| Xxain said: @Frogger - Your attitude is why Pokemon is where it's at. It's the same attitude that GameFreak has; were ok with Pokemon just being "ok". Not terrible but not amazing or even great. Just passable. Then there are other developers working their asses off to make sure their franchises remain relevant and up to date with all the new tech/design philosophies with a fraction of the budget and marketing that Pokemon would get. Nobody cares that it's an improvement over the previous outing. There is absolutely no excuse why Pokemon "feels" like it has the budget of a Ys or a Compile Heart game...... that's not fair. Their games look better than anything Pokemon has done in the last 8 years or so. |
While Pokemon games graphics aren't exactly the best, that isn't the main problem with the games. Yes with the budget Game Freak has they absolutely should be taking the time to make better graphics and hiring better graphics people, as to me it seems likely the main reason Switch Pokemon games just had decent graphics is because they have just been making portable games and suddenly they are working on a powerful system that can produce great graphics so maybe their graphics people just don't have those skills. Regardless, graphics absolutely should be better.
But the main problem is the gameplay, not the graphics. I have Sword, and while the game was okay, it wasn't very challenging. The gyms were super easy and without challenge you just don't get much out of the game. And there just wasn't anything that was very exciting in the game. Not a bad game, but the only reason it sold 25m+ instead of a couple million is the Pokemon name.
I have Arceus as well, though I've only played a few hours of it, and while I like it more than Sword for sure, it still, from the little I've played, just seemed like a decent pokemon game and a step in the right direction, but nothing crazy good. The only other Pokemon game I've ever played is the original (Red) and I remember LOVING that game. Just feels like Game Freak phones it in a bit these days.
S/V looked cool being all open world, and from what I heard it was good, but of course the bug fiasco at launch, and which they apparently never fully fixed, was just absurd. And I watched the trailer for A-Z and it doesn't look interesting to me.
Since it seems likely the next mainline game what come out until holiday 2026 and will get an extra year in development compared to most of the mainline pokemon games, and being the first game on the next gen Switch, I feel like it's kind of a make or break moment for the series. This is their opportunity to hire more and better graphics people, take more time to make a polished bug-free game, and bring back the challenge and fun and excitement that the series used to have a long time ago, which is what made it a mega franchise in the first place. The series is running on pure fanbase momentum from the past, and they need to give it a shot in the arm by making the first Switch 2 Pokemon game actually great. Graphics are part of that but just a minor part.
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