Off Topic Discussion Megathread

[Renalt]

Currently playing Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and it is just... Chef's kiss
They totally redeemed themselves for 2's shortcomings. I think I might be a little over halfway in the story and genuinely think its the best of the four games.
Especially the main cast of characters.

So it's not a Waifu collector this time? That's good news.

[RyuDragnier]

So it's not a Waifu collector this time? That's good news.

From what I heard from a friend, it's far closer to XC1 in terms of vibes.

[ReynTime]

So it's not a Waifu collector this time? That's good news.

"Waifu collecting" was a gimmick specific to 2. It doesn't and never did define the series.

From what I heard from a friend, it's far closer to XC1 in terms of vibes.

I'm finding the plot to be better paced and darker than 1. And it suffers a lot less from the problem in 1 and 2 where they focus on 2 or 3 characters too much and everyone else is just kinda there, with more evenly distributed screen time and development.
It honestly might be the best of the four Xenoblade Chronicles games. While 2 is the black sheep at this point.

[ZedxKayn]

I decided to check out pkmn again after dropping the series at sun and moon and ohhhh my God it's still so bad. I mean it's giving me mixed feelings, I've cared about it so much and I still do but I can't stand being constantly interrupted by annoying NPCs. And gen 8 is imo by far the ugliest gen so far, too. If it weren't at just the right level of Japanese for me to practice I don't know if I'd keep playing sword. At least I know for sure how to say "My big bro is the coolest and he's got a Charizard!! And also I'm gonna be the strongest champion" or whatever.

Brilliant Diamond is so much more pleasant so far but for sure that's in virtue of basically being a game from almost 5 generations ago.

[Cilia]

I decided to check out pkmn again after dropping the series at sun and moon and ohhhh my God it's still so bad. I mean it's giving me mixed feelings, I've cared about it so much and I still do but I can't stand being constantly interrupted by annoying NPCs. And gen 8 is imo by far the ugliest gen so far, too. If it weren't at just the right level of Japanese for me to practice I don't know if I'd keep playing sword. At least I know for sure how to say "My big bro is the coolest and he's got a Charizard!! And also I'm gonna be the strongest champion" or whatever.

Brilliant Diamond is so much more pleasant so far but for sure that's in virtue of basically being a game from almost 5 generations ago.

Sun & Moon were very good story-wise. I don't know about the "Ultra" updated versions, there wasn't enough new content in those for me to bother with them.

Sword & Shield were mid at best.

Legends: Arceus greatly shakes up the formula. Its story is nothing special, but I greatly enjoyed it all the same - much more than I have any Pokémon game since... what, Black & White? Fortunately it looks like Scarlet & Violet are taking a page from this one...

Not interested in the Gen 4 remakes. They take steps backwards, unlike the other remake games that kept the modern feel but applied it to older regions.

[ZedxKayn]

Sun & Moon were very good story-wise. I don't know about the "Ultra" updated versions, there wasn't enough new content in those for me to bother with them.

Sword & Shield were mid at best.

Legends: Arceus greatly shakes up the formula. Its story is nothing special, but I greatly enjoyed it all the same - much more than I have any Pokémon game since... what, Black & White? Fortunately it looks like Scarlet & Violet are taking a page from this one...

Not interested in the Gen 4 remakes. They take steps backwards, unlike the other remake games that kept the modern feel but applied it to older regions.

I think that's the thing, until gen 5 pkmn has never been trying to have "important" stories and characters, now gen 5 was good but it felt more of a fluke because basically everything afterwards was very bland and one dimensional. I just wanna go catch monster and become champion without incessantly getting interrupted by NPCs, and I want the freedom to explore at my own pace, maybe take shortcuts, have plenty of optional side zones. Gen 1 to 4 had a good balance of that and tbh while I don't remember how it was in gen 5 I found it enjoyable but there were clear signs of the "beginning of the end" there.

Now the characters have no depth whatsoever and Hau and Hop are some of the most unbearable characters I've ever had the displeasure of having in a video games.

Well here is to hoping gen 9 will move away from being constricted by NPCs and hallways... At least the hallway part is going away for sure.

[NekoMataMata]

Sun & Moon were very good story-wise. I don't know about the "Ultra" updated versions, there wasn't enough new content in those for me to bother with them.

Sword & Shield were mid at best.

Legends: Arceus greatly shakes up the formula. Its story is nothing special, but I greatly enjoyed it all the same - much more than I have any Pokémon game since... what, Black & White? Fortunately it looks like Scarlet & Violet are taking a page from this one...

Not interested in the Gen 4 remakes. They take steps backwards, unlike the other remake games that kept the modern feel but applied it to older regions.

So since the 3DS eras-

XY: Cute. Adorable and actually really fun. The post game is non-existent(holed up in Kiloude city outside of Looker) though... Think we were supposed to get Pokemon Z but it just never happened. Also still the Pokemon game with my favorite outfit choices and just so much nostalgia cause 3D Pokemon.

ORAS: I never played the originals before hand and when I tried them years later on my pc I really, really disliked them. The only thing they really had over ORAS was the post game(again, Zinnia was crazy). They really evened out all the worst parts of the originals though and they also improved the mechanics they brought from XY(hoards in rain!!).

SM: First time playing what you'd call a base game I guess. Started with Plat when I was 7, never played BW but played W2 the year before XY. SM was just super barebones and you could feel it. No post game areas, not even a post game story.

USM: Better story, less dragging your feet at the start, MANTINE SURFING (!!!), festival plaza improvements, ultra wormholes, rainbow rocket.

Sh/Sw: The DLC was more interesting than the main story :/ You had access to the endgame from the start basically and farming raid dens was fun for a little bit. Then the randomness and reset heavyness of it all got boring. Then people started hosting specific raid dens and it was fun for a while again. Crown Tundra > Isle of Armour. Snow, ancient ruins, regi temples, catching all 4 swords of justice(cause they actually put Keldeo in the game), and Calyrex were all awesome.

Diamond/Pearl Remake: Art style didn't bother me but plat was my first game and this felt really bad for the most part. Why can't I get an eevee in hearthome city? what did you do to Gardenia and Fantina's gyms? Oh so this is where the no fire types meme came from... Oh right, no battle facilities or little battle hut where I can battle all the gym leaders again.

PLA: Fresh and new. Needs more battles and the battle system itself could use a few touches but it was fun. Kind of sad that the only real post game activity is shiny hunting. Also it's not really fun to replay. Your team just doesn't matter that much for the most part because so much of the game is focused around catching or dodging.