The Ruins of Alph, the Unown, and the Unown Dex

[KedaseDerragar]

So the new scans that just came out show a near-total redesign (and maybe an expansion) of the Ruins of Alph, which may mean that Gae Freak is going to expand the role that they and the resident Unown will play in the plot. Anyone have any thoughts on how this might play out?

One thing I've been wondering is if the Unown Dex from GSC will make a return. For those who never played: once you caught a few different Unown (I think), the scientist in a nearby building upgrades your Pokédex with Unown Mode, which displays all the Unown shapes you've caught around the edge of the screen, with the currently viewed shape in the center, and a word spelled out in Unown letters below it. (The picture is a link to te Bulbapedia article on the Unown Dex, with a list of all the corresponding words.)



From the very start it always bugged me that there was no apparent reason for those words to be there - they seemed to be things that would have some relevance in battle (Angry, Direct, Quicken, Zoom, etc.), but there was no mechanism behind them.

But now that the battle system of the games has become more sophisticated, I think we might see the formerly useless Unown becoming much more interesting. I'd personally like to see those words correspond to special powers that would give you an edge in battle if you had that specific Unown in your party - Zoom boosting accuracy, for instance. If the effect was strong enough, it could greatly affect the way battles are fought.

 

[$aturn¥oshi]

Since it'll be a guarantee that I'll collect every shape of Unown, I sure hope they do have some differences. Even slight.

 

[The Outrage]

It would be cool if different things happened in the Ruins if you bring Unowns that form those words.

 

[TTEchidna]

Maybe the words on the walls change daily? That'd be an interesting one...

 

[Mitchman]

Well the ruins are now small brick hut things instead of large caves. What also intrigues me is the fact that there seems to be some tweaking and rock smash and strength puzzles litter the place. Whatever it is its cool.

 

[Zeta]

I hope these wastes of space finally DO something.

 

[Maxim Posthumus]

I just hope that the new Ruins of Alph don't turn out dull like Tanoby Ruins in Sevii.

I have fingers crossed for the legend expansion.

And also. YAY for puzzles! Of course they have no reason to axe them, especially that we have Touch Screen now, they can make them cooler!

 

[Mitchman]

Much cooler. I cannot wait to see what they do with the puzzles seeing as they want to rape the game with touchscreen controls.

 

[Jukain]

I think those words did have a function back then, or at least they did for me. Now I didn't know of Japanese information back then, nor did I know much of G/S's development. I had to figure out what the Unown stood for by myself. Of course it was obvious they were some form of alphabet, but I was unassuming and used the words of the Unowndex to determine which symbols were which. Of course now, we say it's obvious what they are since we've all known for a long time. I will only admit that one or two Unown are not obvious, but process of elimination and all that.

 

[lifeless4life]

if the pokemon stickers from FRLG on the back of the trainer card make a comeback, and we photograph words spelled with Unown, that seems like a plausible place to stick a hidden battle boost.

The only problem with this speculation is some of the words consist of more than 6 letters, and if my idea is wrong and the effect is only given while Unown is in your party, one would have to stop and ask is a party of 6 Unown worth a huge accuracy boost(etc)

 

[Nt '95 trainer]

if the pokemon stickers from FRLG on the back of the trainer card make a comeback, and we photograph words spelled with Unown, that seems like a plausible place to stick a hidden battle boost.

The only problem with this speculation is some of the words consist of more than 6 letters, and if my idea is wrong and the effect is only given while Unown is in your party, one would have to stop and ask is a party of 6 Unown worth a huge accuracy boost(etc)

Broken one way, ussless gimick the othr. Keep as is for Combat.

 

[Falconwing]

I think the Unown powerup would be interesting since you can't really fight with unown but having them in your party to powerup what few pokemon you do have would be an interesting concept.

 

[Martonimos]

Hmm... how many different six-letter words that only use each letter once are there? Perhaps, after completing the Unown Dex, you could spell words with your party as part of a puzzle of some kind. A stretch, I know, but it'd be cool. There could be more words if they allowed more than one of each, but I don't know how feasible that would be.

 

[KedaseDerragar]

if the pokemon stickers from FRLG on the back of the trainer card make a comeback, and we photograph words spelled with Unown, that seems like a plausible place to stick a hidden battle boost.

The only problem with this speculation is some of the words consist of more than 6 letters, and if my idea is wrong and the effect is only given while Unown is in your party, one would have to stop and ask is a party of 6 Unown worth a huge accuracy boost(etc)

Who says you'd have to have all of them in the word? I was just thinking the first letter.

 

[ANinyMouse]

I wholeheartedly support this idea. Right now all I can do is cross my fingers, though.

 

[TTEchidna]

Betcha soon there'll be rumors for spelling of vulgarities like "PENIS!" or "YOUASS" with your party...

Speaking of that, I wonder what they'll do about ? and ! in HGSS. Will they be there with the normal puzzle, or will they appear in a special post-Elite one?

 

[ANinyMouse]

My money's on them not showing up until you get the National Dex, if only because Game Freak has kind of made it a point to set them aside to an extent - to keep them special.

 

[Mitchman]

My money's on them not showing up until you get the National Dex, if only because Game Freak has kind of made it a point to set them aside to an extent - to keep them special.

Cause it makes sense to cut out an area and all the Pokemon inside that area out so early in the game. I mean its not like they are after the first gym or anything...

 

[ANinyMouse]

Cause it makes sense to cut out an area and all the Pokemon inside that area out so early in the game. I mean its not like they are after the first gym or anything...

What does that have to do with anything at all ffs?

 

[Mitchman]

I re read and saw you meant for the ? and the ! unown. I think they will be in before anyway. It could explain why the hell ther seems to be more puzzle rooms.