premium version for $19.99 ;)

[dmoss]

Here is a list of the new Pokemon that we know about so far, with the first three on the list being the Starters: serebii.net (http://www.serebii.net/diamondpearl/pokemon.shtml)

This is definitely going to be a strange generation of Pokemon...although, I tend to like Pokemon like Pocchama and Perappu. They're pretty cool...guess I like Bird Pokemon...I didn't know that! :p

[P_L]

Here's my detailed opinion of the Pokemon series [RANT AHEAD]:
The last Pokemon games I thought were any good were Gold/Silver/Crystal. At least at that point it didn't seem bad that they were just re-releasing the last games with a bunch of changes because G/S/C were only the second round of games. But the minute R/S were released, Nintendo's "tried and true" method got really old, REALLY fast. To put it in an analogy: They've milked the cash cow that is the Pokemon games to the point that it went entirely dry, and then it started giving blood, and they milked all that out too ... now they've just got this unoriginal zombie of a series.
As for the new one ... looks just like the last one. And the one before it, and the one before it ... but with less originality. The only difference is the slight graphical upgrade on the overworld areas. I agree, they should at least try to add some backgrounds and better polygons. The main character looks exactly like the one in R/S ...
And the music. W. T. F. That's enough to turn me off entirely from this game, even though the lack of originality and uninspired character designs already did a very good job of that. :no: Just wait until they translate it to English and every creature's name is an English word with "on" at the end, just like half of the creatures in the last game ...

[END RANT]

And why is one of the starters a deformed monkey that appears to be farting fire?

EDIT: Seems they've already translated a few names to English. Well, just wait for the others ...

[LaorBR]

LOL for that farting monkey. His head looks like dog poo.

Hey, does anybody know if this neat RomHack (http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/134/) was made by the same KoolBoyMan who registered in this forum?
If it is, I'd like to say it's brilliant. Specially the way he distributed the Pokémons throughout Kanto. In the original games, the rare ones are way too rare and the lame ones like Pidgeys and Ratatas could be find anywhere.
The author of this hack fixed it and made searching at the grassy areas much more rewarding, now there are different Pokémons for every specific area.
And there are new places to explore and a new storyline (though the main object is still the same, you need to become a MASTER lololololol...) The game seems harder too.
Very cool stuff, thumbs up.

[s.w.a.t]

Here is a list of the new Pokemon that we know about so far, with the first three on the list being the Starters: serebii.net (http://www.serebii.net/diamondpearl/pokemon.shtml)

This is definitely going to be a strange generation of Pokemon...although, I tend to like Pokemon like Pocchama and Perappu. They're pretty cool...guess I like Bird Pokemon...I didn't know that! :p
I am LIKING the Penguin. For obvious reasons.

But the new generations of Pokemon don't have the same appeal as the old ones. I mean, the old ones were realistic, they could be animals, they were tougher. These new ones are all streamlined and ultra-futurisctic and stuff....I really don't like the art style.

[Grey Jinjo]

THANK GOD. The starters are normal. About a year ago, they said that they were going in a new direction and were going to make the starters Dark/Fighting/Psychic, and obviously balance out all the types to suit these three. That would have been terrifying :(.

[dmoss]

They made some big updates this morning...it looks like they have some new screenshots, and a few more Pokemon (silhouettes). I wish this game didn't take so long to come out! They put more drama into the creation/slash release of this thing than God did when he Created the Earth! :p

serebii.net (www.serebii.net)

Looks like the site is really slow this morning; maybe they're updating some stuff...

[Tanjo]

Bah i stopped playing pokemon after gold/silver. I remember a time when there was ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY (oh noez!!!) pokemon. Now theres what, 700?

[Princess J]

I have said this time and time again. I am a tried-and-true Pokedork as far as the first two generations go. I used to play my Yellow and Silver constantly, and I still pick them up sometimes. They were actually a huge inspiration to me when I was younger. And I will never hate them. They were great. Nothing will change my opinion on that. I even loved the first season of the show, and the first movie. The second movie was enjoyable too, though I don't remember much of it. After that... er... let's just not speak of the anime any longer.

Of course, I eventually fell out of the loop of the series. I was never interested much in Ruby/Sapphire. They just never appealed to me. You see, the original Pokemon games captivated me so much (and they're still great fun to play in their simplicity), and the second gen felt just like an extension of the original that had been improved upon in many ways, from the internal clock and day/night system, to the much better sprites, to having two worlds to play in (though Kanto was kinda short), and much more. I loved both Yellow and Silver greatly. But as time passed, I guess my interest just kinda faded, and the next gen did nothing to respark it. Besides the Pokemon being uninspired, which I'll get into later, things had just gotten too complicated. It seems like they'd thrown in a bunch of weird stuff to mess with, like traits, beauty contests, berries (of which there was apparently a screwed-up berry glitch in early games), and more. I guess this is entertaining for some people and makes the game more interactive, but personally, it just seemed like a load to mess with for me. My brother went on to get Sapphire, but I just watched him play it. It was ok. Not too bad. But not inspiring.

I think Soulreaper hit it right on with the Pokemon designs. I loved the originals, and the second gen ones were new and interesting as well, without being over-the-top. They even gave us some evolutions and pre-evolutions of old friends, which were not cheesey or insulting to the originals at all. But with the inevitable third gen, I knew they'd start running out of ideas, and they did. It seemed either like they were trying too hard, or... not trying at all. A lot of the new designs were just crazy. A lot of them were either completely ridiculous or just looked like changed-up versions of old Pokemon. Some of them were pretty good, but not most. But who can exactly blame the developers? With so many Pokemon, you're just going to have to start repeating designs, or going insane with your ideas at some point. And with the next generation, things can only get worse... that is why, tragically for some, the Pokemon series must be put to a stop. At least the new Pokemon. They can create new Pokemon games, but make them new variations with old Pokemon, like this new dungeon game. They need to spice up the old formula. You know?

Let me say that of the new-generation Pokemon revealed so far, I don't like very many of them. EXCEPT Weavile (which I've known about for a long time), because it kicks butt and Sneasel is a Pokemon that I really really like, so I'm glad to see it gets a worthy evolution. Perappu is also pretty cool because its head is a music note XD And I also like bird Pokemon, like Dmoss. And I've known about Lukario for a long time, and always liked its design. But otherwise, meh. I don't like the other originals so much, and the evolutions of Pokemon I hold dear are like... hurting me. x_x Especially Bonsly, I don't like it, and I love Sudowoodo. And that Elektabuzz evolution displeases me. Munchlax I've known about for ages, but Snorlax is awesome and never needed a spazzy pre-evolution... Tamanta is acceptable... I never liked Mr. Mime, but like Jr. even less... *sigh* The legendaries are about on par with Groudon and Kyogre... that is to say, not great, but... kinda cool. That little silhoutte at the bottom appears to be a cat of some sort. I would hazard a guess at a kittenlike Meowth pre-ev. If that's the case, it had BEST be good, because I love Meowth. But I don't seem to ever find myself disappointed in catlike Pokemon. I'm just a cat lover like that. :P

Edit: But might I add that Wi-fi will do the next gen a WORLD of good, as it is something that I've always dreamed of, and would've made Pokemon incredible from the very beginning.