There are some slight spoilers ahead for Pokémon Legends: ZA, so be aware.
Being one of the most successful media franchises of all time, all of you probably know what Pokémon are. I'm sure you can imagine that the franchise is also no stranger to community drama surrounding their favorite pocket monsters. This one is probably the most recent one, being more tame than some of the other dramas. To talk about this, however, we need a bit of context:
Pokémon X and Y
Released in 2013, Pokémon X and Y (also known as the 6th Generation games) promised to revolutionize the series, being the first mainline games to step away from the 2D pixel artstyle, and into the third dimension, as well as introducing a brand-new type meant to counter the dominance of the dragon-type: fairy types. The games themselves received a relatively mixed reception by fans, who were frustrated with how easy the game was, on top of having bland protagonists and other issues. But what we're talking about today is another mechanic introduced in generation 6:
Mega Evolutions
Mega Evolutions (or just megas) allowed Pokémon to achieve new heights of power. Only usable once per battle, the temporary mega evolution would grant a Pokémon a sizeable stat-boost, as well as often changing its ability and typing, along with granting them a new design. Reception of this mechanic was mostly positive, as mega evolution allowed underpowered or otherwise forgettable (as well as any other) Pokémon to shine. One example is Mawile), an otherwise pretty weak and forgettable Pokémon, becoming a menace once mega-evolved, thanks to its ability Huge Power giving its attack-stat a massive boost.
While a cool mechanic, not every Pokémon was lucky enough to receive a mega, leaving many weaker mons in the dust.
Pokémon Legends: ZA
As you can imagine, people were extremely excited when the latest Pokémon title, named Legends: ZA, promised to add new mega evolutions to the game. Before the game released, leaks were spreading the word around which mon would receive a new mega. One of said mons was Starmie, an old-school and beloved Pokémon from Generation 1, which hadn't really received any love by the developers in decades. Speculated to be at least partially based on the Japanese superhero Ultraman, news spreading that it was receiving a mega excited many players, especially as people loved seeing how the new megas would look.
That was, at least, until Mega Starmie's model was leaked, and it was just Starmie with a pair of longer legs. Denial followed, and many decried it as fake or AI-generated. Most people agreed that we would have to wait until the game came out, to see if the leak was legit.
Lo and behold, the game came out in October 2025, and Mega Starmie was real.
Patrick Star(mie)
The reaction from the community was mixed. Some cited Mega Starmie as proof that Game Freak and the Pokémon Company were getting lazy, and how it is a symptom of the general decline of the franchise. Others hated it for being freaky and uncanny, and just straight up ugly.
Others praised it, either thinking it is hilarious, or a clever reference to Ultraman. As you can imagine, soon the memes started flowing in, with most people agreeing that it looks like Patrick Star from that one scene in the Spongebob Movie. I personally think it's hilarious. Ultimately, however, the design was set in stone and remained unchanged. Mega Starmie did, however, grant a lot of attention to the latest games in the franchise.
This is a more bite-sized Drama, so I hope you enjoyed.
Thank you for your submission to r/HobbyDrama !
Our rules have recently been updated to clarify our definition of Hobby Drama and to better bring them in line with the current status of the subreddit. Please be sure your post follows the rules and the sidebar guidelines, or it may be removed; this is at moderator discretion. Feedback is welcome in our monthly Town Hall thread.
Please be aware that NO AI generated posts are allowed on this subreddit (per rule 8)
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
Mega Starmie is soo stupid I loved it. If you seen the movie “Warning from Space” then you will notice that the starfish creatures in the film look strikingly similar to Starmie and it’s no coincidence.
I was gonna make a comment about that film. Sure it looks lazy but the whole quest around it lets old film fans giggle a lot
Listen. I'm going to need you to share the whole leaked mess with the descriptions from memory because I was invested in Starmie when they just used a picture of Patrick Star in fishnets to describe it. Every reveal over on pokeleaks was people begging them to be put out of their misery and see the damn thing. It was hilarious and accurate all around. Eelektross had us in shambles trying to understand.
I love how Mega Feraligatr being a giant Totodile got lost somewhere along the game of telephone so when the actual model leaked it caught everybody off guard
I always thought it was funny how people would say the team is becoming lazy like "it's just a set of keys!" my friend, pidgey is just a bird 😭
It's nostalgia, that's all.
Because who could forget the all-time classic Pokémon, such as pokeball with eyes, reverse pokeball with eyes, pile of goo, and batch of six eggs.
Or "a seal named seal"
It's a seal named seel you filthy casual
I'm sorry, don't you mean filthy casueel
Oh, right.
What about the golem named golem then?
Here is Rock with Arms. And here is... Bigger rock but named after many small rocks.
To be fair, it doesn't look much like an actual golem, it's kinda just a boulder with body parts.
Golem is so fucked up I think they wanted it to have a 4th stage and that 4th stage be Onix, but then they decided Pokémon only get 3 stages and Onix just kinda sucks because of that.
The Japanese names were worse, since they never anticipated the game being translated to English, half the gen 1 Pokemon names are like GHOST, SAND, FREEZER, etc, just English words they thought sounded cool.
Don’t forget that Jolteon is a plural Zapdos.
Thunder and Thunders.
The best part about GHOST is that if you want to get one, first you need to level up your GHOS a bit so it can evolve. Into GHOST.
[removed]
lollllll
IIRC in the Chinese translation, Charmander is called Small Fire Dragon and Squirtle is Small Turtle. And well, they’re not wrong…
Don't forget every Gen 1 child's favourite starter Pokemon, Hitokage ("Fire-lizard"), which evolves into... Lizard. Or every Gen 1 child's rival's starter, Zenigame (a Japanese pond turtle species IIRC?). At least Bulbasaur's Japanese name is a kinda neat pun (Fushigidane, which could be read as either "Strange-seed" or "Strange, isn't it?").
i read "strange, isn't it" and my sonic sleeper agent activated
Ekans being Snake backwards still sends me all this time later
And Arbok is Kobra backwards.
and Muk is just... uhh
Goddammit, I could've lived quite happily without realising this.
I did not actually realize that one as a kid, or most of the puns. Then again, I also thought it was weird that Final Fantasy summons mixed real mythology with "stuff they made up", because I didn't like... know Ifrit and Shiva were things.
So now you have me looking up myths for all the final fantasy summons. The easier ones like Ifrit, Shiva and Odin I knew as a kid, and some obscure ones like Catoblepas I guess I looked up at some point, but I was today years old when I realized Bahamut is a thing outside high fantasy.
So, any clue what's up with Alexander being a castle?
I looked it up cause I was curious and that repeated motif is probably a play on the "Gates of Alexander" which were mythologized, particularly in the bible, to be a giant wall and gate with ramparts to protect those on the other side against the end of days, probably borne from the fear of the Huns (and adapted for other threats like the Mongols, Vikings, and Khazars).
I don't know about the other iterations, but in ff14 Alexander basically does save the world from the end of days, in a way though it was also technically also the reason for that particular end of days. But it didn't want to be. It also assisted with a love connection lol.
Um, excuse me, it's called "Seel." Very different.
Or dugong named Dewgong. And rock with a face
Reverse pokeball with eyes and a shit-eating grin, you mean.
Classic is the key word, their designs are simple but memorable and that’s part of the genius of it. I’m a casual Pokemon fan but their character design especially for the time was top tier
[removed]
The designs are memorable, if the simple ones didn’t matter nobody would revisit them like they do. Pokemon got everyone to remember even their most simplistic creatures. Even new ones like Snom, Lechonk, Yamper are super popular despite being arguable really basic.
There’s a reason most company mascots are simple and easy to recognize and iconic design is one of them. They’re not the most widely recognized franchise just based on nostalgia, their style is appealing for a reason. I don’t love everything they’ve put out but denying their aesthetic is part of why they’re so successful doesn’t make any sense
[removed]
That’s not even remotely what I’m talking about lol. I’m specifically referring to character design
Simplicity doesn’t mean lazy. Pokemon got so popular because their characters are very iconic and part of that comes from the simplicity of their designs. They’re easy to recognize, draw, and remember. Digimon in comparison was super complicated and their monsters were hard to animate and identify at times, same with yu-gi-oh, but their toon versions helped that. If you take any character design course, the early gens of pokemon hit all the marks for being well-thought and that’s part of why they’re known and recognized globally even by people unfamiliar with them.
I’m in the camp that some of the new mega evolutions are a deviation from Pokémon’s normal character design/branding and the Starmie is just unusual. But they’ve been moving farther away from their original style for a long time now.
Basically this. People also forget that Gen 1 and 2 designs had more of a function within specific parts of the game. Yes, Voltorb is just a pokeball with eyes but (spoiler alert) there’s an area in the game where that is relevant. Many other examples
Ah yes, gen 1 had creative designs like “bird”, “rat”, and “snake”
Don't forget everyone's favourites, the three sentient piles of purple goop. Or the two that are just the same ball in different orientations.
Anyone complaining about modern Pokémon design by talking about the object pokemon or the ones that are almost one for one recreations of real animals is blinded by nostalgia, and there's no nuance in that. If you're gonna hate on flamigo and klefki, at least have the integrity to complain about spearow and voltorb as well.
Also Flamigo is a boxing glove, it's at least clever in a too subtle way
Or my favourite pokemon, half a dozen eggs.)
Or the little bundles of soil that look like someone abandoned a sand castle halfway.
I've gotten such joy out of these gen 1 accurate descriptions bringing back old memories.
And of course, Seel
There is a difference, though. The designs aren't "lazier," but since Gen 3, they have gotten more stylized and generic-mascot-y. Compare, for example, Fennekin to Vulpix. Fennekin has enormous eyes even for its enormous head that look simply drawn on top, no detail to its feet or body beyond one random flair on the legs, and the tail is a simplistic teardrop shape. Vulpix has actual toe detailing on its paws, patterning on its toes and belly, a little swoople of fur coming down from the head curls to add some definition, little tufts where its inner ears meet its head to add some definition, and a head/eyes in proportion with the rest of its body. Or for another point of comparison, try Bulbasaur vs. Treecko vs. Sprigatito. Bulbasaur has little triangle patches all over and a complex shape for its bulb, Treecko has the stomach coloration go all the way up to the mouth, and Sprigatito has...weird disorganized tufts of fur all over and a disproportionate head? And that's coming from someone who actually likes Sprigatito! The designs for newer Pokemon are more and more often anime-styled "big eyes big head small mouth," like they were made to be mascots, and I get why they do it but that doesn't make it look better.
Also, there are a lot more Pokemon where my first reaction is "that's just a dude in a fursuit." That doesn't necessarily make the Pokemon bad, but it's a tougher hill to climb.
As someone not actively following Pokemon since Sword and Shield, you make a great point. I like some of the newer mons and find many of their designs and concepts super creative, but there's definitely a general trend of them being drawn in more "marketable" fashion which has the effect of them looking more like toys than fantasy creatures.
Problem I've seen though, is that most detractors very loudly declare "This doesn't look like a Pokemon" or "It's just an object/animal" when I feel what they actually want to say is "I don't like how this new Pokemon is drawn". Feels like that would save everyone a ton of internet argument induced headaches.
Dude I can’t stand when it looks like a dude in a suit. Every damn pokemon becomes bipedal when it evolves now. Pokemon used to look like animals but now they look like furries
As much as I would love to agree with you, and do when it comes to certain starters... care to explain like half the Fighting types in the first several generations? Hell, Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee are literally named after specific real-world people (which the localisation then changed to different specific real-world people so we'd get the joke outside of Japan)
I think there’s two big parts to this.
The general art style. Gen 1-3 generally looked like monsters, and that started to change around 4. Now in 7-9 they literally look like people wearing costumes.
There just weren’t that many. Having a couple in a generation is fine, but when every starter final evolution becomes bipedal and has like a job? (Rillaboom or cinderace) I just think it’s weird lol they aren’t animals anymore, they’re human counter parts
Oh, 100% agreed on the last part. I do like the theme they were going for with the Galarian starters (rock bands, spy movies, and football, three of Britain's biggest cultural exports), but I'm not a fan of the execution making them feel more like people in fursuits than Pokemon.
To be fair, there are still plenty of weird animal mons out there. But Gen 8 is the only gen I never bothered to play, and all the Gen 8 starters look like guys in fursuits (at least the Gen 6/7 starters had some weird distinguishing features sometimes), and that's not a coincidence.
I'd like to say blame Lucario's popularity for this, but anthropomorphism creep is a thing in any given cartoon animal series.
Thanks for giving voice to why I've liked Pokémon designs less and less over the years. Blue was the first I played, and X was the last, I couldn't get into Sun/Moon and beyond and the Pokémon designs were the main reason why.
IMO the hate usually is just its an object, its just an animal, forgetting early gen with similar design theme too. This is a good criticism
Eh. Voltorb/Electrode always felt like something that inspired the pokeball design and could make sense with a little lore. I feel like Klefki doesn’t make sense outside of it being a cute key. Keys are very specifc tools and it makes little sense an animal would evolve into not just a key but a keychain. And yeah it’s a game/anime with fire breathing dragons and you have to suspend disbelief a little bit but it is harder to make a rational explanation for. And the one’s the Pokedex gives for it, leave a lot to be desired. Like did it just start existing when we started using keys? It’s a lot weaker than magnemite being a magnetic alien or grimer/muk mutating from sludge.
The keys aren't part of its body (aside from the key-shaped bit on the top of its head), most of it is just a very flexible metal wire, and it feeds on metal. It only started appearing in human settlements once the caves and mines it naturally lives in started running low, and it collects keys both as potential snacks, and to rattle as a defense mechanism.
All of this information is available from various Pokedex entries and/or just looking at the thing, so I'm not really sure what you mean by the explanations leaving a lot to be desired?
What about a pack of eggs, a baloon, and bronze gong (whose purpose is to get hit).
Pokemon is shown to take inspiration from japanese mythology, klefki is part of Tsukumogami, it makes more sense from that angle
Well a pack of eggs is just what a nest would look like? Eggsecute is not a literal carton of eggs. As for the Gen 4 pokes, I think that’s when this rule started to get looser. While I’m not necessarily defending them, drifloon being a ghost and ghosts taking the form of inanimate objects does get more of a pass from me. Brozong also gets referred to as an ancient pokemon a lot in his game data so it falls into that same category of “pokemon inspired the object” instead of vice versa.
I mean, finding a bird in the wild does sound better than finding a set of keys with eyes floating in the wild.
The keys don't have eyes. Klefki is a sentient keychain that just picks up random keys, which frankly sounds like the most sensible design for a Steel/Fairy type in a world with a Pokemon type system.
Right? Mr. Mime was just some balding dude, Grimer was just a pile of sludge, and Koffing was a mine. Gen 5 was meant to bring back the themes of gen 1 and a ton of people were just haters.
Find me a balding dude that looks remotely like Mr.Mime. That’s just not a design I would rope in with the other, literally just a real world thing category.
Granted, Mr. Mime is weirdly human-like.
I mean. Mr. Mime is...a mime. The "hair" is a classic clown hair style, they kind of blended clowns and mimes on that one.
Perchance (in denial)
you can't just say "perchance"
Exactly. Most Gen 5 pokémon are copies of Gen 1 pokémon. Which makes the Gen 5 defenders that much harder to take seriously when the pokémon they defend..... are just worse versions of the pokémon they bash on.
Keep in mind that Gen 5 was actually being compared to Gen 4 at the time and Gen 5 fans were, and continue to fight a strawman. The people who actually think Gen 1 was the best and everything else sucks stopped playing Pokémon. It was people who still liked Pokémon that (rightfully) hated Gen 5. (Namely people that still PLAYED it. Fuck that vile Weather Wars meta.)
How mamy gen 1 pokemon are a ball with or without legs? Like 12???
Nidoking is literally Baragon.
Trubbish is the personality of a weird little dumpster kitten given to the trash itself.
I will never forgive the Trubbish haters.
And Mr.Mime is just Ashes perverted step dad with a fetish for pretending to be a pokemon!
“Just an animal” is much, much better than “just an object” and it always has been. Zebstrika is a pointier Zebra and it’s a lot better the key ring. Similarly, Seal was always better than Electrode. It’s much easier to get away with an animal being an animal than a thing.
I do find it really funny how many Pokemon are just birds though; they’ve dipped into the bird well so many times, probably too many… At the very least, I wish some were a little more distinct, though how bland they are varies from gen to gen. I’d say Gen 1 had the excuse of bein the first one, except it still had like four lines of just birds and two of them are just kind of boring.
Can you point out where objectmons are dominating the series?
I mean, there's the string cheese, the bridge, the blood moon, the slot machine, the wrestling belt, and the drumset currently performing well in VGC...
/s
There's a difference in elegance and simplicity.
how is Muk elegant?
What’s the argument here? That Pokemon should have bland and uninteresting designs?
The argument is "Pokemon can be good and iconic while having simple designs, because there are a lot of Pokemon to appeal to different design niches."
Pokemon has always succeeded because of its designs, and its designs have always had elements of humor, goofiness, cuteness, and obviousness to counteract the badass, cool, exotic designs
Okay but is anyone arguing against that? Who’s sitting her arguing that Pokemon has never had a variety of designs?
They’re just saying that the newer designs have been lack luster. And you’re acting like a jerk about it. Your response seem to be “well they had some lack luster ones in the past too!”
Like okay sure. But that’s like saying that just because I got a c on an assignment in middle school means that I shouldn’t ever try to make higher than a C in the future.
Like chill out. Clearly enough people agree that the designs aren’t all that great for the sentiment to be this popular. Who are you to tell them they’re wrong to feel that way?
I think you're the person who's overreacting and taking this personally, here, especially since you seem to be hallucinating a specific person being told they're wrong to dislike new designs and not a general sentiment that some complaints about modern designs are missing that old Pokemon were sometimes simple, too, and those designs were still good.
All I’ll say is, it looks less like a pokemon and more like a grown man in a costume chasing you
I've paid a fee to experience that in some places.
When you try to pay for that but your card gets declined:
according to the mythology, starmies are aliens from outerspace and i guess their mega evolution reflects that
There's a quest in the game referencing that even! After that quest and seeing it in game, the design made so much sense to me. It's so damn creepy looking when it chases you 😨
Same goes for alpha machoke in legends arceus though. That's just a dude charging at you like you just hit on his girl at the bar
I keep seeing memes of it doing the Running Astroganger/Orga Itsuka gif.
Doesn’t its Pokédex entry say something about trying to mimic people?
I honestly wonder if that’s on purpose? Like a tribute to old school Kaiju movies? I played Kaiju Monster Rancher and so many of the monsters read as dude in a costume to me I thought it was hilarious.
It is on purpose! Starmie is one giant tokosaku reference and it's Japanese name roughly translates to starfish man.
It is on purpose, you’re dead on.
That would be pretty cool
Just because something is a reference to something doesn't mean it's good.
After all, these comments are full of people trashing on Voltorb and Electrode in the defense of modern Pokémon even though I'm positive each and every one of them has had the Mimic archetype explained to them at some point.
The fact that Mega Starmie is supposedly 7 feet tall adds to the horror
If Starmie is based on a Tokusatsu character Grown Man in a Costume is probably exactly what they were aiming for
funniest thing is that it's probably going to be really good in competitive. starmie is one of three megas to get a boost of 140 points to its stats rather than 100 in legends Z-A.
the other two megas, those being medicham and mawile, get a bonus +40 points to their attack stats in order to compensate for the lack of abilities in this game, as they usually get the Huge Power ability which doubles their attack (a really crazy boost) in other games
and starmie has the potential to be better than the both of them. it has a way higher speed stat, decent defenses, a typing that balances offense and defense, and a really high special attack stat that lets it get around pokemon that try to defend against it.
in other words, competitive pokemon players will be seeing this dumb guy everywhere lol
I’m sure this was intentional by the devs too. I love a good troll like this.
Not to mention the last 3 Rogue Mega bosses in the game stated to be the strongest were Mega Dragonite, Mega Tyranitar, and Mega Starmie.
Two powerful Kaiju and a starfish with legs.
They even hid the reveal of Mega Starmie for this boss fight despite one of the main gang having a Staryu as a partner and the mega stone.
Considering how much Mega Starmie feels like a Tokusatsu enemy, this has to be intentional, right?
Edit: I look one comment chain down and see that it's literally a direct reference to a Tokusatsu movie, so I guess I was right lmao
Take a look at starmie's movepool, it's not got much in the way of physical attacks.
yeah, it's definitely its biggest flaw, but it did get a few basic physical STAB attacks, including STAB aqua jet, and also bulk up in Z-A, and frankly mawile doesn't really have it much better than starmie, relying too much on non-STAB sucker punch
They had to hold back because the idea of mega starmie grabbing your pikachu and punching it into a crater was too funny to be allowed.
Checks out since Starmie used to be acclaimed as one of the few mons to be a reliable standard play staple for every generation in a row, so of course they would want to maintain that legacy. It's like how Pokemon like Tyranitar kept getting new tools every game for a while to stay dominant.
Tl, dr: Mega Starmie is too much of a sigma, and that scared a lot of the fanbase. /s
"What's wrong big boy? Never sucked a Pokemon's cock before?"
"You're not above this."
That sentence was so cursed/funny that I snort laughed. Well done.
Sorry, but I can't see a mega evolution spawning so many memes and think of it as bad.
Spongebobgoofygoober.gif
Right? Mega victreebell is the dumbest thing gamefreak has ever released, and I love him so much
A lot of things get memed specifically BECAUSE they are bad.
Like the "They fly now?!" scene from The Rise of Skywalker.
There’s also a theory that mega starmie and mega froslass were both originally Gigantamax* designs that didn’t make the cut and got reused for ZA.
*if you don’t know, Dynamaxing is the battle gimmick in gen 8 (Sword & Shield), where, similar to mega evolutions, Pokemon grow super big, get a stat boost, and some have special Gigantamax forms.
Mega Starmie is fantastic. Its design is a reference to a classic tokusatsu sci-fi movie from the 1950s called Warning From Space that features similar starfish-like aliens, so even if it wasn’t just hilarious and a fantastic dancer it would have been an inspired design!
This is the only argument that matters, all this time I thought they were appealing to some dumb meme community but I can appreciate the thought put into this actually
90% of complaints that people have about Pokemon designs are because they’re unaware of what inspired the design and because they think the English translations are more official than the original Japanese
Sure the concept is mildly interesting, but the execution sucks ass
Yeah I don’t like it either, but I can appreciate that it’s not just ‘make something that looks stupid’ because they’re cutting corners
Pokemon itself is a Ultraseven reference! Nintendo didn't invent capsule monsters even if they want to try and claim they did.
What I love about Mega Starmie is that Groucho Marx glasses would absolutely look appropriate on it. It's got amazing "How do you do, fellow inferior bipedal humans?" energy.
It takes a "You no see Krod!" approach to disguising itself as a human. You might call out a Ditto or a Zoroark, and feel accomplished for noticing the deception. But if this 7'7" monstrosity comes ducking through your door, strobing lights and making dial-up modem noises, the only thing you're saying to it is "Hello sir, how may I help you today?"
It's indisputably the most discussed Mega in ZA, the only other closest one would be Mega Feraligatr. The fact that its design is so simple and faceless basically gave artists even more fuel to draw it in different situations, and as a result its character basically expanded tremendously.
The amount of references made, the amount of crossovers drawn, at the end of the day the designers 100% achieved their goal. They got people eager to fill in the blanks which ultimately made the design even more alluring and maybe even timeless.
Fun fact. Staryu and Starmie are the only *Pokémon in the history of the franchise to not have anything resembling a face. They've been otherworldly and mysterious from day one.
*There's an argument to be made that Ultra Beasts aren't Pokémon.
the humble roggenrola:
Touché.
Okay, the only Pokémon line.
.....Looks like it has a singular eye.
it's a hole that's canonically an ear :)
The WWE method of describing unpopular things lol
Have the Pokémon games become lazy cash grabs? Yes. Is Mega Starmie hilarious? Also yes.
Part of what makes Mega Starmie even better for me is knowing that insufferable people are choosing to make themselves angry. I do wish they'd've updated the shiny though
Shinys in general need a lot of work, there’s a lot of older ones that are just ugly ass green or barely noticeable (garchomp)
That's part of the reason I love baffling public art. Mostly, I just like trying to interpret it, and seeing how my various interpretations line up with the artist's intent. But, a not insignificant part of my appreciation is knowing that it makes a certain sort of people seethe. There's a sculpture nearby that looks like a dozen kayaks halfway through getting imploded by some sort of black-hole grenade, and I love knowing that people hate it.
I love Mega Starmie’s design. Even if the games weren’t rushed, undercooked garbage, I still hope they’d keep this design. It’s simple and hilarious.
Z-A has a lot of work put into it with an entirely new battle system. Absolutely not just a lazy cash grab.
With the leaks of the budget and them still not optimizing their graphics, yeah it is. It's not an indie studio, it's the highest grossing franchise taking shortcuts every step instead of trying to push past previous games. It's still baffling how they seem allergic to learning and expanding on what's good instead of just introducing new gimmicks.
Budget can be summarized as “# of devs X Time + Ad money”
We’ve known for years about how Gamefreak is a notoriously small company and their notoriously rushed dev times. It shouldn’t be a surprise at all that the games have lower budgets. (Also the presumed budget was for the original game release for 2024)
Throwing money at a game doesn’t magically make it better, it’s just Gamefreak needs more devs and more time to work on it, the same thing people have been saying for years.
I agree that throwing money doesn't automatically improve quality, but you seem to not get my point. Pokemon games have fundamental shortcomings that shouldn't exist. Once again, this is the highest earning franchise of all time, so budget constraints straight up can't be a valid excuse. Other Nintendo games run on the same hardware, are stylized, prob have comparable budgets and are pushing their limits much better.
Please don't embody the "won't someone please think of the multi-billion dollar corporsrion!" Meme. These games shouldn't be full price at their quality in a just world.
My point is that I think the newly leaked budget doesn’t change much in regards on how badly Gamefreak is handling Pokemon. My comment is more geared towards, “how can they fix it” rather than how shitty current Pokemon is because we all know how bad it’s been.
The main thing for years is that Gamefreak is too small and the games are too rushed, leading to poor quality games. The budget just reveals the same thing, the dev team is too small and the games are too rushed, leading to poor quality games.
Increasing the budget does not change the fact that the small dev team would be exactly the same and they would get the exact same time to work on them.
Their company has around 200-300 people, and not all of them are devs- not to mention they have at least 2-3 dev teams inside the company and not everyone is working on the same game at the same time(also revealed in the leak). The 2 teams tend to be working on two different Pokemon games at once, as revealed in the leak with Legends Arceus and Scarlet and Violet being worked on at the same time by the two dev teams.
The BOTW team had ~300 people with 5 years focused on the one game. Gamefreak gave <100 people 3 years to create an open world game with 4 player online multiplayer exploration on said open world.
So the newly leaked budget just boils down to the same thing we already knew- they need more devs and more dev time.
It's a $60-70 game with atrocious graphics and optimisation and a world smaller than the PvP maps in a lot of other online games - it is absolutely a cash grab lol. There are many indie games with more thought and care put into them at a much lower price.
it is a good release that needed another year in the oven to not look like a gamecube game. you can argue all day about greed when it comes to the state of the franchise and the greed of TPCI execs
It really doesn't look like a Gamecube game, people throw around generations without remembering what they look like at all. Areas of lower visual polish/effort aren't the same as the whole game looking decades old.
Doesn't look current gen, how about that? Looks solidly ps3-esque.
I agree that it needed more time, but a GameCube game? C’mon.
I genuinely do not understand when people say this game has bad graphics.
They're fine. The graphics are fine. Not particularly good, but far from bad. They're fine.
No you don't get it! If I can't count the individual pores on Greninja's back from across the arena then the game is literally trash.
People really just be sayin shit, huh? I mean seriously, the GameCube? Please. Come back when you're ready to be serious and mature about this.
the only difference between gamefreak' past 3 releases graphics and a gamecube games graphics is that there is a good chance the gamecube game gets a stable 30 fps
Pokemon is the #1 IP in the world, Z-A is a shit game coming from them
This is such a weird way to look at media. Judge it on its own merits and if its fun, not if it meets some.hypothetical standard you make up because its popular. Nobody's out there asking why Sanrio keychains don't do their taxes and geolocate their car just because Hello Kitty makes a morbillion dollars
I’ve worked with Sanrio at a professional level and I have no gripes about them. They spend their money on relevant collaborations and their game that released is pretty fun, though I don’t play it anymore. If Sanrio were to suddenly put out products of lower quality people would complain, because as a company they can afford to make decent things.
Pokemon does a lot that’s decent- their branding and TCG products/competitions are great, Pokemon go is (mostly) a good game, the side products like plushies are cool. But their video games are lacking and there’s no excuse for that when they have the money and an endless supply of talented people who could work for them and make something great. Legends Arceus was a step in the right direction but Z-A is legitimately terrible for a company of that size. I’ve worked for TCGs and for game companies, they can absolutely do better and are choosing not to.
This worldview is bafflingly entitled to me, I genuinely do not understand idea that success obligates increased budget and scope; I judge games as they are, not on some arbitrary Graphics Budget metric they must hit if the merch sells well.
This just in: expecting good quality from the wealthiest IP in the world is entitlement. I love Pokemon, but I don’t blindly worship them. If I’m paying $70 for a game and $500 for a console to play it on it needs to be worth the money. Jfc Reddit is genuinely insufferable. Your worldview is unbelievably complacent
If Mega Starmie was just Starmie with long legs, with would have been lazy as fuck.
But Mega Starmie isn't just Starmie with long legs. It is Starmie with long legs and ridiculously expressive and purposely goofy animations. It's pantomime comedy excellence.
And for that reason, Mega Starmie is peak design wise.
So many people criticizing it as "thirty seconds in Blender", when Starmie actually probably took a lot more time in rigging and animation than many other Megas.
Seeing it in motion was definitely a revelation about where they were going with tall Starmie, but for me, it was its pose that made me fall in love with it. Feet apart, hands clasped being the back, leaning back. Just incredible imperiousness.
While also being terrifying in motion. There are many things to criticize about modern Pokemon games, I don't think this diva is one of them.
I'm the original mega starmie
I've been trying to come up with a nickname for mine. Thanks!
When I saw the artist renditions of Mega Starmie based on descriptions from leakers, I didn't care for it and thought it was a joke design. The leaks missed the important context of Starmie warping into a human-shape which 100% sold me on the concept and design.
I actually think Mega Starmie is a really good example of how important medium is to design. If it had still been the static turn based game with basic animation, I think Mega Starmie would have been at most a silly design (I still love it). But with the new action style, getting to see it in motion as it actually sashays around the battlefield like an absolute menace is just mwa mwa mwa chef's kiss. Hands down my favourite megalution new or old.
funny to see megas remembered as a good thing by the community since always, when they were first revealed people hated them lol
Mega designs are usually received well. The issue is more technical. If an underpowered Pokémon gets a mega that makes it competitively viable, that's great but it's dependant on a temporary mechanic that might not be featured in future games. And for a while megas were not available. So it doesn't actually do anything to permanently boost a Pokémon line in need. Especially for Pokémon who could just get a new proper evolution.
that has nothing to do with what I said
In gen 6, people hated them concept of mega evolution, specially being a temporary form (since, you know, that wasnt a thing prior to that). Most people also found the designs too busy, or too "spikey"
People just forgot how lame they were in general because the only two cool ones (Salamence and Metagross) happened to be the only two anyone was bothering with in the meta since they're so much more overpowered compared to all the others.
This is total revisionism, what are you talking about. Mega Mawile, Mega Kangaskhan, Mega Lucario, Mega Kangaskhan, and Mega Blaziken were all banned from OU (most or all banned before the 2 you listed, if I recall correctly), Mega Rayquaza was the first Pokemon to be banned from Ubers, and tons of other Megas like Mega Scizor, Mega Tyranitar, the Mega Charizards, Mega Lopunny, Mega Sableye etc saw widespread competitive usage.
EDIT: Actually I just looked it up, Mega Metagross wasn't even banned until the generation after. It's still OU in its original gen.
Mega Starmie is... a choice that was made. Not sure if good or bad, but memorable for sure. I haven't seen him in action (tend to play all the games with a delay) but if it's as goofy and hilarious as it seems, I'm probably gonna end up loving it.
I think the switch to 3D has made still image leaks of pokemon cause a lot more drama than when they were just sprites. Sometimes a design doesn’t look super cool till it moves, and that’s because now the pokemon are designed around being 3D and having full animations.
I am so glad this video was how I first learned about Mega Starmie. Love this freak <3
Wow, Mega Starmie has an aura. It looks like a guy in a star costume, so unhinged - I'm delighted it's real. Thank you for the bite-sized drama!
Digimon fans: "So...Mega Evolution, huh?"
I remember those memes dropping when Mega Mewtwo Y was revealed
I like bite-size drama! So many posts get bloated with context and reactions that don't really add anything or matter. thanks for keeping it short and sweet!
they could never make me hate you, mega starmie
i am very sad with the current state of pokémon and i've never liked mega evolutions but mega starmie is the best thing pokémon has done in MANY years lol
I haven't even played the game and I'm obsessed with Mega Starmie. And the Japanese memes are hilarious.
Mega Starmie made me think of the glorious sechi illustration for Yuuka 😄
(animated here and here)
edit: they made a Starmie one as well 😄
lol when I saw the new Mega Starmie design I just laughed and laughed and laughed
There's also a few other Megas with mixed reactions. Mega Victreebel) was first unveiled in a found footage short film, and it looks like an enormous, grotesque pitcher plant that has to cinch itself shut because it's overflowing with acid. Mega Dragonite, like its base form and previous evolutions, looked like a goofy angel with wings out of its head.
I personally think these designs are fine. Not all Mega Evolutions have to look like Charizard X and Y, like badass upgrades of their final form). Most Megas have taken elements from their final forms or previous evolutions and cranked them up to 11. The ghost with gems in its eyes) now gets a huge gem. The tortoise with cannons) now gets one big cannon. The Mexican luchador bird) now goes full Mucha Lucha.
I mean this nicely but is this really drama at all?
Never underestimate how much drama happens any time a new Pokémon is revealed. Generation 10 is expected to be announced next year and it will be at least a year of people saying anything from "Best generation ever!" to "Game Freak has finally destroyed Pokémon forever!"
Game Freak has destroyed Pokémon forever with every game since <my favorite one>.
If the OP included people talking about it, it would be.
With pokemon its super important to remember the games aren't being made for us old farts. Each new game is meant to give a new set of 10 year olds the experience we had. I think a tall starmie is gonna be a memorable and quirky part of the game for the kids playing it as their first Pokemon.
Starmie is fine but that logic is flawed. I hate "it's made for kids, so we can put less effort into it". I've been revisiting older children's media (both from my own childhood and before) and even when something was a blatant blatant ad for merch, it could still be good (see: transformers, gem and the holograms, DCAU, etc)
I didn't say less effort, and what do you even mean by effort? The visual complexity of the design doesn't matter to kids and never has
Yes, it does. Kids aren't as stupid as you think. If anything, I found my parents and much older sister seemed to never realize graphical difference across generations much. I could be playing any version of smash and they still would think it's the most recent version. The visual fidelity of pokemon games at this point are indefensible. And it's unfortunate because the designs, especially for the trainers, are top tier but aren't done complete justice in most cases. Sometimes seeing the model vs concept art is depressing.
I don't think the kind of effort you're describing correlates directly with enjoyment in younger audiences. A good design in low resolution or without visual complexity is basically always better (for any audience) than something less interesting with more polygons.
But they aren't achieving that still, that's the point I mean. I'm not a "hyper-realism = better" person. Quite the opposite. Some ps2 games look more appealing than modern games still imo because they took the restraints as a challenge. Favorite example is Okami. But also Jet Set Radio. They look amazing even now. Past few gens of Pokemon? Look dated at release, nevermind in 5+ years. I do think the designs (especially trainers) are peak though.
I mean they're probably lacking in some ways and I personally haven't been interested to play them but I've not been interested to play any other kids' games either
I mean the original Starmie is not a brilliant display of effort either.
I'm just sad they made it a physical attacker.
I don't like Pokemon ZA and I didn't buy it but I love Mega Starmie. I love everything about it.
[removed]
Hello, unfortunately your post/comment has been removed for containing a twitter/x link. Please remove it, or edit it to an xcancel link, and repost.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
I took Mega Starmie as the end result of him having an Ultraman yell for his battle cry is that his mega form looks like a dude in a suit ala Tokusatsu
I love Mega Starmie due to how cursed and stupid it looks XD
Not everyone who dislikes the design is some miserable, super angry person lmao. I personally think the design looks weird as hell but it is what it is. We got cooler looking megas so I'm not stressing it.
The designs for the new mega evolutions, especially Starmie, killed any excitement for the game and plans on buying it. I get Starmie is a reference but it looks to me like a shitpost made by someone mocking a low effort design. If you like them i'm glad for you, but for me I don't like it.
While I understood the reference GF is going for, I still found the design to be just lazy, might be fine if it is not Mega evolution but oh well
Why you picked Starmie and not Dragonite for this post is bigger drama than the Starmie drama. Did you see what they did to our tiny winged overlord?
Edit: For the apparently triggered people: This comment was sarcastic. Take a breath.
Be the change, bitch
I don't recall seeing a drop of excitement over ZA anywhere.
Mostly the correct response of "this looks like shit... again"
Ah Pokemon fans.... it's been shit since it left the DS, but I'm glad you are finally catching on!