honestly. i liked the D/P/P where your "rival" is your best friend , as well as having a secondary ally, Lucas/Dawn
3 years ago | 133
My favorite was how it was done in Sinnoh. I want the rival to be unique, but the other character can exist, as maybe the professor’s assistant or something. I think when the rival is technically a playable character, they can’t do as much story wise with them because they don’t want to ruin your next play through.
3 years ago | 49
I should say too, those rivals are rarely on their own, with Calem/Serena having three others to back them up, so I feel like there's room for a more "standard" one while also making a Marnie. But we don't need her with Hop AND Bede...
3 years ago | 15
I've always loved the double rival system we got in Gen 3, May or Brandon as your tutorial rival, but was knowledgeable and helpful, and the real challenging rival, the one you wanted to always face at 100% was Wally
3 years ago | 11
I think that with the more player customization the games are adding the non chosen player character is even more of a blank slate than they were before and the rival should be their own character
3 years ago | 23
Rivals like Blue, Silver, etc. who are characters on their own were the best. The non-chosen character can still be there as a friend/second rival/etc
3 years ago | 6
I think the rival became a totally different character mainly cause of costumization of the playable characters
3 years ago | 19
Hoenn did it right by having an opposite gender rival and a completely unique rival. Kalos also did this, but they went a bit too far by making 2 extra unecessary rivals. I think just having Shauna there should cover the basis pretty well.
3 years ago (edited) | 27
I like the idea of having 2 different unique rival characters, and the other player character either being absent, or having them be the professor's assistant
3 years ago | 1
Honestly one thing I’ve always kinda wanted but know that Gamefreak would never do is make the rival your character’s twin sibling. You two work together through beating the big bad and all, but both have goals to be the best. Even if that means beating the sister/ brother that they love. Especially beating the brother/sister they constantly feud with. Have some mandatory battles, and some optional battles at various checkpoints throughout the story. (Think the optional rival battle in Rustboro city that won’t be initiated unless you explicitly talk to Brendan/May in RSE (I think it was Emerald tbh) and then they show up as like a challenge at the end of the Elite 4, right before the champion battle to kind of highlight that hey, your sibling is very strong too, and actually stands a chance against the champion. With a formidable team that can give yours a run for it’s money before the champion. It would also be a fun twist if the champion was your character’s mom. A secret if you missed lore and Easter eggs hidden in the games, but also a step away from the norm where your mom stays home doing housework, and your dad isn’t in the picture. She’s able to take care of herself and has made a name for herself.
3 years ago | 2
I thought Hop was the best rival we’ve had so far because he is an established character with a firm backstory that wouldn’t change according to your gender choice, and this firm backstory lead him to having the best character development in the series (along with Lillie, who is not a rival, alas)
3 years ago | 16
I love what drayano did in Renegade, having two rivals (or what the Hoenn games tried), where both feel like having an impact
3 years ago | 0
I think having the non-chosen character be the rival worked better for the older games where there was less overarching story, but now that the games are a bit more narratively driven (not sure how this will work with out-of-order gyms being a possibility), a more fully-fleshed out character makes more sense.
3 years ago | 1
My favorite type of rival is someone who is more of an obstacle rather than a friend. I also like the rival to have a meaningful part to play in the main story. My favorite rival is Silver mostly for those reasons. He serves as an obstacle throughout your journey and you even see small character development when his Golbat evolves into Crobat in the post game. Although I think characters like Hop or Hau can work, it just doesn't feel good to beat them in a fight, especially Hop since you are crushing his dream each time you best him.
3 years ago | 0
I personally want an experience similar to B/W where technically you have 2 friends, but I personally would make it interesting by proposing a "3-way rivalry" concept.
3 years ago | 3
I feel like most games do both? even in gens 3, 4, and 6 where the other avatar is used you still have wally, barry, and shauna as totally competent rivals.
3 years ago | 1
Blue is still consistently what I think of when I hear rival because he's the only one that actually makes you mad and inspires you to try harder. He actually beats you to the league. Hop is good too, but because of the character writing around him. I think we need a rival rival and a friend rival.
3 years ago | 0
@justanormalaccountnothingt1571
I like both. It all just depends on the way they’re done. Non-player rivals effectively seem easier to build into a character without making them a bad character, but they still feel kinda boring. While original rivals feel like much more dynamic characters overall, but you can also just end up with Hop..
3 years ago | 0
I don’t really care about whether or not the rival is a unique character or not, but I very much like the B/W style of two rivals taking both remaining starters, honestly the more rivals the better
3 years ago | 0
I just want a game with an actual main story line that doesn’t involve becoming pokemon champion, but the gyms and becoming champion are optional extras or something that is achieved to along the way to achieving the main goal of the game
3 years ago | 1
Emperor Cubone
So, given the new rival shown for Scarlet and Violet I can only assume that means the non-chosen player character is out for this Generation. So that got me thinking, which kind of rival do you prefer?
Personally I like the inclusion of the player we didn't choose, but I can acknowledge you are able to make a more dynamic character when they're built from the ground up.
3 years ago | [YT] | 273