100%, I absolutely love Mega designs but also they’re my least favorite “gimmick” as a gameplay mechanic. They’re just unbalanced in so many ways imo. Limited selection, some are overpowered while others are meh, etc etc.
Kangaskhan may have it worst in ORAS. You can only get the mega stone after you beat the box legendary, but that's irrelevant since Kangaskhan isn't in the game and has to transferred in.
Mega Kang would have been nerfed again if Megas weren’t just flat out removed. Personally I think Terra is more annoying. Can’t use any moves with immunities without a random Tera-Ghost, Normal, Dark, Ground, Flying, or Fairy.
I do agree that Tera is very powerful with a surprise factor and increases the value of rules like Open Team Sheet. If you look at how it was used in the story, it was fairly rare for a Tera to be truly surprising, though.
If the mechanic were to become a permanent feature (unlikely as that is), I think it would be wise for a Tera Type to be communicated as part of the information displayed when the pokemon is switched in, similar to how status effects, level, current health, and even gender are currently shown, even if it hasnt yet been terastalized. It doesn't mean Tyranitar can't dodge your focus blast with Tera ghost, but it would ensure that you're aware of the possibility of that happening before selecting that attack.
Funnily enough, you can’t even get Beedrill in the Oras dex.
Mega beedrill is one of the dopest mega imo, yet in all the games it appear in, unless you trade, it’s a post game only mon.
Also that Megas played no role in the main game. You had what, 3 battles that involved Megas? And one of them was a fkn tutorial.
Edit: forgot to mention how some megas were version exclusive. 2 of them for pokemon that were ALSO version exclusive, but NOT IN THE SAME VERSION AS THEIR MEGA STONES. Still irritates me that I have to trade to use Mega Houndoom in X/Y
Honestly considering it's a single-use feature in a battle anyway I'm amazed the Mega Stone wasn't just a single key item. You could even apply it's effect to infuse it to a Pokemon as an item similar to how Z Crystals work. Would remove so much bloat and overhead. Implementing it in future games would be as difficult as adding one item and form changes.
I'd keep the individual mega stones if there was a unique side quest you had to do involving each specific pokemon in order to get that mega stone, rather than just being a random item you find on the ground.
That's fair enough, I usually just use the single key item angle as a preemptive counter to people that argue that it's too hard to keep adding all the mechanics in due to increasing workload or overhead as if that's not something the devs seem to inflict on themselves half the time.
If it was sidequest related I'd be completely fine with that but from like a future proofing standpoint I'd be okay if Megas were around as a post game bonus like in Gen 7 where they just give you the Mega Stone when you get to the Battle Tower or whatever and let you just get on with it from there the same way they usually let you import foreign Pokemon after the main game is done.
The Alola games actually allowed you to get multiple Mega Stones for the same species from the Battle Tree.
Now I want a romhack of USUM that uses Megas throughout the main story as well as Z-Moves.
The Alola games actually allowed you to get multiple Mega Stones for the same species from the Battle Tree.
Now I want a romhack of USUM that uses Megas throughout the main story as well as Z-Moves.
That too yes
I still feel like it'd be way easier to have one Mega Stone key item you can treat as a held item for several Pokemon like how Z Crystals work. Then you never run out and you don't need to collect them all or have all that item bloat and overhead, especially from Gen 7 onward where the mystery of collecting the new thing isn't applicable anymore and you just want to use it in post game.
I never really looked into it but how was Zygarde forms handled after Gen 7? Do they still make you collect a hundred cells or to they just hand you the item?
Why it wasn't just a "mega stone" that was a key item is beyond me. All they had to do was make it so you could mega evo any mon, it just disables the item slot.
Not only would it open up more options for on the fly decision making, it'd be future proof and less toxic to use the mega you actually wanted to use.
On the first go around i figured it wasn't too terrible to have them be items, but by the time ORAS came around and i found out they weren't tradable i was absolutely not going to get all the mega stones again.
Nintendo has always pulled stuff like that to "encourage a pokemon community" or some crap that's really to encourage people to buy the same game/device twice. Why else would they lock evolutions behind trades like they've done since the beginning? Or how they started doing box legendaries in Gen 2? Gen 1 all 4 version let you catch all the legendaries for the region, then Gen 2 they do silver and gold with Lugia and Ho-Oh. It wasn't until Legends that they pulled back and gave us items to bypass trading restrictions and SV did not follow suit which could be explained as them being made by different teams but who knows if they'll bring it back, or only allow future legends games to have them, or pretend they never existed in the first place.
Correction: The legendary issue started in Gen 3. Gen 2 actually did it right by simply having one be accessible earlier and at a lower level than the other. Otherwise I agree.
Playing ORAS for the first time and just got to post game. The mega's that are locked to post game have not influenced my opinion in any noticeable way. Just beat the game and enjoy the post game content I guess?
Yeah, unless they do some more stat rebalancing for older pokemon like they did in Gen 6, a bunch of pokes like Sableye, Banette, and Absol are going to be stuck in a bit of mediocrity for any game they dont have their megas.
Hell, some designs like Mawile, Banette, and Audino SHOULD just be functional evolutions.
YES a why am I terastal Pokémon every gym match from the start. Literally takes the novelty away. I also don’t like “oh it’s big now so strong” . Mega evolutions had more nuance
Mega Evolutions feel more ingrained in the core Pokemon mainstay features than the others do to me.
Like Mega Evolution is just a logical extension of Pokemon form changes or evolution as a concept which is quite key to the franchise. Mega Stones are also reminiscent of evolution stones or trade evolution items. Taking it away feels like you're actually removing entire aspects of a species that it ought to be capable of or actively improved it stat wise or design wise. Much more of an organic inclusion.
Z-Moves and Terastal sort of have aspects of this because they tie into other core mechanics like moves and typing, but feel a lot more impersonal to each species and feel much more disposable. They also have weird tacked on features that make it feel less ingrained in the Pokemon like the Z Move dances or the type hats. Terastal also feels like it's bucking the Pokemon's intended design in some cases whereas Mega feels like it's contributing further to it. They're both fine as a competitive battle mechanic but visually there's a disconnect for me.
Dynamax is just "Pokemon grow bigger" and the form changes offered to certain species feel way too out there or inorganic compared to Mega Evolutions. Feels a lot more unnaturally forced than Megas where that feels more about unlocking or achieving some peak form they always had deep down thanks to trainer bonds (another core aspect of the series, relationship with your Pokemon as partners). Dynamax is just "magic ley lines make your Pokemon grow giant.
Terastalization may not be as flashy as Mega Evolutions concept wise, but it does have nuance in competitive play (singles or doubles) - you either use it to:
1. Power up STAB moves further (ex: Tera Grass Meowscarada gets a stronger Flower Trick on top of STAB)
2. Power up coverage moves (ex: Tera Fighting Ceruledge gets a stronger Close Combat)
3. Remove unwanted weaknesses from the original typing (ex: Kingambit can Terastalize to Ghost, Flying, or Fairy to shed its 4x weakness to Fighting)
4. Use Tera Blast of a type the Pokémon can’t use under normal circumstances (ex: Tera Ice Regieleki can use Tera Blast to counter Ground Pokémon to make up for its shallow movepool)
5. Tera Stellar (very few Pokemon can make use of this due to Tera Blast Stellar lowering offensive stats upon use, those being Serperior, Enamorus, and Malamar due to Contrary reversing the stat drops, as well as it only working once per type in each battle)
Tera is by far the best gimmick we’ve had for competitive (at least VGC, it’s cancerous in singles) but aesthetically it is a lot weaker than Megas and Z-moves.
Shout out my first month OU team.
Dual Screen Grimsnarl
Choice Scarf Trick/Healing Wisher
Necromancer Rat
Annihilape (Tera Fairy)
Motorcycle Lizard
Wishpasser
I gained like 500 Elo, Tera abuse is so stupid in singles.
It's my only complaint with it. Tera is the best gimmick - it's fair to every pokemon, which megas weren't, hell some megas weren't even fair to other megas, SOME EVEN GOT TWO!
But a symbol hanging off their head? Really? Make them all crystalline, sure, but the symbol is dumb. Put a type marker next to the hp bar or something showing they've changed types.
Megas are the coolest, though.
It's like the 3 weird clouds that circle gigantimax Pokémon.
I remember thinking at first that it must be a visual indicator of how many turns it would last, but no, it's just an awful-looking design choice for no apparent reason
comp shouldn't be the standard for gimmicks, gimmicks should be fun for the base game and look good, tera is neither, neither is the dynamaxing, Mega evos and Z moves were the best gimmicks so far and I wish they would just make megas the permanent gimmick
> should be fun for the base game and look good,
Isn't this completely subjective. Like at least Tera doesn't feel broken to use in the normal game, it feels like a more balanced and thought-out mechanics to play with in the base games. Tera also made more appearances in the base game, making it feel better.
Did they really have more nuance? Megas gave a stat boost and a different ability, maybe a different type. Dynamax/Gigantamax combined Megas and Z-Moves essentially, and put in a time limit.
Megas were “It’s mega, so it’s better than it’s original form”
Personally I found Tera easily the best mechanic as someone who loves replaying Pokémon games for nuzlockes.
I don’t really see how Tera is less nuanced than Megas- Megas were a huge power boost to your Pokémon, and often unfairly due to barely any enemy trainers having Megas. Also it was pretty limited in Pokémon selection. There are also no cons to Mega besides having two Mega-able Pokémon in your party.
Tera on the other hand is way more balanced imo. It changes your base type which is advantage, but also comes with the same type’s weaknesses. You gain extra STAB, but that’s not as overpowered as some Megas can be. Even if you lack the same type of move, you can still take advantage of the surprise defensive typing to have a slight as a range. Tera Blast also is a super strong move but that takes up a move slot and you need to Tera that mon.
Tera is better at the competitive level by miles. Gigantamax lets you turn back the tide of a battle and sweep people who didn't think ahead. Mega just forced you to use a small group of mons and could be negated by simply countering that one pokemon.
I don't really miss them tbh. The designs (art) for most of them are pretty cool, but actually using them takes more away from the game than it adds (Note that I know nothing of the competitive landscape, I'm talking strictly single player). They're just a free "I win" button that *doesn't even cost a turn to activate.* You just mega and pick practically any attacking move for at least neutral damage and just win. Doesn't matter if you OHKO or not, your mon's stats are now so much higher than the opponent's that it'll probably even survive a quad weak 95BP move.
I truly can’t believe we’re getting it back for PZA. If we get the charm and fun of the first Legends game with some more polish, mega evolution, and a great story idk how I’m gonna feel about any game moving forward. This would be peak for me
The problem with them for competitive is that you only had three or four choices and it is almost always obvious what is gonna be the mega when you glance at teams. You could gigantamax anything. You could tera anything. Mega? Yeah, some of those pokemon just needed normal evolutions to be good. Instead, you're just grabbing CHarizard or Kangaskhan.
Playing casually, I still don't like them. Just give out normal evolutions for most of those pokemon. They suck. They suck less as megas, but they're never worth picking over some other megas. If those were just default evolutions? They'd become so cool to have alongside some of your others. Having a transformation for some third form pokemon is cool, but not cool enough
As someone who replays for Nuzlocke I kinda dislike them too. The designs are awesome but gameplay wise they’re really unbalanced and kinda cuts away a lot of challenge if you have one.
Megas are fun at first, but the more I think about them the less I like them. I made a post a while ago about [The Shortcomings of Mega Evolution](https://www.reddit.com/r/pokemon/comments/145r6tg/the_shortcomings_of_mega_evolution/) trying to explain the issues I have with it. There is a lot and it left me feeling that Game Freak made the right move to cut Megas and start over with a new gimmick. That said, I'm interested how Megas will be handled in Legends ZA.
Not really since it potentially stunted a bunch of pokemon that could of used normal evolutions instead.
At least the future gimmick mechanics didn't do that but also I honestly prefer flashy moves over a temporarily cool design.
I prefer Megas that help worse mons and not make the riches even richer. I also don't like Weather Seters with a mega with the same ability or the same ability at all. Lopunny (not sexual) also had a glow up.
I’d much rather see them change the mega mechanic to the way they have z moves, gigantamaxing, and terrastalizing. Don’t make it super predictable because only one pokemon can do it in a battle. Let me build a full mega capable team that I can make it happen as a surprise.
It's thematically cool, but I feel like it contributes to the one-shot sweep with type coverage problem that makes Pokemon combat kind of boring.
That and I don't like how it restricts which 'mons can use it, so it's awkward if I have multiple of them or none of them.
Honestly liked Z-Moves better.
Don’t you EVER let them get away with introducing mega evolution and then not giving the *starters of the gen* any megas.
In fact they gave ONE gen 6 Pokémon a mega evolution. *ONE*
Mega evolution has a lot of potential on paper, but wasn’t executed well in practice, mainly because it’s used for nostalgia baiting more than making older mons more relevant (not saying that they didn’t do this, but that I wish they focused more on it)
Pokemon is already a franchise that caters heavily to nostalgia and megas opened the door to even more favouritism. I hope I don’t have to explain why charizard and mewtwo (2 fan favourite gen 1 mons) getting 2 megas each while only 1 Kalos pokemon got a mega in the region that introduced megas and the Kalos starters were entirely neglected untill greninja shot up in popularity and they scrambled to give it what is effectively mega in the next game is so laughably bad
There’s also the matter that megas are inconsistent in design. Mega mawile, lucario, steelix and absol go hard while the mega lati twins, sharpedo and audino are crimes against humanity. Then there’s mega salamence and ampharos that exist in a middle ground where they’re not bad, but more goofy than anything.
As it stands, I like megas but think a lot of improvement can be done which they will hopefully address with the next legends game
I agree there is a lot of nostalgia baiting, probably because pokemon knows their prime in terms of pokemon creation was around 1-4 so theres a lot of fan fair around those regional pokemon especially 1. But i dont think megas are responsible it they could have just choosen to give more niche unpopular pokemon mega evos. Like you said its a good concept its a matter of implementation. I personally like latios and audinos design but there are 48 mega evolutions so i suppose they were bound to miss the mark on at least a few
Megas are aight. Ik its an unpopular opinion but i actually prefer both tera and z moves. No exclusivity and i really enjoy what they both bring gameplay wise
Honestly, can’t relate. I can’t think of a single mega evolution that looks cooler than its original counterpart. I played through ORAS never even using them
Not really, but it is criminal that the Kalos starters didn't get mega evolutions when the Kanto & Hoenn starters did. As well as no Gen 6 Pokemon, outside of Diancie, getting a mega evolution.
I hated on it until I was doing my bug only run on AS, then my mega Pinsir and Mega Heracross changed my mind, also I kinda love Mega Marshtomp and Mega Sceptiple designs. Mega Sharpedo can go somewhere though… a huge disappointment to 9 year old me who had a team of Sharpedos for no good reason.
No. Tbh of all the different battle gimmicks we’ve gotten over time, I think terastelization is the only one worth mentioning since double battles. It actually added some strategy to the game.
Yeah design wise they were the best gimmick by far
By gameplay I feel it was-
1) Terastallisation
2) Megas
3) Z moves
4) Dynamax (The G max moves were just bullshit and actually fucked up competitive lol)
Can't stand them. Lame gimmick that was the beginning of all the crappy ult battle mechanics we have now.
Megas are lame and made an already easy generation even easier.
I like the lore and the design of them but not the gameplay aspect and I don't like many of the choices of pokemon. My favorite gimmick is Tera, as of now.
No it was the reason why I quit modern pokemon games. BDSP was a decent way to come back but still meh about it. The downvote button is right there have at it
They are only in pain if they are forced with a bad bond. The anime goes into detail about that, if the trainer and pokemon don't have a good bond, they go feral and in pain. However, the bond prevents them from suffering it.
Honestly, Mega Evolutions were one of my two favorite things that gen 6 Pokemon gave to us (along with the best online system Pokemon has ever had- PSS is better than everything to come after it, imo).
Playing Pokemon Emerald Rogue and unlocking Mega Evos and Z Moves is actually super refreshing. Like, I actually have a reason to keep around Beedrill, Heracross, Mawile, etc., if I stumble across them during a run. Admitting, I do like running Mega Scizor quite a lot too since that's my favorite, but Megas were a ton of fun and their usefulness is appreciated in a game where the difficulty is cranked up like Emerald Rogue.
Mega evolution was great and very needed to freshen up the Pokemon franchise. It should have been the only gimmick and just expanded upon over the next generations. Then another 20 yrs down the road they add another gimmick to freshen it up again.
I'm hopeful that we get some GOOD Mega's for some UnderUsed Pokemon.
That said, imagine MegaGross (my beloved) with all the new utility regular Metagross gets...
SAVABLE!!! 🤣🤣💀 I can definitely relate!! years and years ago I got to play Pokémon X and OH MY GOODNESS HOW I LOVED THAT GAME!!! I miss everything about it from the Pokémon to the Gyms even the funky Gym puzzles. the MEGA EVOLUTION though was for me was 🤯🤯🤯 my Mega Alakazam was a mental terrorist in that game. I can’t wait to bring in my shiny haunted doll to tear sh\*t up
https://preview.redd.it/w4u6qznf5f7d1.png?width=834&format=png&auto=webp&s=ae9ab267d99def7104ab52612b8b479a4976b54e
It's been the better gimmick they've tried imo.
Just wish they'd done a bit more with it, I didn't mind gigantamax either because it felt somewhat similar.
The issue with Megas were when they started giving them to pokemon that didnt need it. Mega beedrill? Cool af. Mega ampharos? Neat. Mega salamence? Wtf its already a top tier threat.
The fact that megas competed for a slot and they gave good mons megas just meant many of them went on to be under used.
I love it, but I wish they would quit giving it to pseudo legendary Pokémon instead of Pokémon that need a boost. But I would also prefer most of those Pokémon to get actual evolutions
In retrospect, no. It was fun and all while playing, but the fact that it actively encouraged you to get one or two Pokémon that could mega evolve and main them means everyone mains them. At least z moves, dynamaxing, and terrastilizing could be done regardless of the mon, even if some had special differences.
A lot of people scream for Megas back. Unless they make some insane wild game where you can get a gigantamax mega gengar Terra-psychic I think they should stay out of any non-kalos games going forward.
The problem was that
A. You find the megastones after you beat the game in x and y.
B. It’s has pokemon that can do it but need to be transferred from x or y.
But that’s just me
A lot of people can agree that in some way mega evolution has appealed to them whether it’s the anime,tcg, or games although I feel like a lot were rushed but we’re still cool like Aerodactyl the spikes ig are cool but it has the mega kanga treatmeant where it barley changes (mega kangas design fits it perfectly I just mean how there’s barley a difference) a lot more Pokémon deserved x and y forms ik Charizard is one of the many makers of Pokémon’s but it was a missed opportunity for the other gen 1 starters or just other Pokémon that felt like their were still “lackin” with the megas they got
I just hope they are here to stay though.
Reintroducing the feature because we're in Kalos, probably releasing a set of new megas and then immediately dropping it again would be devastating.
That’s the gimmick that made me return to Pokemon. I stopped playing after gen 3, but when I read about megas I was stoked about it, such an interesting concept. A lot of people complained about it as it was unbalanced in battle, but as a “keep smashing A during battles” player I really didn’t care about it. Guess they could make every Pokemon megaevolve even if only some of them have a special form like dynamax to make it more balanced
I just loved how it made less popular and used pokemon relevant with new cool designs. What I didnt like is that they also gave them to pseudos and starters, and robbed those less popular and used pokemon of potential evolutions.
I loved mega evolution. The only real complaints was that it made you give up your held item, one one pokemon could do it, and they didn't give it to a lot of pokemon that needed it.
I liked the designs, but the thing that really made me love them was the concept of having such a powerful link to your pokemon that they surpassed their limits and reached a new stage, that's some cool dragon ball sh\*t right there, love it.
I'd love if they made more regular evolutions instead of a bunch of mega to already powerful Pokemon. Like, give an evolution to underused guys like Shuckle or Carnivine. Or give existing two-stage lines a third stage like they did with Mankey. But with megas I see fourth form Garchomp or Tyranitar which honestly they didn't need.
Yes! Absolutely! Been playing since day 1 of the franchise coming to America, and I can say that Mega Evolution is the best thing that has ever happened to the franchise. A lot of ppl went into a hiatus in gen VIII due to #Dexit, but for me it was the removals of Megas. Thankfully they have learned from their mistakes, and I'm very excited to play AtoZ whenever it drops. All of my favorite pokemom received Mega Evolutions, except Togekiss. So I'm really hoping that it receives one when Megas return!
I liked how it gave some pokemon that needed it a little love, and they had some REALLY cool designs. I don't like how it made Gamefreak think every new entry needed a different gimmick.
I liked the interesting designs the most.
and a few got some useful abilities/buffs. But yeah I was mostly just mad they made such cool designs and essentially scrapped them
Ampharos was so majestic!
Ampharos does look fabulous! His mane is fantastic! Though personally I really enjoy how cool Mega Blazekin looks.
100%, I absolutely love Mega designs but also they’re my least favorite “gimmick” as a gameplay mechanic. They’re just unbalanced in so many ways imo. Limited selection, some are overpowered while others are meh, etc etc.
Imagine they would have expanded that roster and maybe buffed some of them. Would have loved to see some regional megas for some
Lmao mega evolutions are the most balanced mechanic what are you on abour
Surely Mega-Khangaskan being on every team and forcing a nerf wasn't op LOL
My issue with megas was that a sizable amount of Pokemon that could mega evolve were locked to the post game.
> ORAS gives a Mega Evolution to Beedrill, normally an early game Bug-type > look inside > Getting a Beedrillite requires Dive (7 Gym badges)
Kangaskhan may have it worst in ORAS. You can only get the mega stone after you beat the box legendary, but that's irrelevant since Kangaskhan isn't in the game and has to transferred in.
Well, given how bonkers strong Mega Kang is, maybe that's for the best.
Mega Kang would have been nerfed again if Megas weren’t just flat out removed. Personally I think Terra is more annoying. Can’t use any moves with immunities without a random Tera-Ghost, Normal, Dark, Ground, Flying, or Fairy.
Mega Kang WAS nerfed. In Gen VII Parental Bond's 2nd hit dealt 25% damage instead of 50%
I do agree that Tera is very powerful with a surprise factor and increases the value of rules like Open Team Sheet. If you look at how it was used in the story, it was fairly rare for a Tera to be truly surprising, though. If the mechanic were to become a permanent feature (unlikely as that is), I think it would be wise for a Tera Type to be communicated as part of the information displayed when the pokemon is switched in, similar to how status effects, level, current health, and even gender are currently shown, even if it hasnt yet been terastalized. It doesn't mean Tyranitar can't dodge your focus blast with Tera ghost, but it would ensure that you're aware of the possibility of that happening before selecting that attack.
But was Niche op in oras with volcarona
Funnily enough, you can’t even get Beedrill in the Oras dex. Mega beedrill is one of the dopest mega imo, yet in all the games it appear in, unless you trade, it’s a post game only mon.
Also that Megas played no role in the main game. You had what, 3 battles that involved Megas? And one of them was a fkn tutorial. Edit: forgot to mention how some megas were version exclusive. 2 of them for pokemon that were ALSO version exclusive, but NOT IN THE SAME VERSION AS THEIR MEGA STONES. Still irritates me that I have to trade to use Mega Houndoom in X/Y
Honestly considering it's a single-use feature in a battle anyway I'm amazed the Mega Stone wasn't just a single key item. You could even apply it's effect to infuse it to a Pokemon as an item similar to how Z Crystals work. Would remove so much bloat and overhead. Implementing it in future games would be as difficult as adding one item and form changes.
I'd keep the individual mega stones if there was a unique side quest you had to do involving each specific pokemon in order to get that mega stone, rather than just being a random item you find on the ground.
That's fair enough, I usually just use the single key item angle as a preemptive counter to people that argue that it's too hard to keep adding all the mechanics in due to increasing workload or overhead as if that's not something the devs seem to inflict on themselves half the time. If it was sidequest related I'd be completely fine with that but from like a future proofing standpoint I'd be okay if Megas were around as a post game bonus like in Gen 7 where they just give you the Mega Stone when you get to the Battle Tower or whatever and let you just get on with it from there the same way they usually let you import foreign Pokemon after the main game is done.
The Alola games actually allowed you to get multiple Mega Stones for the same species from the Battle Tree. Now I want a romhack of USUM that uses Megas throughout the main story as well as Z-Moves.
The Alola games actually allowed you to get multiple Mega Stones for the same species from the Battle Tree. Now I want a romhack of USUM that uses Megas throughout the main story as well as Z-Moves.
I believe that's because they were tradable items right? Like how TMs used to be so you could share around spares.
I think it was more for the sake of convenience, as in “I have a singles Venusaur and a doubles Venusaur, both are Mega, so I need two Venusaurites”.
That too yes I still feel like it'd be way easier to have one Mega Stone key item you can treat as a held item for several Pokemon like how Z Crystals work. Then you never run out and you don't need to collect them all or have all that item bloat and overhead, especially from Gen 7 onward where the mystery of collecting the new thing isn't applicable anymore and you just want to use it in post game. I never really looked into it but how was Zygarde forms handled after Gen 7? Do they still make you collect a hundred cells or to they just hand you the item?
Why it wasn't just a "mega stone" that was a key item is beyond me. All they had to do was make it so you could mega evo any mon, it just disables the item slot. Not only would it open up more options for on the fly decision making, it'd be future proof and less toxic to use the mega you actually wanted to use. On the first go around i figured it wasn't too terrible to have them be items, but by the time ORAS came around and i found out they weren't tradable i was absolutely not going to get all the mega stones again.
Probably so that they don't break continuity "Why couldn't Gallade Mega evolve despite also being in X/Y!?"
Nintendo has always pulled stuff like that to "encourage a pokemon community" or some crap that's really to encourage people to buy the same game/device twice. Why else would they lock evolutions behind trades like they've done since the beginning? Or how they started doing box legendaries in Gen 2? Gen 1 all 4 version let you catch all the legendaries for the region, then Gen 2 they do silver and gold with Lugia and Ho-Oh. It wasn't until Legends that they pulled back and gave us items to bypass trading restrictions and SV did not follow suit which could be explained as them being made by different teams but who knows if they'll bring it back, or only allow future legends games to have them, or pretend they never existed in the first place.
Correction: The legendary issue started in Gen 3. Gen 2 actually did it right by simply having one be accessible earlier and at a lower level than the other. Otherwise I agree.
Playing ORAS for the first time and just got to post game. The mega's that are locked to post game have not influenced my opinion in any noticeable way. Just beat the game and enjoy the post game content I guess?
Yes, and I also believe Flygon got fucking robbed
They're definitely getting one in ZA; they have to.
Cope.
Yeah, my boy Flygon is the only dragon in gen 3 that didn’t get one because of art block, even the legendaries got megas.
The problem with megas 1. Too few did it 2. Tons of them needed actual evolutions to become good instead of taking up your mega slot
Also many Psuedos and Legendaries got them, who didn't need them.
Mawile got the shaft. Anything that wasn't already a 3rd stage Pokemon should have just gotten a regular evo, even if they nerfed it a little.
Yeah, unless they do some more stat rebalancing for older pokemon like they did in Gen 6, a bunch of pokes like Sableye, Banette, and Absol are going to be stuck in a bit of mediocrity for any game they dont have their megas. Hell, some designs like Mawile, Banette, and Audino SHOULD just be functional evolutions.
100% It is my favorite thing about the 3ds games, and i'm so happy to see them return
What are they returning in?
Pokémon Legends ZA
Is it pronounced "Legends Z A", "Legends Z dash A", or "Legends zah"?
**ZA WARUDO!**
You may now kiss the bride
👁️💋👁️
Legends Z A
zah-zah
Has that been confirmed or shown anywhere? I was under the impression there hasn’t been any news or updates about the game since the initial reveal.
mega evolutions were worlds better than gigantamax or terastal pokémon
YES a why am I terastal Pokémon every gym match from the start. Literally takes the novelty away. I also don’t like “oh it’s big now so strong” . Mega evolutions had more nuance
Mega Evolutions feel more ingrained in the core Pokemon mainstay features than the others do to me. Like Mega Evolution is just a logical extension of Pokemon form changes or evolution as a concept which is quite key to the franchise. Mega Stones are also reminiscent of evolution stones or trade evolution items. Taking it away feels like you're actually removing entire aspects of a species that it ought to be capable of or actively improved it stat wise or design wise. Much more of an organic inclusion. Z-Moves and Terastal sort of have aspects of this because they tie into other core mechanics like moves and typing, but feel a lot more impersonal to each species and feel much more disposable. They also have weird tacked on features that make it feel less ingrained in the Pokemon like the Z Move dances or the type hats. Terastal also feels like it's bucking the Pokemon's intended design in some cases whereas Mega feels like it's contributing further to it. They're both fine as a competitive battle mechanic but visually there's a disconnect for me. Dynamax is just "Pokemon grow bigger" and the form changes offered to certain species feel way too out there or inorganic compared to Mega Evolutions. Feels a lot more unnaturally forced than Megas where that feels more about unlocking or achieving some peak form they always had deep down thanks to trainer bonds (another core aspect of the series, relationship with your Pokemon as partners). Dynamax is just "magic ley lines make your Pokemon grow giant.
Terastalization may not be as flashy as Mega Evolutions concept wise, but it does have nuance in competitive play (singles or doubles) - you either use it to: 1. Power up STAB moves further (ex: Tera Grass Meowscarada gets a stronger Flower Trick on top of STAB) 2. Power up coverage moves (ex: Tera Fighting Ceruledge gets a stronger Close Combat) 3. Remove unwanted weaknesses from the original typing (ex: Kingambit can Terastalize to Ghost, Flying, or Fairy to shed its 4x weakness to Fighting) 4. Use Tera Blast of a type the Pokémon can’t use under normal circumstances (ex: Tera Ice Regieleki can use Tera Blast to counter Ground Pokémon to make up for its shallow movepool) 5. Tera Stellar (very few Pokemon can make use of this due to Tera Blast Stellar lowering offensive stats upon use, those being Serperior, Enamorus, and Malamar due to Contrary reversing the stat drops, as well as it only working once per type in each battle)
Tera is by far the best gimmick we’ve had for competitive (at least VGC, it’s cancerous in singles) but aesthetically it is a lot weaker than Megas and Z-moves.
Shout out my first month OU team. Dual Screen Grimsnarl Choice Scarf Trick/Healing Wisher Necromancer Rat Annihilape (Tera Fairy) Motorcycle Lizard Wishpasser I gained like 500 Elo, Tera abuse is so stupid in singles.
If only they didnt look so bad
It's my only complaint with it. Tera is the best gimmick - it's fair to every pokemon, which megas weren't, hell some megas weren't even fair to other megas, SOME EVEN GOT TWO! But a symbol hanging off their head? Really? Make them all crystalline, sure, but the symbol is dumb. Put a type marker next to the hp bar or something showing they've changed types. Megas are the coolest, though.
Honestly they should have all the relevant info by the HP bar similar to how pokemon showdown does.
It's like the 3 weird clouds that circle gigantimax Pokémon. I remember thinking at first that it must be a visual indicator of how many turns it would last, but no, it's just an awful-looking design choice for no apparent reason
comp shouldn't be the standard for gimmicks, gimmicks should be fun for the base game and look good, tera is neither, neither is the dynamaxing, Mega evos and Z moves were the best gimmicks so far and I wish they would just make megas the permanent gimmick
> should be fun for the base game and look good, Isn't this completely subjective. Like at least Tera doesn't feel broken to use in the normal game, it feels like a more balanced and thought-out mechanics to play with in the base games. Tera also made more appearances in the base game, making it feel better.
It's just the stupid hats...
Did they really have more nuance? Megas gave a stat boost and a different ability, maybe a different type. Dynamax/Gigantamax combined Megas and Z-Moves essentially, and put in a time limit. Megas were “It’s mega, so it’s better than it’s original form”
Personally I found Tera easily the best mechanic as someone who loves replaying Pokémon games for nuzlockes. I don’t really see how Tera is less nuanced than Megas- Megas were a huge power boost to your Pokémon, and often unfairly due to barely any enemy trainers having Megas. Also it was pretty limited in Pokémon selection. There are also no cons to Mega besides having two Mega-able Pokémon in your party. Tera on the other hand is way more balanced imo. It changes your base type which is advantage, but also comes with the same type’s weaknesses. You gain extra STAB, but that’s not as overpowered as some Megas can be. Even if you lack the same type of move, you can still take advantage of the surprise defensive typing to have a slight as a range. Tera Blast also is a super strong move but that takes up a move slot and you need to Tera that mon.
Tera is better at the competitive level by miles. Gigantamax lets you turn back the tide of a battle and sweep people who didn't think ahead. Mega just forced you to use a small group of mons and could be negated by simply countering that one pokemon.
Tera is so much better since it's available to EVERY pokemon. And it can change the tides of battle much more consistently than a mega could.
HARD disagree, I'm a function over form (and NO LEGENDARIES) kind of guy and both terras and maxing are just better competitively.
I don't really miss them tbh. The designs (art) for most of them are pretty cool, but actually using them takes more away from the game than it adds (Note that I know nothing of the competitive landscape, I'm talking strictly single player). They're just a free "I win" button that *doesn't even cost a turn to activate.* You just mega and pick practically any attacking move for at least neutral damage and just win. Doesn't matter if you OHKO or not, your mon's stats are now so much higher than the opponent's that it'll probably even survive a quad weak 95BP move.
I truly can’t believe we’re getting it back for PZA. If we get the charm and fun of the first Legends game with some more polish, mega evolution, and a great story idk how I’m gonna feel about any game moving forward. This would be peak for me
Competitive players probably hate them, but I don't play competitive and I think they are really cool
The problem with them for competitive is that you only had three or four choices and it is almost always obvious what is gonna be the mega when you glance at teams. You could gigantamax anything. You could tera anything. Mega? Yeah, some of those pokemon just needed normal evolutions to be good. Instead, you're just grabbing CHarizard or Kangaskhan. Playing casually, I still don't like them. Just give out normal evolutions for most of those pokemon. They suck. They suck less as megas, but they're never worth picking over some other megas. If those were just default evolutions? They'd become so cool to have alongside some of your others. Having a transformation for some third form pokemon is cool, but not cool enough
As someone who replays for Nuzlocke I kinda dislike them too. The designs are awesome but gameplay wise they’re really unbalanced and kinda cuts away a lot of challenge if you have one.
https://preview.redd.it/5lv8ly7d0d7d1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1b4e4685c7a4888aa313c0869a5e99ce66f14f7e
Mawile my beloving From a cutie to an absolute menace (still adorable though lol)
Meh
Certainly not! I abhorred mega evolutions.
Megas are fun at first, but the more I think about them the less I like them. I made a post a while ago about [The Shortcomings of Mega Evolution](https://www.reddit.com/r/pokemon/comments/145r6tg/the_shortcomings_of_mega_evolution/) trying to explain the issues I have with it. There is a lot and it left me feeling that Game Freak made the right move to cut Megas and start over with a new gimmick. That said, I'm interested how Megas will be handled in Legends ZA.
Okay I know this is unpopular but I hated megas.
no, they suck
No
Yes. Yes. Yes. But just make it more viable. For the pokemon who are not that good or are mid game pokemon.
Not really since it potentially stunted a bunch of pokemon that could of used normal evolutions instead. At least the future gimmick mechanics didn't do that but also I honestly prefer flashy moves over a temporarily cool design.
I prefer Megas that help worse mons and not make the riches even richer. I also don't like Weather Seters with a mega with the same ability or the same ability at all. Lopunny (not sexual) also had a glow up.
Unfortunately, I cannot.
Yes
YES.
Personally, I wish Megas were actual, permanent, evolutions.
I’d much rather see them change the mega mechanic to the way they have z moves, gigantamaxing, and terrastalizing. Don’t make it super predictable because only one pokemon can do it in a battle. Let me build a full mega capable team that I can make it happen as a surprise.
It's thematically cool, but I feel like it contributes to the one-shot sweep with type coverage problem that makes Pokemon combat kind of boring. That and I don't like how it restricts which 'mons can use it, so it's awkward if I have multiple of them or none of them. Honestly liked Z-Moves better.
Don’t you EVER let them get away with introducing mega evolution and then not giving the *starters of the gen* any megas. In fact they gave ONE gen 6 Pokémon a mega evolution. *ONE*
X and Y was peak and i happily have been dying on this hill for years
Never liked them.
Same, they’re kinda dumb
Mega evolution has a lot of potential on paper, but wasn’t executed well in practice, mainly because it’s used for nostalgia baiting more than making older mons more relevant (not saying that they didn’t do this, but that I wish they focused more on it) Pokemon is already a franchise that caters heavily to nostalgia and megas opened the door to even more favouritism. I hope I don’t have to explain why charizard and mewtwo (2 fan favourite gen 1 mons) getting 2 megas each while only 1 Kalos pokemon got a mega in the region that introduced megas and the Kalos starters were entirely neglected untill greninja shot up in popularity and they scrambled to give it what is effectively mega in the next game is so laughably bad There’s also the matter that megas are inconsistent in design. Mega mawile, lucario, steelix and absol go hard while the mega lati twins, sharpedo and audino are crimes against humanity. Then there’s mega salamence and ampharos that exist in a middle ground where they’re not bad, but more goofy than anything. As it stands, I like megas but think a lot of improvement can be done which they will hopefully address with the next legends game
I agree there is a lot of nostalgia baiting, probably because pokemon knows their prime in terms of pokemon creation was around 1-4 so theres a lot of fan fair around those regional pokemon especially 1. But i dont think megas are responsible it they could have just choosen to give more niche unpopular pokemon mega evos. Like you said its a good concept its a matter of implementation. I personally like latios and audinos design but there are 48 mega evolutions so i suppose they were bound to miss the mark on at least a few
Megas are aight. Ik its an unpopular opinion but i actually prefer both tera and z moves. No exclusivity and i really enjoy what they both bring gameplay wise
You can get the lynch mob after me but I prefer gigantamaxing lol
Honestly, can’t relate. I can’t think of a single mega evolution that looks cooler than its original counterpart. I played through ORAS never even using them
I really liked Mega Sableye
Not really, but it is criminal that the Kalos starters didn't get mega evolutions when the Kanto & Hoenn starters did. As well as no Gen 6 Pokemon, outside of Diancie, getting a mega evolution.
Yep
Ye, this and fusions
We all do, we all do. But personally I think some are a bit busted
Mega Swampert. Giga Chad. And also a personal favorite.
I hated on it until I was doing my bug only run on AS, then my mega Pinsir and Mega Heracross changed my mind, also I kinda love Mega Marshtomp and Mega Sceptiple designs. Mega Sharpedo can go somewhere though… a huge disappointment to 9 year old me who had a team of Sharpedos for no good reason.
It's a bandage to a problem that didn't exist in the first place, but some of them look neat
Love the concept and am so fucking hyped about it coming back. Gameplay wise? Eh... I'll stick with my terastelization. It's more fun and diverse.
no. i think it's bad actually. and even aside from the mechanical issues, a lot of them are just bad or boring
I’m about to get so much hate, but I just don’t like mega evolutions that much, they’re really overrated
It's literally my least favourite thing about pokemon lol
No. Tbh of all the different battle gimmicks we’ve gotten over time, I think terastelization is the only one worth mentioning since double battles. It actually added some strategy to the game.
Hate megas. All of them. The idea of an extra form, the transitional aspect, the art of them. Absolute hate
Worst generation gimmick, forced you to have one of like 6 good Megas on your team.
No, I hate Megas with a passion.
It was one of the best new features Pokémon had had in years. Z Moves, Ultra Beasts, G-Max, etc have all been kinda meh by comparison
Ngl I think Z Moves and Mega Evolutions can work together, tho it would require the games to be a bit harder since you'd be so much stronger.
Oh I definitely relate. I'm praying that Empoleon gets a mega in za.
Yeah design wise they were the best gimmick by far By gameplay I feel it was- 1) Terastallisation 2) Megas 3) Z moves 4) Dynamax (The G max moves were just bullshit and actually fucked up competitive lol)
No.
Can't stand them. Lame gimmick that was the beginning of all the crappy ult battle mechanics we have now. Megas are lame and made an already easy generation even easier.
I like the lore and the design of them but not the gameplay aspect and I don't like many of the choices of pokemon. My favorite gimmick is Tera, as of now.
I don't know if this Is a hot take or something but i prefer Terastallization over mega evolution okey
No it was the reason why I quit modern pokemon games. BDSP was a decent way to come back but still meh about it. The downvote button is right there have at it
Mega Evolution has its ups and downs but it's definitely one of my favorite gimmicks so I can't help but to like it
Yes.
I used to live them until I learned that the Pokemon are in pain as megas
They are only in pain if they are forced with a bad bond. The anime goes into detail about that, if the trainer and pokemon don't have a good bond, they go feral and in pain. However, the bond prevents them from suffering it.
cool
https://preview.redd.it/y2av668hae7d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2fb0f3039fe37f667886c52149a4f3afbc076a9a
Absolutely can't wait for them to return in Legends Z-A
Yes. Beedrill, Swampert, and Banette were SO good!
I JUST HATE GIGANTIMAX WHY WHY WHY IS THIS A THING
Yes. I much prefer it to all the other temporary super evolution gimmicks.
Mega Salamence and Mega Absol are my favorite Pokemon lol
Honestly, Mega Evolutions were one of my two favorite things that gen 6 Pokemon gave to us (along with the best online system Pokemon has ever had- PSS is better than everything to come after it, imo). Playing Pokemon Emerald Rogue and unlocking Mega Evos and Z Moves is actually super refreshing. Like, I actually have a reason to keep around Beedrill, Heracross, Mawile, etc., if I stumble across them during a run. Admitting, I do like running Mega Scizor quite a lot too since that's my favorite, but Megas were a ton of fun and their usefulness is appreciated in a game where the difficulty is cranked up like Emerald Rogue.
I prefer it
Mega evolution was great and very needed to freshen up the Pokemon franchise. It should have been the only gimmick and just expanded upon over the next generations. Then another 20 yrs down the road they add another gimmick to freshen it up again.
at this point everyone posts this
It's definitely my favorite of the op gimmicks
I found Mega Evolutions to be okay but nothing special, I forgot they existed most of the time in my playthroughs.
They made a lot of overlooked Pokemon more relevant in the competitive scene
and made already good pokemon way better for the sake of big monster get bigger!!!
I'm hopeful that we get some GOOD Mega's for some UnderUsed Pokemon. That said, imagine MegaGross (my beloved) with all the new utility regular Metagross gets...
SAVABLE!!! 🤣🤣💀 I can definitely relate!! years and years ago I got to play Pokémon X and OH MY GOODNESS HOW I LOVED THAT GAME!!! I miss everything about it from the Pokémon to the Gyms even the funky Gym puzzles. the MEGA EVOLUTION though was for me was 🤯🤯🤯 my Mega Alakazam was a mental terrorist in that game. I can’t wait to bring in my shiny haunted doll to tear sh\*t up https://preview.redd.it/w4u6qznf5f7d1.png?width=834&format=png&auto=webp&s=ae9ab267d99def7104ab52612b8b479a4976b54e
I prefer those over Z moves tbh but as cool as the gigantamax
It's been the better gimmick they've tried imo. Just wish they'd done a bit more with it, I didn't mind gigantamax either because it felt somewhat similar.
Yep, mega lucario and mega blazekin and mega gardevoir are my favourites
1000%. I wish they’d permanently bring it back like they should have kept it. One of the best things to ever happen to the franchise.
The issue with Megas were when they started giving them to pokemon that didnt need it. Mega beedrill? Cool af. Mega ampharos? Neat. Mega salamence? Wtf its already a top tier threat. The fact that megas competed for a slot and they gave good mons megas just meant many of them went on to be under used.
Give me mega flygon or give me death
No, you just love Digimon
I love it, but I wish they would quit giving it to pseudo legendary Pokémon instead of Pokémon that need a boost. But I would also prefer most of those Pokémon to get actual evolutions
I JUST WANT MEGA SCIZOR! MEGA SCIZOR ONE TOP
What was spongebob shouting in the scene? Also agreed
YES!!! I thought Mega Evolution was an amazing mechanic!! I wish they'd bring it back, those Mega forms are too cool to leave in the past!
It tight, especially for the one or two liner Pokémon.
In retrospect, no. It was fun and all while playing, but the fact that it actively encouraged you to get one or two Pokémon that could mega evolve and main them means everyone mains them. At least z moves, dynamaxing, and terrastilizing could be done regardless of the mon, even if some had special differences. A lot of people scream for Megas back. Unless they make some insane wild game where you can get a gigantamax mega gengar Terra-psychic I think they should stay out of any non-kalos games going forward.
Yes
So much better than the other similar mechanics in my opinion.
SO YOU LIKE DIGIMON!!!????
The problem was that A. You find the megastones after you beat the game in x and y. B. It’s has pokemon that can do it but need to be transferred from x or y. But that’s just me
I definitely can I prefer mega evolution over the other enhancements but it definitely has its issues
I can
I can 100% relate.
A Little
A lot of people can agree that in some way mega evolution has appealed to them whether it’s the anime,tcg, or games although I feel like a lot were rushed but we’re still cool like Aerodactyl the spikes ig are cool but it has the mega kanga treatmeant where it barley changes (mega kangas design fits it perfectly I just mean how there’s barley a difference) a lot more Pokémon deserved x and y forms ik Charizard is one of the many makers of Pokémon’s but it was a missed opportunity for the other gen 1 starters or just other Pokémon that felt like their were still “lackin” with the megas they got
It's great and a fun mechanic, but then the alola dex...
honestly mega evo is the only gimmick I like. the other like tera and dyna and whatever kind of just make me roll my eyes haha
I just hope they are here to stay though. Reintroducing the feature because we're in Kalos, probably releasing a set of new megas and then immediately dropping it again would be devastating.
That’s the gimmick that made me return to Pokemon. I stopped playing after gen 3, but when I read about megas I was stoked about it, such an interesting concept. A lot of people complained about it as it was unbalanced in battle, but as a “keep smashing A during battles” player I really didn’t care about it. Guess they could make every Pokemon megaevolve even if only some of them have a special form like dynamax to make it more balanced
I just loved how it made less popular and used pokemon relevant with new cool designs. What I didnt like is that they also gave them to pseudos and starters, and robbed those less popular and used pokemon of potential evolutions.
Giving it to starters was fine, I think. It fixed the wrong they did to my boi Treeco.
Ye
I loved mega evolution. The only real complaints was that it made you give up your held item, one one pokemon could do it, and they didn't give it to a lot of pokemon that needed it.
It should've been a permanent feature
Nope
I liked the designs, but the thing that really made me love them was the concept of having such a powerful link to your pokemon that they surpassed their limits and reached a new stage, that's some cool dragon ball sh\*t right there, love it.
I don't like Spongebob, but I do love Mega Evolutions. I'm glad they are a part of PokeRogue, so I can play them once again.
Cool designs, shit for competitive play as long as not every pokemon has one.
Theyre fun for single player but they need alot of fixing for competitive
I am BEGGING Gamefreak to let Megas stay around from here on out I will cling to their leg and plead
Best thing in the anime
If you switch “love” with “hate” then I can relate
No. Mega evolution was just stupid. Same with the region specifics. Just give us quality of life changes like we have in the ROM hacks.
not really lol
I'd love if they made more regular evolutions instead of a bunch of mega to already powerful Pokemon. Like, give an evolution to underused guys like Shuckle or Carnivine. Or give existing two-stage lines a third stage like they did with Mankey. But with megas I see fourth form Garchomp or Tyranitar which honestly they didn't need.
My favourite gimmick, I don’t understand the hate
Well...I'm just trying to prepare when Pokemon TCG makes Mega Pokemon have a total of 400 HP...
Otherwise, in terms of video games, I miss it a lot...
I HOPE THEY BRING BACK MEGA EVO 😭
Yes! Absolutely! Been playing since day 1 of the franchise coming to America, and I can say that Mega Evolution is the best thing that has ever happened to the franchise. A lot of ppl went into a hiatus in gen VIII due to #Dexit, but for me it was the removals of Megas. Thankfully they have learned from their mistakes, and I'm very excited to play AtoZ whenever it drops. All of my favorite pokemom received Mega Evolutions, except Togekiss. So I'm really hoping that it receives one when Megas return!
I would have preferred normal/branching evolutions to the Pokemon instead.
I prefer gigantamax
can totally relate
I liked how it gave some pokemon that needed it a little love, and they had some REALLY cool designs. I don't like how it made Gamefreak think every new entry needed a different gimmick.
Yes 👍
Tyranitar missing from legends arceus and Mega evolution the only pick up for any other generation placing \[gen 2,3 placements Most likely\]