Hacking The one major issue I have with Project M

[duffmmann]

Let me start by saying, I love Project M, I do. But if I have to be honest, there is one change that's been made that I just hate. The handling of Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard is really disappointing to me. I love the Pokemon trainer, especially his ability to rotate between 3 characters, a lightweight, middleweight, and heavyweight was truly unique and required a different type of strategy than all other characters. But by making them 3 separate characters, the magic of these characters is lost a little bit on me. Plus this extends the pokemon roster from the 4 originally in Brawl to 7 (thanks to the inclusion of Mewtwo which truly is fantastic). I really do feel like that looks like over representation of one franchise. But the worst part of it all is the smash ball, if you are one of these characters and destroy a smash ball, the ball disappears, but the pokemon has no special, it becomes a handicap.

Now, it is cool that they each have a new move now, but the hacking community had long ago found a way to give these characters each a single new move by linking it to one of their taunts, thereby still retaining the ability to be called back and a new one thrown out. I think this is simply a better and more effective solution if the issue was only about giving the characters each a new move, though I'm sure its more than just that.

Point is, I miss the Pokemon Trainer and am disappointed the 3 pokemon become separate characters that can't be switched between.

Is there possibly a way to revert just these characters into the one they once were all the while keeping everything else about Project M? That would be pretty fantastic.

 

[FenrirWolf]

If there is a way I don't see the P:M people going along with it. P:M abandoned the concept because Pokemon Trainer was a failed experiment tbh. Zelda/Sheik never truly functioned as a character duo to begin with, and extending the concept to 3 characters worked even less.

And since sakurai knew that people would just pick whichever pokemon they liked the best the same way people do with Zelda or Sheik, he stuck in this terrible stamina system that forced your pokemon to switch every 2 minutes while operating at a fatigue loss during most of the time you're even using them. That and they had elemental weaknesses but no elemental strengths... basically it was a mess and it's better off gone.

 

[duffmmann]

If there is a way I don't see the P:M people going along with it. P:M abandoned the concept because Pokemon Trainer was a failed experiment tbh. Zelda/Sheik never truly functioned as a character duo to begin with, and extending the concept to 3 characters worked even less.

And since sakurai knew that people would just pick whichever pokemon they liked the best the same way people do with Zelda or Sheik, he stuck in this terrible stamina system that forced your pokemon to switch every 2 minutes while operating at a fatigue loss during most of the time you're even using them. That and they had elemental weaknesses but no elemental strengths... basically it was a mess and it's better off gone.

Your explanation of why the trainer "didn't work" reads of someone who never understood how to properly strategize with the character. I never just played as a favorite pokemon, I found the value of all 3 and I got really good with them, and learned the fatigue system, it is easily my second best character in Brawl. And I really hope you're wrong and that he does return for Smash 4, definitely one of my favorite characters. Like I said, its just a different strategy you need with the character, and I for one figured out said strategy and dominated with it.

Anyways, if that issue were true of Shiek/Zelda and Samus/ZSS, then why are these characters still able to transform in the latest release of Project M? I get that these kind of characters aren't for everyone, but there are plenty of people, myself included, that learned how to properly use and dominate with these characters.

 

[FenrirWolf]

He could return for Smash 4, I dunno. What I meant was that I don't anticipate the P:M team changing it back from the direction they've taken it.

And as for the others transforming, it's mainly because they already function as separate characters and aren't tied at the hip to each other by an incredibly wonky gimmick mechanic. People who play Sheik generally play Sheik and people who play Zelda generally play Zelda. While you can hit down-b and switch if you want, the characters are functionally complete in themselves. The only thing they're missing is a proper down-b skill but they don't really suffer for it.

I understand that thematically, it makes sense for PokeTrainer to be swapping pokemon around to play his strengths at the right moments. But when the system to enforce that concept relies on neutering your characters based on a strict clock it becomes more of a chore than an actually enjoyable thing.