They also said that the difficulty has been ramped up since GTI too, to the point of them getting stuck on the 4th boss; I'd take this with a grain of salt, since
@Keeper of Night was talking about it on Skype yesterday and was still complaining about how easy it is after being way past the 4th boss, so it seems like maybe some starters are much more powerful than others.
Maybe. I started Charmander which has Flame Burst and Dragon Rage. Flame Burst did eventually pass Dragon Rage in terms of damage, but 'Rage was really good in some of the first dungeons. Mostly though, it ended up being a way to get through the early bosses (3 and 4 mostly) that resisted Flame Burst.
Some of the new gameplay elements I know of are (off the top of my head) wands, which are stackable orbs sort of like the pebbles in previous games. Some of these, such as sleep wands, appear totally broken. Also, you can use wands in boss rooms, which if you have something like a panic wand means that the boss might never deal damage to you. All of your Pokemon constantly level up when they're on the backburner, which means that you could be overleveled, though this also allows you to have lots of good variety. It definitely looks as though the new gameplay elements further decrease the difficulty from GTI, so this might not be the best game for people looking for a real challenge, but if you want a good plot, then it looks like PMD: SMD could be worth picking up.
Wands are ridiculous, and both them and Orbs seem to be usable in Boss rooms (so far anyway). Haven't come across a Panic Wand or anything of the sort, but having instant Sleep and Confusion is enough. Actually, my favorite is the Truant Wand, which changes the target's ability to Truant. Can't remember if there was anything similar in previous games.
The first portion of the game immediately gives you two level 50+ pokemon for your team, and plenty 25+ while your starting Pokemon are still 10+. You don't get them for a majority of the boss battles or bigger story portions I've seen so far, but it's still overkill.
There's also these fancy doohickeys called Looplets which can have various effects among themselves, but are made to be fitted with "Emeras" which add effects themselves, such as adding more attack power, higher crit chances, status immunities... Allowing moves to hit multiple times, being able to see items and Pokemon on the floor... My favorite, the Bulldozer, makes moves do way too much damage to Pokemon that would normally resist them.
BTW, in case you don't already know, you can recruit all 720 Pokémon in this game.
That was supposed to be the major selling point, so we're just missing Volcanion.
The game does have its issues, such as:
- Never go into a dungeon without Reviver Seeds
"Tiny Revive Seeds" are about as common as Heal Seeds in previous games, which revive you without restoring PP and hunger.
- You can't just switch places with your team mates by walking into them (you push them instead, which makes your belly go down really fast)
Holding B and walking into your team members allows you to switch places with them. Not holding B is what causes you to push them.
- Prepare to be 30+ levels below all Pokémon you fight
???
- Belly goes down faster than in other games, but compared to the level curve, that's much more minor
Haven't noticed this, but I guess if you're trying to push everybody around instead of passing them, then it would make it seem that way.
- All of your Connected Pokémon share your EXP, even if they're not with you
- All of the Pokémon you're Connected with need the Move re-learner, as they don't learn moves when you're grinding (unless they're with you)
The move re-learner being free and infinite makes this so easy though.
- No scarves or bands, so you can't rely on them to suppress hunger or prevent you from being poisoned ect...
Replaced by Looplets, which are essentially basic scarves that only get better as you progress through a dungeon.
