Pokémon mainline video games' perceived decline in quality upon critical reception?
Hey guys. I knew that Pokémon Red and Blue were considered the greatest video games that Japanese video game developer Game Freak as ever developed by critics and publications, while mainline video game series was once originally critical successes until it has right now perceived its decline in quality upon critical reception, even though they were commercial successes? So, I'm just wanting to know in which generation do you think that the Pokémon mainline video game series have first perceived their decline in quality upon critical reception? Why? Please let me know, thanks.😉
Answers
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I'd say it first started showing with how unfinished XY felt (despite being some of my favourites), and then them working on a new game instead of Z (which was supposed to answer and finish the parts XY couldn't) because of the 20th anniversary. And then it started showing again with SwSh and it became obvious that 3 years isn't enough to make a new Pokémon game, especially on more modern consoles that need more work to make a good game, but they need to do it anyway because otherwise they can't sell as much merch.
BDSP made it even more obvious because they let another company make a new mainline game for the first time, and it released buggy and glitchy enough to be finished in 15 minutes, clone entire boxes of Pokémon and items easily, access unreleased events like the Shaymin one, and also added nothing but 3D, the Fairy Type, and a little more difficulty to the game. This happened because they couldn't handle making another game while they were making SV and PLA.
Then SV released and it also had a lot of glitches, you could clone your ride legendary and its items, fall below Paldea, and more. Plus, it didn't look the best and the region felt kind of empty with not much to do other than raids, the Pokédex, and Shint Hunting. And a lot of people complained about visual glitches and fps problems and the like.
They seriously need more time, 3 years is not enough time to make a good game, let alone a good open world game.
(I just want to point out I enjoyed all of these except BDSP, I'm not saying the games were bad or unenjoyable, but that they need more time for all the glitches, bugs, and performance issues to be fixed and fix problems like Paldea being empty.)
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I mostly agree with @UnovanZorua . Gen 6 felt like the beginning of the decline. I feel there were a multitude of factors that led to it.
After working exclusively on designing 2D sprite games (albeit with an increasing number of 3D assets in the overworld) on hardware they had accumulated years of experience and successful releases, they were forced to make a game with stereoscopic 3D on unfamiliar, (at the time) flailing hardware. 3D game design continues to be ill-suited to GF, I fear.
Release schedules continued to ramp up after XY and what was a small indie studio now develops games that are the basis for the largest media franchise on Earth, but their development philosophies and management don't seem to have kept up in a way that allows them to deliver on AAA game expectations.
So corners get cut, previously series standard features are simplified or removed and the games continue to look hilariously outdated and poorly designed next to their triple A peers.
The series has only just received free camera movement. That was revolutionary for other series on the N64 in the 90s. Pokémon only just managed it in the 2020s.
Maybe it will get voice acting in 2030.
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Maybe it would get voice acting by then if it didn't have to let its deadlines constrain it into a downward spiral.
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I wouldn't say that. There might be a chance someone would ask pokemon company more time to perfect the games. Story and all.
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Well yes in no even tho the games started losing some original features. It also game some memorable memories in the process. With out Gen 6 Mega Evolutions would have started and might never have had teralization like we do now. My favorite pokemon has been Blaziken since gen 3. And it made it mean so much to me when he got his Mega form. And that he was able to move to future generations and not backwards.
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