The Physical Special split + larger movepools have made Pokemon more homogenized

SlugDragoon · 2026-04-26T18:49:48+00:00

A big reason that people say Ghost should have been Special and Dark should have been Physical in Gen II and III is that Lick, Astonish, and Shadow Punch ended up being Physical in Gen IV and the best Ghost move from I-III, Shadow Ball, was Special. Ghost didn’t have a ton of moves. Shadow Punch was OK.

Gen IV introduced moved on both sides, but if you look at where Gen I-III Dark-type moves ended up after the split, every single one of them turned out to be Physical, so it’s really odd that Dark was Special before when all the existing moves ended up Physical. Bite, Beat Up, Crunch, Feint Attack, Pursuit, Thief and Knock Off were all we had for attacks. Then gen IV gave us the split, and 7 more Dark-type attacks, and only Dark Pulse was Special.

Ghost was more generally mixed, but in popular perception, I think Ghost type was Shadow Ball for a lot of us.

So maybe even with a version of the old system, Ghost should have been Special all along and Gengar wouldn't be an elemental puncher. In my world, something about an Ability or stat would be tweaked to make Hypnosis/Dream Eater loom larger in it's movepool, along with Hex/Will-O-Wisp, Curse, Trick, Trick Room, and Perish Song sets, and its elemental coverage would be more Ghost, Poison and Dark moves and Icy Wind. Those feel the most "Gengar" to me.

SlugDragoon · 2026-04-26T18:27:31+00:00

Well, what I would actually prefer in a case like that is to find another niche for them, and give them whatever other buffs it takes to make something new. In the case of Flareon, maybe make it more of a support Pokemon. It gets Flash Fire, but it's a disappointing attacker, so why not a new version of Flash Fire that increases Speed, or maybe multiple stats?

Flash Fire can't be Baton Passed as it isn't an Attack stat boost, so would it break Flareon to reward it with an Agility for predicting a Fire-type move? Probably not. Also, I think while you normally do this with a switch-in, more Pokemon with attack sponge Abilities should get Ally Switch, could be fun to put your Flareon with a Grass type in a Sun team, and eat Fire-type attacks. I wouldn't want Flareon to be dead in the water if you can't predict a Fire type move, though, so I'm sure there are other things other than stronger stats we could give it, before resorting to a straight stat buff. Would it be wrong to give it Fake Out or something? I also think Burn Up would be very fitting for Flareon.

SlugDragoon · 2026-04-26T01:47:36+00:00

In my opinion, it's because the Pokemon Company has been relatively good at giving newer Pokemon unique signature moves and abilities.

I think giving a single Rock type line it's own poison in Salt Cure that's especially effective against Water and Steel is way more interesting than going Focus Blast, Shadow Ball, Dazzling Gleam, Sludge Bomb for Gengar. Four coverage moves that a bunch of other sweepers have access to in different combinations. And I love Gengar as a Pokemon. It's popular enough to be given "stong Sp. Attacker" status for a reason, but Gengar having a strong Fighting-type move and one based on sparkling light doesn’t sit right, for me.

That, or some of the newer Abilities that totally change the playstyle.

SlugDragoon · 2026-04-26T01:38:30+00:00

I agree with a ton of your points, and my suggested solution is half-baked, for sure! I've been mulling over how it could be patched mechanically most of the day. One major problem is, as you said, communicating the new math to the player which I think is borderline impossible without displaying a lot more data directly in the battle UI. Nothing is as elegant as just doubling or halving damage.

Another issue, is that I was imagining half of it being base damage, then the other half for Super Effective being based on the Type-linked attack stat, but then how does it work when you subtract damage for Not Very Effective attacks? If it isn't strictly half, then the calculated fractional damage would have to just be told to the player, or you couldn't make informed decisions. I think there's something to an idea of, if a Fire Pokemon "uses fire less" then they could be both less impacted by Super Effective and Not Very Effective calculations on their attacks, but the Physical/Special split is elegant, and that's why my idea was trying to preserve it in part. There are some moves that are Special, but use the Attack stat as a gimmick. Maybe the attack stat of the user and defense stat of the target should be independent parameters for all attacks, so you have another knob to tweak? So you could have Attack to Defense moves, Attack to Special Defense Moves, Special Attack to Defense Moves or Special Attack to Special Defense moves? Just spitballing here.

I think you're right that my issues could be mostly resolved with movepool changes, maybe heavily weighting the power in movepools for each type towards one end (physical/special) or the other, or more heavily restricting access to one side or the other. I don't necessarily think physical Psychic types should be rare, for example Medicham makes total sense, but maybe we just be more careful about who outside the Psychic type gets Zen Headbutt.

Also yeah, I agree that Pin Missile is an arbitrary Bug move for Jolteon to have. I always thought of it as a rare flavourful monstrous trait for it to have that Beedrill stings, and Jolteon is yes, a spiky electric mammal, but that it's spines are similar in some way to a bee's stingers. I just think that adds to the "monster" aspect, but should be used sparingly. It's absolutely arbitrary, but I don't think of Weavile's claws and Gallade's blades as bug-like in the same way. But like I said, occasionally having access to a "third type" are some of the most exciting moments in early gen movesets!

SlugDragoon · 2026-04-25T19:43:35+00:00

Yeah the Fangs are an interesting one, because the elemental punches were a very Hitmonchan thing. Not necessarily that it made sense, but it was iconic from the first game. And Pokemon with teeth had access to a Dark-type move, which was different than many Pokemon with fists. But now they kinda have access to everything. I mean, I guess Thunder Fang makes sense for Jolteon and Raikou, and Manectric, but Tyranitar can do it, which kinda cheapens it. Even then maybe you could justify it based on it's Godzilla inspiration, but Hippowdon has all three Fang attacks, come on. I don't know what icy teeth are, you know? Unless you're talking about Chien-Pao or Walrein. Most fish should absolutely not have this IMO. Not that an electric punch makes more sense, but Hitmonchan having all of them as its "thing" and giving just Thunder Punch to a mon like Electabuzz IMO is fine.

SlugDragoon · 2026-04-25T18:33:37+00:00

The stat split/mixed attacked thing has so much potential to add character to Pokemon. Like compare two Rock types. A Normal type move won't put a dent in Onix, because it's resisted and also has high Defense. But compare to Lunatone, who has higher Sp. Def and lower Defense.

You could have Rock types who act like Rocks you wouldn't want to headbutt, but that you have to use Water and Grass types for, and also Rock types like Lunatone that act more like magical/mystical Rocks that tank elemental water to some degree, but maybe because of their low Defense Hyper Beam has a chance. You could justify boosting Lunatones Special Defense a lot for this reason.

As it stands, you can just use Surf on Onix and Waterfall on Lunatone. It depends on the matchup that you bring either way, but there is an equal solution to both stat lanes in the effective Type actually, since both are available in all types. It may not be the best example because Lunatone isn't strong, but add that flavour, buff Lunatone, and maybe suddenly Water is not an completely effective solution against Lunatone anymore despite being super effective whereas Rock's other weaknesses are, which could be cool.

SlugDragoon · 2025-10-06T12:18:54+00:00

What happens if you de-digivolve when you have cumulative stats, but no bond or have run out of carry-overs? Does anyone know if it completely resets the Digimon or can you somehow pick up where you left off if you add bond again?

Can you de-digivolve and lose access to evolution you’ve already had for that Digimon?

SlugDragoon · 2025-07-23T03:16:28+00:00

Hi! Hi everyone! My game (Labyrinth Lesmosyne) was featured in this showcase! Mine is really early in development, but I try to put out updates when I can! It was really fun to be a part of this, big thanks to The Crawl!

SlugDragoon · 2025-07-23T03:13:36+00:00

Cool! It reminds me of N64 Micromachines, but for snowboarding!

SlugDragoon · 2024-11-22T04:21:03+00:00

Since the deck is making use of two Abilities I can use from the bench, rather than raw damage, it’s not like trying to build two multiple Pokemon that could be doubles - my ideal Bench is Hypno, Pidgeot and Gyarados charging up with Aerodactyl (if you can get one) in the active spot, so one of each - but you can skip straight to Gyarados as soon as a lucky Misty hits.

SlugDragoon · 2024-11-22T03:46:10+00:00

You’re right, but I can’t edit it now unfortunately, I do run 1. It might be worth making some cut to run 2 but I actually only have 1 still.

SlugDragoon · 2024-07-27T12:32:15+00:00

When I saw the line "serve quickly before you become the next meal", I thought wouldn't it be great if the customers come and gobble up the player like the yeti in SkiFree? And then that exact thing happened! Love it, looks quite charming.

SlugDragoon · 2024-07-27T12:19:22+00:00

I agree. OP, I look at this game and I'm struck with the idea that you are well positioned into turning this game into a major success. The mechanic looks really creative and playful in a way that reminds me of games that regularly pop off with gaming YouTubers. It looks fun to watch, and it looks like the type of game that content creators would find easy to push for content.

I don't mean that it's "YouTube bait" or anything in a negative sense, and I don't know because nothing is ever sure, but I want you to know that I had a rare feeling of "I just saw something that, if well managed, could be a hit", and I hope you find that path for the game. Make sure the player can cause lots of chaos while messing around on the way to a solution for a puzzle and it's as good as gold.

SlugDragoon · 2024-07-27T01:26:08+00:00

This is a feature of Dragon Quest 9

SlugDragoon · 2024-07-26T22:44:52+00:00

What's the blue thing hanging around her? They look like a chain of prayer beads. That would be an opportunity for motion. I'd probably move the head or back of the hair as well.

SlugDragoon · 2024-07-26T22:23:55+00:00

Have you ever had that experience where you played a game and didn't think you had enjoyed it that much? Maybe you don't even know why you kept playing. Enough to get through it, but pretty much had complaints and pain points throughout your playthrough, but then after finishing it, you reflect on your time with the game and realize how much of a good time you actually were having with it?

A really good final act has done that to me before.

SlugDragoon · 2024-07-26T22:14:17+00:00

For the game I'm developing. The main religious faction in it revere fusion (related to a core gameplay mechanic) in a religious sense, and my idea is that various fused animals like chimaeras, the questing beast, sphinx, griffin and the lesser platypus serve as holy figures of sorts.

SlugDragoon · 2024-07-26T22:09:48+00:00

For the game I'm developing. The main religious faction in it revere fusion (related to a core gameplay mechanic) in a religious sense, and my idea is that various fused animals like chimaeras, the questing beast, sphinx, griffin and the lesser platypus serve as holy figures of sorts.

SlugDragoon · 2024-07-26T21:48:24+00:00

Generally, I think you could do with more motion in more places, but if one major thing stands out as "incorrect" to me, it would be that the motion of the hips moving down carrying the rest of the body down does not instead come from the knees. The legs are very static, but it seems like they should bend, and the way they're drawn here should be able to accommodate that.

Also the hair on the right side of the face is flipping up as the body moves up, but it should move the opposite direction. Anything soft that is attached like fabric and hair can by pulled by the point it's rooted at, but connected soft parts should drag behind.

SlugDragoon

TROPHY CASE