4th Gen What was with DP's Pokédex?

BettyNewbie said:

"Like a beta" is a pretty apt way of describing DP. Not only did their gameplay feel extremely incomplete, but they were also loaded with glitches, too. Were DP rushed out to release, by any chance? Because, I can't see how such broken games could've ever passed GF's standards by 2006.

Luckily, though, Platinum happened, and people got to experience Sinnoh without any of the things that held DP back. This was a Gen where a Third Version really WAS warranted over a sequel or prequel.

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I wouldn't be surprised if they were rushed as Nintendo DS was released in NA and Jp in 2004, while 2005 for EU and Australia. Nintendo was probably pressuring them so they were forced to release the incomplete project.

Just look how beautiful is Pt and everything's almost perfect on HGSS.

XY sorta followed DP's footsteps, not gonna elaborate more or I'm straying out of topic. Just remind me not to buy the initial pairs when we're in an even number generation.

P.S. The Darkrai and Shaymin glitch were the best thing ever in Pokémon history. {XD}

Unapologetic Sunflower said:

I wouldn't be surprised if they were rushed as Nintendo DS was released in NA and Jp in 2004, while 2005 for EU and Australia. Nintendo was probably pressuring them so they were forced to release the incomplete project.

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That is true. As late as 2005, GF was still finishing up Gen 3 (and FRLG and Emerald also show signs of being rushed, themselves), and the franchise, as a whole, had no presence on the new handheld beyond a rubbish spinoff. In Nintendo's mind, GF was already way behind on schedule.

Unapologetic Sunflower said:

XY sorta followed DP's footsteps, not gonna elaborate more or I'm straying out of topic. Just remind me not to buy the initial pairs when we're in an even number generation.

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That's also true. Sadly, XY might not even get a 3rd Version to fix their many issues.

Unapologetic Sunflower said:

P.S. The Darkrai and Shaymin glitch were the best thing ever in Pokémon history. {XD}

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Nah, I think Missingno and the Mew Glitch still have 'em beat. {XD}:P

I don't understand why people complain about this. The last time we saw trade restrictions was Gen III. Don't like the Pokemon in the Pokedex? That's fine, just trade in one you like. Problem solved.

As far as Gym Leaders / Elite Four, I much prefer DP to Platinum. The added variety was something different. You could still definitely tell their preference, but rather than focusing on Pokemon of their chosen type, they focused on Pokemon that could learn moves of their chosen type. That actually feels like something a half-competent trainer would do if they wanted to focus on a particular type. Platinum turned Volkner into "spam Earthquake to win", Flint into "spam Surf to win", and Candice into "spam Flamethrower to win". Steven was a steel-type specialist, but half his team wasn't Steel-type, but nobody complained then or called it "fake difficulty".

I've never really had any problems with DP's Pokedex. Some types are rarer than they should be, but so what? Take Ice for example, Kanto and Johto has a bunch of mediocre Ice-types and a couple pretty good ones. Sinnoh has a couple pretty good ones. Sure, more variety wouldn't hurt, but ultimately, they're good enough if you actually want to use an Ice-type. Which, you don't, because nobody uses Ice-type Pokemon.

To be honest, the only time I decided to trade in a non-native Pokemon to play through the game was Heart Gold. Once I got Eevee, I traded it over to Platinum to evolve it to Leafeon and traded it back. And, note, that wasn't because of a lack of grass-types - HGSS has plenty - but simply because I didn't like the ones available.

Also, let me just say that I really dislike BW2 and XY's Pokedex. They're too big. While I've never had a problem with it, I can at least understand people complaining about 150 being too small. But 200 or 250 is more than enough; bigger than that is just pointless. Pokedex bloat is annoying because all it does is add weak filler Pokemon in the name of variety. Plus, because the Pokemon games aren't really long enough to handle huge Pokedexes, they increase the number of Pokemon available per area, and the number of Pokemon exclusive to a particular area.

Sagiri said:

I don't understand why people complain about this. The last time we saw trade restrictions was Gen III. Don't like the Pokemon in the Pokedex? That's fine, just trade in one you like. Problem solved.

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Problem is, NPCs can't do that, too. They're stuck with whatever the Regional Dex allows them to have. Ever taken a gander at Candice and Flint's DP teams?

BettyNewbie said:

Problem is, NPCs can't do that, too. They're stuck with whatever the Regional Dex allows them to have. Ever taken a gander at Candice and Flint's DP teams?

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Admittedly, I added my discussion of that in an edit, so I can understand missing it, but I prefer their DP teams. While I agree that teams that reusing Pokemon (or their previously evolved forms), like Lance or Agatha do, is boring, but I like DP's more diverse teams.

I just don't understand why Volkner ensuring he has no chance against Ground-types supposedly makes for a better game.

Sagiri said:

I just don't understand why Volkner ensuring he has no chance against Ground-types supposedly makes for a better game.

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Because, Volkner is established as being an ELECTRIC specialist, so yes, his team should be made up of ELECTRIC types. If you don't like it, blame GF for insisting that every Gym Leader and E4 member be monotype in the first place.

BettyNewbie said:

Because, Volkner is established as being an ELECTRIC specialist, so yes, his team should be made up of ELECTRIC types. If you don't like it, blame GF for insisting that every Gym Leader and E4 member be monotype in the first place.

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Volkner and Flint are associated with their types enough that you know what they are, while not so much that you can Earthquake / Surf them to oblivion.

Every Pokemon he owns knows Electric-type moves. By focusing on Pokemon that learn moves of that type rather than Pokemon of that type (in particular with Volkner and Flint) makes for a more interesting fight. That GF doesn't normally go for it doesn't make that suddenly not true.

It's not like they don't have any of their preferred types. If Lance, Agatha, and Steven can call themselves Dragon, Ghost, and Steel specialists, and Blue can be a Gym Leader, I can accept Volkner and Flint as Electric and Fire specialists.

(even Kanto was overloaded with Poison/Water/Normal and starving for Ghost/Dragon/Dark/Steel)

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Kanto didn't have many Dark or Steel types? I wonder why that could be...

Alan Redgown said:

Kanto didn't have many Dark or Steel types? I wonder why that could be...

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The originals get a pass for obvious reasons, but FRLG were made after Dark/Steel had been introduced.

True, but the Kanto Pokédex was unchanged. You could argue that they could have modified the regional dex, but I would say they wanted to preserve the integrity of the original version.

BettyNewbie said:

Because, Volkner is established as being an ELECTRIC specialist, so yes, his team should be made up of ELECTRIC types. If you don't like it, blame GF for insisting that every Gym Leader and E4 member be monotype in the first place.

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While the limited Pokedex did show some teams not entirely being of their specific type, Volkner did have two non-Electrics that knew an Electric-type move (Octillery with Charge Beam and Ambipom with Shock Wave) and Candice had a Medicham among her Ice-types but it does know Ice Punch.

An even more glaring one is not all the trainers in Canalave Gym having Steel-types and even if I recall the only Steel-types the regular trainers used was Steelix while throwing other random Pokemon in for no reason, such as that one Ace Trainer with the Azumarill.

Precisely the reason I always trade Pokémon over from HeartGold whenever I'm having a playthrough of Diamond. It might be cheating a little but I couldn't care less; I get SO bored with Ponyta, Ponyta, Ponyta, Luxray, Luxray, Luxray as the only viable Fire and Electric-type Pokémon I can have.

I'm a gen four fetus, and personally, most of my fav pokemon are from gen 4.

Diamond and Pearl's PokéDex was definitely an issue, although it was addressed in Platinum Version. I can only hope that when the Diamond and Pearl remakes come out next (probably within the next 3-4 years, tbh) that they fix this issue. I feel like they might be more accommodating, as ORAS was with evolutions that have been introduced since RSE, like Wally with a Gallade.