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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - What it needs to make a better Pokémon game nowadays?

IcaroRibeiro said:

I still don't get how Youkai watch flopped so badly. Their 3DS games were all vastly superior to Pokemon, but the franchise died so fast, less than 5 years later it's like it never existed at all 

They made games too fast. Level 5 has a problem with burning their series so quickly that they exhaust their audience. Just look at Inazuma 11. Also, they weren't able to successfully expand to the west, Youkai Watch is still mostly popular in the West.



You know it deserves the GOTY.

Come join The 2018 Obscure Game Monthly Review Thread.

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sundin13 said:
Slownenberg said:

I like where Pokemon has been going this gen in terms of open world, moving from the Wild Areas of S/S to the large open areas of Arceus to I guess fully open world of V/S.

The artistic quality for sure is on the low side given the money they make on these games and therefore the resources they should be able to bring to bear on them. I mean I don't get the extreme hatred for graphics and animations. Graphics are a bit lazy for sure but not terrible given the cartoony artistic design. Except for some character popup in the large Arceus areas I never once even thought about any graphical limitations in either S/S or Arceus. But it would be cool to see a Pokemon game with a really polished look and given these games sell on the order of 15-20 million every time I don't see why they can't hire more people to polish things.
And so much hatred for animations of the Switch games, but as far as I could tell animations in S/S and Arceus seemed ok.

I don't think it is a big deal to not include every pokemon ever when each new pokemon gen has a ton of new pokemon and there are already many hundreds of pokemon.
But what I would like to see next console gen is a "Pokemon World" game that is fully open world and takes whatever open world lessons they learned this gen, but doesn't introduce any new pokemon, leaving that saved time of designing a whole new gen of pokemon to put resources toward polishing the quality more and including every single pokemon.

In future console gens I'd like to see one new pokemon gen game, one remake, and one "World" game that is as described here. Three games per gen (rather than the 5 games this gen) I think would also serve to keep the quality and polish higher for each. Also it'd be cool if they had a separate team focusing on a fourth game per gen that was more experimental that could lead to future main games taking the successes from the experimental side game. But anyway Game Freak will do whatever they want to do.

It isn't game breaking, but there is a huge difference between what we have and what we could have:

Oh I see so the complaint is that they took animations out of battle sequences? I hadn't played a Pokemon since the original Red until I got Sword. I thought the complaint was the animations that are there weren't good or were reused from previous games or something. Since I never noticed anything wrong with the animations that are in the Switch games I didn't get what people were complaining about.

I haven't played Sword or Arceus in a while so I don't specifically remember the lack of battle animations but yeah I guess that's very lazy of them.

It doesn't make a difference to the gameplay, I mean hell I didn't even notice or think about it despite reading complaints about Pokemon animations when those games came out. But I can understand it would be frustrating for regular Pokemon gamers to see stuff like that removed especially considering the massive technical leap from 3DS to Switch. Things like that should have been upgraded, not taken away!

With the money these games make there is no reason they can't hire a few extra people to polish the graphics and a few extra people to get all the animations in there. I am much more concerned about gameplay, as just ok graphics in a cartoony game like Pokemon and animations during turn-based fighting don't really make a big difference to me, but yeah again there's no reason for the lack of effort. I'll be happy just as long as the games are large, moving to open world now, interesting and compelling, and difficult (my main gripe with Sword was that it wasn't all that interesting to play because it was way too easy).

They should really cut down the number of Pokemon games they make to focus on making generation-defining experiences, the way Nintendo always tries to do with Zelda. Each console generation they should stick to one remake, one new pokemon gen, and my own thought one "World" game as I described in my previous comment. Keep the quality and polish high, and fewer games will mean they will be more evergreen games like S/S rather than the BD/SP which got immediately cut off by Arceus and then Arceus getting cut off by V/S announcement just a few weeks after it came out.



I don't feel like they are going in a good direction because I feel like they are making games too fast. Between Holiday 2021 and Holiday 2022, we will have 3 different sets of Pokemon games released. And given that the first 2 sets sold really well right out of the gate (and the third set will likely do better), I can't see them slowing down too much. I wish we were back to 4 year generations (at least) instead of 3.

At the very least, I hope they will continue to use Niantic or anyone for remaking games, and then Game Freak can focus on the generation starters and their DLC, as well as any Legends type games. A release schedule like this would've been more sensible:

Holiday 2021: BDSP (DLC could release throughout 2022)

Holiday 2022: Arceus (DLC could release throughout 2023)

Holiday 2023: SV (DLC could release throughout 2024)

Then maybe they could do a Crystal Remake in 2025 as a Switch 1 swansong or Switch 2 launch title. They really didn't need to rush out these titles.



sundin13 said:
burninmylight said:

Yeah, "good animations" are mythical. Completely outside of the realm of possibility.

C'mon man, the fuck is this?

I don't like the direction Pokemon is going. 

I would prefer they went a different direction.

That's basically it. Why are you losing your shit over that?

Yeah, the dev doing something it hasn't ever done in a quarter century of the franchise's existence sounds pretty mythical. That's what it is. You've moved the goalposts, you've repeated yourself ad nauseam, and now you're resorting to the tired old method of trying to make someone sound rabid and crazy when you got nothing left. I think we're done here.



Torpoleon said:

I don't feel like they are going in a good direction because I feel like they are making games too fast. Between Holiday 2021 and Holiday 2022, we will have 3 different sets of Pokemon games released. And given that the first 2 sets sold really well right out of the gate (and the third set will likely do better), I can't see them slowing down too much. I wish we were back to 4 year generations (at least) instead of 3.

At the very least, I hope they will continue to use Niantic or anyone for remaking games, and then Game Freak can focus on the generation starters and their DLC, as well as any Legends type games. A release schedule like this would've been more sensible:

Holiday 2021: BDSP (DLC could release throughout 2022)

Holiday 2022: Arceus (DLC could release throughout 2023)

Holiday 2023: SV (DLC could release throughout 2024)

Then maybe they could do a Crystal Remake in 2025 as a Switch 1 swansong or Switch 2 launch title. They really didn't need to rush out these titles.

I'd prefer that they slow down and take their time with a "quality over quantity" approach as well, but Pokemon is pretty much a production-line series like CoD and Assassin's Creed at this point. Until sales start consistently going in the wrong direction, it will likely stay that way.



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Palword does feel like an answer for my thread in some kind. They need to evolve on that concept on using pokemons abilities outside battles, plus what was listed on OP



 

 

We reap what we sow

I think they should:
- Not introduce a gimmick every new game (terastallizing was so bad), although I did like mega evolution and dynamax/gigantimax
- Increase the development time of each game so it's not broken on release like scarlet/violet
- Introduce voice acting. The games probably bring in up to $1b in revenue if not more, paying voice actors should not be an issue
- Let us use pokemon abilities for other tasks, not just battling

This is just what comes to mind for me.



I've given up on Pokemon tbh. I have no hope anymore, which sucks because it used to be my favorite franchise.



I have Scarlet on my Switch but just haven't gotten around to playing it.

Aside from fixing the technical glitches. I dunno what they should do, or if they need to do anything. I think part of the problem is that the Pokemon formula really works. It is an incredibly designed game with a pretty constantly engaging game loop. Deviating too far from the formula could hurt that.

My problem is that I've just... kind of done it already. Too many times. Arceus was a neat step in a somewhat different direction, but I dunno if that's even enough to freshen it up.

But, maybe that's just the way it is. People who have had enough will move on, and others will fill the vacuum. Pokemon has remained popular among younger generations, and I believe that's at least in part due to the simplicity of the formula. Maybe there's a way to revitalize the franchise in a way that pleases everyone like Breath of the Wild, but maybe Pokemon is just going to stay in its niche. And if so, that's fine. There are plenty of other franchises for me to enjoy.



Better performance personally would make it better for me.

Also a way to introduce national dex with all Pokemon.