Wayward Cave

I don't know many of the English names yet and I hate some of the localized names, so please bear with my inconsistency in using English and Japanese names.

I'm not so sure what to think about Gamefreak's changed EXP mechanics.

On one hand, I'm having quite the ball playing through the storyline. I can honestly say that I haven't been this engaged and challenged by the game's storyline since the GSC era. I'm not going through the game with just my starter, but I'm actually planning on a team and whatnot (albeit with "lesser used" things: I'm currently after a Yamask to train, and perhaps an Ishizumai!) This is wholly attributable to the new EXP mechanics, which on the word of a friend works similarly to MMOs: the higher level you are, the less EXP you get from low level things and viceversa, as opposed to the flat amount of EXP model of past generations. Since my Pokemon are always at a higher level than anything else, I get shit EXP most of the time. I can no longer do some light level grinding of past generations; fuck, I've spent like 11 hours in the game, I'm barely past the 3rd badge, and my highest level Pokemon is Janoby at only lv 33! Usually my starter would be in its final form at that point. Now I actually have to use things other than my starter and one other Pokemon (the only other battling Pokemon I use currently is Musharna because of that creepy cry). For the curious, depending on how used to the idea of using multiple "underleveled" Pokemon I get, I might end up with a final team of Jarooda/Musharna/Desukaan/Iwaparesu/Swanna/Baibanira.

On the other hand, this will bite me in the ass once I'm done with the game's storyline. As many of you know, a shitton of the game's most powerful Pokemon evolve late. I really like Sazandora and Ulgamoth, but they evolve really, really late. It would take a long time with the traditional leveling system, but with this system, I'm not so sure. I'm sure level grinding would be more achievable once I progress to later stages of the game, certainly when I beat the storyline, but with the axing of the auto-level 100 battles (shame on you, Gamefreak), leveling is more of a chore than ever. More than EVing or movesetting. I already have a backlog of EV'd things on HG that need to be leveled, so I don't know whether I'd be able to take it in B/W.

Although next week is finals week and I have lots of work and studying to do, I've been enjoying the game a lot so far. I would like to RNG abuse Reshiram but apparently you're forced to catch it in order to beat the storyline. I hope the new version of the RNG Reporter, with non-C-Gear seeds, comes out before I get to that point...I hear a release date of Sunday?