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SG Choice #14- Pokkén Newcomers

2016-01-15

Note: This post was actually written yesterday. Because PushDustIn got confused with timezones and when the Pokkén Newcomer (Chandelure) was suppose to be announced, it’s coming out after the reveal. Sorry about the delay!

PushDustIn
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Animal Crossing Guy - Copy (7)Sandslash – I think Sandslash would be an interesting newcomer. His sand, ground and melee attacks would make him stand out of the crowd. Sandslash has been catchable in all generations of Pokémon , meaning players will be familiar with him. Sandslash is not as popular as other Pokémon , but Sandslash’s ‘uniqueness’ in terms of fighting style and look makes him an appealing choice.

TheAnvil
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Animal Crossing Guy - Copy (6)Feraligatr – Looking at the current roster so far, it seems clear that there’s a pretty strong focus on starter Pokémon . We’ve got Charizard, Braixen, Blaziken and Sceptile. After all, starters are among the more well known Pokémon  so that does make sense. There’s a rather glaring lack of water type Pokémon  in the game, with just Suicune so far. It stands to reason that we may see a water type starter Pokémon . I’ve gone back and forth over who exactly would be the optimal pick, but I believe Feraligatr is well overdue for an appearance in a game such as Pokkén. It has a very appealing design, and would stand out among other cast members of the game. I have a soft spot for the starters of the Generation 2 games so that further cements my pick.

Frostwraith
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Animal Crossing Guy - Copy (5)Chandelure – It’s one of my favorite Pokémon  from the 5th generation and there’s still a lack of both generation V and Ghost types in the playable roster. I feel its emphasis on combining the Ghost and Fire types would make it stand out from both the other Fire types, but also from fellow Ghost type Gengar. The fact it constantly floats could be a problem in regards to gameplay, but I feel that, if Bowser Jr. on the Clown Car managed to be in Smash Bros., the same could be done for Chandelure in Pokkén. Attacks like Fire Spin and Will-O-Wisp would make it a character to emphasise on dealing continuous damage over time rather than direct attacks.

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Animal Crossing Guy - Copy (4)Hitmontop – My bias shines through with this one. Hitmontop has always been one of my favorite Pokémon . Anyone remember the killer minigame on Pokémon  Stadium 2? My buddies and I grew our own underground neighborhood competitive scene based on that minigame. Anyways, I’ve always felt the roster should have a focus on fighting type Pokémon . While the roster up to this point has been doing a great job at having an incredible amount of variety, I’d love for them to round off the roster with some good fighting types. Hitmontop would be an “In your face” character. Focused on speed and quick attacks. You could have a playstyle of constantly being in your opponent’s face with rapid spin, or play the hit and run style of gameplay.

2016-01-15

Animal Crossing Guy - Copy (3)Absol – First introduced in Pokémon  Ruby and Sapphire, Absol has remained a fan favorite thanks to how well it stands out.  Where most Dark types are tricksters or otherwise have ill intent, Absol is outright altruistic.  Where many single stage Pokémon  are on the forgettable side, Absol’s striking and visually appealing appearance, combined with monstrous physical power and the largest natural movepool of any non-Legendary, have always given it presence.  But it’s Absol’s Pokédex entries–and through it, the species’ backstory–that have proved the most endearing: blessed with the power to foresee disasters and driven to warn others of them, yet often blamed for them instead, condemned and seen as doombringers instead of the guardians they really are.

All of these have given Absol a place among many trainers’ favorites…enough of a place to appear in every new region since its debut and have one of the first Mega Evolutions.

Not only that, but Absol could bring abilities and a fighting style to Pokkén that no other character could!  Absol could weaponize its power of foresight to predict natural disasters that would, after a delay, hit a wide area with powerful elemental attacks, all derived from the massive array of powers it already has!  This unique brand of zoning and stage control would, when used tactically, force opponents into situations that leave them helpless against Absol’s powerful close range finishers!

Pokkén has already given a chance to several fan favorites who usually see little of the spotlight.  Could this be Absol’s chance as well?

LIQUID12A
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Animal Crossing Guy - Copy (2)Golurk – Barring legendaries(and minor legendaries so no Terrakion) it’s my favorite Generation 5 Pokémon  and it has the markings of a slow, heavy hitter. I envision it like a Sentinel from Marvel vs Capcom due to it’s robot-ish traits(for a magic golem of all things), just nowhere near as mobile. And if not, it could be your standard grappler character a la Zangief or a Ganondorf-esque mighty glacier. My bias is a determining factor here, yes, but it’s my top most wanted for Pokkén and I think it would fit in perfectly. It’s a ghost robot that flies!

Soma

Anything to make this game more viable at tournaments in terms of logistics: Seriously. Right now, Pokkén can only be played with one Wii U controller and one Pokkén controller, because each player looks at a different screen which shows each player’s perspective, and each screen runs at 30fps. Which is…acceptable, I guess,, but to play this game locally, you’d need two Wii Us, connected locally via a LAN cable, or an arcade cabinet. Both of which are pretty steep investments, although I imagine some scenes/venues already have Wii Us for Smash 4. Still, that’s…an unnecessary hassle– you need two Wii Us just to practice with another person on the controller you want to use in 60fps– and with this basically killing the game’s competitive scene already, along with its low popularity in Japan…it’s not a good sign for Pokkén Tournament.

MinusWorld
If you ask me, there’s only one character missing from Pokkén Tournament and that is the King of Iron Fist himself, Heihachi Mishima! OK, so technically this isn’t a Tekken game, but there are a number of striking similarities that run even deeper than the gameplay and the fact that this game is directed by Tekken director Katsuhiro Harada (Pikachu’s victory pose and use of the ‘Electric Wind God Fist’ immediately come to mind). I think it would be a ridiculous cameo that would shake things up a bit. Perhaps the concept of an elderly man with physics-defying hair beating up children’s pets is one that would be frowned upon by the majority, but it honestly doesn’t stray too far from something that actually could happen in Tekken’s storyline. I like to think that Heihachi’s ‘Spinning Demon’ would hardly be out of place amongst the Shadow Balls and Thunderbolts being tossed around the ring, although I don’t know what the Pokémon League’s rules are on using the Devil Gene. Now I’m starting to wish that they’d made this game about the trainers getting into fistfights instead…

 

What Pokémon would you like to see? Let us know in the comments!

12 comments
  1. Hawlucha or riot.

    Munomario777 on January 15 |
  2. Frostwraith got his wish while this article was in editing! Could any of the others be next?

    delzethin on January 15 |
  3. WE NEED SWAMPERT

    Mikael Fernandes on January 15 |
  4. Hm, “newcomers”? But this is the first game…
    Also, Frostwaith wrote this before Chandelure was revealed right? I thought it was one of the most random choices and I was surprised.. But also happy for Frostwaith now. xD
    …That username actually sounds like a Pokémon name.

    Ar on January 15 |
    • Yes, Frostwraith did write it before Chandelure was revealed (we all did). Very surprising addition, but it’s cool he got the character he wanted!

      TheAnvil on January 15 |
  5. I think Muk would be a fun character. It would have a play style that I don’t think any other Pokémon could mimic.

    Other than that, I think Druddigon, Barbaracle, Dusknoir and Drapion could all be neat.

    John on January 15 |
  6. Chandelure was an unexpected one! When the Japanese site stated that they’re bringing another new Pokemon fighter with a letter “ラ (RA)” in it’s name, I thought it be “バンギラス (Bangirasu / Tyranitar)” or one of the Hitmons like ”エビワラー (Ebiwara / Hitmonchan)”, サワムラー (Sawamura / Hitmonlee)”, or ”カポエラー (Kapoera / Hitmontop)”. But this one just shocked me as I lost my words, I mean, this guy doesn’t have arms and legs, and there’s too many fire types in Pokken! I just felt the word ”拳 (KEN = fist)” is starting to lose it’s meaning since the game lacks fight type Pokemons other than Lucario, Blaziken and Machamp. How Bandai-Namco choosing Pokemon anyway? I don’t know if they’re doing something similar how Sakurai chooses characters for Smash, but this is just the different situation. But oh well…since Frostwaith is happy that his prediction became true, I think I’ll give it a try as curiosity.

    I have a top 5 list that I wanna see them in Pokken…

    1. Lopunny: In Pokken, we mostly lack Normal types. I know they’re weak against Fight types, but since there’s Ghost types that usually invulnerable against Fight types, and Dark types since they’re weak against Fight types, then I could say this will be the different case. Lopunny can have a similar role of being an “female idol fighter”, something like Athena from King of Fighters…you know what I mean? Although she may not be strong, her jumping ability can be higher than others, and she’ll mainly use her legs for powerful attacks, and even her ears for powerful punches than her arms, just like Xenoblade’s Riki. She can Mega Evolve too, so she can be more powerful in that status if possible.

    2. Snorlax: He may be another Normal type, but obviously Pokken lacks heavy weighted fighters, and Snorlax does seem to be the right candidate for it. He may be slow and can’t jump higher due to his heavy weight, but most of his attacks can be more powerful than Marchamp’s, and his durability can have a super armor effect like Marvel VS Capcom’s Hulk. His ultimate attack can be his Hyper Beam.

    3. Hitmonchan: Among the Hitmons, Hitmonchan seems to be the perfect candidate as being a “boxer fighter”. Just like Smash’s Little Mac or Street Fighter’s Balrog, he’ll mainly use punches than kicks, but can be powerful with various element attacks, and very faster to move around, but weaker during air. His ultimate move can be his combination of using Close Combat for multiple attacks, then finishing with Mega Punch.

    4. Greninja: Although he’s already in Smash 4, we do see Pikachu, Charizard, Lucario, and Mewtwo’s in Pokken too, so I could see Greninja being in Pokken too. Not to mention Pokken lacks Water types, and having a “ninja fighter” may be interesting, I thought Greninja would be a best candidate. He may use some the same stats from Smash, but one thing I don’t know is what will his ultimate move will be. I wouldn’t think he’ll become Ash-Greninja, nor reusing his Final Smash either, so I guess I’ll leave that up to Bandai-Namco instead.

    5. Beedrill: Pokken also lacks Bug types and Poison types. Adding a Pokemon with a poison ability to force opponents to slow them down or drain their vitality may be an interesting fighter with tricky skills. Not to mention Beedrill can Mega Evolve too which can be it’s perfect ultimate attack, and since Beedrill didn’t have much of a better role in the past Pokemon games as being a typical minor Pokemon, I think this will be Beedrill’s first time to shine for the time if chosen.

    zoniken on January 16 |
  7. I’ve been getting really into Pokken news and speculation recently, so I’m going to go through my thoughts of each of your choices~

    Sandslash- I’m not all too much for him, but in terms of moveset potential he is probably one of the best ground types they should add. I don’t really see it happening, as first gen already has so many reps and I feel they’d want a few others before considering him, but I’d really like to see what they could to with him and his ground-type attacks.

    Feraligator- This is my number 1 pick for a water starter as well, followed closely by Blastoise. I think he could have a really cool moveset with a lot of bite-based moves and he would feel really cool to play. That being said, I could see them picking any one of Feraligator, Blastoise, Greninja, or Swampert with the others being left to dry, and if I had to bet, I think Feraligator is the least likely to get in of the four. Blastoise and Greninja have a larger fanbase/more hype at this time than Feraligator (mainly due to him not getting the spotlight he deserves, as you stated), and Swampert could get a pass for being the last 3rd gen starter missing. By including all three of a single gen, you ensure that anyone who played that game probably has at least one Pokemon they will probably want to play, and third gen probably was the best gen to pick for this (with first gen being the main other contender). cAlso, any of the four could have an extremely unique and cool moveset, although I feel that Sceptile may have stolen Greninja’s ninja motif. So yeah, I’m hoping for this, but not betting on it. Could happen though.

    Chandelure- pfft, like that’ll ever happen XD Jokes aside, I’m really happy to see that they finally added another non-bipedal Pokemon to the roster, as well as a 5th gen rep. Also, while I wasn’t the biggest fan of a lot of the gen 5 Pokemon, I have to say Chandelure is REALLY cool~ While I would say that the single best gen 5 Pokemon for the game would be Zoroark, Chandelure would be in the top five, and definitely has an adequate fan base if he does end up being the only rep we get for gen 5. As a side comment though, I feel it’s kinda odd to say there’s a lack of ghost types on the roster. Not because more ghost types wouldn’t be awesome, but because, with the size of the roster, it feels like we’re lacking everything but fire types. Most types only have one rep, with normal, rock, and bug having zero. And with how few ghost pokemon there tend to be compared to the other types in the franchise, I’m surprised they decided to add more than one. Anyway, I’m really glad he got in, and I hope you’re happy about it as well 🙂

    Hitmontop- That minigame from Pokemon Stadium 2 was AWESOME~ But yeah, if we get another pure fighting type, which I hope we do, Hitmontop would be one of the better choices. When this game was announced, it could have gone in two directions. A Pokemon game filled with fighting types with a real fighting game feel, of a Pokemon game based on variety to give it a real Pokemon battle feel. We ended up getting the latter, and while either of these games would have been awesome, I feel that they made the right decision. That being said, it left us feeling like a LOT of fighting types got jipped, which while partially true, is why we have the game that we do. Machamp is the main fighting Pokemon that we got, and I’m afraid that’s all we’re probably getting in this iteration of the game in terms of primary fighting Pokemon. Personally, if we only got one more, I’d love to see Primeape, but the Hitmons would be my second choice (although I have even less hope for Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee than I do for the rest of the fighting types at this point).

    Absol- 100% agree with his inclusion. He’s also one of the few quadraped Pokemon that actually has a sizeable fanbase. I feel like you’re going a bit out of the box with his moveset compared to what they’d actually do with him, but I hope to see him in the game, and they really should to help balance out the bipedals in the game anyways.

    Golurk- I’ve seen a lot of requests for Golurk for a gen 5 rep, and while I think he would be a good pick, I’m starting to feel like Harada/the Pokken team may have something against putting heavy weights into the game. I wouldn’t really blame them if they are, since the style of the game makes it so fast characters have a natural advantage against slow melee types, since they can just stay out of their range and poke them from afar, but I hope to see a heavy weight or two added to the game soon.

    Better Multiplayer- Fair.

    Heihachi- Interestingly, Harada, the man in charge of the game, has already addressed that there will be no Tekken characters in Pokken. What’s possibly even more interesting however is that Harada wanted to include your suggestion as well. He revealed in an interview that when he was first starting on the game, he sent the Pokemon Company/president a list of 20 things that he wanted to do with the game, and he was surprised to see that, with how protective the Pokemon Company is with their IP, they actually approved 19 of his 20 requests. The one that was denied? Allowing the trainers to duke it out on the battlefield as well. While I, personally, am glad to hear that neither of these things came to happen, I would love to see Yoshimitsu as a Pokemon trainer you can choose/see in the game. He’s so ridiculous, and is the only one character who’s in both Tekken and Soul Caliber, that it almost feels natural~

    Anime9001 on January 16 |
  8. Now that my thoughts on everyone else’s characters are out of the way, I’ll go ahead and talk about a few of my favorite picks for the game.

    Pelipper- This is my most selfish pick on this list. While he’s not my favorite Pokemon, he is the one I would like to see the most in this game because he would complete my duo from Ruby. I’m one of those scrubs who, in every game, only trains one or two Pokemon throughout the entire game, the primary of which is my starter. Ruby is the only version however where my second Pokemon felt like a true partner to my starter and not a mascot. In the end Pelipper actually out-lved my Sceptile, and I would love to have them in the game together. That being said, I don’t expect him to make it in at all, and while he has solid moveset potential, there are a lot of Pokemon I’m sure they would put in the game before they ever even considered him.

    Feraligater- I talked about him extensively above already.

    Heracross- One of the few fighting types that I think they may still add to the roster. Heracross battles Scizor as the public’s favorite bug Pokemon, and I feel that he would bring a lot to the roster with his big horn and ramming attack potential. I really hope to see Heracross in the game, and out of anyone besides Ditto on this list, I think he has the best shot to make it in.

    Froslass- Ice is my favorite typing in Pokemon, and I am not really satisfied with Weavile being our ice representative. He’s more of a dark type with a few ice moves in my head. Out of all of the ice types that I feel would make cool reps for the game, I think Froslass would have the greatest chance of making it and has some really great moveset potential as well.

    Psyduck- I want this to be the residential joke character. I just imagine Misty’s Psyduck and it makes me want this so bad XD

    Ditto- There is absolutely no reason why this should not be the random select option. We’re even talking about the people who work on Tekken and Soul Caliber, who make ridiculously in-depth and detailed characters for their random options for no real reason. I mean, Soul Caliber 5 had THREE characters for random options for goodness sake. If Ditto isn’t in the game as random, I will be both surprised, and disappointed. Bonus points if they keep Ditto’s derpy face on whatever he turns into~

    I am heavily looking forward to this game, and I want it to succeed really badly so we can get a sequel with even more Pokemon in the future~

    Anime9001 on January 16 |
  9. The character choices here all sound so good (even Heihachi), I can’t decide which one I want more.

    So instead, I’m just gonna go out on a limb and suggest my own fighter: Probopass. My reasoning is simple. Pobopass’s Pokedex entries often state that it has three drones called Mini-Noses surrounding it that aid with attacks. However, it doesn’t have a unique move in the games so far that takes advantage of this. I feel like a lot could possibly be done with this mechanic in a fighting game, such as expending all three drones for light attacks from multiple directions or gathering all three for a more powerful attack, but slow to compensate. I could also see the Mini-Noses being used defensively to block certain attacks, but Probopas’s offensive capabilities are reduced until the Mini-Noses regenerate. Probopass probably isn’t one of the most popular Pokemon out there, but in terms of being unique, I think there’s a lot to be appreciated here.

    Spiral on January 17 |
  10. My childhood favorite is Fearow, so I’ll always fly a little flag for them.

    Barring that, Luvdisc. Just… Luvdisc.

    spd12 on January 17 |
  11. My picks for Pokken? I really only have two left:

    1) Zoroark – Zoroark was essentially the face of Generation V, a generation currently under-represented in Pokken, with only one fighter in Chandelure. Zoroark would help fill Gen V’s representation, as well as add another dark type to the roster, a type also under-represented. Zoroark is a staple in the Pokemon universe, having starred in his own movie, and been obtainable in every game since Pokemon Black & White’s release. Zoroark is still getting attention, too, being one of a few Pokemon to recieve special BREAK edition Pokemon cards, and recieving a special in-game download with a move that it cannot naturally learn. Hopefully this attention can last a little bit more, and get the face of Gen V a slot on Pokken Fighters’ roster.

    2) Gallade – Gallade is a psychic & fighting type Pokemon from Generation IV, and is the male counterpart of Gardevoir. Gallade was also one of the 18 to recieve Mega Evolutions in the most recent Pokemon games, Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire. Not to mention that in said games, Gallade was the signature Pokemon of your rival, Wally. However, the roster already has a decent balance of ppsychic types, fighting types, and Gen IV Pokemon, so the roster may not have any room left for him. Only time will tell.

    AlphaSSB on January 19 |