GIGANTAMAX MACHAMP
Well, if you liked Machamp, and you just wanted Machamp to get bigger all around...you could have just Dynamaxed one, right? Every feature of Gigantamax Machamp is a little different from its base, but what's the first thing that stands out when it evolves from Machoke? The fact that it has more arms, I would think. A buff wrestler with more than the normal human number of limbs is kind of the entire core thrust of Machamp, so why in the world did Machamp's first ever new form do absolutely nothing with that? Why doesn't it have at least one more pair? Or, more appropriately for a giant monster version, as many pairs as they could possibly cram onto it? Why not a whole radiating wheel of muscly arms, all the way around its torso?? I guess it's the same as with Charizard. They didn't really intend Gigantamax forms to be all that different from the base at all, I guess, but come on, GIANT KAIJU POKEMON! GIANT KAIJU POKEMON!!! It just...it should have been grander, you know? More than a slight aesthetic shift, and more than just a couple of turns.
In fact, if I may diverge this for a moment into discussion of gameplay mechanics, I honestly wish these had just been giant-size mega forms, more than anything else. No unique mechanics; it's just that Galar has megas, and Galarian megas happen to be comically gigantic in size. I think that would have been fine! Other future regions in turn could have their own special gimmicks for their megas. Yes, I like the idea that ANY Pokemon can at least Dynamax, and the interesting strategic implications of the fact that you can dynamax any one of your team members, but folding these into megas would have just been a little more...elegant? I guess? It feels a little cluttered for megas and gigantamaxes to exist in the same franchise, and I feel like that's exactly why the team decided to "retire" Megas, but I feel like it's also the reason they'll likely "retire" Gigantamaxes once we move on to some other region. I just don't like the idea of Pokemon forms that are so region-specific, they can't even exist at all anywhere else.
And if they HAD to be a new thing, I think Gigantas should have been "permanent" changes, but with some kind of other catch that balances them out, like they may have a big monster load of HP but the opponent gets to use two pokemon to fight against it if they don't use a giant of their own, yeah? Or the gigantamax/dynamax lasts the whole battle, but costs all the remaining HP of one of your team's other Pokemon, and that's what gets added onto the giant's health. I don't know, just spitballin' here!
In fact, if I may diverge this for a moment into discussion of gameplay mechanics, I honestly wish these had just been giant-size mega forms, more than anything else. No unique mechanics; it's just that Galar has megas, and Galarian megas happen to be comically gigantic in size. I think that would have been fine! Other future regions in turn could have their own special gimmicks for their megas. Yes, I like the idea that ANY Pokemon can at least Dynamax, and the interesting strategic implications of the fact that you can dynamax any one of your team members, but folding these into megas would have just been a little more...elegant? I guess? It feels a little cluttered for megas and gigantamaxes to exist in the same franchise, and I feel like that's exactly why the team decided to "retire" Megas, but I feel like it's also the reason they'll likely "retire" Gigantamaxes once we move on to some other region. I just don't like the idea of Pokemon forms that are so region-specific, they can't even exist at all anywhere else.
And if they HAD to be a new thing, I think Gigantas should have been "permanent" changes, but with some kind of other catch that balances them out, like they may have a big monster load of HP but the opponent gets to use two pokemon to fight against it if they don't use a giant of their own, yeah? Or the gigantamax/dynamax lasts the whole battle, but costs all the remaining HP of one of your team's other Pokemon, and that's what gets added onto the giant's health. I don't know, just spitballin' here!
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