Yes? Am I not allowed to have fun playing Pokemon?
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you need to demand more or they wont improve
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Why do I need to be the one demanding more? I’m the one having fun playing the games. Like with any game, I’ll have my grievances as I play them but generally the fun overshadows the things I don’t like. I’ve been critical of the Pokemon games in the past but for me personally, the things like sub-par graphics don’t impede on my fun factor.
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not you specifically but the reason they dont change a thing and pump out mediocre games is because nobody says anything. Theyll send out half baked games with paid dlc ads before launch and an empty dex with ps1 graphics and features cut that had been standard on gameboy games. As the largest media franchise their games are frankly embarrassing compared to even indie devs
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Has this ever worked? I was under the impression that TPC doesn’t pay attention to external feedback and continues creating games as per schedule. Like all companies the determining factor has always been sales. Z-A exists because Arceus was very successful
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people keep eating up the slop so its never been tested. Obviously if many people buy it maybe theres nothing wrong with it in a vacuum, but looking at what video games are in 2026 outside of pokemon, its clear that they simply are not trying to me. Nintendo knows that they have a niche and there isnt another way to get pokemon so its what they serve or nothing. And if more people took the nothing approach maybe theyd make a game that feels like a AAA game
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It’s possible for two realities to coexist - one where older fans no longer resonate with the new games and are filtered out; and a growing mix of both old/new fans that actually do enjoy the new games. They don’t need to make a AAA game, they just need to make one that’s fun for most people
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Id still play a pokemon game if it had as much content as emerald, platinum or HGSS. It does not need to be AAA i guess, but it could be fairly easily.
They cut things each game and it becomes me just being a complainer. They clearly are doing the bare min with no passion to sell stuff and move on to the next paid dlc and it shows in their actions, and its sad that we just accept it because thats all weve got imo
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I voted no because Scarlet and Violet and Legends ZA were fun and my memory of the others I have played back then (Yellow/Gold/Ruby) isn’t fresh anymore. I also could not go back to going to the PC, HMs, random encounters and all the other inconveniences. Like I have no interest in playing the old games as they were.
Also SV/ZA were better than SWSH in terms of what I do remember playing.
They can definitely improve the graphics as we all know, but it isn’t a dealbreaker. ZA DLC I will say I didn’t particularly enjoy the gameplay loop. I don’t really like all the various food sidegames we need to complete anyway; curry, sandwiches, donuts etc. I would like that to stop lol.
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Id like to say Pokemon games arent getting worse, but I believe that as we get introduced to better looking, and smoother gaming experiences that some have higher expectations, and its difficult to remember who the targeted audience is overall.
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one last thing Ill say is that kids being the target audience is imo not a great reason to release an incomplete game (especially 70-80$ games plus somewhat-mandatory DLC). Kids play roblox, fortnite etc etc and those games have content on content. Plus competition for kids attention is at an all time high so they should in theory be making better games for kids.
If they wanna charge AAA game prices, it is my opinion that they owe it to their fans to deliver comparable experiences. The fact that they can get away with less is entirely the fault of the consumers imo
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I feel like the games still give you a lot to do especially when you consider the DLCs. Emerald, Platinum are both third versions that you would have more than likely purchased and played after already purchasing R/S and D/P years prior. I’ll give HGSS to you because those are the pinnacle of Pokemon games in my opinion.
I’m curious what you think has been cut with each game because as I play them I find that they’re improving and adding things as needed. I don’t get the impression that they’re doing the bare minimum. I feel with each new game they’re trying to add new things to improve the gameplay and fun factor. They don’t always work out but I really feel like they do the best they can given the time crunch they have to develop and release these games.
I also did not particularly enjoy the Z-A DLC. The donut mechanic’s rng was frustrating and having to do everything via the space distortions got old really quick. Still had fun but felt more frustrated with this than any Pokemon game experience I’ve had in a long time
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I had fun with it. Thats all that matters 
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While I am all for people enjoying what they like and I have played arceus and did enjoy it I finished the whole game (dex and expansion in less then 50 hours) but on the other end Elden Ring I’ve spent 70 hours on it (keep in mind I play as a filthy mage which is considered the easy mode the other classes are much harder) and I’m not even half way through the main storyline.
Both arceus and Elden Ring were the same price (I believe I got Elden Ring on a sale but we’ll go off base price). While I had fun in arceus I have had more playtime in Elden ring and it feels like a more polished game. Personally I think most other triple A games hold up much better for the price.
PS: You might think you roll a lot in Arceus but you are not the Elden lord in Elden Ring you are the roll lord
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The Pokémon games are sort of a microcosm of the larger brand in that there are A LOT of different ways to interact with them. Take shiny hunting for example, there are people who only care about shiny hunting in games and never interact with VGC (competitive double battling). Shiny hunting has continued to get easier and easier while VGC continues to get more difficult and complex with the introduction of new Pokemon, moves, abilities, etc..
Depending on how you like to play, the games could be getting easier or more difficult/better or worse.
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They have gotten worse. Especially Legends: ZA compared with Legends: Arceus. I didn’t own my first game until college (Alpha Sapphire) so I have no rose-tinted childhood memories or illusions about the games ever being difficult.
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I would put the Pokémon games into three categories;
Diffecult (somewhat) for kids, can be a challenge for unknowing adults → Gen 1-4
Difficult for nobody, but still requiring some attention → Gen 5, 7
Easy to the point where you can read a book while playing → Gen 6, 8, 9.
So the first four games were significantelly more challenging than anything after. Not so difficult that it would be too much. Just more fun. They also had better regions, that felt way bigger, because it wasn´t just a lineair path. Games that are the best example of this liniairity are Gen 6, 7 and 8, where you hardly have any room to branch off at all. Gen 9 is better in this regard, but it is still kind of lineair because everything you do has a direct purpose. There are no hidden caves that have no direct plot purpose that you can dwell in for hours. It is still a step up from the previous gens though.
Lastly, post-game; Gen 1 didn´t have a big post-game, but this was the first gen, and the Mewtwo quest was still very iconic. Gen 2 - 5 (Black 2/White 2) all had great post-game (I won´t go into them here). And then, starting with gen 6, it just stopped. There was the occasional post-game cave, or later DLC, but it wasn´t anything special anymore.
I think the games have just started to become a lot more formulaic, starting with gen 6. Pokémon has become a money making machine, and the love is gone.
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The core mechanics of the mainline games feel stagnant while the “improvements” or places where they try to innovate (like the open world) feel like they are way over their heads and do not have enough time or resources to do it justice. I think this combination is what kills it for me. I would say the outlier is Arceus where I feel they balanced both of these things really well.
I have not actually enjoyed a mainline game since maybe XY. I’m not just saying that to be a contrarian. Of the last 7 Pokemon games I played I only beat (post elite 4) maybe 3/8 of them. They could just not hold my interest long enough, I didn’t even bother buying Z-A and may be the first Pokemon game I actually skip.
The games just aren’t great. There’s a fun factor inherent in the mechanics so if you focus on that and ignore all the problems you’ll probably have a good experience. I can’t do that. If I had to point to one thing I’d say the sense of exploration and adventure is just not there for me in the new games like it was for the 2D ones or for well-made open world games like BotW. They feel like you’re being shuttled around a series of explicit goalposts in a world that is generally uninteresting. In contrast, the older games just throw you out into the world and you explore things and do things because you want to not because NPC #12 put a little x on your Rotom map so you don’t get lost when you go to the building next door. Meanwhile in RSE I remember copying out the braille alphabet by hand and decoding the messages to get the Regis myself which may be the most rewarding experience I’ve had in a Pokemon game.
14 Likes
When I play, I tend to do nuzlocke challenges. The newer games barely had any risk. Hell with Sword and Sheild - I didn’t have a single Pokemon faint until the final battle. Also the level of hand holding through the game doesn’t suit me at all. The only thing that seems slightly better is grinding is a bit more fun. But overall, the newest games have not appealed to my play style.
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I’ve gone back and replayed Gen 1-7 over the last five years. My feelings are similar to when I played them on release, although RBY is clearly lacking in retrospect. I’d order them like so:
Gen 5
Gen 3
Gen 4
Gen 2
Gen 6
Gen 1
Gen 7
I didn’t bother with SWSH as that is the first and only game I’ve never finished. Did play SV but can’t say I feel strongly about them either way – I do quite like the pokemon designs and feel they’re the best since at least Gen 7, though this is a different discussion at that point.
Didn’t go back and play remakes, though my memory of FRLG was that it was worse than Gen3, better than Gen 1. I found HGSS was better than GSC and I would probably put it on par with RSE. I played ORAS but I actually liked it less than RSE and would liken my enjoyment to what I had with XY. Didn’t bother with BDSP or Let’s Go as I still had a sour taste in my mouth from SWSH.
Legends as a concept doesn’t grab me greatly, though I appreciate what they’re trying to do with it. If they really focused on storytelling and made everything else secondary I’d jump on it, but at the moment it feels like they’re testing the waters with it.
I think the writing as a whole is the only thing that has gotten objectively worse over time. I think there are arguments to be made for other elements of the games catering to certain audiences, but I think even for youths the writing is extremely poor now.
I know it’s a comparison between other entries in the franchise, but there is something to be said about other game devs being able to produce significantly higher quality games with a wildly lower budget, smaller team, and fewer resources to boot. With the timeframe between Gen 9 and Gen 10’s release, there’s really no excuses for an inferior product.
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