Gaming Misc What can be done to improve the Pokémon franchise?

[Vetusomaru]

While the Pokémon games have been well received

In the past. All Pokemon main games for Switch are trash (except Sword/Shield).

 

[Deleted member 672055]

In the past. All Pokemon main games for Switch are trash (except Sword/Shield).

The last good games were made with the 3DS, a much weaker hardware that didn't magically need a dex cut and where the games weren't as buggy as whatever the Switch got (save for the infamous glitch in Pokemon X where you risked corrupting your data)

 

[Vetusomaru]

The last good games were made with the 3DS, a much weaker hardware that didn't magically need a dex cut and where the games weren't as buggy as whatever the Switch got (save for the infamous glitch in Pokemon X where you risked corrupting your data)

Agree. Sun/Moon was the last great Pokemon generation. Not only at the main games but the anime as well. While Sword/Shield was very good, it had its issues. Also Pokemon Sword was the only Pokemon main games I bought for Switch since I refuse even emulating/pirating trash like Scarlet/Violet.

 

[Deleted member 672055]

Agree. Sun/Moon was the last great Pokemon generation. Not only at the main games but the anime as well. While Sword/Shield was very good, it had its issues. Also Pokemon Sword was the only Pokemon main games I bought for Switch since I refuse even emulating/pirating trash like Scarlet/Violet.

I don't care about pokeani enough to have an opinion (besides the fact I kind of liked the new artstyle after the overhyped shit XYZ was)

but people still didn't grow up enough to appreciate Alola games. calling another BW-type situation in here

for SwSh, I'm not too strong in my opinion on it because I didn't play it in the first place. But while I'm usually super excited for a Pokemon game even if I won't be able to play it... this one gave me a "meh, whatever" reaction.

Paldea seemed much better of a concept, but the execution... I don't need to even play it to say it's shit.


...and even after all the time I still dream for GameFreak to make a region based on a country somewhere in Eastern Europe

 

[Vetusomaru]

Paldea seemed much better of a concept, but the execution... I don't need to even play it to say it's shit.


...and even after all the time I still dream for GameFreak to make a region based on a country somewhere in Eastern Europe

With all the previous Pokemon generation regions even without reading/watching interviews and shit you could really tell they were inspired by specific real life countries/towns/islands etc. With Scarlet/Violet? How the fuck can anyone tell this game's region was inspired by Spain?

 

[Deleted member 672055]

With all the previous Pokemon generation regions even without reading/watching interviews and shit you could really tell they were inspired by specific real life countries/towns/islands etc. With Scarlet/Violet? How the fuck can anyone tell this game's region was inspired by Spain?

honestly you're onto something.
skipping first 4 regions as they were limited to Japan:

unova? a fresh breeze, perhaps i wouldn't be able to tell it's based on any part of USA, but it *does* feel different from the general 4 previous regions

kalos? if this doesn't scream France, then i don't know what will. just look at the professor and then at lumiose city

alola? this is the most 'stereotypical'/book example depiction of a hawaii-themed region and there's no need to dig deep, even the name does the job

galar? bland, like beans on toast and a great part of UK. kinda liked the soccer/football theme in gyms

paldea??? this thing was based on anything in real life??? the wuh???


now you got me thinking if they were to make whatever i suggested, that'd be... Truly An Experience To Go Through.... in a negative meaning of it

 

[Vetusomaru]

I didn't knew Santorini island was Japanese. Lol!

https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pokémon_world_in_relation_to_the_real_world

alola? this is the most 'stereotypical'/book example depiction of a hawaii-themed region and there's no need to dig deep, even the name does the job

Stereotypical you said. AHAHAHAHAHAHA!

 

[Deleted member 672055]

I didn't knew Santorini island was Japanese. Lol!

https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pokémon_world_in_relation_to_the_real_world

i was rather analyzing the region themselves rather than each city separately, so pardon for that

Stereotypical you said. AHAHAHAHAHAHA!

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[GAPMan]

So, what do you make of the various spinoffs?

 

[WalterSlovotsky]

More strippers and cocaine.

 

[GAPMan]

I heard once that the development time for these games is too short or needs better management. What do you think of this?

 

[AkiraKurusu]

1) Go back to 2D, a la the DS games. 2D sprites for characters (people and Pokémon), 2.5D overworlds, with animated sprites.

2) Revert pretty much all the nerfs - give Steel its Ghost and Dark resistances back, revert the special-move nerf (how 95 -> 90, 120 -> 110, and 140 -> 130 for moves like Surf, Thunder, and Overheat), remove the max-HP requirement for Gale Wings, etc.

3) Instead of nerfing OP Pokémon, give underpowered 'mon major boosts, like ROM hacks do - stat boosts, typing changes, ability changes, new moves, the works.

4) Have an actual goddamn postgame, like DS and earlier games did - BW had the eastern side of Unova, BW2 had the southern side along with PWT and Black Tower/White Treehollow and meeting N in the ruins of his castle. HGSS had Kanto and Red and Battle Frontier, Platinum had the Fight Area and Battle Frontier. FRLG had the last few Sevii Islands, while Emerald had its own Frontier along with the Steven fight.

5) Remove mandatory EXP Share mechanic, and make it toggleable like in the 3DS entries.

6) Revert Dexit and bring back every dropped move; they're all basically coded already, the moves, just flagged as 'unusable' and without animations. Heck, SV even had practically all the Pokémon species coded in, with actual stats and abilities - just lacking models (and thus they default to Pikachu).

7) Make the rival a fucking jerk again, to make beating him feel good - like the jackass deserved it. With these 'nice' rivals, they not only feel bland, but it's honestly quite pathetic how you continuously stomp them time and time again without them becoming spiteful; without a single time where you're supposed to lose to the rival, in order to give him a confidence boost or show that the rivalry is earned and deserved (that you two are equals).
Either make the rival a jackass, or make it more equal with a nice rival.

8) No more breakable TMs - we got this right on the DS, so why reverse this on the Switch? One-time-use TMs in BDSP and SV, and TRs in SwSh, force the player to grind just to get more, which isn't fun at all. In Gens 5-7 (and SwSh's TMs), infinite-use Technical discs allow for far more flexibility, as there's no cost to rearranging movesets on the fly (aside from the need to visit the move reminder, I suppose, for level-up moves and deleted TR moves).

9) One thing LGPE did well, for once, was to allow Repels to affect wandering Pokémon (the ones visible on the overworld), which was reversed in SwSh for some reason, which just led to immense frustration. If wanderers are going to be kept, instead of going back to wild encounters, then at least give us the option to turn them off with Repels.

10) Make villain teams VILLAINOUS again. Team Rocket's iconic not just because they were first, but because of how unambiguously evil they were, selling Pokémon off at the casino and caging them, not to mention the takeover of Silph Co., a major company. Team Magma/Aqua were going to destroy the world by awakening a Legendary, with the leaders realising their massive mistake far too late. Most of Team Galactic were goons, but Cyrus' plot still had weight; he had the pixie trio captured and tortured to obtain the gems needed to create the Red Chain, then shackled Dialga and Palkia at Spear Pillar in order to remake the world.
Team Plasma had a hidden dark side in BW, along with a likeable figurehead in N and the mysterious Shadow Triad; in BW2, they had a flying boat and control over Kyurem, freezing Opelucid and the nearby routes, not to mention the conflict between BW Plasma and BW2 Plasma members (those that honestly thought they were doing good, trying to separate Pokémon from people, only to repent upon realising they were the villains; and those that just wanted to be villains all along).

Even Team Skull was memorable, due to their weird dance, due to Guzma, due to their rundown home base. Sure, they weren't necessarily "evil", being a bunch of delinquents, but they were still villainous and needed to be stopped; from memory, they abducted a Pokémon, which is why you had to infiltrate their base in the first place. Guzma also had a connection to the Aether Foundation, to Lusamine, the actual villainess.

Meanwhile, Team Flare's forgettable, with the grunts being even worse than Galactic's and Lysandre's plot being nonsensical; Team Yell is just a bunch of rabid Marnie supporters (really? Her? Simps); and Team Star lacks presence outside of their separate storyline, and aren't even "evil" either (just rebelling against the school).

 

[Jayro]

Bring the QoL features and gameplay from Arceus to the mainline games. And instead of raid battles, having tournaments on weekends would be nice. Somewhat akin to Splatfest in Splatoon.

1) Go back to 2D, a la the DS games. 2D sprites for characters (people and Pokémon), 2.5D overworlds, with animated sprites.

I'd love a Pokemon game if it looked as good as the new Star Ocean remake or Octopath Traveler.

 

[GAPMan]

I do not really mind the 3D models but I do agree that they should have more time to refine the process. As for the rivals, they only mean rivals were Blue and Silver but the latter both had a character arc.

 

[Awesomegameplayer]

I'd say, like many others, that the teams behind the Pokemon games need way more time to work on the games, they're pumping so many glitchy games so quickly. However, it does appear that the higher ups are finally considering on reducing the crunch culture, so that might improve things if they go through with it.

 

[GAPMan]

I'd say, like many others, that the teams behind the Pokemon games need way more time to work on the games, they're pumping so many glitchy games so quickly. However, it does appear that the higher ups are finally considering on reducing the crunch culture, so that might improve things if they go through with it.

I could not agree more. The developers need more time as cutting some Pokémon from the game is completely stupid.

 

[RyanTheArchivist]

Just take more time with development. They said they have the schedule of releasing 1 game a year and that is definitely hurting things a lot.

 

[GAPMan]

Look at what happened to the Mega Man franchise in the early 2000s.