Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver

[JonCole]

Is anyone else playing this? Also, is anyone crazy addicted to the Pokewalker? Also also, has anyone conceived a method at cheating their Pokewalker?

I mean... I'm definitely not any of these things.

[Sombre]

2 more days...

[20ozMonkey]

There's really not much point to cheating the pokewalker since they've done a pretty good job of making sure that you can't advance too much with it. Just keeping it with you racks up more than enough watts to keep unlocking routes while still catching more Onixes and Magnemites than you could ever want.

I got it a week ago and I'm slowly making my way through it (3 badges). I don't have nearly enough time/patience to do all the EV/IV/Breeding stuff.

[Garple]

do you think that this game is worth playing if I haven't played a Pokemon game since 4th grade? I mean...I think Pokemon is awesome, but I'm afraid maybe I shouldn't taint my nostalgia.

[Wurtsi]

I named my Magmar "Hot Scoops".

[Moelman]

Awesome, I'm not the only thumb obsessed with these games.

I have SoulSilver, have beaten the elite four but have not gotten any badges in Kanto yet. My college is lame, they don't allow any wireless gaming, so basically there is no way to get my DS online to trade with my Platinum and Diamond games. Luckily next semester I'm living off campus so won't have to deal with this bullshit. I have Feraligatr, Pidgeot, Weepinbell, Machoke, Haunter, and Gyarados (but he is only level 32 or something, need to find a replacement).

  GrouchoClub said:

do you think that this game is worth playing if I haven't played a Pokemon game since 4th grade? I mean...I think Pokemon is awesome, but I'm afraid maybe I shouldn't taint my nostalgia.

I would say definitely, Gold/Silver was the best generation and this is a very faithful remake. Only thing is that now there are almost 500 pokemon instead of 250 or whatever there were in GS, so that will take a little getting used to since you didn't play Diamond/Pearl/Platinum. Still I'd recommend one of the new ones over those.

[Garple]

  Moelman said:

now there are almost 500 pokemon

HOLY FUCKING SHIT!

[20ozMonkey]

And probably a third of them aren't worth remembering. Every generation has had a rehash of ratatta, pidgey and others.

[Garple]

  20ozMonkey said:

And probably a third of them aren't worth remembering. Every generation has had a rehash of ratatta, pidgey and others.

Oh fuck. I was afraid of that. The thing about having less Pokemon was that they were all fairly unique and memorable. There was no Pokemon I wasn't familiar with back in the day. I'm sure the only reason they kept making more and more was financial (like that South Park episode). I think I will definitely skip this, because there's no way I could enjoy this anywhere near as much as I enjoyed Pokemon Red when I was 10 years old. although I do wish I were 10 years old again...

[mikemariano]

There are a million excuses not to play Pokemon, but I was surprised when I found my personal one.

I was in Gamestop and one of the more recent games (Diamond and Pearl?) was in a demo unit. I began to play, then stopped after half a minute. My pet peeve?

"I can't play this. I walk too slow!"

And I never played Pokemon again.

[20ozMonkey]

I don't enjoy it as nearly as much as I did when I was 9. When I catch the pokemon now I couldn't give two shits, I just want another number in the pokedex. Ten years ago I was always excited to be catching them because as a kid I was completely sucked into the game.

That being said, they're still pretty damn fun.

Mikemariano, in the GBA games they started implementing running shoes that you usually get in the starting town and you run at least twice as fast when you hold B.

[Patters]

OK so Pokemon Gold, the one I played when I was 11 years old. I'd consider it the best in the series, the additions made didn't saturated the purity that was Pokemon in 2001. I played the Red line of games: Red-Gold-Ruby, then didn't play either of the latest games. I fully intend to play Heart Gold, due to the fantastic time I had with the original version.

[JonCole]

Get ready for a mini-wall of text.

  20ozMonkey said:

There's really not much point to cheating the pokewalker since they've done a pretty good job of making sure that you can't advance too much with it. Just keeping it with you racks up more than enough watts to keep unlocking routes while still catching more Onixes and Magnemites than you could ever want.

I got it a week ago and I'm slowly making my way through it (3 badges). I don't have nearly enough time/patience to do all the EV/IV/Breeding stuff.

Eh, I beg to differ. I think someone calculated it, and to accumulate the amount of watts you need to unlock every route, you need to walk over 10,000 steps for 200 days. Sorry, but I'm fairly convinced that I won't be carrying my Pokewalker 200 days from now, especially considering that I'm not using my watts ONLY for the sake of unlocking routes.

  GrouchoClub said:

Oh fuck. I was afraid of that. The thing about having less Pokemon was that they were all fairly unique and memorable. There was no Pokemon I wasn't familiar with back in the day. I'm sure the only reason they kept making more and more was financial (like that South Park episode). I think I will definitely skip this, because there's no way I could enjoy this anywhere near as much as I enjoyed Pokemon Red when I was 10 years old. although I do wish I were 10 years old again...

I honestly think that you should give it a shot if the primary thing you're worried about is tainting your nostalgia. HGSS makes it so you essentially only have the initial 350 available to you with the typical amount of effort you'd want to exercise in a game you're not investing your life into. Before the third wave of games, I would say that the Pokemon were almost all memorable, though I don't think I could memorize Poke-raps for every single one.

The best part of the game at this point, for me, is just finding the Pokemon that I've always taken a shine to and using them. With practically everything available in this game (unlike most previous games), you can take your pick of some of the coolest creatures out there.

  20ozMonkey said:

Mikemariano, in the GBA games they started implementing running shoes that you usually get in the starting town and you run at least twice as fast when you hold B.

I've got to say, one of the best updates they made to the franchise for HGSS is the ability to lock the running function. There is almost literally no time where I don't want to run and I like how they allow me to indulge in that.

[Garple]

You make a good argument, Jon. If nothing else, I feel I should download the rom...but I haven't illegally downloaded a game in a long time...so I hope I will just buy the game.

[20ozMonkey]

Jaysus I had no idea there were that many routes/they ramped up the amount of watts needed so much.

[miffy495]

I plan on picking up Soul Silver and playing through it exclusively with my girlfriend. She's not a gamer, but goes nuts for pokemon. We're going to have a cooperative playthrough, always playing with each other and trading the DSi back and forth. Unfortunately when I went to get a copy they were sold out, so I have to wait a bit.

[JonCole]

  miffy495 said:

I plan on picking up Soul Silver and playing through it exclusively with my girlfriend. She's not a gamer, but goes nuts for pokemon. We're going to have a cooperative playthrough, always playing with each other and trading the DSi back and forth. Unfortunately when I went to get a copy they were sold out, so I have to wait a bit.

Does Amazon not ship to Canada? They currently have it going for $30 here.

[Garple]

  miffy495 said:

always playing with each other and trading the DSi back and forth

Hubba Hubba

Dang. I wish I had a girlfriend...

[miffy495]

Ahaha. No, that has not happened with pokemon before. There have only been two gaming sessions that led directly into things of that nature that I can think of. Pokemon will be a purely innocent bonding experience.

[Korax]

Damn, you people are making me feel old. You played Red/Blue when you were 8? I just started high school when that game came out.

Anyway, playing SoulSilver (as Silver is my favorite iteration of the entire series), and I would definitely recommend it to those who lost interest after the GameBoy days. That's exactly what happened to me, but this has been keeping my attention so far.

And, while I won't argue the usefulness of cheating the Pokewalker, I will say that an hour in my tumble drier gave me a little over 5000 steps the other day.

Edited March 25, 2010 by Lord Korax

[mikemariano]

  Lord Korax said:

Damn, you people are making me feel old. You played Red/Blue when you were 8? I just started high school when that game came out.

Don't worry, Lord Korax. According to Wikipedia I was well into my college career when the first games came out.

Gabe and Tycho of Penny Arcade described die-hard adult Pokemon players in their social circle, and they're both older then me. I figured that meant that a good amount of people my age and above played the games, but in this thread I'm the oldest one here. I'll go pluck my gray hairs now.

[spindrift]

I have never played a Pokemon game or seen one being played for more than a few seconds. Thinking of picking this up to see what's up with this whole pokemons thing.

[Garple]

  miffy495 said:

There have only been two gaming sessions that led directly into things of that nature that I can think of.

Jesus! What games??? I need them for my bachelor pad.

"Tiki Lounge, Martin Denny records and electronic games, babe. Wink. Oh, yeah...that bookcase folds out into a heart-shaped bed.

[Mafro]

Got my UK copy today. I haven't properly played a Pokémon game since Fire Red, I skipped Ruby/Sapphire and Diamond/Pearl (couldn't be arsed, and most of the Pokémon after the 2nd gen look like robots/Digimon) but I'm getting sucked back into this. Decided to choose Chikorita just like I did back in the day.

Oh, and I'll totally be taking the Pokéwalker to work with me.

[Patters]

FUCK IT. I'm buying this as soon as I get back home, even if I have to use my crappy DS original.