Unova Region Discussion/Speculation Thread [Read First Post]

[Bolt the Cat]

They're probably going to call it

brace yourselves, this could get ugly

Safari Zone

That would be the biggest troll move ever.

[Ver-mont]

And then it could be crowned as the most barren Safari Zone ever, proving that a Safari Zone doesn't work without human intervention.

[KyuremCraze]

Yesh, but the only Safari Zone where you could catch a giant black dragon with axe-tusks..... probably......

[Ver-mont]

Either that or Nature Reserve

So close

We got the idea right, though

[YourPermanentRecord631]

They're probably going to call it

brace yourselves, this could get ugly

Safari Zone

The best idea I have ever seen! It would be cool IMO too lol

[Wishing Star]

Either that or Nature Reserve

Yeah, Nature (P)reserve makes sense. Both (p)reserve and sanctuary can mean a safe place for wildlife.

[Endoplasmic Reticulum]

I like how we're all discussing something we'll probably never get to. At least I won't

[Paladin of Arceus]

The Nature Sanctuary (or however the US version localizes it) only requires that you see every BW2 Unova-dex Pokémon, which is much less difficult than catching them all.

On the subject of localization, Nature Reserve sounds good, but a little bit like some place where humans breed endangered species for repopulation due to overhunting and habitat encroachment by humans. If they localized it Nature Preserve or Wildlife Sancutary, its name would fit its intended purpose as a place where rare and endangered species are allowed to thrive without human intervention.

[GoldCyndaquil]

I like how we're all discussing something we'll probably never get to. At least I won't

Getting the entire Unova Dex isn't that hard. It's not like we're talking about the Shiny Charm. The Nature Preserve should be relatively easy to get to. It's also helpful when you have a near completed BW1 National Dex that you can send over. But every Pokemon in the the New Unova Dex is capable to be caught in some way in game barring the Kami trio.

[R_N]

Maybe they just wanted a linear route for the sake of having a linear route

[Wishing Star]

Maybe they just wanted a linear route for the sake of having a linear route

Quite possibly. Which really isn't a good reason at all.

For a person with a negative opinion on Unova's design, taking note of such a reason just fuels their fire. :/

[Bolt the Cat]

I think it's because the little kids were getting lost, so it's easier for them to figure it out.

That's ********. There are very few instances where a player can get lost in the game, and that's usually due to the game not giving them a good enough hint where to go next as opposed to a problem with the regional design.

And the game designers are lazy.

Seems to be the only reason I can think of why they would make some of the mistakes they've made lately, a lot of the issues present in the 5th gen games scream laziness.

IDK BW2 isn't that linear. It's about as linear as Kanto, which is still one city to another but it doesn't feel like a straight line

That's definitely wrong, as Kanto has several diverging paths (most notably Rt. 12-15 and Rt. 16-18 as well as Rt. 19 and 20 and Rt. 21) and has enough optional areas to give you the exploration feel. BW2 Unova on the other hand, only really has Rt. 14 and 16 as divergent paths (if you can call them that), and the handful of dungeons dotted throughout the region.

The same could be said for Hoenn and its expansive waters, but Sinnoh was quite the opposite of linear. Besides, it's not like the DPP storyline never told you (either directly through dialogue or indirectly through invisible plot walls) where to go next, right?

There was once instance in DP where you could get lost trying to find Strength, but that's a fault of the game not providing you adequate clues as opposed to bad regional design.

Maybe they just wanted a linear route for the sake of having a linear route

And what do they have to gain from that? Pokemon is an RPG, exploration is a major factor, so I doubt they would arbitrarily decide to make the region less linear just because.

[Wishing Star]

There was once instance in DP where you could get lost trying to find Strength, but that's a fault of the game not providing you adequate clues as opposed to bad regional design.

Yeah, I think they had to find a place to put HM04 last minute due to neglect in design. Otherwise, I'm sure the HM would've been well-integrated into the game. :/

[R_N]

And what do they have to gain from that? Pokemon is an RPG, exploration is a major factor, so I doubt they would arbitrarily decide to make the region less linear just because.

Well what do they lose from that?
Oh no you don't get to go in circles or an offshoot route

How often do you really notice this without frequently checking the map or whatever?

How much would it honestly, really matter which way you go in a given region

[Endoplasmic Reticulum]

Fine, Johto. That's a better example of another linear region.

And BW2 involved you going to the Eastern Unova from Mistralton, going to Opelucid, then going back to Undella. It was still pretty damn linear though but still, it didn't feel like it was questioning my intelligence like BW1.

And what else in BW was lazy?

[Wishing Star]

Fine, Johto. That's a better example of another linear region.

And BW2 involved you going to the Eastern Unova from Mistralton, going to Opelucid, then going back to Undella. It was still pretty damn linear though but still, it didn't feel like it was questioning my intelligence like BW1.

And what else in BW was lazy?

Johto is less linear when compared to Unova. Johto isn't line-loop-line like Unova is (one line goes from Nuvema to Castelia, the loop is the hexagon, and the other line is Route 10 and Victory Road). Yeah, BW2's additions helped, but region design-wise, those additions were only made to make the region look less linear.

[MetalFlygon08]

I really like the sound of Nature Preserve

[pokemonsquared]

I wished the daycare moved to the southwest area of Unova for BW2, or have several based on daycare locations in the anime.

[Wishing Star]

I wished the daycare moved to the southwest area of Unova for BW2, or have several based on daycare locations in the anime.

I would've appreciated if it were on Route 4 (an extension of it, where there is no desert), Route 5, or Route 16, even for Black and White. Having the day care on Route 3 and having an invisible interaction wall just never seemed right to me.

[Bolt the Cat]

Well what do they lose from that?
Oh no you don't get to go in circles or an offshoot route

How often do you really notice this without frequently checking the map or whatever?

How much would it honestly, really matter which way you go in a given region

Optional areas increase game length and replay value. You're getting a much richer experience because you have more to explore.

Fine, Johto. That's a better example of another linear region.

Johto's pretty much the only region that compares, and even then, it's still slightly better. At least in Johto you had a branching path where you could choose where to go after Ecruteak.

And BW2 involved you going to the Eastern Unova from Mistralton, going to Opelucid, then going back to Undella. It was still pretty damn linear though but still, it didn't feel like it was questioning my intelligence like BW1.

They both kind of do since there's no optional paths aside from one or two branching routes that lead nowhere. The backtracking to Undella kind of helped, but not much since you had to wait until beating Drayden to go back.

And what else in BW was lazy?

It's mainly BW2 that's lazy, you can quite clearly see through the Pokemon distribution and the lack of available features like breeding and fossil resurrection (or at the very least given us Archen/Tirtouga through some other method) that when they changed the storyline path they didn't put enough thought into how the region would be affected. There's also level pacing issues, especially towards the end of both games, and some of the Gym Leader rosters are slightly lacking.

Johto is less linear when compared to Unova. Johto isn't line-loop-line like Unova is (one line goes from Nuvema to Castelia, the loop is the hexagon, and the other line is Route 10 and Victory Road). Yeah, BW2's additions helped, but region design-wise, those additions were only made to make the region look less linear.

Not by much, aside from the split at Ecruteak, it's still pretty linear.

I would've appreciated if it were on Route 4 (an extension of it, where there is no desert), Route 5, or Route 16, even for Black and White. Having the day care on Route 3 and having an invisible interaction wall just never seemed right to me.

IMO, the Daycare should've been in Rt. 5 to begin with, that's a much more appropriate place in both games for it than Rt. 3, which is too early in BW1 to the point where they had to restrict its features until Nimbasa, and too late in BW2. At any rate, the Daycare should've definitely been moved in BW2, it's far too crucial to the game for them to restrict it until post game, and anywhere that's not post game would've been a much better choice for it.

Yeah, I think they had to find a place to put HM04 last minute due to neglect in design. Otherwise, I'm sure the HM would've been well-integrated into the game. :/

I don't mind as much where they put it as I do how you're supposed to figure out it's there. The only hint they give is from some random forgettable NPC in Hearthome City that you may or may not encounter, and if you don't, you won't need Strength until much later on (after the 6th gym to be exact) and then you'll be stuck having to retrace your steps back through the entire region. It would've been better if someone in Canalave City would tell you to go back to Lost Tower. The problem with how they handled it in DP was that you were supposed to get it long before you need it, and there's very little prompting you to enter Lost Tower at any point in the game.

[Endoplasmic Reticulum]

It's mainly BW2 that's lazy, you can quite clearly see through the Pokemon distribution and the lack of available features like breeding and fossil resurrection (or at the very least given us Archen/Tirtouga through some other method) that when they changed the storyline path they didn't put enough thought into how the region would be affected. There's also level pacing issues, especially towards the end of both games, and some of the Gym Leader rosters are slightly lacking.

I have to agree with the pacing issue of BW2 actually. It can literally take you under an hour for the first two gyms, then the third to sixth gym can take you another few hours. But after that it is soooo damn long to get from gym to gym it's not even funny. IDK, I kind of liked that. It felt like it was building up momentum.

Although, BW2 is the longest Pokemon games I have ever played

And they fixed the Strength problem in Platinum when they had Riley provide it to you.

[Wishing Star]

Not by much, aside from the split at Ecruteak, it's still pretty linear.

Yeah. It's pretty much exactly that split (along with the ability to go south from Blackthorn before getting the Rising Badge) that prevents Johto from restraining the player too much. Unova pretty much always restrains the player in terms of the number of explorable areas.

IMO, the Daycare should've been in Rt. 5 to begin with, that's a much more appropriate place in both games for it than Rt. 3, which is too early in BW1 to the point where they had to restrict its features until Nimbasa, and too late in BW2. At any rate, the Daycare should've definitely been moved in BW2, it's far too crucial to the game for them to restrict it until post game, and anywhere that's not post game would've been a much better choice for it.

In my opinion, needing to move the Day Care would've been better, design plan-wise, than not moving the Day Care at all. At least with moving the Day Care, the designers would've acknowledged that the placement of the Day Care in BW was wrong (so wrong that restriction of features had to be implemented). By not moving the Day Care, either the designers are ignorant and acknowledge bad placement but didn't do anything about it, or they just never realized their design plan mistake.

Of course, if they put it at a place similar to where the Day Care was in every other game, then that'd be ideal.

I don't mind as much where they put it as I do how you're supposed to figure out it's there. The only hint they give is from some random forgettable NPC in Hearthome City that you may or may not encounter, and if you don't, you won't need Strength until much later on (after the 6th gym to be exact) and then you'll be stuck having to retrace your steps back through the entire region. It would've been better if someone in Canalave City would tell you to go back to Lost Tower. The problem with how they handled it in DP was that you were supposed to get it long before you need it, and there's very little prompting you to enter Lost Tower at any point in the game.

In terms of letting the player loose, I think Sinnoh let the player a bit too loose on getting HM04. Yeah, exploration should be implemented, but not so much that not deviating from the story's path at all prevents you from actually beating the game.

[diakyu]

Remember awhile back when I asked if we got a unfrozen map yet? Some of you said we might get one in the english guides. Well I just got mine and there is an unfrozen map in there.

[Wulava]

Remember awhile back when I asked if we got a unfrozen map yet? Some of you said we might get one in the english guides. Well I just got mine and there is an unfrozen map in there.

OMG! Pictures please!

Anyway, I dunno if this has been mentioned yet but I just noticed a few things...

Here's an interesting description from the Town Map for the Cave of Being: "They say the deepest part of the cave leads to the Sinnoh region."
So... I guess it's safe to assume that Unova is somewhere around south/southwest/west of Sinnoh.

Also, we know that Flocessy was derived from Floccus. The "-cessy" part seems to be derived from Prophecy, based on the town's tagline.
I haven't seen Lentimas and Humilau's yet.

[diakyu]

OMG! Pictures please!

Don't get too excited, I can't really upload pictures. But I'm sure someone will have it up eventually. But it's one of those maps that has everything labeled. So while it is unfrozen it still covered up a bit. I'll keep going through the guide and see if there is a blank one somewhere.

And they did a very good job keeping Humilau city hidden from us. There's a giant glare right on it when you look at the frozen map.