thatblindgeye

Some of the pre leader puzzles were more fun than others definitely. I honestly didn't care for the ice gym puzzle, nor how the last two were presented either including Raihan. For me it wasn't so much the puzzles as it was the actual gym leader matches just felt like they actually mattered by having it in the stadium with fans all around, and the sound of them cheering or chanting coming into play when the leader gets down to their final Pokémon.

Just became champion and the presentation for that whole section has been the best of any game so far I think. Really made the battles and becoming champion feel like a huge deal. Really hope they keep that up in future games.

The Exp Candies help a ton with that. Unless you're trying to level them strictly from battles rather than catching/any rare or exp candies. I definitely get that, though. For some reason I need to have all my Pokemon at the same level, or at least within like 2-3 levels of everyone else.

I finished the gyms so still have some left to do in regards to the main story. Really wished the last 2 gyms had better missions before the gym leader since I really enjoyed what they did with the gyms this time around. They felt like they really mattered with the presentation. Currently clocked in at 24 hours of play time so needless to say the wild area definitely sucked me in.

There's few things more satisfying than giving a level 1 mon an Exp Candy L and seeing that experience bar shoot left to right over and over.

Apparently you can't actually change that, unfortunately. I think it's just you buy the outfits to wear as your normal outfit, so you can mix and match the Steel outfit with normal clothes etc. Another QoL thing that has been a blessing: doing away with the tutorials if you know what you're doing. Early on I was afraid I was about to get a "how to catch a Pokemon" tutorial, but then they were like "oh, but it seems you already caught some on your own." Big chef's kiss.

I will always say that Pokémon was never difficult, it was just time consuming. I love the improvements they've done like no longer needing heart scales for remembering moves and whatnot. I will say I'm not a fan of them bringing back one use TMs in those TRs, but at least you can pretty easily get those.

ive seen review sites give it good reviews, whereas people on Twitter started a Gamefreak lied hashtag over stuff. Which, I think people need to take leaks with a grain of salt sometimes because how can you know it's the final version or that a day 1 patch doesn't fix it (though that really shouldn't be the norm to need a day 1 patch), and also there possibly being translation issues in terms of interviews where they claimed stuff. I get people being upset if the final games do end up, graphically, not being well done (there was a leaked clip of a Pokemon turning around by walking in place and being rotated 180 degrees which didn't look great), but it honestly doesn't bother me and I expect it from a Pokemon game even though there should be a higher standard on the switch. National dex I was annoyed about at first but I'm over because I always use the new Pokemon in new games and don't play competitively. I get why those that play competitively would be upset and not get it, but it definitely doesn't warrant the extent some people have gone.

That's... kind of why it seems more appealing now that it's been released I think. When I first got No Man's Sky when it came out I found it relaxing even though it was literally just the same thing over and over and over, and then I just got bored of it. I guess the perk of this is there's an actual story to it (whether I would be able to follow it to enjoy it who knows). How does the whole "connectivity" aspect work? Do you actually need the online subscription or just be connected to the internet? Probably silly to ask, but you never know I guess

I ended up buying the double pack, but Sword will be going to my roommate and Shield to me. Partially because I like the way the legendary looks more but that dang Ponyta is a plus.

Here's a link for some differences between the two. There may be other stuff not revealed yet, too, but I can't imagine there's anything beyond the slight differences like Pokemon exclusives. I'd say find out if any of his favorites are exclusive to one version if he's played a previous game before and get that one, otherwise get the one you think he would find coolest (or the ones he tells you if he knows what's in the game so far) https://www.ign.com/wikis/pokemon-sword-shield/Pokemon_Sword_and_Shield_Version_Differences#Exclusive_Legendary_Pokemon_in_Sword_and_Shield

I had very little interest with pre-release stuff because it just seemed like weird trailers and teasers and basically "it's from Kojima" was the selling point, but seeing actual play footage makes it seem... a bit better? I don't think I'm going to get it full price and wait for a decent price drop unless temptation/depressive splurging wins over, but at the same time I don't feel like I'm missing much from watching someone else play it instead of getting it myself.