[Legends: Arceus] Absence of abilities

[_confused_piplup_]

I think this topic has been discussed a bit on the forum, but never in a proper way, especially now that most of people finished the game.
In PLA there are no abilities, which is part of the new battle system introduced in the games. Personally, I like abilities but in this game I felt like they weren't so necessary. What worries me is that the pokemon introduced in Legends Arceus, if available in gen 9 games, will actually get abilities and I am really curious to see which would those be. Especially the Hisuian Zorua/Zoroark's ones, since they seem to be quite strong pokemon already.

What do you think of this choice? Did you notice the change at all? If this battle system was present in other games as well, would you include the abilities or not? Are there any abilities you would give to any of the pokemon introduced in Hisui?

 

[ReKoil]

On serebii the newly introduced mons already have abilities listed.

For example, Ursaluna has:
-Guts
-Bulletproof
-Unnerve
Enamorus has:
-Healer
-Contrary
-Overcoat

And Hisui Zoroark has the same ability listed as the original: Illusion.
Just to name some of them.

What do you think of this choice? Did you notice the change at all?

I didn't really miss abilities tbh, but I did notice a lot of Pokemon hit pretty hard despite often being significantly lowered leveled than me. Not sure if that's because of abilities being absent or because I didn't bother that much with using the Grit stuff on my mons.

If this battle system was present in other games as well, would you include the abilities or not?

I think abilities might make mons with certain abilities OP. Imagine a mon with the Pure Power ability using a Strong Style Hammer Arm.
So I guess I wouldn't.

 

[Corveone]

Some Pokémon would essentially have no reason to exist without their Abilities: such as Cherrim (which does in fact have its Ability in PLA), Shedinja, Aegislash, Wishiwashi, Mimikyu, Minior, Morpeko, Eiscue, etc.

Some Pokémon with mediocre stats for a final evolution, or awful typings, can greatly benefit from having a good Ability (Azumarill, Sandslash, Breloom, Pelipper, Coalossal, Malamar...) This is why I consider Abilities one of the most valuable mechanics introduced in the series, it adds more depth and strategy, while also giving many Pokémon with subpar stats a chance to shine, even against matematically stronger alternatives.

And we also have the rare cases of Pokémon with harmful "Abilities", needed to prevent them from being broken (Slaking, Archeops and Regigigas)

Abilities are more or less important depending on the game's roster. You may remove Inner Focus from Crobat and probably never notice any difference, but remove Sturdy from Golem and that's a whole different story.

So, I don't like the absence of Abilities, however I get that battles aren't the main focus in Legends Arceus so I can live with it, especially because there are enough changes and mechanics that I did like making up for this.

 

[Zeostar]

I didn't notice much for this particular title.

For sure thought the lack of abilities was more noticeable in Let's Go Eevee/Pikachu. I liked those games, but in some ways it reverted way back to the early generations. Legends: Arceus had the less traditional battle system so it felt less noticeable.

 

[_confused_piplup_]

Well, all the replies were really interesting. I also didn't know much about this:

On serebii the newly introduced mons already have abilities listed.

For example, Ursaluna has:
-Guts
-Bulletproof
-Unnerve
Enamorus has:
-Healer
-Contrary
-Overcoat

And Hisui Zoroark has the same ability listed as the original: Illusion.
Just to name some of them.

Don't you think Hisuian Zoroark with Illusion and its typing is a little OP?

 

[KalloFox34]

My issue is that in spite of the lack of abilities, Regigigas still has to suffer through its unnecessary Slow Start debuff.

 

[Palamon]

I was never bothered by it because these games take place in the past and abilities were probably just not discovered yet. So, tbh, I just never noticed it didn't hinder my gameplay.

 

[isahbellah]

My issue is that in spite of the lack of abilities, Regigigas still has to suffer through its unnecessary Slow Start debuff.

maybe because otherwise hed be too OP?? lol
legends has a few new mechanics, such as a pokemon being able to move twice per turn before the adversary could even move... I think they removed so that5 the game wouldnt be too hard.

 

[ichigomon]

Loved Legends: Arceus and ultimately didn't mind too much that the abilities were missing, but I agree with Corveone's take that abilities are one of the best things in the series. I hope that if we get another Legends game, or if the main games adopt a battle style more similar to the one from Arceus, that abilities do make a return. The strategy that comes with utilizing abilities could be really interesting within that battle system, including the effect that abilities could have on your decision to use strong or agile style.

 

[KalloFox34]

maybe because otherwise hed be too OP?? lol

Yeah, but he's a legendary and that's kind of the point.

 

[PageEmp]

I was fine with it as the available mons didn't get affected much by it.

 

[edyedy]

Having abilities or not didn't really matter to me when I played the game. I didn't really notice it, and it kinda helped me stress out less since I didn't have to worry about catching the "perfect" Pokemon with the right abilities.