#emeraldmew's SuMo thoughts

[emeraldmew]

Um, Looker? Looker...

Why is it somehow better to put an eleven-year-old in danger against the UBs than it is your adult partner who has the skills of a Frontier Brain? (Not that anyone in this universe knows what that is, but she still has the battle skills so...)

Why do I get the feeling it’s because the game designers still expect the player will be a boy? I really hope that isn’t the reason but it kinda feels like it.

Looker, I get you want to protect Anabel from the fate of your earlier partner but I really don’t see the logic of saying it’s a-okay for the eleven-year-old new Champion to be in the same situation.

Other than not really letting Anabel shine as much as she really, really should have...I wonder if the other Faller was the ghost who kept appearing and saying “No, you aren’t the one” or whatever the exact quote was in XY and ORAS? I assume her absence in Gen 7 is due to the lack of Hex Maniacs running about to be her sprite?

More positively, I have some extradimensional monsters hanging out on Pokepelego that the secret branch of the international police wanted eliminated so I’d say that makes me a pretty powerful trainer. And I love the way Poni Island’s meadow made use of the gen 7 graphics. The UB plot really could have used some tidying up - either made longer to better fill in why Looker and Nanu are so much more willing to protect Anabel as though she’s fragile or something than the actual child (like actually showing her vs the UBs she’s implied to have fought off or maybe referencing a time she in particular was hurt or something) or maybe just smoother in how it delivered information? I mean, I like that they left parts of it more vague for the player to put together rather than spelling it all out, but I think it could have stood another draft of writing.

And maybe also not having the populated areas the UBs could appear in being utterly unchanged aside from the music when they’re supposed to be causing havoc enough to leave Anabel tired out (Is that why there were always two possible locations? So the player could interpret Anabel as dealing with UBs in the area you weren’t? That doesn’t make much sense as you weren’t done until you fought all the UBs of the mission.)

Idk, maybe the “mission” style is what really holds the Looker stuff back? I feel like it (and the XY version) could have been more organic without the game telling you you’ve entered a specific chapter of the story.

Of course, I could just be salty because I was spoiled by how much the main plot was driven by female characters for a change (Lillie and Lusamine especially, but Hapu gets a special mention) and the UB missions felt like they were trying to force Looker to look like the hero even though the player was doing the work and made Anabel feel more like a plot device than a character, which is rather disappointing for her first appearance since gen 3.

It’s not even just the gender divide (though I will admit that is part of it that rubs me the wrong way), it’s that it feels like the game was trying to downplay Anabel in favor of Looker the whole time. We see her weakened and tired out from her part in the mission, but we never see what caused her to get into that state because the player never sees her while actively hunting UBs. It tries to talk up Looker like he’s doing the hard part and being the secret hero when he really spends the time telling you where to go to actually stop the threat. I’m not saying “backup” isn’t an important role. I’m saying Looker seems to be given your credit as well as his own for your part in the plot due to the way it’s framed... while also flat out taking any possible credit from Anabel in the final mission especially because he tells her to go to the wrong location. That’s the kind of writing that really needed to be edited and polished and honestly I’d have felt the same if it was some other Frontier Brain being left in the dust by the clumsy writing.

At least there’s a lot of fanfic fodder and theory fodder from the UB collection?

[emeraldmew]

Welcome to the team, Nebby.

I have to say I really like how well incorporated Poni’s Trials were with the ongoing plot. They seemed like natural things to run across and get past to progress and Hapu’s battle was just purely fun on top of that (I think I was in a better mood during that battle than I’ve been in general all November). The music added to the feeling wonderfully.

In other words this is very, very much a step up from “Huh, Opelucid City just got frozen. Better go get that 8th Badge now.”

Come to think of it, I wonder if that’s part of why there were seven trials, so they could be used as points of achievement throughout the plot without having to drop the urgency for the main plot to handle the last one (like in Black 2 and White 2) or having the last checkpoint feel like an anti-climax after having saved the region (like in DPP, XY, etc.). If that is part of the reason, I hope they keep up the idea of making as many checkpoints as they need for the story instead of going for a specific number out of following a pattern.

While it’s a shame there wasn’t more of Ultra Space to explore, I get why they didn’t go all out in a Distortion World sort of maze when there’s only one battle anyway. That said, more exploration of alternate worlds in the future, please!

And then there’s Nebby.

I’m torn on this. I really feel like Nebby could (and maybe should?) have been Lillie’s pokemon considering she is the driving force in protecting it (and basically is the main character aside from the fact that you’re not playing as her). Her arc was about understanding trainers better and eventually wanting to become one herself because she saw how freeing and empowering being a trainer could be and she tells you she wants to be a trainer too when you’re on Exeggutor island. But having a level 55 Solgaleo as a starter would be kinda overwhelming for a newbie and of course the player would probably feel cheated if they couldn’t actually get the legendary on the box. I guess for now I’ll wait and see if there’s any more to this (like maybe seeing Lillie picking a starter of her own even if you only see her pick a poke ball up?) as the game wraps up. (Honestly, since you do get a Cosmog of your own in the postgame anyway I kinda think it could have been a neat route to allow you to trade Nebby to Lillie to get that Cosmog so you’d still get a Solgaleo anyway and she’d get Nebby as her pokemon after becoming a trainer in her own right).

And in general I guess Lillie’s growth was a metaphor for growing up and becoming able to be in charge of your own life (with training being the stand in for getting a job and your own income and transportation) which... kinda speaks to me in this particular moment in my life where I’m really beginning to try to make myself braver and more like an adult.

The other thing that really strikes me about the game is just how fast-paced it is. It doesn’t quite feel “short” but it also kinda does at the same time? Mostly this is a good thing since feeling fast-paced means it’s easy to get caught up in the story. It’s also very helpful that there isn’t nearly as much in the way of NPCs repeating info you just learned to make sure the plot was hammered in (Hi, Unova!) or the rival being used as a way to talk in your place (Hi, Kalos!). On the other hand I wouldn’t have minded the story being just a bit longer. I’m not sure where I’d add more if I was able to. Maybe flesh out a bit more backstory of the Tapu and how they’ve interacted with the islanders beyond seeing the aftermath of Tapu Bulu wrecking the megamart? Especially Tapu Lele since we have specific stories or instances where we at least hear about the other three (Bulu and the megamart, Koko giving you the sparkling stone, and Fini choosing a kahuna). Or maybe more of the Ultra Beasts causing havoc between their release and working your way to the alter? Idk.

Overall I really have enjoyed myself so far and feel like things are moving in a good direction. I especially love how many of the plot relevant characters were girls this time as that’s a breath of fresh air I’ve been wanting for a while. Game Freak decided to take risks and break the usual formula and it paid off in spades.

Now to evolve my way through the remainder of the dex (Tapus and UBs aside for obvious reasons) and tackle the new League.

[emeraldmew]

Thinking about the UB quests some more...

And I think some of the issue stems from how the player becomes involved. It just makes no sense for them to go out of their way to invite the eleven-year-old into the top-secret mission, even if you are the Champion.

Idk if the graphics would allow it, but how I would have handled it would be by having the player get involved by accident at first. Like, you just happen to be passing through an area where Anabel is trying to contain the first UB and then involve yourself in the plot. Or maybe since you’ve been through a wormhole the UBs are attracted to you and Nihilego’s just chillin’ outside your house when you first leave after becoming Champ looking for you (probably to be initially chased off by Anabel and Looker since having a UB battle right away after having had a Tapu battle would be a bit much).

Or maybe have it be more specifically Wicke who suggests your involvement. That would make more sense than a duo of investigators who don’t know you at all.

Heck, they could even have made it so you just walk in on Looker and Anabel getting the Beast Balls from Wicke and learn about things because you stumbled into it and give answer options that have you insert yourself into the UB plot - no fancy overworld cutscene animation for UBs necessary.

I mean that wouldn’t fix the issue of Looker having more authority than his actual boss and taking her credit, but it would help somewhat.

Do you ever just wish you could edit a thing you like to make it better?

[emeraldmew]

Whew.

The League was pretty tough (well, especially Acerola, Hala, and Kukui). Maybe I should have kept Exp Share on so the whole team could have benefited from each battle? Ah well, time for post-game stuff!

Of course, that starts with the epilogue scenes. The festival was cute, though I do kind of wish you could save between becoming Champion and the scenes that followed because if I hadn’t known it was going to be long in advance I might have been playing at a time where I wouldn’t have quite enough time to kill enjoying the ending. (Things to keep in mind for my own games, I suppose).

I’m glad my Mudsdale was out front for the Surprise Tapu Koko battle as that meant I only had the set damage of Nature’s Madness to deal with. After eating a Quick Ball, my last Premier Ball, and working its way through a bunch of Timer and Ultra Balls it finally stayed put in an Ultra Ball. (Why did I not have any Dusk Balls? I’m never out of Dusk Balls!)

I like that Tapu Koko can apparently speak to you through the Z Ring. And also that it’s shown flying over Hala and Hau in the credits even if it’s been caught so my catching it isn’t interrupting its Island Guardian role at all! :D It was kinda nice to top off the Melemele Dex with that battle.

Lillie’s departure makes me very interested in what might come next. I would love to see the results of her new adventures. The brave girl who saved an extra-dimensional god before even becoming a trainer setting out for her own journey in Kanto can only be awesome. That combined with the inclusion of the apricorn balls makes me kind of curious if we may see a new story set in Kanto after all. (Please have Lillie meet dimensional traveler Leaf. Please have Lillie meet dimensional traveler Leaf).

So is the man giving me the message that sets off the post-game quest the same “Mysterious Old Man from the demo? Is he Looker in disguise? I guess I’ll find out that second part shortly, anyway. Before I start the rest of the plot, I’ll see what else is new (though I may leave the Battle Tree for after the UBs). When I stopped by Kukui’s lab for the Lucky Egg I very much enjoyed Rotom popping up to brag about my dex filling skills. I love the personality the RotomDex has (which is especially great because I was fairly worried they’d make it annoying). I also like that murkrow picked the diary lock. Murkrow liking glittery things and pokemon NPCs interacting with the world like the humans ones do are both very nice touches there.

Hmm... looks like the Tapu Z move might come in handy during the UB quest since it does a set amount of damage based on percentage. That’ll help safely lower their HP for catching. Hmm... I guess Beatrice the Ribombee gets to take a break in Pokepelago for a while. But the meeting on Route 8 shall have to wait. It’s 4:30 am and I really should sleep.

...

...

Please let Lillie meet dimensional traveler Leaf!