Monday, August 18, 2014

The Worst Gen 6 Pokemon

There weren't that many Pokemon, so you'd think there wouldn't be that many Wretched Ones. You'd be correct, but somehow the ones presented here are just SO wretched, it isn't even funny. Well, maybe a little funny. But seriously, for once I had to think about who I wanted to give the lowest spot to, there was actual competition for it.

10. Skrelp
9. Swirlex
8. Scatterbug
7. Carbink
6. Chespin
5. Binacle
4. Barbaracle
3. Zygarde
2. Dedenne
1. Klefki

And if I'd been adding in Mega Evolutions, you can be sure Aerodactyl and Manectric would've taken top 5 spots. I still don't know what was going on with those two. Mercury in the tea, perhaps? A Gypsy curse? Momentary madness? Sunspots?

But enough about me, who do you despise and wish gone from the world? If anyone says Aurorus I'm going to break their kneecaps.

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

The best Gen 6 Pokemon

Pretty slim pickings for 10/10 all-stars this time around. But I think that's partly because there was just so little material in general, there are proportionally a nice number of great Pokes to pick.

10. Hawlucha
9. Heliolisk
8. Talonflame
7. Honedge
6. Pangoro
5. Pumpkaboo
4. Clawitzer
3. Pancham
2. Aegislash
1. Aurorus

I didn't pick any Megas, just because I feel like I ought to recognize the true Gen 6 Pokemon instead of powered-up forms from older gens. As for how these new guys stack into my grand total cumulative top 10...

1. Haunter
2. Heracross
3. Scyther
4. Cofagrigus
5. Machamp
6. Blaziken
7. Galvantula
8. Aurorus
9. Pinsir
10. Cacturne

Eh, not much changes. I really like Aurorus, and I know it looks out of place on that list. Are you hating? Whatever, just Let It Go.

6th Gen Summary

You know how sometimes you move to a new place and then you can't get internet until those people who give you internet finally show up and hook up your shit and give you internet? And sometimes it takes like over a week for this to happen for some reason? I know all about that sort of thing, is what I'm saying.

Anyway, without further ado, (and Lord knows there's been enough already), let's wrap up the 6th gen proper.

The 6th gen averaged out to 5.8 / 10, though if you count the Megas it's down to 5.6 / 10. These numbers seem reasonable. The thing was, while there were some really stupid little turds, there were a lot of dudes sneaky away with 7/10 "it's okay" rankings. And of course being the smallest generation by far, there just wasn't enough room for Gamefreak to litter the halls with bad ideas. Mainly, Megas. I'm worried for the Ruby and Sapphire remakes, because I already see new Megas being announced, and most of them are hideous holy crap. Though it seems to be tradition at this point, for the even-numbered gens to give more evolutions to past Pokemon, the quality of these post-volutions is going lower and lower.

Gen 2 gave us Kingdra, Scizor, Steelix, that sort. Gen 4 coughed up Weavile and Electavire, but also Magnezone and Rhyperior. And Gen 6 overflows with poor Megas.

As for my final thoughts on the game, it's a mixed bag, really. I thought the 3D was cool, until I realized that Gamefreak is bootysweat when it comes to optimizing their code. There's no excuse for the overworld being in 2D, and dropping crazy frames when in battle. On the other hand, moving in full 360 degrees of motion finally feels great, but I'd like them to maybe move away from the tile system? Can't we have a fully controllable camera and stuff, and irregularly-shaped pieces of terrain? I don't want a revamp of everything, stick to random battles and turn-based combat and all that, no need to make it multiplayer, but I'd like a little more freedom of movement, now that I've had my first taste.

the rest of the game felt the same way. I like customize-able clothes, but there aren't nearly enough options. I liked the amount of Pokemon available in the wild, it's actually a really staggering amount, but the pacing feels really uneven as a result of all those extra route in the early game. I like the idea of a bunch of rivals, and the characters in the game actually having character and recurring instead of being confined to their town's arc, but none of your rivals were actually interesting or posed the slightest threat, and the story was worse than B/W.

Oh well. I'm still excited for ORAS, and the eventual XY2 or Z or whatever. Best/Worst pokemon incoming soon, I promise!


other regional scores, for reference:
Gen 1: 6.2
Gen 2: 5.8
Gen 3: 6.1
Gen 4: 4.8
Gen 5: 5.4
Gen 6: 5.6