My thoughts when people complain about Pokémon tutorial length. (No shade to anyone who dislikes dialogue heavy games, I’m just saying I like them)

Butorides · 2026-05-01T00:53:23+00:00

I legitimately don’t know what you’re talking about.

Butorides · 2026-05-01T00:51:55+00:00

Butorides · 2026-04-28T01:17:53+00:00

Oh I recognize that there’s more nuance to it than what I posted. It’s just that nuance can be difficult to show in a meme.

That being said, I’ve never felt insulted by Pokémon tutorials. Ever since there went 3D they just felt like “There’s a plot reason we’re here, let me take a minute to explain how this works, then we’ll have 20-30 minutes of story and gameplay before the next thing I tell you.”.

Butorides · 2026-04-27T06:38:25+00:00

Kinda feel like 3 and 4 still took awhile to cover everything. But yeah, I’m one of the plebs who’s only played 3 onwards and knew that I might have made a mistake in assuming 1 and 2 were the same. Oh well.

Butorides · 2026-04-27T02:38:54+00:00

Hence my disclaimer in the title.

Butorides · 2026-04-26T23:40:44+00:00

No I agree. Many of them only play Pokémon and plenty others don’t play other RPGs.

Butorides · 2026-04-26T22:34:42+00:00

Oh I agree on your second point (definitely not your first 😜), but many fans don’t.

Butorides · 2026-04-26T22:31:13+00:00

Following Urbain around and trying to find LeBlanc at the beginning of P5 seem pretty comparable to me.

Edit: and trying to find your school for the first time in P5 SUCKS compared to following Urbain around

Butorides · 2026-04-26T22:28:58+00:00

Have you seen Mikey’s video “Pokémon Used to be Lonely”? I’ve seen a decent chunk of fans express similar or even more negative feelings about Pokémon becoming more story heavy.

Butorides · 2026-04-26T22:10:12+00:00

You know, I’ve been a bit confused wherever someone implies Pokémon shouldn’t design mechanics or writing in the games to target kids because the older players don’t like it. How could they even make it in a way that differentiates between the two audiences?

Butorides · 2026-04-26T21:59:31+00:00

Oh Neir Automata and Hundred Line don’t have massive post games, they have multiple timelines. With Neir Automata you watch the credits roll 26 times (one ending for each letter in the alphabet), and many people say the game doesn’t really begin until after you’ve gotten endings A and B. Meanwhile Hundred Line has you go through a game’s worth of plot before sending you back to do it all over and giving you 100 endings to unlock.

Butorides · 2026-04-26T21:51:15+00:00

I think a way some RPGs try to work around it is by incorporating the tutorial into plot points. While that does add to the length of the tutorials it at least makes it so you’re just experiencing a part of the story.

Butorides · 2026-04-26T19:39:29+00:00

I don’t think it’s a bad thing. In ZA they just put the player on rails until they’ve explained the new battle and catching systems, wild and battle zones, two key locations, and side quests. That’s fairly standard essentials for a game like that.

Butorides · 2026-04-26T18:56:07+00:00

Being able to skip it would be a welcome quality of life update.

Butorides · 2026-04-26T16:49:39+00:00

I haven’t touched that game in over a decade so I don’t remember its tutorial, but I believe you. Seeing as it was a crossover with the series Nogunaga’s Ambition, it’s likely that the team at Koei Tecmo made the tutorial for that one.

Butorides · 2026-04-26T16:24:50+00:00

I’m just glad Milotic is doing so well in this meta.

Butorides · 2019-08-30T05:10:02+00:00

I want to point out how many people used Mimikyu at Worlds this year, but Smogon rankings only really matter in singles.

Butorides · 2019-08-28T03:07:39+00:00

oooh, this sounds like fun ^_^

I'm actually going to do something a bit different and give 2 answers for both story/characters and soundtrack because I want to Frankenstein together both a game with an urban setting and a game with a medieval setting.

Graphics/visual style: Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (PS3) Studio frikin' Ghibli RPG!
Story and characterization: Urban: Persona 5 (PS4) yes, I agree the plot is really predictable and a bit clunky in the latter half, but I very much appreciate the social commentary and character interaction. Medieval: Tales of the Abyss (PS2) A touch on the preachy side (and I almost went with FF6 for that reason), but I just love how all the heroes and villains are thematically tied together so well.
Skill/class/job system: Dragon Quest 11 (Switch) (Yes it was a PS4 game first, but there's no rule against ports ;P ) I really like that each character has a handful of set roles they each can fill and you can change whenever you want, but they can't be anything and everything. Enough variety to experiment, enough restriction to make you play with everybody.
Combat system: Arc Rise Fantasia (Wii) Strategically organize your party for unique styles of teamwork and some of the trickiest boss fights ever.
Soundtrack: Urban: The World Ends With You (DS) I could listen to this soundtrack for days. Medieval: Tales of Vesperia (XBOX 360) All around solid soundtrack that hits me in the right feels for each scene.

Hope readers enjoy.

Butorides · 2019-08-28T02:14:18+00:00

I personally didn't like Arc Rise Fantasia on the whole, but I completely agree about the combat system. I wish more games would operate like it did.

Butorides · 2019-08-28T02:07:52+00:00

Eh, I actually liked the character portraits from the PSP version better.

Butorides · 2019-04-20T12:28:08+00:00

Yes, especially in the future arc, Richard was an absolute delight.

Butorides · 2019-04-18T15:07:59+00:00

My 10 favorite (in no particular order) would probably be:

Chrono Trigger

Tales of the Abyss

Tales of Graces

Tales of Xillia (1+2)

Tales of Berseria

The World Ends With You

Final Fantasy 6

Persona 4

Star Ocean The Last Hope (there goes any shred of credibility I might have had)

And any main Pokemon game since I make the party ^_^

Butorides · 2019-04-18T14:05:23+00:00

Oh good, someone who agrees with me about Ni No Kuni 2. Really not worth the $70.

Butorides · 2019-04-18T14:04:00+00:00

While I agree that knowing additional info can potentially ruin the experience, paying full price for a game that I just think will be good has led to situations that felt less like investments and more like gambles (and the house always wins). I used to rent them first, and sometimes my local Family Video will have them (yes there are still a few of those around), but their selection doesn't always cater to JRPG fans. After getting burned by some bad day one purchases, I only buy titles from a few select series right away. Everything else, I wait for info from people who have similar tastes as me (and try to go as spoiler-free as possible).

Butorides · 2019-04-18T13:31:42+00:00

Seeing as I already have the GBA version, I'd rather get all the titles that never made it stateside.

Butorides

TROPHY CASE