Elements of old games that have been forgotten

[Alegria]

Hi!
I just wanted to discuss about things that happened in Pokémon games that you found cool, but that haven't been used afterward.

What made me want to write this topic are the following points, all in the version games (you can talk about spin-offs too (but I haven't finished Pokémon Ultra Moon so... no spoilers please)):

• The Badge Control
  (Pokémon Red/Green/Blue/Yellow/FireRed/LeafGreen
  and Pokémon Black/White)

When I was playing the Kanto games, I used to like the fact that you could totally get a badge, and go back to Viridian to show proudly to the guard that you had what they asked. Even when I knew I had anyway to get all 8 badges, I found it fun to do it piece by piece. It also gave importance to each badge, as the proof you passed the test.
Gen 2 automatically made me really sad about it, because there was only one guy that was like:
-Hi, do you have 8 badges?
-Well yes, here they are...
-Huh uh, ok, you can go.

Waiiit... so I crossed a whole region, I showed my team was worth, and all you say is "huh uh, ok you can go"? Is that how you summarize my 8 tests of strength? Is that how you value our adventure?
Other generations had the same effect on me, until the beautiful badge control of Unova 1.0
First: each badge has a thematic room for its own, it's like you were crossing a summary of your whole adventure.
Second: the music that was gaining an instrument in each room. How awesome is that??
Third: after the last door, here you are, facing a huge mountain, what appears to be an unreachable summit (unreachable? huh, you didn't meet my team), like whispering to you "I challenge you to reach the top!"
It's not just a cave like most Victory Roads are, you are on the bottom of a mountain you have to conquer.

So yeah, the badge control made me a little nostalgic or something, and very proud of what we did to be here. And the Victory Road was so cool, and... I don't feel like this at all with the other games. I was pretty disappointed by the badge control in BW2 and other games like that

• The Trick House
  (Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald/OmegaRuby/AlphaSapphire)

When I played Pokémon Emerald, I remembered clearly that the Trick Master was gone to find inspiration. I was really hoping he would be seen, he would do trick things to solve in other regions... but we didn't see him at all...

By the way, tricks in gyms too have been forgotten in some places, which disappointed me, but I should make a list of which gyms do have a real trick and which don't.

• The custom gym OST (Pokémon Black2/White2)

I don't have to explain a lot of things there, the music were perfect for each gym leader and their gym's ambiance and in Pokémon X/Y, there was just a generic gym OST for everyone.

 

[2071]

Anyone remembers the Poketch thing in Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum? It was the watch thing that would be the main shenanigan for the bottom screen of the DS. It had nifty things like time, party status, calculator, map, coin flipper etc. that you swtich between from anytime.

I certainly missed it when I started playing Pokemon Black/White and you get that weird C-Gear thing which in the end, I hadn't used much at all.

Spoiler: Pic

 

[Alegria]

True, and it was nice when you had a Pokémon who could get an item (honey or other things) after a fight, you didn't have to open your menu to know if you had something to take off.
The step counter was a great tool for tweakers (well... does it count? it's a glitch after all)
and the daycare/berries control were so useful.

About that, the shortcuts in B/W/B2/W2 which you could use for everything in the menu was nice, and the menu buttons on the bottom of the touch screen in XY was very useful. I don't understand why they have been forgotten.

I also remember something that wasn't much but that was very nice, lost since gen 5: the customization of the speech bubbles in the options. They made something different: the fight touch screen background in gen 6, but it's not the same...

And the secret bases/bedroom customization... why, just why???

 

[Mel]

I will second that Poketch mention. It was extremely useful and I thought it was a staple to the Pokemon series when I started playing Platinum. I took a very long break from Pokemon. I went from Blue to Platinum so I was very surprised when the next new Pokemon game I got didn't have Poketch .

I also miss the VS seeker. I loved rebattling trainers not sure why that was taken out.

 

[Knight]

Thirding the Pokétch, why that wasn't a staple throughout the 3DS era as well is beyond me. It used the touch screen to its full potential, it's of course convenient to have menu shortcuts down there, but I loved having easy access to maps, notes, the dowsing machine, status screens and the like.

To add two of my own, the option to always have the Running Shoes active in Heartgold and Soulsilver, and the Pokégear from the same games and their originals. The first was just a Quality of Life option, but I'd take that over holding down the B button for most of the game, and it's proof that the touch screen can be used to great effect for more than just the menu.
As for the Pokégear, aside from the staple functions like the clock and map, it also had the phone and radio systems. While the VS Seeker did the phone system's job of allowing rematches just as well (if not better), and some of the calls had a tendency to be rather pointless (top percentage Rattatas come to mind), you could get useful items and information out of it. I liked the radio system as well, for how you could find different radio channels, the music and the different programs, especially with the expanded features in the remakes. While the Pokégear may not have been the most convenient way to handle its associated mechanics, I think it did wonders for the immersion, and loved the feature when I first played Crystal.

 

[Alegria]

Hey! I liked the top percentage Rattata calls. It was quite immersive to see how other trainers love their Pokémon and talk about how proud they are.

 

[Artisan]

The stuff I miss most is actually pretty old so they'll never do this again but I'd like to see it happen in the Switch game.
In Red/Blue/Yellow (Saffron or Cinnabar could be your 7th gym), Diamond/Pearl/Platinum, and maybe the Hoenn games, you can actually battle the Gyms in a nonlinear order besides the first few and the last one and it may be easier to make a game with Gyms in a linear order but it's more fun just exploring and battling which gyms whenever you like to gain experience and that adds a strategy element to them.

And then there's the weakness resistance changes.

Spoiler

I would like to see bug and poison be super effective to each other again. That would make Bug Poison types super frail but Bug Steel types stronger.

 

[NATT44]

This is a bit of a different vein than the others, but one new feature from generation IV (they sort of had it in Yellow) was Pokémon following you in the overworld. I thought this was a really cool way to strengthen the bonds between trainer and Pokémon. I just wish they had brought it back in generation V.
Another "feature" from Heartgold and Soulsilver that actually seems like a rather obvious quality of life improvement is putting the menu on the DS touch screen. That way, you can just tap the option you want instead of having to open the menu with X navigate it with the D-pad.

 

[Shiny]

I too miss the Poketch. I really remember that Coin Flip and the Step Cointer. I remember using the map thing when trying to catch Azelf, Uxie, and Mesprit. I don't know why it was taken out though. Did Game Freak think it was a mistake?

I also remember the vs seeker. Not sure why that was taken out either. It was fun rematching characters. Made the game more exciting.

 

[shiny-j]

I agree about the rematching trainers feature. It felt more realistic to rebattle trainers instead of them just standing in the same spot 24/7 saying the same thing - it makes it more immersive.

 

[AricAttack]

I kinda miss the secret bases in oras they were fun to go into and fight random people you have passed and it was fun to just find those codes online for the bases with the mons that would give you xp

 

[shiny-j]

I kinda miss the secret bases in oras they were fun to go into and fight random people you have passed and it was fun to just find those codes online for the bases with the mons that would give you xp

I agree. I miss Secret Bases as well, but they were just a Hoenn thing. Nothing was more good than using Blissey bases to get free EXP!

Although SOSing Chanseys AND Blisseys in Sun/Moon or Ultra Sun/Moon is good too, because you can get a shiny as well as an added bonus! And you can fight as many as you want, as long as you're using harvest+leppa! They all have their own perks.

A lot of features were region-specific, like the Poketch in Sinnoh, Secret Bases in Hoenn - etc...

They wouldn't be special features if they were in every region. That's what makes each region special and different, their own special fun things.

 

[Alegria]

I agree. I miss Secret Bases as well, but they were just a Hoenn thing. Nothing was more good than using Blissey bases to get free EXP!

Although SOSing Chanseys AND Blisseys in Sun/Moon or Ultra Sun/Moon is good too, because you can get a shiny as well as an added bonus! And you can fight as many as you want, as long as you're using harvest+leppa! They all have their own perks.

A lot of features were region-specific, like the Poketch in Sinnoh, Secret Bases in Hoenn - etc...

They wouldn't be special features if they were in every region. That's what makes each region special and different, their own special fun things.

There were bases in Sinnoh too, even if it was different. Bases aren't just fighting, it's also decoration... But I preferred RSE rather than ORAS, because the bases weren't on the map, so finding your friends base was harder

 

[Zukrad]

Uff, I coud talk for weeks about things that Gamefreak added and removed or replaced with a much inferior version for no reason

Difficulty modes
Key system (a bit convoluted, but only needed a bit of work)
GTS Negotiations
Decorate Pokeballs
Contests
Super Contests
Movie Acting
Creating an intro video (it could have been a very cool thing if you didn't need to approve the permission so other people can se you intro video)
The PSS as a whole
Wonder Launcher battles
Gym rematches
The underground
Safari Zones
Minigames (This one hurts a lot)
Good postgames

I could go on, but this are the ones that I liked the most

 

[NATT44]

I agree. I miss Secret Bases as well, but they were just a Hoenn thing. Nothing was more good than using Blissey bases to get free EXP!

Although SOSing Chanseys AND Blisseys in Sun/Moon or Ultra Sun/Moon is good too, because you can get a shiny as well as an added bonus! And you can fight as many as you want, as long as you're using harvest+leppa! They all have their own perks.

A lot of features were region-specific, like the Poketch in Sinnoh, Secret Bases in Hoenn - etc...

They wouldn't be special features if they were in every region. That's what makes each region special and different, their own special fun things.

Speaking of secret bases...
*If* we do happen to get remakes of the Sinnoh games in the future (pretty please?) I will be so interested in how they decide to revamp the underground! I feel like it was an area with a lot of potential, but in Diamond/Pearl it proved a bit difficult to use. Hopefully we'll get something that lives up to secret bases in ORAS!

 

[luigiFTW]

I really want them to make a new pokewalker. In fact, they should have made that pokeball controller have more compatibility than just making noise. Its almost a downgrade from the pokewalker.

 

[Shiny]

The Pokewalker was a really cool addition. Don't see why Game Freak can't just bring it back.

 

[Mercedes-Benz]

The Pokewalker was a really cool addition. Don't see why Game Freak can't just bring it back.

Poke Ball Plus is basically a Pokewalker for LGPE

 

[luigiFTW]

I really want them to make a new pokewalker. In fact, they should have made that pokeball controller have more compatibility than just making noise. Its almost a downgrade from the pokewalker.

Poke Ball Plus is basically a Pokewalker for LGPE

But it has less functionality than the original...

 

[Shiny]

It is kind of. Does it have any of qhe features that the pokewalker had?