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If You Could Change Things In Games...


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#1 Koh

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Posted 08 January 2016 - 11:04 AM

If you could change some aspects of any game for the better, which game, and what would you change about it?  Feel free to do multiple in one post, or reserve them for separate posts.

 

Pokemon (the entire series, not just one specific game)

-The first thing I'd change is removing the prompts the games give when you want to use an HM move on an obstacle.  Why does it need to ask you?  The player walks up to the obstacle and presses A with the intention of getting past it, so asking if they want to use Rock Smash on a cracked rock is stupid and a waste of time.

 

-The next thing is scrapping HMs entirely, as most of them are useless in battle anyway, and just waste valuable move slots.  Instead, put those moves on TMs like every other move, and replace the overworld functionality of them with key item tools that are player activated, like the bike.  For example, the replacement for Rock Smash would be a pickaxe or drill, and the replacement for Cut would be a handaxe or something.

 

-The games after Gen 2 became incredibly linear, to the point it doesn't even feel like you're on an adventure anymore, but being taken on a tour, because you have no choice on where to go next.  I'd find a way to make the worlds more open like they were in the first two gens (the branching point being Lavender Town in Gen 1, and Ecruteak City and the entirety of Kanto in Gen 2) while still telling the same stories they intend to tell.

 

-Finally, bumping up the difficulty of the games overall.  They are, and have always been way too easy, to the point it's laughable.  They hype up the gym leaders, champions and elite four and such, but because of how Super Effective works, you're almost guaranteed OHKOs every single time, because it's so OP.  It's really anticlimactic.  Instead of damage being so high, or HP so little, balance it out so the battles play out  more like battles, instead of mostly one sided sweeps.


Edited by Koh, 08 January 2016 - 11:15 AM.


#2 Magi_Hero

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Posted 08 January 2016 - 11:06 AM

The only defense I have is that Surf is powerful. It's a skill I never mind keeping on one of my Pokemon. Now when they started adding more HMs... ughdhdhsjdjjdidjensnnddnndhdjdjd blech

#3 Koh

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Posted 08 January 2016 - 11:10 AM

Well, with the change I proposed, Surf would still be a move, but it'd be a TM instead, and its overworld functionality will be replaced with a corresponding item the player can use.  The moves themselves aren't being removed, just the overworld functionality being relocated to tools that are used on their own, rather than wasting a bunch of move slots on Pokemon.


Edited by Koh, 08 January 2016 - 11:12 AM.


#4 Norzan

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Posted 08 January 2016 - 11:29 AM

The thing i would change in pokemon would be the "beat 8 gym leaders, beat the main villain, beat the elite 4 and become the champion" formula that they have been using for the past 20 years. It has become boring and stale as crap and i'm honestly sick and tired of it.

 

There's so many possibilities with the lore and the other stuff to create some decent storytelling, but it's so restricted by this formula.

 

Seriously, how many times do we have to "become the very best like no one ever was" until it gets tiring?

 

Last, i remember Platinum having branching paths. I think you could beat Maylene, Crasher Wake and Fantina in any order.


Edited by Norzan, 08 January 2016 - 11:30 AM.

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#5 Deedee

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Posted 08 January 2016 - 04:10 PM

The thing i would change in pokemon would be the "beat 8 gym leaders, beat the main villain, beat the elite 4 and become the champion" formula that they have been using for the past 20 years. It has become boring and stale as crap and i'm honestly sick and tired of it.

 

There's so many possibilities with the lore and the other stuff to create some decent storytelling, but it's so restricted by this formula.

 

Seriously, how many times do we have to "become the very best like no one ever was" until it gets tiring?

 

To be fair, though, Black and White changed that formula, at least for it's own generation. We got an interesting story, compelling characters, amazing 2D graphics... The only way they could top it was with the final boss being not against the champion, but against the antihero and main villain, respectively.

Was incredibly disappointing when they dumbed everything down with X and Y, and gave us this mediocre villain and a bunch of fanservice everywhere.


Also, I'd remove Other M from the Metroid timeline. There is nothing that can be done to save that game, unless they rewrote the entire story and rewrote the entire structure of the game from linear to non-linear. And by that point, it's already an entire new game, so why not just cut Other M and give us something fresh?


Edited by Dimentio, 08 January 2016 - 04:10 PM.


#6 Koh

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Posted 08 January 2016 - 04:52 PM

It really didn't, lol.  It was still about the gym leaders.  The story was just a secondary thing, like it's always been.  Also, Black and White were the most linear of all the games so far, with the pre-league progression quite literally being a straight line, since the right half of the circle was inaccessible.  It also 2nd place for the least post-league content of all the games as well, first being Gen 3 games.  Black and White 2 improved on everything Black and White did, but then X and Y came along.


Edited by Koh, 08 January 2016 - 04:53 PM.


#7 Norzan

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Posted 08 January 2016 - 04:54 PM

Black and White still used that same formula. And i highly disagree, Black and White story was terrible with bland and completely uninteresting characters (with some very few exceptions). N was hipocrisy incarnate, criticizing you for putting your own pokemon through harsh battles while he was doing the same exact thing (even battling you). Ghetsis was an one dimensional villian (you can see he's the main villain the very first second you see him because he's so obvious) with absolutely no personality besides "hurr durr i'm evil", no motivation for his plan and no backstory whatsoever. Cheren was a carbon copy of Silver (except Silver's dark personality made his develpoment stand out much more than Cheren). Not to mention that ending that pissed me off on so many levels to the point i was spamming the A button just to ger over with (I haven't replayed my White version even once). 

 

The only decent characters were Bianca and Juniper. And let's not mention the graphics (those terrible, pixelated as hell battle sprites).

 

 

As for as i'm concerned there hasn't been a decent story in the main series, that's mostly to blame to the tired and old formula they have been using for 20 years. The only story i even remotely liked in the enitre franchise was the story of Explorers of Darkness/Time/Sky.


Edited by Norzan, 08 January 2016 - 05:14 PM.

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#8 CyberGamer1539

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Posted 08 January 2016 - 05:30 PM

Fairy type. Nuff said.



#9 Bill Nye the Russian Spy

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Posted 08 January 2016 - 05:35 PM

I know a few of these are common, but...

Lots of changes - spoilers, too

Regarding B/W: IIRC, the story indicates that N just talks to those Pokémon shortly before each battle and convinces them to help him out (thinking he lacks any other options due to his upbringing), rather than capturing them. The Ball animations were probably due to technical limitations. And I disagree about the story, Norzan - I thought it was better than what happens over the course of X/Y, at least (mostly due to Lysandre striking me as a poorly-done Hitler knockoff, as well as the jab at PETA that is Team Plasma).

 

Regarding post-game content in the Pokémon series: Most of the games in Gen III had much more of it than Gen I, which also had less than B/W. Just saying.


Edited by Bill Nye the Russian Spy, 08 January 2016 - 05:42 PM.


#10 Magi_Hero

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Posted 08 January 2016 - 06:40 PM

Well, with the change I proposed, Surf would still be a move, but it'd be a TM instead, and its overworld functionality will be replaced with a corresponding item the player can use.  The moves themselves aren't being removed, just the overworld functionality being relocated to tools that are used on their own, rather than wasting a bunch of move slots on Pokemon.

Trainer always gets a folding bike. Where is his pocket boat by now?

Call Bulma.


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#11 Koh

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Posted 08 January 2016 - 08:27 PM

Here's a pretty obvious one...any game that uses a password system for saving (or a lack of saving altogether) instead of a battery backup.  No one wants to enter long ass passwords every time they want to continue XD.



#12 Anthus

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Posted 08 January 2016 - 08:51 PM

Yeah, considering that games with passwords like Metroid and Kid Icarus came out after battery back-ups had been developed. Maybe it was expensive to implement, or developers didn't want to re-code a new save system. Zelda came out in February, 1986 and had battery saving. Metroid came out that August, then Kid Icarus in December, 1986, both of which use passwords (but also the same engine). So it's a safe bet that development of Metroid began after Zelda's completion, or at least very near to it. Leaves me to think it was a cost/ time issue since Metroid was completed in six months, and Zelda took closer to a year.

 

As far as stuff I'd change, I think as a general rule, cut-scenes in games should be skipable. Even if it is the first time you've seen it. Games should also allow you to watch cut-scenes you've already seen or skipped at your own leisure, and maybe even have a pause/ fastforward/ rewind feature.

 

I know a lot more modern games let you skip cut-scenes, but I'm talking about old games, mainly N64-GCN era games. I've only seen a few games that let you rewatch cut-scenes. Sonic Adventure 2 being one of them.



#13 Norzan

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Posted 09 January 2016 - 09:53 AM

Regarding the OP talking about the pokemon difficulty. The main reason why the gym leaders and elite 4 members are so easy is because of the monotype teams. A water type gym leader? Bring a Grass or Electric pokemon and sweep him/her so easily that is laughable. I would drop the monotype teams and make their teams about either themes (like nature, fantasy, canines), weather teams (sun, rain, etc), specific strategies (Tailwind, Trick Room) or if they can do none of that, at least make them dual types, having a team with two types of pokemon that cover each other weaknesses.


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#14 Koh

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Posted 09 January 2016 - 10:13 AM

Here's one that popped into mind overnight, and would be for nearly every game out there these days:  Either an instant access, or unlockable Sound Tests.

 

Am I the only one who misses the days in gaming when it was common to include a sound test in the game, so players could listen to all the music and such whenever they wanted?  Some games still do it, like the Puyo Puyo series for example, and every track is unlocked as you first hear them in the game.  But it's becoming increasingly rare, and it makes Koh sad.  



#15 Golden Guardian

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Posted 09 January 2016 - 11:12 AM

For games on Steam and such, I understand not having a sound test when they want to sell the actual soundtrack (I have quite a few soundtrack "DLCs" as a result). But, that's not quite on topic...

 

As for what I'd change in games, I want to mention something more specifically for game series that have been cranking out games nearly every year: 

Stop. I get it, it rakes in money like crazy, but when it looks and feels like the same game over and over again, even the people who continue to buy it are starting to feel a bit let down by the fact that nothing really new is happening. You can keep releasing these games, but change something up in the formula. Pull something out that no one would ever expect and catch your target audience completely off guard with something cool and new.

Since Pokemon was mentioned, even it falls victim to this. Yeah, sure, we have a new type and new megas now, but look at the game itself. The plot has become predictable and the games too easy to really make it a huge entertainment factor unless you deliberately keep yourself underleveled. But, I'm not just talking about Pokemon, obviously. Many other franchises have begun to do this (not just talking about Nintendo either) and clearly people are starting to get annoyed.

 

I get it, it gives you a ton of money, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try to be creative with a franchise that's already guaranteed to give you a good amount of profit just by slapping its name on the box. 




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