Pokequaza said:
HMs are a part of the Pokémon series. They never bothered me that much. It allowed for complicated map layouts, areas couldn't be accessed without certain TMs. But when the games get as linear as BW I can see what makes them redundant. Cut, Fly, Surf, Strength, and Waterfall are a must I say. Rock Smash is acceptable as well. I never liked Dive, as three HMs is a little too much, Flash has never been a required HM so might as well be a TM, like it was in the past generation.
But no, I wouldn't remove HMs, they allowed for a better overworld gameplay, are mostly usable in battle as well, and aren't really something you should make a fuss about.
IMO, HMs should be useful both inside and outside of battle, and most of them aren't. In battle, most of them are relatively strong, but they're also a limited variety of types which limits movesets. All but three of any HM that's ever existed is either Normal or Water (the only three that aren't are Rock Smash which is Fighting, and Fly and Defog which are Flying). There's less inclination to use them in battle if they're all the same two types.
Outside of battle, they need to be used as more than just simple obstacles. A lot of the HMs are simply used to clear a random obstacle that for whatever weird reason happens to be right smack in the middle of where you need to go. It is highly annoying to have to sacrifice room in your party or moveset just to pass this obstacle. The more useful HMs, however, have much more interesting uses. Surf and Dive allow for different methods of transportation and encountering wild Pokemon. Fly allows you instant transportation to designated "safe" areas (mainly cities) to rest and prepare for your next task. Strength adds a puzzle element, and in 5th gen it includes the ability to permanently open shortcuts to new areas once you visit them your first time (example: a boulder on Rt. 13 in Black 2 allows you a quick trip between Giant Chasm and Lacunosa Town, but is only accessible after visiting Giant Chasm from Rt. 22). The other HMs need to start adding new mechanics to them to reach a similar level of usefulness.
Anyway, here's what I think they should do:
-Retype Cut to Grass or Steel or something, and either make Cut more useful (possibly for cutting more than just trees, like ropes or something?) or just remove it as an HM.
-Exploring the skies with Fly would be nice. Not necessary, but nice.
-Keep Surf and Strength the way they are.
-Bring back explorable underwater and underwater Pokemon for Dive (I have a feeling this is happening this game, fortunately).
-Downgrade Waterfall to TM. To prevent the player from being trapped, also make it so that Waterfalls can be ridden downwards without knowing the move again (IIRC, they did this in 2nd and/or 3rd gen), and that no Waterfall is required to be ridden upwards to return to the main path.
-Make Dig an HM, and give it a new use. Make it so Dig can now be used to dig holes in certain rock walls, floors, etc.
-If Rock Smash is ever brought back as an HM, it needs to be powered up big time. Giving it a base power of 20-40 makes it a waste of a move, it should be at least 60. Not really sure how to improve its field usage, but HGSS is a good place to start.
-More HMs of various types. Fire, Ice, Psychic, and Electric would be good candidates for new HM types. There's several things that can be done with these types in terms of field usage, burning/melting/freezing things, lava surfing, levitating/psychically manipulating objects, and charging up electrical objects are all good HM concepts.
-Keep Flash as a TM, it's fine exactly the way it is.
-Whirlpool would be fine to have occasionally, but not as an HM. It was fairly useless in GSCHGSS, but the way it was implemented in HGSS (where you simply crossover to the opposite side of it) is useful for water mazes.
-Defog should never be brought back.
-Rock Climb is better off done through either the Bike or a rideable Pokemon, making it an HM is somewhat unnecessary.
