Released Pivot

ENLS · Feb 22, 2023

It's pivoting time

Voltseon · Feb 22, 2023

It's pivoting time

Thundaga · Feb 22, 2023

It's pivoting time (or so I've heard)!
This game looks amazing, I'm stoked to play it with you all sometime! Only you talented mad lads could create an online PVP Battle Arena game using Pokemon Essentials!

King_Waluigi · Feb 22, 2023

Dang, is it really pivoting time?

Code Delta · Feb 23, 2023

Are you guys planning to add more characters? The game has great potential to be really fun, but 5 characters seems a bit limited.

Tomix9tomix · Feb 24, 2023

An extremely fun game, not a whole lot for me to say. Playing with friends just leads to a great time. It's insane what your team has managed to pull off here. I'd love to see this game expanded on. Good work!

Aki · Feb 25, 2023

I have some insight from the perspective of a player who barely made it through the tutorial:
Rotom only says each instruction the one time, and doesn't check that the player managed to pull off the last mechanic before explaining the new one. Also, Is there a way to replay the tutorial at any point? I think it'd be a good to include an optional reminder somewhere like the training room.

I know this sounds like a nitpick because most of the controls are single button presses but I'm being embarrassingly honest when I say I need it. Rotom said I could use one of two methods to advance dialogue, and I promptly committed to one method and erased the other from my memory. I know this is entirely my fault but uhhh while both of those do advance dialogue, only one of them opens dialogue. And I chose the wrong option to remember. Please understand this is the level of brainpower I'm working with here when I tell you I later misread the instructions and then couldn't figure out how to do a ranged attack, and had no help to figure out what I was doing wrong.

ENLS · Feb 27, 2023

Pivot has been updated to v1.0.1

ranko · Feb 27, 2023

It's pivoting time

jam · Feb 27, 2023

Hey! I got to do some playtesting on the latest patch. The game feels great with omnidirectional aiming, and the nerfs to Crobat and Spiritomb were warranted to say the least. Regardless of these nerfs, however, they are still easily the best characters in the game.

Zubat's infinite range projectiles let him evolve easily, and Golbat/Crobat's speed and lack of recovery on ranged attacks allow them to kite with ease. I was only able to test in 1v1 and 1v1v1, but the Zubat line feels impossible to beat in a 1v1 and still very difficult with more people around. The high speed and long range projectiles are already solid on their own, and this is also combined with the ability to fly over terrain. On many maps, it is easy to circle camp around a patch of terrain where only the Zubat line can cross directly through while Farfetch'd and Absol must walk around, making it impossible to actually hit Zubat in any way without them both messing up and also trading damage. Zubat and family's Guard is fine, if only a little useless because his movement is just insane enough to not need to worry about taking attacks in the first place. It works in a pinch, though the low cooldown means it probably can avoid all opportunities at ranged damage should it not be able to just directly move away from them.

Spiritomb is definitely the second best character at the moment. It has crazy high damage, which should be balanced out by having poor mobility. However, this lack of mobility doesn't matter that much since Spiritomb outtrades any melee characters that run up on it. Compounded with this strength is the highest range in the game, letting it camp specific areas of a map with extreme ease and forcing damage if someone tries to approach, and stuns on both melee and ranged attacks, ensuring that melee characters can't spam as efficiently on it. This means that Spiritomb's core weakness, slow attacks and slow movement, do not matter when melee characters (currently just Absol and Farfetch'd) are incapable of contesting him at their best range, up close. Spiritomb's Guard is in a good spot right now, though it seems to be near identical to the Zubat line it does its job of being able to avoid damage. Like the Zubat line, it might be good for it to have a higher cooldown, which would let characters approaching it with a ranged attack be able to do another ranged before Spiritomb is able to Guard again.

There's not much to say on Ditto. The change to his Guard is pretty nice, as it allows him to refresh his transformation whenever instead of being behest to the transform timer. It also allows him to chain between different Pokemon quickly, allowing better movespeed to get around the map. It is hard to tell the health difference between him and other Pokemon however, as no health bars are present on the screen besides your own.

Farfetch'd is neat, and the change to critical hits seems necessary to keep him functional while not being insane once he gets in. It is hard to notice when Fling hits twice, but it is an interesting concept. The main struggle is getting in on opponent's camping him out, as Fling has pitiful range and he is not fast enough to take advantage of its slowing effect should it hit. If Farfetch'd is able to stay in, he can destroy opponents with ease, which is a satisfying feeling in a 1v1 but can feel overpowering if there are multiple Farfetch'ds running at one person and DPSing them down. I don't think this is an issue necessarily, but it should be kept in mind if considering buffing him further. With this being said, I think allowing every 3rd Leaf Blade strike to critically hit makes more sense than every 3rd Leaf Blade strike that connects. It is a small difference, but it would allow Farfetch'd to guarantee he's being consistent with his damage, while also letting him store a critical Leaf Blade once he makes it in for more burst damage.

Absol is in a similar spot to Farfetch'd currently as a melee-oriented character. He struggles to stay in and do high amounts of damage while in. Unlike Farfetch'd his power is split between his melee and ranged attack, which I believe is mostly a detriment. Absol ends up being not great at either of them, which means he struggles contesting any character - Zubat line outspeeds and kites him, Spiritomb outdamages or outtrades him, and Farfetch'd beats him up when they are both up close. This can most likely be remedied by increasing how well Absol is able to stay on opponents, whether it is giving him more speed or more CC. This would help buff up both aspects of the character, letting him stick better with Sucker Punch or be able to utilize the range of Shadow Ball better. The change to Guard to make it a 3 tile dash is a great one, though due to it's nature it can feel hard to dodge any attacks at close range without being forced to move away from the opponent, while everyone else is able to maintain their positioning.

Overall, the game is great! While it has some issues when playing against gamers with experience, it is very fun to play casually and go at it with your friends. It is insanely impressive that this team was able to get this running with online gameplay in just 9 days, and on top of that making it an enjoyable experience. There currently seems to be a bug with the name changing added in the new patch that does not change your name if you do not play out a match before closing the game. Thanks for creating this little gem!

it's pivoting time

KennyCatches · Feb 28, 2023

jam said:
Hey! I got to do some playtesting on the latest patch. The game feels great with omnidirectional aiming, and the nerfs to Crobat and Spiritomb were warranted to say the least. Regardless of these nerfs, however, they are still easily the best characters in the game.

Zubat's infinite range projectiles let him evolve easily, and Golbat/Crobat's speed and lack of recovery on ranged attacks allow them to kite with ease. I was only able to test in 1v1 and 1v1v1, but the Zubat line feels impossible to beat in a 1v1 and still very difficult with more people around. The high speed and long range projectiles are already solid on their own, and this is also combined with the ability to fly over terrain. On many maps, it is easy to circle camp around a patch of terrain where only the Zubat line can cross directly through while Farfetch'd and Absol must walk around, making it impossible to actually hit Zubat in any way without them both messing up and also trading damage. Zubat and family's Guard is fine, if only a little useless because his movement is just insane enough to not need to worry about taking attacks in the first place. It works in a pinch, though the low cooldown means it probably can avoid all opportunities at ranged damage should it not be able to just directly move away from them.

Spiritomb is definitely the second best character at the moment. It has crazy high damage, which should be balanced out by having poor mobility. However, this lack of mobility doesn't matter that much since Spiritomb outtrades any melee characters that run up on it. Compounded with this strength is the highest range in the game, letting it camp specific areas of a map with extreme ease and forcing damage if someone tries to approach, and stuns on both melee and ranged attacks, ensuring that melee characters can't spam as efficiently on it. This means that Spiritomb's core weakness, slow attacks and slow movement, do not matter when melee characters (currently just Absol and Farfetch'd) are incapable of contesting him at their best range, up close. Spiritomb's Guard is in a good spot right now, though it seems to be near identical to the Zubat line it does its job of being able to avoid damage. Like the Zubat line, it might be good for it to have a higher cooldown, which would let characters approaching it with a ranged attack be able to do another ranged before Spiritomb is able to Guard again.

There's not much to say on Ditto. The change to his Guard is pretty nice, as it allows him to refresh his transformation whenever instead of being behest to the transform timer. It also allows him to chain between different Pokemon quickly, allowing better movespeed to get around the map. It is hard to tell the health difference between him and other Pokemon however, as no health bars are present on the screen besides your own.

Farfetch'd is neat, and the change to critical hits seems necessary to keep him functional while not being insane once he gets in. It is hard to notice when Fling hits twice, but it is an interesting concept. The main struggle is getting in on opponent's camping him out, as Fling has pitiful range and he is not fast enough to take advantage of its slowing effect should it hit. If Farfetch'd is able to stay in, he can destroy opponents with ease, which is a satisfying feeling in a 1v1 but can feel overpowering if there are multiple Farfetch'ds running at one person and DPSing them down. I don't think this is an issue necessarily, but it should be kept in mind if considering buffing him further. With this being said, I think allowing every 3rd Leaf Blade strike to critically hit makes more sense than every 3rd Leaf Blade strike that connects. It is a small difference, but it would allow Farfetch'd to guarantee he's being consistent with his damage, while also letting him store a critical Leaf Blade once he makes it in for more burst damage.

Absol is in a similar spot to Farfetch'd currently as a melee-oriented character. He struggles to stay in and do high amounts of damage while in. Unlike Farfetch'd his power is split between his melee and ranged attack, which I believe is mostly a detriment. Absol ends up being not great at either of them, which means he struggles contesting any character - Zubat line outspeeds and kites him, Spiritomb outdamages or outtrades him, and Farfetch'd beats him up when they are both up close. This can most likely be remedied by increasing how well Absol is able to stay on opponents, whether it is giving him more speed or more CC. This would help buff up both aspects of the character, letting him stick better with Sucker Punch or be able to utilize the range of Shadow Ball better. The change to Guard to make it a 3 tile dash is a great one, though due to it's nature it can feel hard to dodge any attacks at close range without being forced to move away from the opponent, while everyone else is able to maintain their positioning.

Overall, the game is great! While it has some issues when playing against gamers with experience, it is very fun to play casually and go at it with your friends. It is insanely impressive that this team was able to get this running with online gameplay in just 9 days, and on top of that making it an enjoyable experience. There currently seems to be a bug with the name changing added in the new patch that does not change your name if you do not play out a match before closing the game. Thanks for creating this little gem!

it's pivoting time

Thank you so much for the in-depth review! Your thoughts on the game's balance are very much appreciated, and we agree with many of your points here.

We'll definitely keep these comments in mind for the next balance patch.

Also, thanks for the games yesterday. We had a lot of fun getting demolished by your Zubat.

AlizarinRed · Mar 1, 2023

Absolutely loving this game! Amazing job so far, can't wait to see what future updates bring!

👵👵👵 · Mar 6, 2023

This game is so impressive I can't believe you guys made a working MOBA in pokemon essentials! Ontop of that the gameplay is super fun! I played a few days ago with a lobby I found with a few epic pivotiers and had a blast.
My favorite character so far has to be Ditto! I love swaping play styles every stock to mix things up (and I also like becoming a Crobat without having to work for it myself

). I also think Ditto being unlocked after the base cast is really smart because it gives people a chance to play all the other characters while still being able to look forward to unlocking them. The characters movesets are simple but very expressive and complex. Also the maps are perfect for the game and provide lots of variety. My favorites are probably the boxing ring and the dessert! The game is also insanely polished! I especially love the touch of the camera movement when aiming a ranged attack! The online lobby system is also really good I experienced barely any lag and the ux for it is really smooth and easy to navigate.

You all did an amazing job making making this! Defiantly a highlight of the jam for me!

Enjoyluck · Mar 8, 2023

Pivot like a bro

Mega Greninja · Mar 13, 2023

I suck at this game, but it's great regardless! Pivot/10!

ENLS · Mar 30, 2023

Pivot has been updated to v1.0.2

Empz · Jul 19, 2023

Hey guys, i just downloaded the game and tried to start it, but it simply won't open. Is there an older version that i can patch up or smth?

Malo902 · Jul 20, 2023

Empz said:
Hey guys, i just downloaded the game and tried to start it, but it simply won't open. Is there an older version that i can patch up or smth?

Aparently you have to have the discord app installed otherwise the game will crash

quentix · Aug 3, 2023

can we play as pikachu and banette too?!

Released Pivot

ENLS

it is pronounced endless

Voltseon

Don't read the first word

Thundaga

Tutorial Guy

King_Waluigi

The King of Waaahh!

Code Delta

Rookie

Tomix9tomix

The beetle is waking up

Aki

Ace trainer

ENLS

it is pronounced endless

ranko

The Wind and Snow Continue to Stare

jam

Elite Magical Girl

KennyCatches

can he catch his?

AlizarinRed

Novice

👵👵👵

🌯🌯🌯

Enjoyluck

Novice

Mega Greninja

Professional Amateur Creator

ENLS

it is pronounced endless

Empz

Rookie

Malo902

Rookie

quentix

Cooltrainer