The Pokemon franchise is, without question, one of the biggest and most popular video game franchises on the planet, and one of Nintendo's most beloved.  We're about to have the Seventh Generation coming out in the form of Pokemon Sun/Moon, along with Pokemon Go, a mobile game, to celebrate the series' 20th Anniversary, and there's no reason to think that this Gen will be less or not as successful, financially and critically as the 6 that have all come before it. 

And that is largely due to Pokemon sticking to the same formula, with a few minor quirks and kinks here and there with each new game, that it has been using since Pokemon Red/Blue, (Generation 1). 

And it's in large part because of that why I haven't gotten all to excited for Sun/Moon and why I don't plan on purchasing either one, any time soon.
Don't get me wrong, I'm fully confident that the games will be great and that they'll kill it this holiday season, but I just get the feeling of "Been There. Done That." 
Basically, I just feel like, if you've played Gen 6, then you're not missing much with Gen 7, unless those new Pokemon are THAT important to you.
There's really not much of a wow or hype factor anymore because it's Pokemon, you know what to expect and what's going to happen before you even get the game. It's like "If you've played one, you've played them all.
Basically, I think Pokemon has become stale, the formula has stagnated, and they've done just about all they can do with it and it has nothing new to offer.
That's why I think, that after Sun and Moon come out and Gen 7 are out of the way, that Game Freak, the Pokemon Company, and Nintendo, should take Pokemon in an entirely new direction and completely change the formula. And with the NX, the most powerful system that Nintendo will have ever made to date, being out by that time (hopefully), there's no better time or opportunity to do it in my opinion!
Now this would be well outside of Game Freak's comfort zone, venturing into Uncharted territory, which is why they should take all of the time, resources, and help that they need to make sure they get it right... Just like what Nintendo is doing with Zelda right now, I mean, we're all still recovering from the whirlwind of hype from E3 caused by Breath of the Wild... Speaking of Breath of the Wild, THAT'S what I think they should do with Pokemon...
Make it an Open World RPG. 
Breath of the Wild and Xenoblade Chronicles X are the two games that immediately come to mind as to what they should base it off of.
Remember when you were flying through Mira in XCX in your Skell listening to "Don't Worry" and having an awesome time? Now imagine flying over the world of Pokemon on Charizard, Rayquaza, Pidgeot, or Yveltal or (insert favorite flying type here). Or swimming through the oceans on Blastoise or Lapras or (insert favorite water type here)
Imagine all of the 7 areas from each Generation, from Kanto and Johto all the way to Kalos and Alola, all being explorable continents/areas in this massive world along with whatever new ones lie ahead! Imagine being in live battles with this beautiful HD world surrounding you. 
The basic foundation of the formula can still be the same, (being the best like noone ever was, catching them being your real test, training them your cause), but the execution, exploration, and feel of it (traveling across the land, searching far and wide, to teach Pokemon to understand the power that's inside) being entirely different and fresh!
Implementing and executing the best aspects of an open world RPG to its absolute best abilities, while staying true to the founding concepts that makes Pokemon, Pokemon.
Mario has done it many times before!
Zelda has done it, and is currently doing it again!
I'm sure that Pokemon can do it too! With the right help, right resources, effort, dedication, and time, they can absolutely pull this off. Bringing the world of Pokemon to life like never before, adding greatly to the legacy that the franchise has accumulated through the years, and making the series appeal to a whole new legion and upcoming generation of gamers. 
But that's just me.
Anybody agree and/or think I should become head of Game Freak?
Anybody disagree and/or wants my head on a bowl shaped like a Pokeball? 
Thoughts? Opinions? Yay? Nay? What say you guys?

I totally agree with you. Only part I would change is the size of the world... it would be actually impossible to make a game that includes all major regions together; instead it would be better (and cheaper/faster) to focus on a single region and develop it well.

But anyway, this would cost a lot of time and money... probably 3+ years, so I'm not so sure if they'd do it in the near future.

Well, perhaps they could do a few regions along with a new one, if all of them aren't feasible. I just think it would be so freaking amazing to so Sinnoh, Unova, etc. in this HD, Open World setting. People would fap and climax just as hard if not harder than they did with Breath of the Wild. 
But yeah, I do know it would take a lot of time and money, but if any franchise can afford it, it's Pokemon. :)

I don't ant Pokemon to be like any of those games. Definitely more open, but not like those. And if that's all they have to offer, they'll still be same-y. Most of what needs changing in Pokemon has nothing to do with the over world.

But to be clear, Pokemon has the potential of selling GTAV numbers with enough ambition. The fact that it's only selling 15m when the first games sold 40m+ is a result of their lack of ambition. It's bad, not good.

Well. I guess a game like that is a looong way off in the distant future.
And I'm sure Gen 7 will be great, it's just, meh, seen it, played it, done it, for me. Nothing wrong with how they're doing it, I'd just like to see something different. As for the money, budget, and timing. I'm sure that Nintendo, seeing the potential in it, would be more than willing to give them the finances and help that they'll need to help Game Freak and the Pokemon Co. stomach the budget more and get it out at a quicker time. I mean, Monolith Soft and the Zelda team helping out with Pokemon would be music to my ears!

Yeah, it baffles me how Pokemon couldn't crack 20 million on the DS! You'd think with that install base, that's the least they could do, definitely an issue there.

More open how? Being able to go down more routes or taking on the gym leaders in whichever order you'd like? How so? 
And what are the things that need changing? Some battle mechanics? Adding Voice Acting? Multiplayer?
Come on, Spemanig, don't leave me in the dark here.

What pokemon needs is a bigger focus on the end game. More content basically.

We don't need all regions in one game(though that'd be neat). Perhaps a bigger world.


I think Sun and Moon are taking the right steps though. Bigger world(from looks), no more chibi, more focus on detail, and a very polished battle system. The focus on popular areas is great as well. I enjoyed the France theme in XY, and can't wait for the Hawaii theme.

The end game in X/Y did leave much to be desired, I will say. 
And Sun/Moon does look more refined and focused and I like that the trainers themselves can be seen in the battles in Sun/Moon.

I would like to see a new approach for the Pokemon games and like what I am seeing for the direction Zelda is moving in (haven't played so I can't say for sure though)

though I'm not sure if open world would be the best way to go, but it could work out

I like Pokemon as it is, honestly. It just needs a better story, or simply put, a different setting that isn't "You're a kid. There are Pokemon Gyms. There are also bad guys. Go do both of those things." and that's it. Black and White were a step in the right direction because it presented the "evil team" with a belief that needed to be touched, but besides those games, the "evil team" plot is just so overdone. And don't get me started on XY.

What should they change/add? Beats me. Give the player more freedom of choice, but I don't know what those choices could be. Maybe making a more open ended goal, like more than just beating the elite four and meeting some dumb legendary Pokemon. Maybe I dont want to beat the champion. Maybe I dont want to collect gym badges. But then again, I'm dealing with changing the core gameplay of Pokemon... which is why I said "Beats me"

Giving the game HD graphics or paying more attention to visuals isn't changing the formula, by the way.