The Perfect Pokemon Game

General
21

@krill , I could not agree more about wanting an open-world “Breath of the Wild-Treatment” Pokémon game… Here’s why it will probably never happen:

I feel as though with each generation, Pokémon has lost a bit of its charm. Yes the core element have remained the same (as I think it always should for mainline games I.E. catching Pokémon, forming a team, battling, becoming champion), but once you get outside of that, what are we left with? Some generations like 3 and 4 offer a lot of post-game content offered in the form of battle frontiers and other challenges that aren’t present in other generations (even gen 1). Some offer other fun gimmicks outside of the Pokémon formula. However, if little changes are made outside of the core elements of Pokémon from generation to generation, why is the next generation more worth playing?

I definitely feel like starting with gen 6 there is a substantial lack of effort/quality. Locations feel uninspired and dead. I’m assuming that around this point GameFreak decided that they were just going to focus on marketing the Pokémon games to their largest audience: kids.

And that is why I would not be surprised if we never see another quality mainline Pokémon game. Because GameFreak doesn’t have to put anymore effort into their games than they already currently are. In fact, they have room to put in less mechanics/abilities/design choices. Why change? From a business perspective, it doesn’t make much sense to try and reinvent the wheel. The Pokémon formula always has and probably always will work, outside of that, little effort/vision/attention is needed since their games will sell incredibly well**(Figure 1)**.

Furthermore, GameFreak runs a short game development cycle (especially when compared to other AAA game developers) with a small team. Furthermore, there is pressure to hit certain game release deadlines so they can sell more merchandise. (Figure 2) In 2019, around 66% of Pokémon Company’s Revenue was from Merchandise (Yes this whole post was just an excuse to embed a Spaceballs quote on E4). As long as they can have new Pokémon with different designs, it doesn’t matter too much how the games play. It doesn’t really matter what features it’s missing, how it looks, if it has minor glitches… it doesn’t matter. All that matters is that kids buy the games and then buy plushes.

Here are some interesting numbers to back some of my points:

(Figure 1) Pokemon Games Copies Sold in Millions (Source)

Pokémon Red/Green/Blue/Yellow 59.52
Pokémon Gold/Silver/Crystal 42.21
Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald 37.62
Pokémon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum 25.27
Pokémon Black/White 24.16
Pokémon X/Y 16.49
Pokémon Sun/Moon 25.09
Pokémon Switch 31.51

(Figure 2) 2019 Allocation of Pokemon Franchise Revenues (Source)

Merchandise - $61.1 billion
Games -$17.14 billion
Trading Cards - $10.25 billion
Comics and Manga -
$1.46 billion
Box Office - $1.31 billion
Books - $860 million

Thanks for reading

TL;DR There is nothing I want more from Pokémon than a quality, “BOTW-treatment”, fun, open-world game. Unfortunately, I just don’t think we will get that because they don’t need to put in that amount of effort.

2 Likes
22

The perfect pokemon game will be a mmorpg WoW-style game :grin:

1 Like
23

A virtual reality game where you put on a helmet and you’re immersed in a battle arena. Choose your team and make magic happen. Dreaming big.

24

I don’t think plotlines are why pokemon games have been regressing over time in quality. I think the biggest problem with 3D pokemon games is that they have next to no life in them. Pokemon is supposed to be(for the most part) a super happy and jolly world filled with wonder and mystery. I mean look at the new pokemon snap trailer and compare that to sword/shield. It isn’t even close as far as charm goes

I don’t believe gamefreak has the capability to add polish like this to the games though, they clearly have shown that they aren’t advanced enough as developers with 7 years of average 3d games as proof to show for it.

4 Likes
25

16 badges again please. Gold/Silver was the most memorable games I’ve ever played.

1 Like
26

Pretty unrelated but I REALLY hope we get new snap cards when the game comes out

1 Like
27

Exactly. In my original post about rambling about what could make a cool game, there isn’t some amazing huge plot line, its just more about filling the world with interesting things, characters and places. Creating an interesting world I actually want to explore.

28

I know it is not something Nintendo would usually produce, but I would play the hell out of a multiplayer Pokemon game. Pokemon GO was great because you could go out with your friends and catch Pokemon. Imagine if you could do that again… but at home.

You and your friends could catch Pokemon, battle, trade, and beat gyms. I highly doubt that they would ever make something like this, though.

29

Already exists. It’s called PokeMMO.

I swear, the people on this board know everything there’s to know about the cards, but know nothing about what fans have created. Check out ROMhacks. There’s even a version of Pokemon Crystal that is entirely 3d with a first person perspective.

2 Likes
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I’ll definitely be checking that out, but I still would like an official game released.

1 Like
31

@psa, Thank you so much for telling me about this game. I haven’t had the chance to play it yet, but I have been watching my friends play it, and I am so friggen excited.

32

I used to play all the Rom hacks on my phone years a go, Remember playing the Team Rocket version too but they were all pretty good games. Used to play PokeMMO a ton too on and off since release 2012 & although not official it’s a great game but is just really slow to update(years)… Still have the account though with all my stuff on it.

There is a knock off Pokemon MMO called TemTem as well i saw a while a go on Kickstarter but never got into it… i think its on steam now and was going to become available on switch too i think?

33

Gold and Silver were the best games they ever released. since the Internet was less good and the only real gaming info was through magazines, most people were really surprised when you finished Johto and then you WENT BACK AND DID KANTO AGAIN!! Amazing. 2 games for the price of 1.

2 Likes
34

I think we all have to accept Pokemon or Nintendo are lazy as hell.
They rely too much on their IP and fan base.
I remember there being some complaints about the release of all the pokemon
in the newest games. Some people did some digging and determined that the
polygons from the newest games were basically being reused. Why would these
people improve their games if people will still buy it regardless of the
effort they put in. Which is sad because they could do some amazing things.

35

I’m the type of gamer that needs to make useless challenges and gets bored as soon as I start winning. Between figuring out competitive movesets and changes that make Nuzlocke runs harder to follow by the book, I just haven’t been able to finish a game since XY.

I would love to see a game like the original Pokemon Stadium, except with more balanced rental Pokemon. Between stat imbalances and movesets, it was impossible to beat the max difficulty with rentals (meaning you couldn’t win without a GB port) - I totally get the reasoning, but I like the idea of a standalone game that gives you a fair chance and still maintains a high difficulty.

Pokemon’s competitive VG battles are incredible, and they were what got me back into the Pokemon scene in high school. I’d love to see that captured in as a game (meaning, less the story-mode, exploration, and team ____). Throughout the years, there have also been ingenious gimics that could make for awesome 1-off challenges for new players (learning to deal with/counter fun-bro, eevee baton pass chains, etc.). The mechanics have changed so much since gen 1 era where psychic type reigned supreme.