Q plays Platinum

[SSJ2]

I figured I'd make a thread to post my thoughts on the game as I go through it. So far I'm impressed by the selection of Pokemon early on in the game. Currently have Piplup, Starly, Shinx and Magikarp.

The amount of time that it takes to save the game is annoying, but that is my biggest complaint so far.

 

[SSJ2]

Completely forgot that Gen 4 had a day/night cycle. I never understood why Gen 3 removed this after it was already a thing in GSC.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Completely forgot that Gen 4 had a day/night cycle. I never understood why Gen 3 removed this after it was already a thing in GSC.

The reason was probably general laziness combined with a lack of necessity. Gen 3 made all the Pokemon that required certain times of day to evolve unavailable and, thus, the day/night cycle lost its meaning. Meanwhile, Gen 4 brought back all of such Pokemon and added a few more such as Lucario.

How far into the game are you now? From your team, I'm guessing you've only got up to around Jubilife City or a bit beyond that?

 

[SSJ2]

I'm on route 204 right now.

 

[SSJ2]

One change in Gen 4 I don't like is how the Pokedex is displayed as how many you've seen vs how many you've caught. Not sure why that change was made.

 

[Papasmurf]

Completely forgot that Gen 4 had a day/night cycle. I never understood why Gen 3 removed this after it was already a thing in GSC.

The reason was probably general laziness combined with a lack of necessity. Gen 3 made all the Pokemon that required certain times of day to evolve unavailable and, thus, the day/night cycle lost its meaning.

The internal clock itself does exist in Generation 3 (sans the Kanto remakes), which is why if you trade an Eevee over from FRLG or the Gamecube games they can evolve into Umbreon or Espeon. You just have to remember what time it is specifically by checking the clock at your house in Littleroot town

 

[SSJ2]

Just beat the first gym easily due to having Piplup. Hopefully the future gyms are harder.

 

[Papasmurf]

Second gym is a grass type, no? Should be harder even if you spam Peck.

 

[SSJ2]

No idea. I don't remember any of the gyms.

 

[Papasmurf]

I remember all of them but I have that perfect memory

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Just beat the first gym easily due to having Piplup. Hopefully the future gyms are harder.

As Kenshi said, next Gym is a Grass one, though Starly (which ought to be Staravia by the time you get there) ought to stomp. For later Gyms, Piplup doesn't shine too much until becoming Empoleon since Water is pretty neutral against most of the Gyms after the first (until Volkner who'll stomp it with Electric types) and its coverage moves aren't the best until Empoleon gets Metal Claw (which will only be strong enough to work for a short while) unless you feel like using a TM on it. It doesn't really start to shine against significant trainers again until Bertha and Flint in the Elite 4 (and even they have some coverage moves to make it difficult if you're not overlevelled).

Needless to say, Piplup can be considered the "Hard Mode" of Platinum as opposed to Chimchar having great coverage for most of the significant battles and Turtwig's Ground moves providing it decent coverage in certain battles, making covering Piplup's weaknesses through a good team pretty essential.

 

[SSJ2]

Yea haven't played gen 4 since I first played thru Diamond in 2007. I remember the plot of the game but things like the gym leaders are a fresh experience.

 

[Symbiote]

Who else do you plan on catching? Hoppowdon and Lucario are 2 good picks for this game.

 

[SSJ2]

Not sure yet but possibly Lucario now that you've mentioned it. I'm raising a Gyarados currently so I might remove Empoleon once my team fills out.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

I'd say there's no point trying to add Lucario as you don't get Riolu until around the 6th gym as an egg, so it won't be viable for a playthrough unless you're dedicated enough to level it up from 1 to 35-40 before progressing further. Hippowdon is a potentially good pick if you don't mind levelling up Hippopotas a while. Mamoswine is a good alternative if you don't mind putting in a fair bit of extra work for more coverage.

As far as other Pokemon go, I'd heavily advise picking up a Houndour once you get access to Route 214 as Fire/Dark definitely covers a lot of points your team is lacking at the moment, though Luxray does get some decent dark type moves later on. Gallade may be a good choice as well for the coverage it has, though most of your current team can cover what it's good at anyway at a certain point.

 

[SSJ2]

I’ll definitely get a Houndour once I’m there. Wasn’t even aware it was in this game.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Yeah, it wasn't in Diamond/Pearl until the post-game, but Platinum added it to the Sinnoh dex likely to mitigate the flaw in D/P of the only fire types for the main story being Infernape and Rapidash (something that stands out like a sore thumb when D/P Flint had to rely on a bunch of non-Fire Pokemon for his team).

 

[SSJ2]

Just arrived in Floaroma Town. I am pretty impressed with the towns and routes in general so far. They far eclipse anything seen in gen 3 (as they should), and the overall landscape is impressive. Excited to see the rest of the region.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Yeah, Floaroma Town's design is pretty good. You can also use the honey feature here to catch wild Pokemon such as Heracross, Munchlax and Combee (though it requires waiting an entire day). If you're patient enough to wait until Friday, you can also catch a Level 15 Drifloon at Valley Windworks, though it may not be essential as Staraptor and Luxray will end up filling out its main role on the team.

 

[SSJ2]

What other types are advisable if this is my hypothetical team?

Gyarados
Houndoom
Luxray
Staraptor