daringred_
✧ stupid lesbian ✧
haven't actually finished the game yet (1 boss, 3 gyms, 2 titans), but i wanted to put my thoughts so far together in one post. prefacing this by saying it's largely critical, so if you're "anti-negativity", obviously don't read, and a lot of said criticisms could've been fixed with the simple addition of level-scaling. i'm sure i've forgotten stuff, but 
spoilered for length.
spoilered for length.so, pros first. (i wish i had more to say, but a lot of the things i like feel pretty obvious?)
okay, so. the cons.
- i like the story so far, even if i'm pretty sure i've already guessed the team star twist. it's character-driven, and the main players have decent motives sans nemona, imo.
- despite my gripes with it below, i do actually like that the game is open-world. (but i also like the more 'hand-holding' style.)
- a lot of the character designs are really good, although some of the npc models feel a little off, especially the female ones for some reason?
- even though i do think it suffers from the lack of level-scaling, and there clearly being an order implemented, i do enjoy the freedom of choice in which storyline you go with first, as well as the ability to simply alternate between all three.
- visually, the game is good, but... well.
- the auto-battling feature is fun !! it is a little finicky, with the pokemon sometimes having delayed responses or going in Completely the wrong direction, but it's still enjoyable and much quicker. i love watching meowscarada just go absolutely ape and start obliterating every pokemon around it lmao
- i really loved being able to design my character before entering the game.
- i also really like that you're not stopped every time you pick up something.
- i really enjoy the battle style of yeeting three pokemon out when you first enter the team star bases. really fun.
okay, so. the cons.
- performance. i've seen some people on twitter try to defend this, claiming they personally haven't encountered any issues, but i think most of us can safely say that this game is a mess. like, it feels horribly unfinished. i would be mortified to release something in this state. it's buggy, there are frame-rate issues, and it's laggy as all hell. obviously i can only speak for myself, but wild battles take multiple seconds to initiate, as do battles in general. the boxes are absurdly slow to load in even with only >150 pokemon spread out across them. it's super jarring, frustrating, and overall just ruins the experience.
- map. now, like i said, i do enjoy the open world design, but i think legends of arceus pulled it off much better. obviously opinions on this will depend on the person, but for me, it's just too big, and because you can generally go anywhere all at once, it's super overwhelming, especially as someone who has a compulsion to explore first. the actual map feels completely useless. i don't think it reflects the terrain anywhere near enough to guide you properly; paths are missing from it in the majority of places. i'm constantly getting lost and then stressing that i've missed areas. i think the fact that you can ride incredibly far and still encounter 95% of the same pokemon speaks enough to the map being unnecessarily large. even with your ride pokemon boosted, travelling still feels like it takes an eternity. most of it also just feels empty. i would've happily taken loading zones if it would've improved the performance of this game, because i suspect the entire map being out at once partly contributes to that problem.
- customization. worst in the series for me, and i thought it couldn't get worse than arceus lmao. i know i sound petty being mad about the lack of a redheaded option, but imagine if they didn't have brown hair? people would obviously be annoyed. the fact that you can have blue, green etc. hair but not natural red is absurd. anyway, beyond that, the hairstyles just weren't varied enough for me. only one long option? most of them can't even be used with the hats, which is frustrating when clothing choices are already so limited. the fact that you can't even switch to a skirt with the uniforms feels weirdly restrictive. i definitely don't feel individual or like myself. for some reason, it really feels like women/femininity drew an incredibly short straw with this game.
- charm. i've been over my gripes about the picnic vs. the daycare. i would've liked the shops to have interiors rather than just menus. yeah, it's more stream-lined, but it also doesn't feel as personable, and the world feels a little emptier to me. i feel similarly about pokemon centers vs. gas stations. i just don't think it works, personally. even a mix of the two would've felt better, with the gas stations in the wild and a real pokemon center in each town, idk.
- story. battle-wise, which they all are, it really suffers from the lack of level-scaling. was not enjoyable just completely breezing through the first team star boss because i'd explored and accidentally over-leveled. i'm pretty sure i'm going to stomp the second one, too. obviously you could solve this problem yourself by switching out to a lower level team, but. i want to play with the pokemon i like lol? being able to switch between the three is fun, but not when there is clearly an order already in place with certain gyms being at x level and ride upgrades locked behind titan defeats.
- voice-acting. this game really needed it. personally, i would've preferred they focused on that before open-world. when i have battles, there's always a really awkward pause because i read the dialogue much faster than it lets me continue, and i feel like this would've been very easily solved with having the lines voiced. the lack of it also makes playing with the sound on kind of boring imo. shell out for some voice acting, game freak, god.
- minor notes. surprise trading feels slower. instead of immediately going to the trade animation, it takes you to the menu, and then you have to select it, and if you miss the three second notification, you have to enter the menu yourself. yeah, it's only a few extra presses, whatever, but it was already streamlined so why. do this. team star boss introductions feel like they were designed by a kid asdfghj, that is the most underwhelming text i've ever seen. i've heard there's no battle tower? lame. the academy classes are a real slog to go through if you accidentally let them pile up like i did. no shiny sound... dumbest decision ever.
She is so solid. And also funny. Anyone else try to take a picture with their Pokémon only to have them run around in circles?!
