- Joined
- Aug 25, 2012
- Location
- Indiana, USA
My view is that HMs should bow out of Pokemon. I understand the desire or need to keep players from entering areas they're not ready for, but it's getting pretty ridiculous at this point. I really, really want to use all six of my Pokemon slots for battle without reserving two or three for the dreaded "HM slaves" - you know, the Pokemon you keep around for the sole purpose of crossing obligatory obstacles, not to actually be useful. It wasn't so bad when there were only five HMs, but last I checked we had eight (I haven't played generations V or VI), which makes going anywhere a hassle.
I'd like for HMs to be made into TMs or to just have Pokemon learn them on their own, but forcing them on unwilling players has gotten old. Nothing about HMs adds anything positive to the game. They add no inherent puzzle strategy or combat skill, and any time they are used for puzzles, you can easily replace said obstacles with normal objects you can interact with on your own. Tolerating their combat usage is annoying, since Pokemon are only allowed four moves and I put careful, tactical thought into what they'll learn to give them the edge. Being unable to delete HMs without the help of a Move Deleter is also kind of pointless. HMs don't break when you use them - who cares if I erase the move for the moment? Let that be my problem, Game Freak. They've made efforts to make HMs more bearable, but it's still not enough. It would be like somebody trying to comfort you when a rottweiler is chewing on your leg by giving you an ice cream cone. You'd appreciate the ice cream, but the problem is still there.
So what's your view? Are HMs perfectly fine, or are players better off without them? Do HMs really add something to the game, or do they just get in the way? If you think they're a problem, how would you go about alleviating that problem?
I'd like for HMs to be made into TMs or to just have Pokemon learn them on their own, but forcing them on unwilling players has gotten old. Nothing about HMs adds anything positive to the game. They add no inherent puzzle strategy or combat skill, and any time they are used for puzzles, you can easily replace said obstacles with normal objects you can interact with on your own. Tolerating their combat usage is annoying, since Pokemon are only allowed four moves and I put careful, tactical thought into what they'll learn to give them the edge. Being unable to delete HMs without the help of a Move Deleter is also kind of pointless. HMs don't break when you use them - who cares if I erase the move for the moment? Let that be my problem, Game Freak. They've made efforts to make HMs more bearable, but it's still not enough. It would be like somebody trying to comfort you when a rottweiler is chewing on your leg by giving you an ice cream cone. You'd appreciate the ice cream, but the problem is still there.
So what's your view? Are HMs perfectly fine, or are players better off without them? Do HMs really add something to the game, or do they just get in the way? If you think they're a problem, how would you go about alleviating that problem?