Please make the main games good again
Pokémon is the biggest-grossing media franchise of all time. Bigger than the MCU, StarWars and HarryPotter COMBINED.
Ya know what just happened?
Actual competition for the franchise has come out recently, by INDIE devs. I won't name the game 'cause I don't know if that's even allowed.
For the first time, the games' numbers do point in the direction of this being ACTUAL competition for the Pokémon franchise.
For the past 2 generations (8th and 9th), the mainline Pokémon games no longer include all 'mons. For which there is no real justification, considering the 3DS could handle 800+, and considering they LIED about animations being the reason for the cut (when they just kept their 3DS animations. If they lied about the reason - which they actually did - it is not irrational to assume the real reason is just budget-cutting / laziness. Why wouldn't they tell the actual reason? Truly, what was the purpose of giving a reason that was not true? If the reason was reasonable, no lie would've ever been needed).
It's a shame that ever since Satoru Iwata died, we haven't had a single mainline game including all Pokémon. Iwata WAS the man responsible for the original GBC Gen 2 games having both Johto AND Kanto, after all.
Of course. GENERALLY, no effort is needed 'cause "it will sell anyways", due to the size of the franchise. But now, now that actual competition for the franchise has appeared (based on the numbers), perhaps this will finally make The Pokémon Company go back to the standards of quality that we've always loved from Pokémon. Perhaps the 10th generation of mainline games will FINALLY include all Pokémon in the game, like it's always done (Gotta catch 'em all, after all).
Competition breeds excellence. Monopolies, on the other hand, tend to bring laziness & stagnation, which appears to be what happened on recent years. Pokémon has never really had true competition before. All other competition hasn't reached the numbers that the game that came out this week has. Hopefully, this will only bring a brither future for the Pokémon franchise (and especially, the main games).
This is coming from a life-long fan of the franchise. What do you guys think?
Comments
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All of this has been discussed extensively. I generally agree, but as you say, "it will sell anyway".
I do not think the current problems are a symptom of laziness. There are clearly a lot of talented and passionate people working on the games.
Part of the problem might be GF still acting and managing itself like a small indie dev whilst developing the largest media franchise in the world, which does not scale well.
But I think the main issue is the lack of time given to develop the games properly. Whoever is in charge of managing the development life cycle and release schedule is not giving the creators enough time to implement their ideas properly.
So corners have to be cut, features have to be trimmed or removed and everything that reaches the lofty quality standard of "just barely functional" gets pushed out the door and sold for $60 (don't forget to buy your DLC pass, too!)
There is no time for anything else now that we can have three games released in the span of one year.
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It’s time for a true red, blue and yellow reboot.
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The games are better now then they've been in a while so idk what you're on about. Greater emphasis on emotionally impactful story and characters that we care about, fun mons, etc. So we don't have a full roster--name me one collectable monster series that's maintained that many mons for even half this long. I don't think Digimon has EVER has all of its mons in one game (I'm pretty sure some have NEVER been in a game). Monster Hunter has a much smaller roster and they rotate their mons all the time.
Like MAYBE Shin Megami Tensei but I'm not sure on that, and either way they don't have *over a thousand*.
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No. No more Kanto. Please. The only generations it hasn't been in are 5, 6 (if you don't count Kalos as being Kanto but new and in in France. Like seriously Kanto starters as an in-game gift plus their megas and the entirety of Santalune forest are the easiest to think of when it comes to the Kanto references here, and there's a lot more. They really wanted to please the genwunners after what happened with BW), 8, and 9.
Judging by all the Johto rumors and hints, we might not even be free from Kanto in this gen!
It's been in more than half the generations how do you think remaking Kanto for the nine hundredth time is a good idea.
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Greater emphasis on emotionally impactful story and characters that we care about, fun mons, etc.
That is all very subjective. The more concrete issues I think most people would cite include the bugs and glitches, poor optimisation and low framerate, largely empty open world, no longer accessible building interiors and removed or simplified features from previous games.
Which brings us to the other obvious issue that has dogged the series since gen 8. Dexit.
So we don't have a full roster--name me one collectable monster series that's maintained that many mons for even half this long.
Whatabout-ism. Does the fact that other games don't do something mean that these games can't? Or shouldn't?
It has been an expected feature in games before gen 8, and GF are the ones charging people to use Bank, and now Home, to store all of their precious mons that they insist are our very best friends we need to carry with us through the years and games. How convenient for them that you can no longer store them all on a local game cartridge and have to keep paying your Home subscription.
Is it possible that the largest media franchise on Earth might have more resources than other games? Is it possible they could afford to implement more monsters in their monster collector games than competitors?
It is not even as if they have to remake all of them from scratch. I think the vast majority of people would be satisfied with previous generations' models and animations being ported into the new games, especially for those that have to be transferred from older games anyway.
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@UnovanZorua As long as the generation that grew up during gen 1 and Pokémania is still around, GF are going to keep pandering to Kanto. I very much doubt we have seen our last Kanto based game.
Something new would be nice. A sequel (though gen 2 was essentially that) showing how things have progressed in the region since then, what has happened to the characters, and what the world is like after Team Rocket. Maybe there could be something entirely new to threaten the region.
Honestly though, the reason I would be hesitant to push for a gen 1/2 sequel is the same reason I am not optimistic about a BW3. The company that made the originals is not the company we have today, for better and for worse. I am not sure it would be satisfactory.
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It's not "whataboutism" to point out that no other monster collecting series does what you're demanding regarding a full dex. And you keep banging on about "largest franchise on earth" as if the issue is somehow money and not, say, a conscious design choice.
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@Jirarudan You are denying whatabout-ism while pointing at other examples that do the same thing. Your refutation of using whatabout-ism was itself whatabout-ism.
Okay, what are the advantages of not including every previous Pokémon in the series?
I think the advantages of including them is that every Pokémon in the series is available to catch, which means everyone's favourite will be included, there will be a wider range of strategies available for battles and more content in the form of more Pokémon to catch. The greater variety of Pokémon will also keep things interesting for longer, as it will take longer for players to see and catch every Pokémon in the world.
You have already dismissed lack of money and resources as a reason to avoid including every Pokémon. So please tell me: Why not include every Pokémon?
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The advantages are making the game less of a grindfest slog, making favorite pokemon more special by rotating them around, encouraging players to make entirely new teams rather than relying on the same handful of mons every single time, giving new mons time to shine and not be overshadowed by old favorites, etc.
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What would be cool if they had a complete world project that world that would take about 5-10 years to make but it could have its own people to work on it while other games are being made. Whatever the case it could include all the games in one mega world plus one new one. They could release it at the 50th or 75th or 100th anniversary. It would have every pokemon and have mini quests for all mythical pokemon.
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