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Boiled Goose

Banned
Nov 2, 2017
9,999
Sure, but they are also not shallow combat mechanic changes as their effects on the combat system run deep.

I am not sure what structural changes could be made without the system losing its quintessential pokemon like quality. As someone who considers the combat of Pokemon the core aspect of the games with everything else being distant secondary concerns I believe that altering the basic foundations of the system could make it lose its original appeal. This is also why changes like the ones mentioned above count much more as meaningful changes to the games for me personally.

I, of course, realize that my perspective is quite warped compared to that of the more average and casual Pokemon player.

The core of pokemon is adventure, catching, battling. A lot can change around those core concepts. For example pokemon let's go did change some aspects of the catching mechanics. Still pokemon.
 

Banned

Member
Nov 10, 2017
161
The last one I played was untra sun and I actually enjoyed it a lot, that being said I hope the switch title goes all to deliver the brand new experience you are looking for
 

Soneji

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
1,454
I agree with the premise of this thread, Pokemon gets too much of a free pass for not innovating. The core design needs to change or at least give us a spin off that really breaks the boundaries.

Also relevant :

 

MP!

Member
Oct 30, 2017
5,198
Las Vegas
Every new game comes out every few years and I'm disappointed yet again that such a gigantic IP is stuck with what seems like an indie dev. Not to say that on the quality end as indies are amazing, but on the scope and budget end.

Every new game feels like it was made on a tight as hell budget, with corners cut constantly in terms of features(where did following pokemon go? where did the post-game go?) and general size(we still only have tiny ass areas covered with fences) and even optimization(DS games had slowing despite being half 2D, 3DS games had MASSIVE slowdown, Switch games looking to follow suit)

This is the one of the, if not the biggest IP in history making record profits every single year, and yet its biggest contributor, the games, feel like they're given the shaft.

People accept this stagnant quality, citing "They sell great so what's the problem again". But the thing is, they absolutely could be selling a shit ton better. Pokemon is such a huge brand with so much damn marketing the shittiest of games could 'maintain' the sales it has.

I just wanna see change, people. I want Nintendo or any big developer to step in and actually make this series as huge as it deserves to be.
it IS a huge waste of potential.. every day I'm haunted by a prototype I'd like to make displaying what pokemon could be...

but it's just so much work ... for no reason
 
Last edited:
Feb 26, 2019
4,276
Tijuana
No thanks, I don't want a different dev to make pokemon, because they probably would chance the battle system for worse, the problem with gamefreak is that they drop good innovations because they want every game to be unique, what they need to do is improve these new mechanics, I don't care about mmorpg, open world design, or action rpg, pokemon is one of the few games that is still turn based, not only that the formula can be expanded and improve, a different genre is not what I want.

I think that's their biggest flaw. That mindset of wanting to make every new game unique, instead of a continuation of what was already done and achieved till the previous title.

I think this mentality is what is preventing the games to have this feeling of evolution throughout the generations, because they're not continuing what they start on every game. All sorts of things, features, mechanics instead of improving, getting more detailed and enhanced, they just get cut and replaced by a whole new thingy. And this is in every aspect of the game, from the overworld, the mini games, online features, items, now the gyms, customization, etc.

That, along with wanting to release a new game every year, is what gives us situations like the unfinished Sun and Moon, followed by the true game US/UM that even modified the things, like story-wise, that people liked in the first installments.

Of course people will always complain no matter what, but I think Pokémon is one of the few franchises where its fanbase would be totally happy if it was more predictable and squared. What I mean is, things like not having a Pokémon Gray, or Pokémon Z, or not giving mega evolutions to all the starters, or not following the pattern of releasing a new mythical every year, or I don't know, adding new Pokémon mid-generation, those are things that prove Game Freak / Pokémon always want to keep "original", "surprising", "different" but at least I find that obnoxious. On paper that sounds nice, to have an unpredictable franchise full of surprises with every generation, but I think that works for every other game, but not Pokémon.

It works for Zelda or things like that to have a huge reinvention, or any other game that has just given us different kinds of experiences throughout the years. But Pokémon, the main series, are called "versions" so they should stick a bit more to the same formula, just enhanced, increased, up to the standards of the latest console / technologies.
 
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Serebii

Serebii.net Webmaster
Verified
Oct 24, 2017
13,126
I alwyas wondered how when 3D was off... and only 2 pokemon on screen .... framerate TANKED how?
The 3D models are ridiculously intricate. Most of the time the framerate is fine, but if you have some of the more intricate models on the screen, especially ones with wings, then due to that it struggles
 

Piscus

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,768
The 3D models are ridiculously intricate. Most of the time the framerate is fine, but if you have some of the more intricate models on the screen, especially ones with wings, then due to that it struggles
Other games didn't run into that issue though. Not sure it's a valid excuse, especially by the time Sun/Moon came around
 

QisTopTier

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,717
Other games didn't run into that issue though. Not sure it's a valid excuse, especially by the time Sun/Moon came around
They had 3d models that were too high poly for the 3ds since x/y because they wanted to future proof it. Sun/moon still being on 3ds doesnt fix this
 

Barrel Cannon

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
9,297
I'd take smaller lower budget/lower scope games over no games....

....over...no....games
15814.jpg

:'(
 

Serebii

Serebii.net Webmaster
Verified
Oct 24, 2017
13,126
Game Freak is now being defended over their poor frame rate. I've heard it all now
Explanation != defending.

They could have/should have scaled them down for the game.

However, once again, I feel I need to explain that someone giving the reason behind something isn't defending it, it's explaining it.
 

QisTopTier

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,717
Explanation != defending.

They could have/should have scaled them down for the game.

However, once again, I feel I need to explain that someone giving the reason behind something isn't defending it, it's explaining it.
People just want to argue. No one is defending this. The 3ds games ran like shit due to this and it was never a good thing. Hell watching worlds was annoying at times due to the 4 pokes on screen tanking the system hard.
 

Dark Cloud

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
61,087
I don't need you to explain it to me. Game Freak gets called out on frame rate doesn't need you to come to explain why it is. They called out for fucking tanking frame rate because they should have figured it out.

And if it continues on Switch it'll get called out even more. It's not my job to get it working. It's their job to make it work.
 

Aleh

Member
Oct 27, 2017
16,298
What's funnier is people saying Sword and Shield have performance issues from a 2 minutes reveal ~8 months before release.
GET A GRIP!
 

Lumination

Member
Oct 26, 2017
12,483
Honestly, I just want better AI. Bring back hard mode, but don't even increase stats. Just make it so if I'm at a type disadvantage defensively, I should SWITCH. None of this randomly picking a move when 2/4 of them are trash. Or relegate that to wild pokemon only so catching them isn't a pain. I think I may have seen hints of some sort of smarter selection in the last two gens (maybe only in the end-game content?), but I could also be misremembering. But yes, a little more brain usage vs trainer fights would be awesome.

Give them all slightly focused builds. You don't need hyper specialized choice band stuff, but simple things like a focus energy double slap build or a tanky seismic thrower would go a long way in diversity as well as teaching people about synergy and how not all pokemon need to just be 4 attacks where 2 or more overlap types anyway.
 

QisTopTier

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,717
I don't need you to explain it to me. Game Freak gets called out on frame rate doesn't need you to come to explain why it is. They called out for fucking tanking frame rate because they should have figured it out.
"they should have figured it out" Here is the secret, they figured out "Fuck it get it to run decent at best and we just wont have to redo 800+ models later and can focus on other stuff" Then all that time in sun moon that team didnt have to work on models? "oh lets start doing run/walk stuff for everything" What that group is doing now in sword/shield we dont know yet
 

BrandoBoySP

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,177
I think there's a measure of wanting to keep it largely the same because it's technically a game for children--they don't want to continually innovate or overcomplicate things since their main audience is children who might not grasp it right away, whether that's valid or not.

I always like the series in theory, but never in execution. It'd be nice to get actual stories in some of the games (or at least more spinoffs with story), but my main issue is how sluggish everything is. Persona does turn-based really well, with responsive menus, quick animations, and the like; Pokemon, while being for a different audience, feels downright slow to me. :(
 

mnk

Member
Nov 11, 2017
6,340
I don't need you to explain it to me. Game Freak gets called out on frame rate doesn't need you to come to explain why it is. They called out for fucking tanking frame rate because they should have figured it out.

And if it continues on Switch it'll get called out even more. It's not my job to get it working. It's their job to make it work.
Well good news then, they weren't explaining it to you. They were explaining it to someone else who phrased their post with "I always wondered why..."
 

Ixzion

Member
Nov 7, 2017
287
I wouldn't mind playing Pokemon again if they made it for people who've played more than one game in the series. From R/B to D/P, it was exactly the same game with some new colors and shit. Boring.
 

Raiden

Member
Nov 6, 2017
2,922
I still think that Nintendo missed a trick that during the MMO heyday of World of Warcraft that they didn't develop a Pokemon MMO. The entire premise of it lends itself perfectly to that kind of game. A single pokémon trainer wandering around big worlds catching pokémon alongside fellow trainers. You could battle people in the same way you could duel in WoW. Legendary or other rare/exotic pokemon could be hidden away in dungeons/raids with entire pokémon teams battling to defeat and get a chance to capture them not dissimilar to what Pokémon Go does now. You could have big cities where trading happens and trainers congregate much like the capital cities in WoW.

I legitimately think it would have sold a bajillion copies and have made Nintendo vast sums of money.
I remember thinking this as well, and it would have been glorious, still would be.

But its Nintendo, back in 2004 im not even sure they heard of the 'internet' back then lol
 
Feb 13, 2018
3,844
Japan
I just want them to keep the features that they add instead of abandoning them every game. Pokémon following you, the PSS or whatever, custom poke ball effects, stuff like that. Every generation has at least one step backwards.
 
Oct 27, 2017
5,494
What they're actually doing with the game seems to be more ambitious than usual. The recent developments are disappointing, but less about wasted potential and more about wasted assets.

It's definitely wasted potential when you consider they are building an app that connects with all current and soon-to-be-released games and allows you to import all your pokémon to it.

And that's it. Many of them will be stuck there, unable to be transfered to the new games.
 

Exede

Banned
Feb 8, 2019
650
I loved what ive seen in sword n shoeld, but i just cant get into this dynamaxing. I dislike it that nuch that i may skip this gen all together when we need to have it in pvp. Pokemon Co could make a bazillion of cash with an MMO
 

lvl 99 Pixel

Member
Oct 25, 2017
44,706
It's definitely wasted potential when you consider they are building an app that connects with all current and soon-to-be-released games and allowes you to import all your pokémon to it.

And that's it. Many of them will be stuck there, unable to be transfered to the new games.

So much of the wasted potential sentiment comes from the games sticking to formula and not having a more open world. Home is a misleading shitshow, but the game in general looks like they're finally trying to expand the scope.
 

Zoon

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,397
GF is provably too small as a studio. They have ~150 employees compared to let's say monolith soft's 200+ whose best selling game sold close to 2m iirc. They should either massively expand or release games every 3-4 years.
 

lvl 99 Pixel

Member
Oct 25, 2017
44,706
GF is provably too small as a studio. They have ~150 employees compared to let's say monolith soft's 200+ whose best selling game sold close to 2m iirc. They should either massively expand or release games every 3-4 years.

Monolith outsources significantly to where the credits are far more than 200 iirc. The base employee count doesn't paint a clear picture of how many people were involved.
 

tadaima

Member
Oct 30, 2017
2,843
Tokyo, Japan
GF is provably too small as a studio. They have ~150 employees compared to let's say monolith soft's 200+ whose best selling game sold close to 2m iirc. They should either massively expand or release games every 3-4 years.
I think this is where the issue lies.

It should be considered that a lot of the work for Pokémon games is handled by Creatures, who provide the models (and probably idle animations, judging by the similarities between Go and Let's Go).

But yeah, Game Freak is now producing a new Pokémon game every 1 year. This is an incredible feat for a company of their size, but it's not like they don't have the budget to scale things up significantly. But I don't know if they'd want to run things that way, for better or for worse.

Demand for a large output with the stubbornness/will to run GF like a smaller studio.

Bit of a stalemate.
 

NotLiquid

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
34,769
Sword and Shield so far generally seem like the cost of ambition has finally gotten to expedite some of Pokémon's longstanding worries. The series is damned by its adherence to content bloat so hard that you're either not going to be able to innovate in ways people want from the series ("I want Pokémon of the Wild") without sacrificing a whole bunch of shit to actually get to that point. The fan favorite these days tends to be B2W2, which was a game that personally began to really wear me out on Pokémon and how very more-of-the-same everything started to get, and yet, even I can't tell whether upending things for the sake of progress is a worthy trade off considering Pokémon is probably the one series where you could argue quantity is more important than quality - even if one could argue SwSh may not even end up meeting the latter in spite of itself, and that the one thing just about everyone would expect for a Pokémon game would be to actually move your old ones over, especially after all the promises made about preserving your old friends from the Gen 1 days. Home almost feels cynical now than it does encouraging.

Let's Go really soured me on the discourse of this series, to the point that nowadays I just take this series in its stride. It's never going to be what everyone wants it to be, or probably even what I want it to be, because whatever aspect of the series matters the most is so incredibly different depending on who you ask, which is kind of ironic given that the series got so big in part of its simplicity.