I like the idea behind Hidden Power, though. It's a very unique move, but with archaic mechanics, and that it's a readily available move, though it benefits special attackers more. Nevertheless, Hidden Power isn't the problem, it's the IVs that are.
Whether you're annoyed at this feature or not. People need to seriously understand that, if not this gen, then by soon Pokemon will no longer be able to work on every single Pokemon in the upcoming games. The exact problem with the Pokemon model is that the vast majority of it is by adding something new and interesting to catch, but if you seriously expect them to work on getting over 1000 Pokemon in without making some cuts you're going to get disappointed.
That's probably true too; an ever increasing load of Pokemon to catch is being more and more unfeasible. People need to know that every added Pokemon isn't additional work, it's exponential work especially when new gens come around. I don't buy that models take a lot of work, though, since one Pokemon can probably be done in 3 days max by a professional. But honestly, Game Freak should've nipped that thing in the bud before it exploded to this. If Game Freak in Gen III, when the first two games were not compatible with the third one, just straight out made, say, every two generations confined to their own generations, then it wouldn't be as much of a problem.
First: can we all appreciate the irony that after all these years of “They will retire [old gimmick from last gen]!”, it actually happened?
The new update was huge. And honestly, I’m okay with all of it. I have become disillusioned with mega evolution over the years for multiple reasons, including overly complicated designs, the power creep they brought, the favoritism, etc. It’s gotten to the point where I really only like two mega evolutions out of the whole roster, so them being gone is a step in the right direction.
Z moves are in the same boat due to the immense power creep they brought. They changed competitive pokemon so much that I haven’t played PS! seriously for the whole generation. I compare Z moves to the move Hidden Power: it’s a surprise move that nets coverage you otherwise wouldn’t have, such as Grassium Z Solarbeam Heatran. However, as much as I dislike Hidden Power for gaining free coverage, Z moves are categorically worse because they have much more power than the 60 Hidden Power has. I will not miss them.
Upon reading letters directly from Gamefreak, it has been revealed that the high quality models in SwSh take a lot of time and manpower to complete, thus the reason for them cutting some. This is a bit more controversial for me because I have some favorites that others don’t like, increasing the chances they’ll be cut out, but overall I understand the decision. I would welcome a game that doesn’t include Unown, the pikaclones, and other obvious trash mons in the roster.
I was really disappointed how they handled megas giving Charizard two of them, giving Gengar one, giving Salamence one, giving Latios/Latias one, giving Garchomp one, giving Blaziken one, giving Alakazam one, breaking Kangaskhan, giving Gyrados one, giving Mewtwo two, giving Scizor one, giving Heracross one, giving Tyranitar one, giving Metagross one...you see the problems? It looks like they just play favorites or what they see as "cool" rather than give any thought to balance or whatever. That there weren't new Megas in Sun/Moon probably should've been a warning sign of what's to come, so I'm not terribly surprised they were discontinued. Z Moves seemed like they're just extending that concept, again, not showing they know what the hell they're doing aside from "cool" appeal while adding more bloat and pretentiousness to their game. Dynamax is basically the same problem, but for a THIRD generation in a row.
Because admit it. Even if you are viewing this decision through the most cynical lens possible, even if you think all of this has proven Game Freak to be an incompetent, greedy and lazy husk of a game studio, you can't deny that the prospect of a fresh metagame unlike anything we've ever seen before with controversial mons like Landorus-Therian, Ash-Greninja and the Ultra Beasts likely being nuked, potentially allowing for old guard threats like base Scizor and the Latis to come back to prominence with increased wiggle room for other newcomers and older mons potentially claiming newfound niches doesn't sound at least a little interesting. This is my primary reason for not wanting Game Freak to rush a patch out: I really wanna see what this approach yields. If it doesn't work out and the fundamental flaws of recent OU generations aren't hammered out, fine: We can start complaining again and (hopefully) go back to normal in the second iteration or the DPP remakes or Gen 9.
I have a bad feeling they'll keep Ash Greninja and other "cool", "popular" assholes, but you might be right on addressing power creep. But I don't trust them on their competence at balance. We still have core problems with the metagame, like Stealth Rock. And I don't see having OG strong Pokemon coming back really going to be that much of a good thing.