Nope nope nope nope. They already went way too far with Sun and Moon, and I find the stories to be generally uninteresting enough to have so much focus.
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Do you want Pokemon to continue emphasizing story and narrative more in games?
- Thread starter Deleted member 249
- Start date
Given this thread I was thinking about how they can improve cutscenes to actually have your Pokémon and trainers actually do something for action parts, but I can't actually think of a good solution for it.
It's not like, say, Xenoblade 2 where you know each main character has a specific main blade you can use for all the cutscenes alongside the player (e.g. Pyra for rex, poppi for tora, dromarch for Nia) before the main battle system kicks in, because you've got no idea what Pokémon the player will have with them at a given time, and the starter isn't even a guarantee. And given the wide variety of skills and just shapes/sizes in general, I don't know how well a one size fits all thing would work. Otherwise you're kinda stuck with the lifeless stuff they've been producing so far for the player character, which isn't great at all.
Has any other similar monster collector game solved this problem without forcing a specific monster to be in your party at all times?
It's not like, say, Xenoblade 2 where you know each main character has a specific main blade you can use for all the cutscenes alongside the player (e.g. Pyra for rex, poppi for tora, dromarch for Nia) before the main battle system kicks in, because you've got no idea what Pokémon the player will have with them at a given time, and the starter isn't even a guarantee. And given the wide variety of skills and just shapes/sizes in general, I don't know how well a one size fits all thing would work. Otherwise you're kinda stuck with the lifeless stuff they've been producing so far for the player character, which isn't great at all.
Has any other similar monster collector game solved this problem without forcing a specific monster to be in your party at all times?
I think you can use the lore without a "story" like S&M. Environmental storytelling is a thing after all, maybe adding a abandonded temple with different hieroglyphs or something. Pokemon is no stranger to this, its just been doing it differently lately.
Pokémon still uses environmental storytelling, look at ORAS for example. Sea Mauville was great.
I'd be down for more story driven Pokémon games if they were at the same level as B/W/B2/W2.
Sun and Moon has some great characters as well, but god the story was shit.
Sun and Moon has some great characters as well, but god the story was shit.
Yeah, basically I want the whole game to be like that. Just me and my pokemon party exploring whatever the region is hiding and maybe some cutscenes every once in a while.
The Pokemon IP is very suited for exploring for the sake of exploring, but they only go down that way for side areas.
The story or the pacing? Because the story was definitely as good or better. The pacing needed some work, I'll agree on that.
Poll is kinda odd to me. I'd want almost any game to have "better stories" that's just a net positive as a whole. The issue with pokemon is that besides gen 5 I haven't enjoyed almost any of their stories while still enjoying the games to a degree. So on one hand I want to vote no because I have almost never enjoyed pokemon's story and generally like it more when it doesn't get in the way. On the other I will never turn down a "good" story in a game so I gotta vote for mid option even though with the way pokemon's main series is going I don't think they'll have that for a while.
I doubt even young players want to deal with constant interruptions while they're trying to play the main game.
I would love a more mature spin-off that explores some of the morals and ethics of capturing and battling Pokemon, and an older cast.
That will never happen though, so fuck the story. Make the world sprawl out and force people to check all sorts of side areas and routes for Pokemon. Let people make their own stories, and at least do away with some of that linearity.
That will never happen though, so fuck the story. Make the world sprawl out and force people to check all sorts of side areas and routes for Pokemon. Let people make their own stories, and at least do away with some of that linearity.
Personally I don't care. I don't mind either. Of course the long cutscenes are obnoxious, but you just have to go through them once.
To me the rich storylines should go for spinoff's like Mystery Dungeon and such.
For the main games all the amount of time and energy they put in these cutscenes or shitty online gimmicks that will be scrapped the next game and no one wants or enjoy, I wish it was invested instead in giving us even better battle animations and an in game National Pokédex.
At the end of the day is the Pokémon creatures that I care about the most, not the adventure of a trainer that will never appear again aside from remakes. Once you beat the game, what you keep doing is battling, catching, evolving, training so that should always be the main focus imo.
But I don't think it'll change, so I don't care.
To me the rich storylines should go for spinoff's like Mystery Dungeon and such.
For the main games all the amount of time and energy they put in these cutscenes or shitty online gimmicks that will be scrapped the next game and no one wants or enjoy, I wish it was invested instead in giving us even better battle animations and an in game National Pokédex.
At the end of the day is the Pokémon creatures that I care about the most, not the adventure of a trainer that will never appear again aside from remakes. Once you beat the game, what you keep doing is battling, catching, evolving, training so that should always be the main focus imo.
But I don't think it'll change, so I don't care.
Phantom Thief did you not at any point love the Pokemon anime? I feel like that is the benchmark the games should be aiming for and continually fail to hit. There were so many interesting side stories and characters that they met in that first season alone, as well as the show really giving the Pokemon personalities and interesting roles in the world. That's the Pokemon I love.
Less fun to me is game after game catching another hundred shrieking pokemon and leveling them up until I get another one and then dumping them in a PC while I hit 8 gyms. And no I haven't been satisfied with the current implementations (although I haven't played the Black and White or Sun and Moon games).
So that's how I feel about story and Pokemon.
Edit: Only mentioned you in particular since you are the OP. The same can be asked to any of the no's.
Less fun to me is game after game catching another hundred shrieking pokemon and leveling them up until I get another one and then dumping them in a PC while I hit 8 gyms. And no I haven't been satisfied with the current implementations (although I haven't played the Black and White or Sun and Moon games).
So that's how I feel about story and Pokemon.
Edit: Only mentioned you in particular since you are the OP. The same can be asked to any of the no's.
No. I want to experience the story of the games through the world. Finding books and talking to people to piece together an understanding of the legends myself. I agree with you op, I'd rather not be shepherded over to this next person to talk to through cutscenes and camera movements. Allow me to have adventure and discovery.
OP
OP
I used to love the anime and the movies, and even when I tapped into some XYZ and Sun & Moon, I actually really enjoyed it. I also really like games like Mystery Dungeon or Detective Pikachu, which are story based. With that said, the mainline Pokemon games always resonated with me because I was on an adventure and a quest to be the best myself, and every time you give me a prescriptive story you are taking away from that.
I love the world building in Pokemon and I want more of that. Give me a world rich with lore and stories and myths to uncover, like in Gold/Silver or Diamond/Pearl. But don't make me discover it.
Personally I don't like all of the story shown through the environment. Lore and tidbits is okay, but if everything is going to be like that then I'd rather not play. I also don't like continuous cinematics, or what Sun/Moon (normal versions) did of "stop and go", and I find it very annoying. Still, dialogue can do wonders if it's well-written.
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The thing is, NPC chatter in Pokemon games often is very well written (the guy in ORAS who is complaining about the futility of his life was surprisingly deep and well written, for example), it's the main story stuff that I can't stand.
Which still doesn't balance out because she shoves her stupid nebby get back in the bag schtick at you at least 10000 times more than anything N does.
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The story focus is fine, they just need to have writing that isn't terrible (unlike Gen 6), do it without murdering the pacing (unlike Gen 7), and not ruin the story if they make a third version (unlike USUM).
Now that you mention it, yeah that was definitely the bigger problem. Even then though I feel like they could have done way more with the Aether Foundation and the Ultra Beasts.
Considering they are rpgs yes, the single player gameplay should still be good ofcourse but they have the multiplayer for the nitty gritty stuff
I'm all for a good story and characters. Black and White have the best story in the series, well written rivals, compelling antagonists. I love it.
With that said though I'd love a more grounded story than anything right now. Something more personal and real, less world saving with time travel, space, dimensions, all those shenanigans.
With that said though I'd love a more grounded story than anything right now. Something more personal and real, less world saving with time travel, space, dimensions, all those shenanigans.
I would prefer higher quality narrative, but honestly, the big issue I have with recent games is how LONG it takes for simple actions to happen in a cutscene (which of course is multiplied the more cutscenes there are). Any time a cutscene has a character walking, they saunter over slowly. Textboxes are sluggish even at max speed, and often interrupted by exaggerated body language. It's like Game Freak has a rule that only one thing can be happening on the console screen at any given time, so literally everything has to happen in series and nothing in parallel. And don't get me started on Pokemon battle animations. It all artificially adds length to the game, and THAT, to me is the real culprit of why a mediocre story tends to weigh down my gameplay experience. (Granted, the last game I played was Sun, so I can't speak to if these things are made better in USUM or Let's Go)
No. It's not a coincidence that the two gens with the biggest emphasis on story (Gen 5 and 7) are my least favourite games in the series. Nothing about those stories resonate with me. The writing is pure trash.
What makes it even worse is that the focus on story seems to be coming at the expense of exploration, and Alola is the worst Pokemon region by FAR as a result. There are no notable caves, or surfing routes or 'dungeons' like Silph Co. in Alola. Even the routes themselves are incredibly simplistic and are basically corridors to the next story segment. If Sword and Shield are anything like that, I'm out.
What makes it even worse is that the focus on story seems to be coming at the expense of exploration, and Alola is the worst Pokemon region by FAR as a result. There are no notable caves, or surfing routes or 'dungeons' like Silph Co. in Alola. Even the routes themselves are incredibly simplistic and are basically corridors to the next story segment. If Sword and Shield are anything like that, I'm out.
I would love to see a stronger focus on exploration. I remember playing Ruby version and being excited to explore the routes that had long grass, or to find a hidden path that led to berry trees.
Lillie is the worst lol. Forces her way in as the main character while our adventure takes a backseat to her mommy issues and pokephobia.
More than narrative I would like to have more interesting worlds to explore, that's what ultimately made me stop with the franchise, I couldn't be bothered to play the single player part because the world was so boring and vanilla. But I know those games are for children so I don't expect something particular on this side.
I don't care too much if they continue doing stories, BUT CUTSCENES MUST BE SKIPPABLE. I like to replay my Pokemon games from time to time and the cutscenes in Sun/Moon hurt the experience greatly. Also, bring back the National Pokedex, you cowards.
Open world, no story, just give me a basic goal to be the best and take the training wheels off.
Yeah, I'd much prefer a vignette style story where each town is its own little thing, and the overarching plot is just becoming the champion.
So in one town you can be investigating a mysterious cat burglar who uses Pokemon to commit their crimes, in another you can be helping out the local research team by mapping out a cave, or training up the local weakling so he can confront bullies in a tournament (where you obviously face him after he takes them down), blah blah. Smaller, more personal stories with greater variety would be way better for the pacing of the games.
I completely agree with you, Phantom. World building is what we need most. Story, and especially dialogue, are NOT their strengths. Please just flesh out the overworld more, give me a great sandbox to play in, and focus on exploring an awesome Pokemon filled world with your team. Think about what brought so many people to the theatre to see Detective Pikachu... The chance to see the Pokemon world fleshed out and see it in such detail was fantastic. For the games, I would say make the routes feel less closed in and game-y (maybe sword and shield will accomplish this... We'll see tomorrow). Put wild Pokemon on the field, but let me find them in their natural habits. Make me have to find rare bird Pokemon in certain trees. Make me have to go deep into a cave to find a rare sleeping bear Pokemon. Give context to their placement. I think this could work while still having the occasional random Pokemon jump out at you from nowhere in tall grass. Do everything to increase the sense of adventure, but let the player have more agency in choosing how their adventure unfolds.
Thinking more about how story and dialogue are handled in Pokemon now, I just finished Let's Go and man, that rival is so damn cheesy. I'm sorry but it's true. I also thought Hau was painfully cheesy. I know people point to him as an example of good development but I have to say I just wasn't compelled with the character at all. I think less is more in terms of story for Pokemon games. Even if they do double down on story, where does it go? Does it continue down this current path? I mean do we go all the way to having voice acting? I'm trying to imagine Pokemon games with voice acting saying these kinds of lines and I think that would just be too painful to sit through. Even thinking about other big Switch games under the Nintendo umbrella, I love BoTW with all my heart, but after seeing how the English VO turned out, I'd definitely prefer the story focus for Pokemon doesn't progress to the point where we have voice acting.
Thinking more about how story and dialogue are handled in Pokemon now, I just finished Let's Go and man, that rival is so damn cheesy. I'm sorry but it's true. I also thought Hau was painfully cheesy. I know people point to him as an example of good development but I have to say I just wasn't compelled with the character at all. I think less is more in terms of story for Pokemon games. Even if they do double down on story, where does it go? Does it continue down this current path? I mean do we go all the way to having voice acting? I'm trying to imagine Pokemon games with voice acting saying these kinds of lines and I think that would just be too painful to sit through. Even thinking about other big Switch games under the Nintendo umbrella, I love BoTW with all my heart, but after seeing how the English VO turned out, I'd definitely prefer the story focus for Pokemon doesn't progress to the point where we have voice acting.
Yes but only if it is good and similar to other JRPGS. The problem with S/M was that it was too linear, combine that with long cut scenes that aren't done well and you get a boring and annoying end result.
If the story and world was done like Xenoblade where you have to go to certain points to continue the story (and be actually interesting), then that would be better. This would then allow the player to have control of when they want the story to continue instead of being forced into it.
Even better I would like the story to be based on/like the stories in the Pokemon Adventure Manga. Now that would good.
If the story and world was done like Xenoblade where you have to go to certain points to continue the story (and be actually interesting), then that would be better. This would then allow the player to have control of when they want the story to continue instead of being forced into it.
Even better I would like the story to be based on/like the stories in the Pokemon Adventure Manga. Now that would good.
I just want something different.
No more "Hi I'm a ten year old and this is my rival(s) and we're trying to take on all the gyms/trials and the Elite Four in order to become the champion and oh shit here's Team ____ and oh shit the antagonist is trying to take advantage of the legendary Pokemon ____"
It's boring and done to death.
No more "Hi I'm a ten year old and this is my rival(s) and we're trying to take on all the gyms/trials and the Elite Four in order to become the champion and oh shit here's Team ____ and oh shit the antagonist is trying to take advantage of the legendary Pokemon ____"
It's boring and done to death.
Quoting myself from the "Pokemon feels like the game series with the single most wasted potential of all time" thread:
TL;DR: I'm tired of the usual structure of the game with gyms, evil teams, rivals, E4, etc. and want a actual adventure from the games like the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games, or like the Digimon Adventure anime.
TL;DR: I'm tired of the usual structure of the game with gyms, evil teams, rivals, E4, etc. and want a actual adventure from the games like the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games, or like the Digimon Adventure anime.
I originally picked no since I hate the fact that the games have focused more on story as they've gone on. Thinking about it though, the only reason I've hated that is because it's done poorly so if it was done well I don't think i'd really mind.
Yeah, I'm super down for a proper adventure that isn't a retread of the exact same thing with minor deviations. It's the only reason I'm on the fence for the next one: I am prepared to buy a Switch for it but if I hear that it's just like every other one I've played, I will probably give it a miss and wait for the next one. I dunno. Possibility I cave but we'll see.