HeartGold/SoulSilver

[Cursed Bluto]

I'm hoping everyone's as excited about this as I am, but what will Nintendo do since there's no possibility of new Pokemon (and only starters and legendaries are unavailable in Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum)? Will they pull some garbage about the Lake Trio having 'Enraged' forms when you take them to that famous lake north of Mahogany? Will Rotom get yet another form or two? What about Deoxys, who has been neglected this generation? Maybe, dare I say it, Palkia and Dialga will get alternative forms?

[Blivsey]

Hmm... I don't know about new forms... Since Shellos, Mantine and some others supposedly have sprites that vary by their native location, perhaps those will see alternate forms. Other than that, I wouldn't know about seeing alternate forms of pre-existing Pokémon. That is, besides the Notched-ear Pichu, of course. And speaking of him, supposedly normal Pokémon will have several different attributed sprites. Not just gender differences, but stuff like a Eevee with ruffled fur on top of its head or a Stantler with differently-patterned antlers.

Regardless of that, I'm pumped for these games. Gold was my first entry into the series, so this region holds the nostalgia factor for me in spades. With that and the fact that you can have any Pokémon follow you Yellow-style, and other features that they probably haven't told us about yet, this game is going to be a must-have for me. I really hope they get it right...

[Cursed Bluto]

I've browsed through the news on Serebii - boy have I missed a lot! Some stuff about pokemon following you Yellow Version-style, the 3d cutscenes of Lugia and Ho-oh, oh and some spew about the Hoenn and Sinnoh deities, which I honestly don't care for. I want this game for an adventure in Johto, not to catch everything unavailable in D/P/Pl. Opinions?

[Blivsey]

Ja, I agree. This is supposed to be a Johto-based game. Maybe if they put in an event for Mew and/or Celebi, that would be understandable. Since you can travel to Kanto, Mewtwo or the Birds might make sense. But all of the Pokémon that they're advertising (the Hoenn/Sinnoh legendaries of the box covers) are all obtainable already, anyway. It's really unnecessary. Unless they're going for making all Legendaries available using only Gen.IV games, which is ridiculous and, again, unnecessary. I'll go with it, though. Another Groudon and Rayquaza for my collection isn't that bad, really.

I am kinda excited about being able to have literally any Pokémon follow you. Maybe I'm just a sucker for little features like that.


Off-topic: Just thought of "Mewtwo and the Birds" as a band name. Zapdos on drums, Articuno on keyboard, Moltres on bass, Mewtwo on lead guitar/vocals. Possibly with Mew as Rhythm guitar. Mew and Mewtwo power ballad/duet?

[Cursed Bluto]

Yeah, I like the idea of any Pokemon following, but what about water types? Will you have a fishbowl on a wagon to pull behind you, will they flop along behind you, or will they just magically hover like in the 3d games?

Off-topic: Mewtwo and the Birds performing their hit song, "Route 23!"

[Blivsey]

I think it'd be amusing to watch them flop around on land, but it'd make more sense to jut make that not possible. Only Pokémon that can live on land could walk on land. But, conversely, only swimming Pokémon could follow you in the water. And, of course, Flying-types could follow over any terrain.

If the PMD games set any precedent, though, they'll probably just be floating along through the air.

[helios]

Me, I like all the tidbits about deities, and I think MC would agree with me there. And, I think they should just have some kanto pokes in the johto dex, because that's what they did before, but nothing more.

[cornbr3d]

It all sound cool so far, and better yet, I never played the original Gold/Silver, so it'll be a completely new experience for me.

Though I hope they improve the plot significantly, especially when you go back to kanto. I'm not so keen about playing another remake of the kanto region, but I'd be more interested if they spiced up the plot. Like, the reason you would go there in the first place would be not to just collect extra badges, but to track down and defeat a group of Rockets planning a mischievous plan. Or something similar.

Oh yeah, and just another random thought: I think I'd be cool if they had battles in which the backgrounds are moving (like the grass is swaying in a breeze, water ripples are moving, etc), to make battles more realistic without really changing anything.

[Blivsey]

Similar to your thought, cornbr3d, here's something that I'm almost sure that the engine is capable of but just hasn't been done: When it rains in battle, it would be nice to show it continually raining. Same goes for sun/hail/sandstorm. Just a little three-second tag at the end of each round doesn't give the effect quite as nicely as the rain blowing around while everything else is going along.

On the other hand, I kinda like that they're bumping characters into more major roles, so it seems. I can deal with the Kimono Girls getting actual screen time. On the flip-side of that coin, I'm annoyed that Suicune looks like it's going to get the special treatment again. In my opinion, all three of the beasts should be given equal roles. Suicune got a game and a part of a movie, Entei got a movie to himself, but Raikou only got a TV special that most people forgot about. Not much of an equal trio...

[maskedpirate82]

I heard a rumor that HG/SS are going to be the last pokemon games of this era.

Meaning that afterwards they will either

1) Stop making pokemon games or
2) Start from scratch with fresh monsters separate from the original 493.

I kinda saw this coming with the whole Magnezone/Probopass/Leafeon/Glaceon thing though.

I hope it's not true...

[Blivsey]

Hmm... I fail to see any evidence or source behind it, so I wouldn't worry yourself too much.

[Flaming Phoenix]

Honestly, I hope they don't change anything.

No dialog changes, no Pokemon following you, nothing.

Just a straight-up port.

However, I know Nintendo, and this will never happen. Ever. For any game. They always add something, no matter how insignificant.

I, too, am a fan of the Pokemon following you.

Hopefully someone can rip those sprites for use in comics.

But even still. Nintendo has finally done it. They've prepared the best generation of Pokemon for us to play on our modern system.

High-five to them.

Finally they release a DS game that is actually worth buying. (In my opinion, the junk they've been throwing out shouldn't be called "games", with a few exceptions.)

[maskedpirate82]

Looking at Shellos's Diamond Dex entry, it appears that there are different colors in each region.

What do you think Johto/Kanto Shellos will look like?