Pokémon Needs to Change YESTERDAY

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Even The Pokémon Company has to (kind of, sort of) admit that the series' trajectory is a dangerous one.
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Additional footage credits:
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[@ArloStuff]

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[@kaboomer]

😮

[@messihr]

So while I agree with the intention of your video, I don't believe your answer will necessarily resolve the issue. Firstly, we need to remember that the Pokemon Company is owned by Big N, Game Freak (the developers of mainline Pokemon) and a third company called Creatures. They all have an equal share and an equal call (though Big N owns shares in Creatures too I believe), so we can't just say that the games need to be divided between multiple studios, as that is Game Freak's bread and butter (their share in the company and their primary revenue source). Big N and Creatures would basically have to try and turn against their 1/3 partner, which is a big ask (especially given the profitability of the games). Rather, I think pressure needs to be placed on Game Freak (as well as potentially some capital invested) to greatly expand their staff. Depending on the source you are looking at, GF has anywhere between 130-200 employees (in total). That is barely enough for a single game, let alone multiples. No amount o spin-offs or whatever can overcome that limiting factor. Instead, they need to create several independent teams within the company with full staffs of their own and assign each of them their own role in the Pokemon game franchise. Consider this: GF expands their roster from sub 200 to around 600 developers (not counting management and associated employees) and they are divided into 6 equal sized teams. Let's call the teams X, Y, A, B, C, and P. Each team is then assigned a development role within the greater Pokemon mainline framework. X and Y will work exclusively on mainline. A will work remakes B will work on let's say Let's Go titles (for argument's sake) and C will work on Legends. Finally, team P will work as a support team for testing, additional last-minute touch ups and also working on DLC. Now it would be impossible to just begin this overnight, but let's say they can get this going by Gen 11. Here is how that would look in terms of releases: Year 1: Team X releases Gen 11 in Fall. Year 2: Team P releases first Gen 11 DLC in Spring. Year 2: Team A releases a Gen 5 Remake in Fall. Year 3: Team P releases Gen 11 DLC 2 in Spring. Year 3: Team B releases Legends Johto in Fall. Year 4: Team Y released Gen 12 in Fall. Year 5: Team P releases Gen 12 DLC 1 in Spring. Year 5: Team C releases Let's Go Johto in Fall. Year 6: Team P releases Gen 12 DLC 2 in Spring. Year 6: Team A releases Gen 6 Remake in Fall. Year 7: Team X releases Gen 13 in Fall. Year 8: Team P releases Gen 13 DLC 1 in Spring. Year 8: Team B releases Legends Hoen in Fall. Year 9: Team P releases Gen 13 DLC 2 in Spring. Year 9: Team C releases Let's Go Hoen in Fall. Year 10: Team Y releases Gen 14 in Fall. This model would allow for not only yearly releases, but an extended mainline dlc release, resulting in there being sales throughout the year to equal up to what we are seeing currently. Also, the releases vary so there is not as much chance for burnout. More importantly though, if you look at the above you'll see that this would GREATLY extend the development time, without impacting the 3 year generation structure, or the yearly release schedule. We see that Team X has a 5-6 year development cycle between games, while the lesser teams (ABC) have about 4 years for their windows. The only team that would need to release annually is Team P, but DLC is much easier to dev since all the assets are basically made and the size of the project is greatly reduced. Further, I think the fans would be fine with delaying the DLC if those parts were a bit beafier, which extended releases would allow for. The issue of course is money. To my understanding GW does not get significant developmental support from their partners. They make all their money from the shares they get from the PMon company and from the sales of the games, meaning that if they have to greatly increase their overhead they won't necessarily get any more money to offset it. To me, this means that Big N either needs to step in with a sizeable investment package, or (more likely) the profit-sharing model needs to be reimagined between the 3 parties that make up the Pokemon Company. That all said, they could also increase the overall revenue if they did summer spin-offs (like Snap and Mystery Dungeon) and partition some of that towards GF to offset their own expenses.

[@Just_Racky]

😮

[@Matanumi]

Actually a "classic Pokemon top down' isn't a bad idea

[@scrittle]

Shameless shill

[@bluethan806]

+ Games sell incredibly even when rushed + Merch makes significantly more than the games + New games promote new merch = Pump out games regardless of quality From a business standpoint, it makes sense. But it's just so disappointing

[@ICharlyl]

I'd say that formula is piggybacking on the fact that it's a beloved franchise with a reputation that took decades to build. If they continue staining that reputation it will inevitably go down in some years, not enough to kill it but enough to hurt the pockets of the suits. It's like what's been happening with Marvel and Disney, people are starting to push against formulaic and mediocre action and woke films by not going to the theater or watching the shows on streaming either.

[@Ronbotnik]

​@@ICharlylthen when that point hits (IF it even does, it will take years and years), they can simply pump out one good game and they would get EVERYONE back. hell look at cyberpunk. they dropped one of the worst products of all time to the point where they had to PULL it from stores, and here we are now with everyone super hyped for the DLC even though NOT ONE THING has released between the two. everyone got won over by an anime that has nothing to do with it. Pokemon will be fine.

[@zerochill4096]

Late-stage capitalism at its finest for the most valuable brand in the world

[@thevioletbee5879]

@@ICharlylImagine unironically using the word woke.

[@yungmuney5903]

​@@ICharlyl "woke" and just like that you've lost me

[@MrBytorr]

Let's never forget this one fact: Pokemon is the single highest grossing media franchise of all time. Not Star Wars. Not Harry Potter. Not Mickey Mouse. It's pokemon. It's entirely acceptable to demand higher quality than what's been put out lately.

[@tumultuousv]

Well yes. But the games are not what makes them that amount of money. So the way they see it... everything else (what makes them money) is more important. Sadly

[@internetguy7319]

no shit?

[@Evenmoresteven]

@@tumultuousvwhere are you getting this data from? I’ve heard this argument from a lot of poke fanatics. The games sell an obscene amount of copies. More than most triple a studios could dream of selling.

[@jeremyshepherd1700]

​@@Evenmorestevenand yet the 17 billion dollars they've grossed from game sales is still dwarfed by the 64 billion they've made in merchandise

[@jeremyshepherd1700]

​@@tartagliax804that's an awfully lot of words just to say "agreed"

[@cv7368]

I think what best encapsulates the modern state of Pokemon is how Scarlet & Violet released in an unfinished state, got massive backlash, Gamefreak acknowledged the awful state of the game, but Gamefreak never went back to fix it because they had to work on the DLC

[@JeffSur-l3i]

Where did they aknowledge it?

[@beingmegucaissuffering.5326]

​@@JeffSur-l3inintendo released a statement on it iirc

[@naganut9718]

The probably went to fix their lack of employees either post DLC or during the DLC development

[@mehemynxm6974]

​@@JeffSur-l3iyou can't post linkson KZbin because it'll think you're a bot. But they released a statement on their website and iirc in the news section of the poké portal.

[@JDNGAMER]

@@JeffSur-l3iif I remember correctly they were giving refunds to people that bought copies of Pokémon scarlet and violet.

[@hotdogwaterdad8311]

Zelda really makes you realize how possible it is to make a high quality game and take your time

[@Linkman247]

Not really. You have to consider that Zelda has the benefit of being able to be delayed. Zelda had a development cycle of 5-6 years. Pokemon has so much other stuff that revolve around each new generation. The Card game, merchandise, apparel, toys, the animated show, etc. They have to buy ad space for many of these in advance not to mention the promotional marketing, etc. I am not justifying or excusing this. But that's currently the reality of the situation regarding Pokemon being so big. It's a multimedia behemoth so even if Game Freak wanted to delay and take their time? They can't because there is so much other stuff tied up and around each new generation. That's why the Pokemon Co. was created in the first place to manage the brand. Zelda can take 5-6 years because it can. Pokemon? I wouldn't be opposed to a longer development cycle. But Scarlet and Violet alone had 3 years of development which is frankly crazy to build any open world game in 3 years time. That's unsustainable.

[@V8chump]

@@Linkman247they have MORE than enough Pokémon to make a show and card series around a rotation of Pokémon that are already out and underutilized. There’s no reason they NEED a new generation to make a new season of the show or more cards… charizard cards prove this theory pretty well. They could pump out gen 1 and 2 based merch and toys for eternity and sell their balls off. Pikachu charizard and the gen 1 starters are still EVERYWHERE… they have over 900 underutilized Pokémon

[@Linkman247]

@@V8chump I mean they are already releasing a 151 set with the original 151 including Kadabra after 20 years. You argue they could make sets for underutilized pokemon...but that's kind of the point of releasing sets to coincide with a new generation. These sets often highlight many of the new pokemon. That's why you have cards featuring the likes of Scovillain, Spidops, etc. So let's say they focus on the previous generations? Where are the cards for the new generation then? You typically have a base set for a given generation with sub sets/special sets. Crown Zenith in particular featured many art gallery cards featuring the likes of....Charizard, Pikachu, Mewtwo, Zeraora, Bidoof, and many more. And Charizard isn't the heavy hitter people think it is. Sometimes you have a Charizard that goes super high in price. The Charizard/Venusaur V card from Brilliant stars for example. Other times you have charizard cards that maybe only fetch $5 or so. Zacian V in Crown Zenith actually is worth more than Charizard. Meanwhile trainer Irida is worth $17 or so. Glaceon V Star is worth $18 or so. Leafeon V Star is $22 or so. Arceus V Star? The Ultra rare? $64 Giratina $84 So again Charizard is a draw to be sure. But there are cards that dwarf some Charizard cards (that look great imo) in terms of their value. As far as the show is concerned? Part of what keeps the show going and driving the show is seeing the characters explore a new region with new pokemon. That's part of what has allowed the series to persist for 20+ years. If all they did was continue to recycle old Pokemon? I'd wager interest in the show would have fallen off long ago. That's why I said the games, the show, and the TCG are so interconnected that it's not like Zelda where they can just delay a game and spend 6 years on a game. There is a new TCG set that comes out about every three months. We could argue that they could space these out more. Part of what killed Hearthstone was too many new sets too quickly. But physical cards are a bit different. People are still collecting brilliant stars, silver tempest, etc. Paldea evolved, and what have you will continue to be collected for a while. I'm not sure what the answer is. But I would like to see things spaced out a bit more as I am sure most people would.

[@dillis2188]

... By re-releasing the same game twice? BOTW and TOTK aren't really _that_ differen't. They just added stuff - it's pretty lazy, honestly.

[@jaxsomon3333]

Don't forget super Mario Bros wonder! That game as long didn't have a deadline!

[@ace0135]

I love that Arlo’s solution is essentially the Pokémon version of rotating the crops

[@tobysinbad]

Been saying omg DO A FALLOW YEAR for so long

[@raze2012_]

it's what COD does. They have yearly releases but it's because they have 3+ studios handling the games and they release every 3-5 years. And each of those studios are 3 times the size of Gamefreak. They had the right idea with BDSP even if the execution fell on its face. Let Ilca and other studios handle spinoffs and even remakes. I don't mind Arlo's idea of making smaller games too, but that seems to be a proble 90% of AAA studios have todayy

[@armintargaryen9216]

@@raze2012_ That sounds nice in theory but BDSP was... Like that Pokémon has always had good spinoffs, far better than the main franchise, but fans have still demanded more and more main games and TPC won't miss the easy money

[@Justic_]

@@armintargaryen9216 That's part of the problem. Spinoffs could fill a void between mainline-releases, but they lack the wider appeal of the mainline games to really effectively tide people over until the next release. And when there is one that seems close enough to get there, like New Pokemon Snap I think... well, that's not really the kind of game you can just pump out every 2 or 3 years. They have the engine for it now, which certainly helps if they'd want to reuse it, and a decent amount of Pokemon, but graphically alone, the environments probably need quite some time. On to Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, the most successful game of that series would probably be the Explorers-games, and I think DX at least got a lot of attention, but I don't think to a degree where it'd tide people over, not to mention I think I remember hearing that they have trouble finding a developer to take over the series, don't know how things are standing there. Pokemon Ranger was great, but never really saw the same success I'm pretty sure, and nowadays there'd be the problem of how to even play the game, since the games were of course made with the DS' touchscreen in mind for its core gameplay, the Switch may have a touchscreen but it obviously can't be used docked, so aside from the same issue of "won't tide people over on its own", there's the gameplay-issue they'd first have to resolve. Pokemon Rumble was a fun thing, had multiple entries, but I'm pretty sure the WiiU-one that tried to make use of the NFC-reader before amiibo became a thing just sunk that series, they just had that f2p-one for the 3DS from there, but in general it also left most people uninterested. Pokemon Conquest has A LOT of potential, but it was a crossover with a relatively old Japanese series, and said crossover basically already drained most of what they could do with that series, so... unlikely, as much as it pains me to admit, the best we could maybe expect is a spiritual successor... but also, I don't think it did that well, especially in the west, hell, I think the only European countries it officially released in were the UK and the Netherlands, maybe also Belgium and Luxemburg. Pokken was quite successful and even had its place at worlds, but I'd assume they're probably waiting for the Switch 2 if they're even considering a new one. Also, of course made in collaboration with Bandai Namco, don't know if was the same team that's responsible for Tekken, in which case they're probably held up by the new Tekken-game, or if it may have been the same team that did New Pokemon Snap. Detective Pikachu has its 2nd game coming, the first one didn't do too well, I think, but the movie was a huge success, so we'll have to see how the 2nd game does before we can even really tell if it even has the potential to bridge a gap for most people. So yeah, Pokemon Spinoffs just are in a rough spot, that wasn't even all of them, but those were the most noteable ones imo and they just underline that one or two spinoffs a year probably won't be enough to tide people over a year without mainline games.

[@ace0135]

@@armintargaryen9216 well bdsp was an half-assed attempt

[@nicklinn5731]

I think Pokémon’s biggest problem is the “fixed” release schedule. Who cares if the cards and games line up.

[@thefonzpart]

The cards didn’t even line up with Gen 9 like before. Cards released couple months late like the anime

[@stanjones2492]

The shareholders do

[@nicklinn5731]

@@thefonzpart it’s always been like that, heck some countries are several generations behind in the tcg!

[@mattmanley7118]

I concur

[@JomaXZ]

The marketing department. (Screw 'em tbh)

[@HamOfJustice]

make pokemon generations longer. let us smell the roses, get to know everyone and everywhere, feel like we've found a new home, feel genuinely ready to move on by the time that the next games come out. getting a game you could theoretically play forever and having it become a ghost town in 3 years or less every time gets sadder the more unique features and strong but underutilized characters they have, especially if that ghost town status is enforced by nintendo's own servers shutting down. idk, i just get sad looking around cabo poco and mesagoza and knowing what's going to happen to paldea in 2 years as if there was nothing special about it or the rival(s) we bonded with there. every character and mon and town they pump out nonstop and barely use before throwing it in the furnace could have been its own story in a normal franchise

[@RoninCatholic]

The first three generations were three years each. Gen 1 was _longer_ than that in Japan. It's the same thing as how the original Star Wars and the inferior prequel trilogy were spaced out with three years per movie. Disney insisted on churning out something like two movies and a TV series per year.

[@HamOfJustice]

i am basically getting this DLC almost entirely to get more nemona arven and penny and see more of their stories, and i've had the sinking feeling since the first trailer that we will not be getting that nemona's rival for life and greatest treasure apparently just ditches her with no remorse without ever having gotten to genuinely hang out or train together in the postgame (a repeatable battle and one line of dialogue on loop do not count, even if the kids' room designs are super interesting) all in the name of Marketable New Stuff ... we'll probably get to do that in our new dorm in the indigo disc, but that's still not story, and they still won't show our old friends in any prerelease stuff. like... c'mon. their arcs were clearly not over yet. they and the 3 or so hours we got to adventure and bond/bicker together are the main reason people defend the game even though it's... like that. they should've at least been available as companions in postgame even if it didn't do anything. nemona had to run away alone to a freakin gacha game to get a happy ending that actually lasts rumors from leaks are they're barely in the DLC at all and basically forgettable. i don't... understand... i'm more obsessed with the injustice of it all than the jump in character writing quality itself at this point, never fixing the framerate is just an extra layer of "i wish you cared as much as i do"

[@stooglesgoogles7246]

​@@HamOfJustice They should just have more of an overarching story because the way the games are set up is perfect for introducing new content while still having a story. they probably did this so they can have new characters and having the old ones would just be too many. they should figure out a way to use them other than masters ex

[@gregvs.theworld451]

Honestly, with how big farm sims like Stardew Valley, life sims like Animal Crossing, and even games with a solid gameplay loop, but also a tonne of side crap to do like Dave the Diver, have become in recent years, Game Freak really could stand to add some mechanics or interactions that really could extend the lifespan of a single Pokémon game, couldn't they? Even stuff like a robust house decoration and expanding side goal, or an in depth berry garden has potential to have people interested in doing that alone for hours, never mind the rest of the game.

[@Moonsong227]

You put it into words!

[@PrinceDinoboy]

They need to do what they did with BDSP, but with a team that's made a game before. Not a studio that's helped with aspects of a game, but a video game developer who has made games. They also need to hire more than 300 employees at GAME FREAK.

[@Kuzcoco]

I think that, but look at Hogwarts Legacy, they hadn’t made a big game before. And yes it had issues, but still

[@raionbomber75]

Funny thing is the same team that made BDSP made One Piece Odyssey, Bandai Namco money and TIME to make the game helped that out, even though the game was easy.

[@gamer-san8923]

BDSP sucks lol

[@censoredquotes3518]

I loved BDSP, I get the frustration with the removal of the platinum content but other than that they were really solid games. I also loved the Chibi arts style and preferred it over the N64 graphics that is Scarlet and Violet.

[@devinhargrave4723]

@@censoredquotes3518 Honestly when I forget that Platinum exists I think BDSP is actually pretty solid. I just expected more given that i've been a fan for SO long and I know they can do more.

[@nickrobinson9629]

Instead of building new worlds with each generation, Pokémon should be focusing on the already established 9 worlds and adding new stories to them. Imagine if Kanto had multiple timelines/eras/parts where Team Rocket were still being devious in the region. But instead we get the same gen 1 story we've heard countless times. ORAS had the idea of New Mauville, Legends Arceus gave new life to Sinnoh, that's what we need more of.

[@costby1105]

That would really fix much, all that would do is maybe save time on preproduction. We likely got Legends Arceus due the sheer amount of work bringing Sinnoh into full 3d on the scale of Galar would have taken and would put a limit to the amount of new pokemon.

[@boltstrike2787]

They're not going to do this for new generation games. New regions are an easy win for marketing because it's much easier to entice people with a new location they've never explored before than one they've already explored. I would like to see new games in old regions, but that sort of thing is better as mid gen games to pad out the generation instead of the big flagship next gen game.

[@glitchy000]

Or just give us one game with all the regions (a few to start and add more as we go). Just keep building with what’s already there, make it stable, charge for new region DLC with new stories (not remakes.)

[@andrewtuell1991]

@@glitchy000 They couldn't even make a good game with two regions. Even the remake barely fixed anything. A game with "EVERY REGION EVAR" would be a disaster.

[@gregvs.theworld451]

@@glitchy000 All the regions might be a bit ambitious, but I have wondered why they've never pulled the second adventure card since Gen 2. If feels like an easy way to add more content if you just got done with whatever new or remake region you just played from the new game, and them Professor Tree says "I have this extra ticket to Kanto/Hoenn/Unova/any of the others." and most players would say "No. Freaking. Way. Did they just Johto Kanto us again?"

[@CrowTRobot]

Legends Arceus scratched a Pokemon itch that I never knew I had. Really hope we see a return to that one day.

[@quintuneshorts]

My brother said the same thing after the first time he played it lol

[@DPedroBoh]

That one needed one more year at least in the oven but still was the best pokemon on the switch, in my opinion.

[@dawnrigel4255]

Arceus was the first time I enjoyed playing a pokemon game since gen 4 lol. Granted, I think black and white is awesome, I just didn't play them at the time. I was super sad when scarlet and violet didn't have the Pokeball throwing mechanic to just capture pokemon on the overworld.

[@jesusramirezromo2037]

Arceus was a good idea and had fun gameplay But it still needed 2+ years in development

[@mrsuperheatran2794]

I hope they don't bring back (fall) damage and don't force me to scroll through several mons to travel anywhere. They should have just let me assign them to a special button like the ride Pokemon. I took so much unnecessary fall damage because of jank selection and how quick you need to be with it. Also, give us more to do than catch Pokemon and research tasks.

[@DirtyDan77]

The greed really is a big problem, across every industry right now. The number of individuals, in the world, who put pride in their product, ahead of profits, is incredibly small.

[@c.cooper2877]

People who do put pride in their product aren't that rare. The problem is that investors are the ones calling the shots. Investors are not rational; they don't care anything about a company's long-term survival or reputation, only about number always go up and number keep going up faster. When they ends up destroying the company, they just shrug and move on to ruin the next company.

[@Yellowc0ld]

Late stage capitalism

[@asheredacted2781]

@@Yellowc0ld More accurately, END stage capitalism.

[@anthonydavis5826]

Under the alternative system, there is no product at all. If you want improvement in quality, stop buying the games. This argument totally ignores the role of consumers in capitalism. It’s not going anywhere, but it will produce more or what you’re already buying.

[@DirtyDan77]

@@anthonydavis5826 I agree. It is the customers who continue to pre-order games they know will be broken at launch. It's also the customers who buy tickets for terrible super hero movies. there's endless examples of stupid customers. Just wish they didn't ruin everything for the rest of us.

[@mayday2237]

BDSP hurt the most to me because it was simultaneously unambitious AND broken

[@mjm3091]

And it was also uglier than the original game. Like aside some upgrades in the underground - it was literally worse than the originals. Especially as it totally missed all the stuff Platinum added, it straight up continued the move-exit within the games, where you have Sinnoh Pokemon missing the moves they had in original games. And it's just ugly AF.

[@Hawxicity]

The DPP era is absolutely my favorite Pokémon era, and I didn’t buy BDSP. I wouldn’t touch a ‘BDSP style’ Pokémon game with a 10 foot pole plus a glove

[@KitaBFawkes]

Until Gen 8, Gen 4 was the most in need of a remake because the region design, sleepy music, and poor planning of Pokemon availability really hurts on replays.

[@KitaBFawkes]

@austini.5262 No major game company is likely to keep their source code. What is most likely is that after not having the source code on hand, they found one of the many sources of the available decompiles that are available on online. Pokemon is widely hacked and very deeply understood in almost every generation. There are a fuckload of resources out there for Pokemon.

[@leoleonvids]

​​@austini.5262considering how it's made in unity, i doubt they'd be able to use much of the original code, if they based their rewritten code on the original it could explain it

[@SonKosen]

They just need an A and B team. A team makes the bigger Pokémon games that take 4 years to make and team B makes the side remake games that look like Lets Go. It would be easy money if done right.

[@paulj6805]

They are already making ungodly money so they have no reason to improve

[@UncalibratedAimbot]

They’ve had an Team A-Team B system since I believe gen 3. They alternate releases which is how they did the old “main game, remakes, 3rd game” model.

[@37Jhian]

This is pretty much how monster hunter work especially on making games for either the portable and home console which let them swap ideas and feature during development

[@forestgrump4723]

Right? Where’s Lets go Teddiursa and Let’s go Hoothoot?

[@afriendlycampfire260]

They did once so gamefreak can make more games B team was making pokemon

[@salmence100]

The crazy thing is that we used to get a lot more Pokemon games. Nowadays we barely get any spinoffs, back in the DS era we got Pokemon Ranger, Mystery Dungeon, and a mainline game all in the same year, and they were all fantastic. Now we get like one spin off every 5 years just so they can be like "haha remember this beloved series we used to make?"

[@internetguy7319]

Ranger stopped selling well. Mystery Dungeon stopped selling well. Pokepark stopped selling well.

[@UltraBall23]

Pokémon GO made more money then every spin-off combined.

[@salmence100]

@@internetguy7319 Yeah. Modern Pokemon Company would rather not make anything at all than *only* sell 1.5 million copies.

[@CarbonMalite]

New gens have an unfathomable amount of marketing that makes sure it's in everyone's heads at all times. The content of the games probably makes little difference when you throw that much media attention into the mix

[@sleeplessarcher]

Despite having poor sales in comparison to the main series, I do hope a new Mystery Dungeon game at some point

[@kazenna]

I would cry tears of joy at an Explorers of Sky remake

[@sleeplessarcher]

@@kazenna pmd fans unite 😔✌️

[@rewind_kitsune]

What a world we live in, where 2 million sales is considered "poor" 🥲

[@revolution4189]

​@@rewind_kitsunefor pokemon it is poor

[@blabbitybla2780]

considering how obscure shiren the wanderer style dungeon crawlers are, PMD's sales are actually mind-blowing lol

[@Sanngot]

A small piece of me died when you brought up the Mystery Dungeon numbers. I love that spinoff series to bits, and like a fool, I get my hopes up for a new one every time there is a Pokemon Direct. 😭

[@alexcoffey8804]

Everytime I see a new pokémon design, I think how cool it would look in Mystery Dungeon. And then I cry.

[@Sanngot]

@@alexcoffey8804 I hear ya man. The struggle is real!

[@ryannamecat]

A guy made a video saying what if we had a Black and White 3, in 2.5D in the style of Octopath Traveler and that idea is BRILLIANT

[@MeLlamoBauti]

​@@ryannamecati came here from that video, and that idea could also work for a mystery dungeon game

[@autumnlotus6250]

Reminder part of the reason they sell poorly is that Most of the mystery dungeon games were rush jobs that people hated. The remake of one of the Good games was tainted by the reception of the previous ones

[@scoobydoo23320]

Arlo is a lot more optimistic of Pokemon's future than I am.

[@Antasma1]

I wouldn’t call it optimism, but simply stating the best case scenarios

[@TheJeffersW]

Criticism isn't usually an antagonistic act. It can be, but despite our initial assumptions, the fans and people who like something are the ones who tend to be most critical. They want the thing they critique to be the best it can be. You have to recognise the negative but equally strive for the positive.

[@danieldalton]

@@TheJeffersWI like this comment.

[@bigsolo6952]

I want Pokémon to EVOLVE too

[@armintargaryen9216]

I see no way that it gets better with GF developing it. It's not just the technical mess. They seem to have a design philisophy that's all about making the games stupidly easy and doubling down on the c0ck-sucking pointless dialogue and now the charm there used to be is outweighed by the cons.

[@davosmando]

While I think having other studios help is great, what they really need is to expand their main team. If they want to keep releasing main entries at the same pace but with an increase in quality, then they need more employees and better management. There’s no way around it.

[@jesspeed]

More employees is not the fix for a broken schedule. The more people you bring in, the worst the management of people gets. Theres a reason why the saying of “too many chefs in the kitchen” applies to every single industry. A healthy amount of people with a good schedule is what every game needs. We honestly don’t need 1000s of people working on a game like some other studios are doing

[@Champ0222]

@@jesspeedthe whole point of corporation is that you hire more people on each level as you become a bigger franchise. A lot of employees are difficult to handle? Then get more managers for those employees and trickle up the pyramid with managers til you get to the CEO

[@Dracossaint]

​@@Champ0222the point is that there are more layers of communication to work through. More chances for a breakdown of communication, makes it more likely something can slip through the cracks. Their pace needs to slow down and frankly they need to maintain their size and just become more focused on QOL, rather than pumping out more stuff in order to sell new merch. At a certain point the quality starts to slip so much that it hurts the value of the whole. We are in that period now, I'm hoping they work on it. But I have my doubts. As an example, sword and shields dlc, was better than the base games was. They didn't have to build the whole game from scratch. They had a solid foundation they could work off of and flesh it out. Balder's gate 3 is another example, they took their time in Early access until they felt it's ready. Listened to players feedback and iterated on it, until something astounding was made.

[@KainYusanagi]

@@jesspeed And there are currently NOT ENOUGH CHEFS IN THE KITCHEN. Too few people that don't know what they're doing well enough are being stretched too thin.

[@chadzard4]

@@jesspeed Numbers are always a bonus if you know how to use them.

[@finnleyhart4405]

One of the biggest problems is not just that they have to have a release every year, but that they have to have a new generation start every three years. It’s these games that give a new large set of pokemon that allow for new waves of merchandise, which is where the company makes a massive chunk of their money.

[@NintenSegaPlay]

That’s probably why they started to add new Pokemon mid gens since gen 7

[@finnleyhart4405]

@@NintenSegaPlay good point. that definitely helps, but they don’t come out with as many as they do at the start of each generation. that could easily change though.

[@iminumst7827]

A year is enough time to make a good game, especially when your game strictly follows a formula and reuses assets and gameplay from previous games.

[@Buglin_Burger7878]

@@iminumst7827 Especially since they should be using an engine designed to aid with this, as it massively simplifies things even further like how Valve uses Hammer.

[@forevermasteri4330]

I was legit mad when Scarlett and Violet were announced for 2022. Three years is too short.

[@riguor9876]

The cheapness of pixel art is a bit of a myth, depending on how it's handled. 3D models frontload your work, and a good 3d model can be reused in many projects, depending on how they handle sprites they might need to be redone for every new set of games. It's part of why the backlash against sword and shield was so loud

[@DanGamingFan2406]

I feel like they should use _Pokémon Legends_ to pad out the Schedule between next gen releases instead of continuing to release a new gen like every three years. That way, both can have the time they need to be of the best quality possible. These games just need more dev time than they're being given.

[@watershipup7101]

Agreed

[@elliotw.888]

but then it just means they're gonna have to invest energy into another game, which would bring us back to where we started. the ideal is that they take two years to develop the next game and just stay low for one Christmas

[@genjis5155]

As long as the subpar games make money, that'll never happen.

[@ValiantPixel]

Or they can incorporate more of the quality of life issues from Legends into the main series with Gen 10 and then simply continue to refine them beyond that point. Legends can still exist, but be more focused on story rather than having particularly unique gameplay.

[@sahaprocks7751]

⁠@@ValiantPixelthis

[@goodgamer1419]

Honestly the ideas behind the games are good they just don't give the devs enough time to realize them fully

[@stupidmonkey089]

I guess? The ideas are largely things fans have been asking for for years because most other JRPGs have had them for years. I can't think of many uniquely pokemon ideas that are particularly good. I'm tired of the new battle mechanics they try our and drop every gen and the other ideas they have are stuff from other games, except done half assed

[@Cue-Ball.]

@@stupidmonkey089 Scarlet & Violet's story and character writing was great but not many people experienced it because of the quality of the game itself.

[@gobbagoo]

@@Cue-Ball. Nah arvens story was great everything other story was okay at best, the team star story was predictable although I thought the bosses were cool. And the pokemon league story was one of the worst with no replayability being baffling.

[@luckywizard_]

Not having enough time is definitely an issue however them being incompetent is also one as well, they still haven’t fixed the problem with the game rendering miles of water yet causing fps issues. These are problems people found out week one of the games release and fixed with mods

[@elpopman2055]

​@@stupidmonkey089That will never happen because people will keep on buying the games. Even if they are a bad.. The pokemon company will only listen to the fans if the fans refuse to give them money

[@lauravturner]

Every day I think of more things Pokemon could do to improve and every day I feel sad that so many things could have been implemented by now and just haven't. I want to give them my money and it feels like they are trying to refuse me.

[@kyotheman69]

mentality is if not broke, don't fix, how well last two games did, tells you even broken game still sales, which is really sad. I don't support any half ass game even if its Nintendo.

[@arminarlert7273]

​@kyotheman69 Pokemon is made by GameFreak Nintendo has little to no envolvement in them. Nintendo games are usually finished polished and playable even the ones you would categorized as half assed like the Mario sports games and Switch sport are at the very least playable and are better in quality and present no glitches the way scarlet and violet did the only real problem these games really have is the content not the quality.

[@Dad_Shoes]

​@@arminarlert7273Nintendo has far more involvement than you think. Pokémon games have two publishers: Nintendo and The Pokémon Company. The Pokémon Company is made up of three different entities: GameFreak, Creatures, and Nintendo. Just to reiterate, it's published by Nintendo and a company that is partially owned by Nintendo. On top of that, GameFreak's development studio is located within Nintendo's main building. They moved to that location around 2019 or so so Nintendo would be able to give them more resources. The Pokémon brand is also heavily associated with Nintendo, so I would feel that Nintendo would do all they can to step in if something is wrong and prevent a poor release. Something clearly didn't happen.

[@internetguy7319]

​@@arminarlert7273scarlet and violet had plenty of content it just had no polish

[@the_legendary_fire]

​@@internetguy7319I 100% it in 60 hours and won't replay it because the game lacks replayability it may have a lot of content but I'm never going to play it again due to the lack of polish so that tiny extra step has probably halved my playtime on SV

[@ThibautMahringer]

I would love a modern take on sprite based Pokemon games. Except with way more sprites on screen, taking in account the vast improvement in hardware since DS. To make a massive, beautiful 2D pokemon game, that feels fresh, new and lively.

[@damienthonk1506]

Honestly it's genuinely quite pathetic that something like that even needs to be a consideration.

[@MrSpy13011]

If they could do something like Octopath traveler I feel people wouldn't mind.

[@mr.OldNews]

@@MrSpy13011 hell hire the fucking studio that made the octopath traveler games to make an octopath esk pokemon game.. that would free up the pokemon team to have an extra year two work on the big 3d games.

[@themanwithsauce]

DYKG released excerpts from some interviews with pokemon staff recently, and Matsuda was quoted saying "I was disappointed and saddened hearing the complaints about the quality of sword and shield. But then pokkemon fans made it the best selling pokemon game and I realized it was fine after all!" So uh.....yeah there's no point to criticize pokemon, they only understand sales. You can make any suggestion or critiques you want but as long as the games keep selling, they won't change a thing.

[@UltraBall23]

Masuda, not Matsuda. Also, He didn’t direct SwSh or SV and quit GameFreak last year. He is irrelevant.

[@MusicComet]

​@@UltraBall23Oh, thank goodness. You brought a sliver of hope to my heart.

[@UltraBall23]

@@MusicComet Nah, the reason the games are bad is because Masuda isn’t in charge. Ohmori is the one messing up the games.

[@TheJuice70]

Unfortunate Pokémon has taken such a far dive. Remember when people thought X & Y were just ok? I would KILL for games with that much effort put in now.

[@SophiaSanders61]

Same. I miss those days.

[@erkantiryaki5542]

Come on now. It is clear Scarlet and Violet are games with a lot of effort put in to them. That is one of the reasons why they were in horrible state. They tried to do something new and big. For X and Y they put almost no effort and made the most generic Pokemon games despite having a gimmick to them. In the end I don't think they should have gone that big. That was a mistake, but you CAN see that they did care. They did put effort in those games. They just didn't have enough time.

[@idkwhattohaveasausername5828]

X&Y are underrated. They’re still not as good as the older games, but they’re at least playable.

[@TheFlashzap]

I dunno I still have PSTD flashbacks of the story being interrupted by plot and handholding every ten steps

[@Gloomdrake]

@@TheFlashzapit doesn’t help that the story is incomplete

[@hexywesky]

I think it's time for them to put together their own "Sonic Mania" fan dev teams. I mean at this point fans are literally putting them to shame.

[@notrod5341]

As much as I would love that, that's never going to happen. SEGA ae probably one of the few studios that not only tolerate, but encourage fan games. Nintendo/TPC are the opposite extreme and want to punish people who do it.

[@TrinityCore60]

@@notrod5341Valve is another, but you still have a point. I wish Nintendo would tolerate them, I feel like both fan and company could get a lot out of them

[@mystman1210]

@@jaretco6423 That's not why the devs left, Christian Whitehead himself has stated his team was in talks with Sega about what they might do with Sonic after Mania and that there is no bad blood between them and Sega. Why they went their separate ways, I'm not sure, but it doesn't have to be because something bad happened.

[@Glory2Snowstar]

Legit, have any of y’all played Vinemon? Seriously, Google it, download the latest patch, it’s the best Pokémon experience I’ve had since Unova. It’s unironically my game of the year. You have legit sick Fakemon mixed with things like a draconic Teletubby and a TF2 Furret, plus online battling and trading. It’s ruled my whole Summer since launch and it’s the entire reason I haven’t touched Violet in so long. (I do wanna finish Arceus though so I can finally gain spoiler immunity)

[@suroguner]

Ever play Coromon or Nexomon?

[@charliejones7512]

This really needs to be talked about more often. There’s so much potential and they’re just not reaching it. Hopefully they might be able to sought themselves out in the future, but I’m not 100% as long as they keep getting money for half baked releases. I suppose that can be said for other companies doing the same thing though.

[@kluuless]

THANK YOU for bringing a spotlight to this issue. I love the franchise, but hate the direction it’s headed toward and hope that this is a sign of substantial structural changes going forward. I’m glad someone with a bigger voice than me is talking about this.

[@StarwayBunny]

Agreed.

[@jsenn8140]

The most depressing part of all this is the clear presence of small sparks of creativity and charm in modern Pokémon. Things that corporate gamefreak can’t ruin despite their best efforts like the soundtracks, new Pokémon designs, and Arven’s story in S/V. Gamefreak has enough talented developers to make these games work.

[@emblemblade9245]

Also the character designs. Literally never miss

[@jameslawrenson1208]

Just give them more time, and manpower and things would work out.

[@bluebaron6811]

Remember all the easter eggs, cameo characters, and sidequests in the Alola games? Yeah me too, and I miss it. I stopped playing SWSH when I learned Looker wasn't returning again.

[@wavypavy4059]

The Scarlet/Violet credits to me seemed really short compared to the number of people lots of other projects do, even the number of programers compared to some animated films. I have no doubt all the people working on pokemon games are talented and passionate, but wow is it not a lot of people to make a triple A game on the time scales of pokemon regular releases.

[@SlimeBlueMS]

The games literally (in all sense of the word) barely function

[@theboulder027]

Imagine if gamefreak had double the staff and they all spent three years focused on a single game. That would be amazing.

[@tumultuousv]

More staff doesn't equate quality. Not really how development works. BUT it couldn't hurt

[@internetguy7319]

They need more time. 3 years is not enough for an open world JRPG. Stop talking about this if you don't know what you are talking about.

[@Ronbotnik]

the people in here actually have no clue what theyre talking about. Gamefreak NEEDS MORE EMPLOYEES PERIOD. of course more time would help, but you could give them 3 years and they would still pump put a mediocre game. they have slightly over 150 workers which is absolutely microscopic in the games industry. for reference, the damn Bayonetta devs have almost 400!! Cyberpunk over 1000! CoD over 3000!! Pokemon makes the most money of any of them, theres no excuse not to hire a bigger team.

[@theboulder027]

@@Ronbotnik not only that, but their 150 employees are usually split between two different projects. Even having all of the existing employees focus on one game would be a huge improvement.

[@Friendly_Neigborhood_Astolfo]

Masuda likes a smaller team and that isnt gonna change for him because it is easier for him to manage (which to be fair I can't blame him) the issue is time between releases. Yeah competitive can help keep pokemon alive but you cant get more people into it if the main game feels unfinished

[@woolpuppy]

One of the problems with the mystery dungeon game was that it was a remake when I was looking for a new installment. Secondly, people were really unimpressed with Gates to Infinity's approach to the series. We want our series to be story driven with good world building.

[@Mister100Percent]

I’m sure we’ll have this discussion next year when the new Pokémon games reach record profits again.

[@clickycal]

The transformer movies also make record profits

[@jesusramirezromo2037]

​@@clickycalNot anymore...

[@RetroCheats]

Profits can make companies blind to the gaping holes that are growing.. if it grows too large, the fanbase can quickly leave it, in favor to something with a similar formula.

[@clickycal]

@@jesusramirezromo2037 After years of bad movies. Let's see how Poke sales are after a few more rough gens...

[@breadordecide]

@@clickycalRough gens? Scarlet is the best game in the series so far. I absolutely loved it.

[@Silverguise]

Pokemon in the artsyle of Octopath would be amazing, tbh. They need to find a unique artsyle that is suited to them and role with it. Indies would be great inspiration.

[@komaytoprime]

Honestly a solid idea for Black and White remakes

[@Luffy453]

I would leave my money for that every day of the week

[@boilerup92]

100%

[@PantsaBear]

Game freak just dont have the talent to do that, Im sorry lol. Pokemon Company is partially to blame not just from a time management standpoint, but also staffing. Gamefreak is a very untalented dev as far as AAA devs go

[@Goolix_Aero]

I'd love that but they won't do it because they'd need to make new sprites and animations for hundreds of Pokemon

[@martytriesstuff8704]

Let's just hope they get a semblance of sense and do something good for the 30 years anniversary and make it coincide with gen 10

[@TheRibottoStudios]

It would be stupid to not do that

[@time2e636]

⁠@@TheRibottoStudiosWhich is why they won’t do it

[@drautch]

​@@time2e636this got me great reply

[@mgjvd]

No shot they’re gonna wait basically 3 more full years to release 2026. Honestly I would be down bc gen 10 would then probably be insane with that amount of time to polish, but there’s no chance that’s ever happening

[@KrowsGraveyard]

We honestly don't need anymore Generations until they can straighten themselves out. The quality is dropping like a bowling ball off a skyscraper. We can't "Catch Em' All" anymore, and they clearly don't care about detail or fine tuning.

[@vjthehandsome5659]

I love how Arlo really knows how to speak their language. NOSTALGIA IS MONEEEEEEY!

[@iamjustjoshing]

I would love another pixel art, sprite-based Pokemon game. Something about the sprites is so charming

[@elizabethhicks4181]

Black and White and their sequels were the best looking pokemon games, legitimately. There was the most personality to them. Something like Skyarrow Bridge hits so much harder than anything in Sword and Shield (or Scarlet and Violet) because they really push the contrast from the rest of the game. That and the animated battle sprites in Gen 5 has been the most... 'alive' feeling Pokemon has ever been.

[@sselcho]

Skyarrow bridge hits hard

[@sleepingtom9337]

@@elizabethhicks4181unfortunately they were the weakest performing in sales.

[@PauLtus_B]

I see that as a way to have the games: -look better -run better -be easier to make The one downside there is that a lot of people still have this arbitrary idea that it'd be worth less simply because it's not full 3D.

[@nift36]

something something limited 3D graphics something something charming

[@skittezraine]

I would go crazy for any Pokemon remake in the HD-2D sprite art style from Octopath Traveler and Live A Live. That would be the dream!

[@adrianamurillo5810]

Imagine a Black/White remake in that style, it'd be so cool

[@bowmancollar3684]

100% this

[@Rodrigo_Vega]

The artist Zaebucca did a bunch of pieces showing how a 2D sprite-based pokemon game could look. By just adding a bigger sprite-sheet and sticking with limited palettes and resolutions. It looks amazing. Once they'd figure out definitive specs, and build a decent developing toolkit for editing maps and dialogue, they could pump new games with some consistency. They just need to slow down with the expansion of the pokedex. Maybe start with the original 151 and start expanding them regularly 50 at a time. For whatever years it takes to build an entirely high-detail, seam-less pixel art pokeworld. Throw in some randomly gerated areas, some "camp building" function and some multiplayer options and the games would be endlessly replayable.

[@V8chump]

They have to do something like platinum or emerald though… don’t just give me a shiny new port like let’s go pikachu. That game was boring as hell because they didn’t try anything new or cool… or at least nothing worth while that meaningfully changed the game

[@329link]

I hate that you've made me imagine that. That'd be so good and they won't do it.

[@magentalane27]

Even Arceus had its "unfinished" moments, mainly with how lifeless the human characters felt

[@Sassafrass95]

don't forget the background looking like it came out of a gamecube instead of a switch. Scarlet and Violet had that same issue as well

[@magentalane27]

@@Sassafrass95 Seriously. I don’t enjoy being a naysayer but for all the praise that game got, I just didn’t get the hype. This game should’ve come out ten years ago

[@markguyton2868]

Lifeless humans have been a problem in the series for a long time, its very rare we get a very expresssionate person beyond the secondary characters.

[@stevencraeynest7729]

You mean mainly with how baren the environment was. It seriously looked like a 90s tech demo

[@valletas]

And the world looks like a nuclear warhead just went off and we are now exploring a post apocalyptic landscape

[@mesmorrow]

The problem is that the scope of Pokemon games have become larger but the development teams and development time have not followed alongside that scope.

[@francobatta8278]

Going back to the pixel art for Pokémon is something I’ve been thinking about as well. Games like Octopath have beautiful sprite work. It’s cheaper and definitely prettier than what we have now

[@TheMarashian]

Graphics isnt gonna save a cash grabby unfinished game.

[@beech5950]

I just hope they wouldn't do a 2d sprite on a 3d plain like Octopath. I think the style looks horrendous.

[@pebcak]

Cassette Beasts

[@Ludwig1970]

@@beech5950You have to be the only one that thinks that.

[@exaltedfalcheon1793]

​@@beech5950?

[@Silv3rM4st3r]

I have to admit Arlo, being that positive / optimistic... is a feat on it's own.

[@Gnomable]

"Cassette Beasts" seems like a perfect example of a market test for another pixel Pokemon and it sold great, so there's definitely a space for more pixel Pokemon games.

[@montrovy]

There's also Beastie Ball, which while it plays a different to pokemon (it's like if volleyball was a turn based RPG) is obviously heavily inspired and also has that 2D 3D style like Cassette Beasts. And while it's only had it's kickstarter + demo it's still got some really good attention so far

[@mostlyghostey]

Unless they upgrade their pixel art significantly I’m actually not sure that there is. Right now pokemon is really the only option for a high quality monster collection game so people are starved for releases like tem tem and cassette beasts but I remember how big a deal it was when Pokémon went 3D with X&Y. If Pokémon went back to 2D with sprites I think a large portion of the fan base would fall away and there would be major backlash.

[@cherrycardoza405]

​@mostlyghostey are you kidding? this is the same fanbase that hates the new 3d models and constantly criticizes the battle animations. A lot of the fanbase likely grew up with pixel art era, and would probably love a return to that if not out of proper quality, but for sheer nostalgia.

[@SuperFlashDriver]

The problem with Cassette Beasts, Beastie Ball, Tem Tem, and many other Pokemon like games is that they're brand new franchises and are mostly indie or AA games, not really triple A. So even if they become a cult classic/semi-popular with people, they just won't be able to get as close of the amount of monsters The Pokemon Company has. Not to mention they have merchandise, anime, shorts, and movies done as well, not just video games. So if any franchise wants to be pokemon like, they not only have to dive into gaming, but also television/internet, merchandise, movies and tv shows to name a few. And they also have to be vastly different from Pokemon itself as well.

[@elvvion]

I feel like if they do go the spin off route Arlo mentioned they should really bring back spin offs like Pokémon ranger or pokepark, Pokémon rumble or something like Pokémon DX, coliseum, even PMD Explorers of the Sky could potentially sell well

[@liammcnicholas918]

Yes! PokéPark is an underrated gem.

[@AGlorifiedSpoon]

Pokepark.. now that's a name I haven't heard in a long long time.

[@MILOPETIT]

Imagine how good a crossover like Pokémon Crossing would be

[@chazzitz-wh4ly]

Pokémon Coliseum was one of my favorites on the N64.

[@Hex.A.Decimal]

I would commit a crime for a new Ranger

[@aminehsu6629]

I honestly live the idea of doing cheaper-to-develop pixel art games, especially if it means they might be willing to do some of the risker/niche type things people have been speculating about since the 90s, like a Gym Leader/type-specialist game or a Team Rocket game where you're allowed to play an actual heel.

[@stevencraeynest7729]

Or just have some games that cater to the people who would prefer a more challenging pokemon game

[@RancorSnp]

Pixel art games would actually be more expensive for them to develop at this point to my best recollection ^^'

[@Aidswayz]

It is genuinely depressing to see a game like New Pokemon Snap sell so little when it is gorgeous for Pokemon standards, and I personally had way more fun with it than all of the Pokemon games that released in like a decade. And Legends Arceus was even better, but looked like garbage. It is so sad to see a game as good as NPS sell so little, and game as fun as Arceus look so bad. But then the broken and greedy mainline releases sell like a bajillion copies which makes me think things are never going to change...

[@internetguy7319]

no shit the game that is just on rails movies is gonna look better than an entire open world JRPG you can make the argument that scarlet and violet isnt polished like everyone else without sounding stupid to people with game development knowledge also, legends being more fun is an opinion

[@Dad_Shoes]

I don't know if things aren't changing. People said the same thing when Sword and Shield came out, saying they sold millions of copies so they won't ever improve the games' stories or give us an open world game. We then got Legends and Scarlet & Violet that fixed those complaints. When Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon were releasing, the big complaint was that it wasn't DLC for Sun and Moon and that the game will sell millions, so they're never going to do DLC. They then made DLC instead of a third version. There's still a ton of problems but there's more seemingly impossible changes than you'd think.

[@webbowser8834]

New Pokemon Snap was everything I ever wanted from a Snap sequel... I enjoyed it and I hope other folks also got to enjoy it but it is a bit of a shame it didn't do better.

[@DragonicMonkey21]

I was so surprised NPS didn't get DLC. It was such a great game and improved on the original by leaps and bounds.

[@jacksonvoet8312]

@@DragonicMonkey21 It did, actually…

[@joltx9909]

Im playing ultra sun on my 3DS now and its amazing how different the mindset was in the DS ad 3DS era. it pushes the 3DS graphics to the extreme, got a lot of content including a rish post game and all together at a price tag of 40 dollars. now you pay 60 for an unfinished and broken game which is shorter and easier and including the DLC and online services the whole experience can cost you like 100 dollars. its insane, its way worse content wise but at the same time way more expensive

[@dorugoramon0518]

USUM were also scummy, just in a different way than the modern games. Sun and Moon feel like they were beta versions released to the public at full price, and many people expected USUM to be continuations of the story similar to BW2 and gamefreak did nothing to say otherwise.

[@joltx9909]

@@dorugoramon0518 Thats true, but at least if you bought them without playing sun and moon first you got a full fledged and polished games. In the case of Pokémon games of the switch, no matter what you bought you got half baked game

[@wiseguy1512]

@@joltx9909that doesn’t excuse it though because multiple people played sun and moon first

[@squirtleislife1312]

Didn't they admit 80% of USUM was the same as SM? That's what we're praising??

[@dorugoramon0518]

Having played through both moon and ultra moon it its probably closer to 90%, with the only things being changed are a lot more polish and an actual end game and postgame instead of the disgrace we got in SM.@@squirtleislife1312

[@clockworkfox3044]

I'VE BEEN SAYING THAT IDEA ABOUT THE PIXEL-BASED ONE FOR YEARS! It would be so much easier for them to make, they can even make it 2.5D because nobody can deny that something like Octopath Traveler doesn't look beautiful, heck even Gen 5 graphics were amazing. Even make it shorter, people won't mind if it's not a grandiose game, but then make it a little cheaper too. It'll sell way more. And I don't even say this with the thing of I want them to stop doing 3D, because there is something magical about seeing these monsters we grew up with be like, nearly actually there. But then they can put even more effort into that.

[@UltraVarietyChannel]

Retro shooters have been killing it lately. Ultrakill and Dusk are both amazing games and are very loved. I think retro style Pokemon games would also do very well. Prodeus, Octopath, Sons of Valhalla, Sea of Stars, and Gungeon all use more modern techniques to add visual depth and eye candy and they all look fantastic. Retro Pokemon with some modern effects would look amazing. If they get some good art designers working on it, the end result might make me cry lol

[@Friendly_Neigborhood_Astolfo]

Please no. Not another 2d/3d split mario and sonic does plz

[@katharinew4218]

IMO minish cap showed how you can do 2d top down games and still make them very free feeling, expressive , full of life and exciting

[@anthonyeterno5501]

I agree with you on the multiple studios. Polemon Colosseum and Gale of Darkness were made by Genius Sonority and they were FANTASTIC.

[@UltraBall23]

The good people from Genious Sonority have been working at GameFreak for almost 2 decades and have had leadership roles in recent games.

[@kiranspees6048]

I'm playing Violet right now, and I am enjoying it quite a bit, but boy am I glad I waited until I could check it out from my library and didn't purchase it, because the graphical problems are enormous!

[@donovanjoseph737]

Your library has newly released video games to check out? Wish my library did that, that sounds awesome.

[@truecross4090]

​@@donovanjoseph737depends on your location. There is one here that has 3 vr sets donated to it and a nice game library. Be the change in your area! Bring up the idea to your library and see what happens. Worst they can say is no.

[@mightyowl1800]

Same! I'm hesitant to buy the Pokemon games and even merch now bc it feels like rewarding poor behavior. My local library has an amazing catalog of those games to play, I wish more people had the option

[@gyroc1_]

The local library?! In addition to free audiobooks for rent?! Going to your local library is AWESOME!

[@ANDIBO987]

the irony of getting a Pokemon commercial in the middle of this video is... chef kiss

[@tattertot8259]

Shining pearl's art style makes me want to save Marin from being trapped as a seagull forever !

[@jmporkbob]

I do think that the multiple different FULL teams working on multiple different games solution you suggested is the answer to quality. Although at the same time, that doesn't solve the investor problem you presented before. While you still may have a game coming out every year, at any given time you are now running 4 OR 5 different teams. That's a lot more expensive than having the big team fragmented and some people working on multiple games at the same time, to still release a game (or more) every year and make a ton of money.

[@Headtalk]

So I think doing what Nintendo did with Cadence of Hyrule would be a relatively cheap way to start this strategy. Focus on talented indie developers and let them take the franchise in brand new directions. A lot of indie developers have devoted fan bases that will absolutely play a Pokémon game made by them, and I’m sure there’s a ton of developers who would jump at the chance to release an official Pokémon game.

[@TheChildofAuraReborn]

Honestly, I’m incredibly thankful for your views on this, Arlo. The Pokémon fandom can be insanely toxic on both ends, but there’s also a lot of vicious shouting-down by what I call “consumer fans”. It sounds like a weird, redundant term but bear with me, I’ll explain it. There’s fans who will skip out on a Gen or side-game or few when they feel that the overall product is not worth the money, and they can recognize the fatal flaws in said product. “Consumer fans” will mindlessly buy the product and scream at any kind of criticism, even incredibly valid criticism. The problem is that a lot of people can’t differentiate between “It’s a good game” and “I had fun”, which are two things that aren’t mutually exclusive; sometimes you can have both, or sometimes you can have one but not the other. And people will use “I have fun” as an excuse to ignore the valid criticism. I remember when the DP remakes came out and I said the “remade” music sounded like a cheap MIDI. I was horribly mocked and screamed at by people, but it turned out eventually YES it was MIDI! The music in the trailer clips and the release files in the game were MIDI. We need to have a conversation but unfortunately, the dissenting voices need to be pretty strong and affluential to have any kind of meaningful talk.

[@internetguy7319]

The MIDI music was changed in an update released 8 days before release. I was there, and I had pirated the game. I cannot take people's opinions on this seriously when almost all of these comments get obvious things wrong. Literally just say correct shit when critiquing them, please. It's not hard.

[@imjustmrks2554]

​@@internetguy7319I love that the only comment replying to a "the pokemon fanbase can be toxic" is someone telling them to make a better argument. I'll take a stab at it as a huge pokemon fan with a pokeball blanket and sarounded by plushies. pokemon company needs both more time and how to hire people that know how to code better. SV is still broken to a point last month I watched a streamer who was spinning around bumping into walls for shots and giggles clip through a door, and because this is the ONLY pokemon game without any real interiors to buildings, he just ended up getting stuck and having to restart the game. not to mention the optimization altho pokemon company claimed to fix it and everyone agreed they did when you look at fps counters you can prove it hasn't gotten any better because as modders have show they load way to much of the game at once instead of just using fog, 2d textures for far away things, and invisibility on objects you can't see which fucking gta3 on the ps2 was able to figure out. and if we want to talk about lazy we can point out how it took until legends arceus for them to finally start making new pokemon models again despite them saying in sword and sheild that they cut more then half the pokedex because the work they were putting into updating all the old models (yet another things modders very easily disproved). so that shows they're lazy and not the best at coding not to mention their release cycle being the same as call of duty which is what killed that franchise and made everyone hate it after a while. I can also prove they have almost never been good at making games (almost because gen 3 and 5 were the most solid pokemon game if you want to look at glitches) the pokemon company had to call in miyamoto to fix the johto games because they couldn't even fit the whole game into the cartridge. let me preface when I say they couldn't fit the whole game I mean they couldn't fit johto. miyamoto ALONE, fixed it so much they had enough space to fit an entire second region

[@FedoraKirb]

@@imjustmrks2554​​⁠​​⁠​​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠Lol. Rofl, even. So much of this is just… wrong. “2D Textures” as a complaint makes no sense because textures, in the most basic sense, are already 2D; LegArc does not use new models for existing Pokemon, it just doesn’t; they are same models designed back in the 3DS days, which themselves were made with way more polygons than the 3DS could handle in order to “futureproof” them when the team inevitably began HD Development; SATURO IWATA was called in to help with Johto, not Miyamoto; the issue was not space but SPEED in compression/decompression; the problem with Game Freak is not that they’re lazy, but RUSHED, because very few ground-level developers enter the industry wanting to make a bad product.

[@imjustmrks2554]

@@FedoraKirb 2d textures for far away assets such as foliage, trees, buildings, anything they can get away with. it's what breath of the wild did to look as good as it does, yes legends did update models, you can tell because yet again like my other arguments, modders have used the game files to prove it (altho a lot of fans claim the new models look worse, it's a to each there own thing) and alright I got the wrong nintendo dev you got me there my bad, but that doesnt change that they had to call in outside help to fix their game

[@imjustmrks2554]

@@FedoraKirb I even stated that they are rushed beyond compare and think they will go the way of cod at this point but arguing me point of "theyre lazy because they used old models up until this game" with "uh no they used the same ones up till even later" doesn't help your own argument even if you were right. there is a lot of good models in the 3ds too which is why I don't give a shit if they make better or worse models it's that gamefreak openly is lying to their fans so that they can keep their rushed deadlines and have it make sense for the fans that eat all the crap they deliver

[@AndresD.deLeon]

Arlo really made a Hell of a good point towards the end about a simple game with a cozy atmosphere, riddled with nostalgia. Honestly, I'd go nuts over a re-release of Coliseum and XD Gale of Darkness, but with wireless updates for modern network use.

[@ekul2k3]

In my opinion they instead should go for a new and great story while also maintaining classic style and putting effort and TIME (multiple years) in developing it (also adding different difficulties would make wonders). For example, imagine how S/Vs story would have been much better if it focused on the 4 swords of ruin and their history and just that and not all of the garbage subplot of Titans and Team Star. But yeah that’s just an Utopia for me cause they will never make more mature stories since the majority of buyers are probably kids.

[@paperip1996]

To Arlo's point about investors, i used to work for a small mountain resort that, for decades, the investors refused to invest in upgrades or proper upkeep. It got to a point where they had to tear down several of their buildings and completely start over, losing millions in construction costs and lost revenue, all for the sake of saving an extra $20-30k a year on maintenance. More dollars than sense.

[@nintendonerdjoseph]

I would absolutely love a classic style Pokemon game with 2D art. Heck, I'd be down for the 2.5D DS-style games as well. This is, after all, what I think of when I think of Pokemon. Imagine what updating these styles might look like on modern hardware. They could be beautiful!

[@Angelglory]

Honestly I'm actually a little surprised they haven't tried doing a sprite-based game again. They'd be able to reuse assets and not come off as being extremely cheap (for the most part)

[@NietypowyKurde]

Billiion dollar idea: "Pokemon: Chaizard". Everything is Charizard. You, your pokemon, items, all tilesets/models, enemies, plot points, every word in every piece of dialogue. It's all Charizard.

[@Cartoonist9670]

The first step to solving a problem is admiting you have one

[@mattb6522]

I completely agree with his analysis. I mean, the consumers need to take some responsibility and vote with their wallet if something sucks. For being the biggest media franchise, the mainline Pokémon games have been pretty embarrassing when compared to other contemporary games. The thing is, the Pokémon Company makes more money on the non-game merchandise and as such, the games seem to be treated as an afterthought and used just to introduce the new wave of Pokémon and characters. I don't see this trend going away overnight. The Pokémon Company needs to get more help from other studios in terms of development. I feel bad for the developers at Game Freak who probably are worked half to death just to get their product released in time for the holidays, but the game just needs more time to make a polished final product. I wish they would slow down to ensure their games are of the absolute best quality as games just take longer to develop now. Unfortunately, as Arlo mentioned, money talks and corporate greed is just an added (but inevitable) obstacle. I hate to say it, but I don't see this issue getting resolved any time soon (if at all).

[@fuyuseetaa]

I agree with you about the games being treated as an afterthought. I really do think that the games are merely a vessel to introduce the next generation of characters you can buy merchandise of. I wouldn't be surprised if certain characters (Pokemon or human) were designed with this kind of merchandising in mind, first and foremost. There's always so much merch being churned out that it really feels like Pokemon is something like a "lifestyle" brand now than a video game franchise.

[@mattb6522]

@@fuyuseetaa I do agree and the thing is Pokémon got big initially because of its games. Pokémon just exploded in popularity so fast that merchandising became the main money maker. I feel they spend more money and time on the marketing campaigns for new content than the actual games themselves. The latest games just have felt incredibly lackluster for a franchise as huge as Pokémon.

[@RowanTS]

If the problem is a corporation releasing a game every year because there are people who will buy it, the problem is with the greed of the people releasing a game every year to make the most money. ‘Oh, but you can’t expect a corporation to choose to make less money’ actually yes, I can. Because the Zelda team are very aware they could make more money spitting out a game a year. But they don’t. In fact most corporations control their greed for something, be it greater audience respect, for greater self-respect, for being artistic, or innovative, or ambitious, or making leaps forward in technology and creativity. The Pokemon Company won’t make that decision because they don’t care about any values, at all, besides making as much money as possible, as regularly as possible. I don’t blame the consumers for that. When there’s a crappy teacher who gets dismal grades out of their class, but the students like them because hey sometimes they give out candy, I don’t blame the students saying that they like the teacher for the teacher’s poor performance. The Pokemon Company needs to hold itself to some standards, and unless they *choose* to do that, no ‘collective action’ will change anything, because even if it worked they would blame everything other than the fact that they are an embarrassment to the profession and position they have found themselves in.

[@scrittle]

@@RowanTS Yeah I agree, expecting fans to protest with their pockets assumes prepubescent kids won't nag their parents for the next game. They will, Pokemon is primarily marketed at children and that won't ever change.

[@KevinAccetta]

I doubt the issue will ever be truly fixed unfortunately. At the very least I'm proud to say I'm not buying new pokemon games anymore, arceus was my last and that was cuz it was finally something different. We need to vote with our wallets, and Sword and Shield sucked ass, so I already knew I wasn't giving them my money on the next gen, but unfortunately people forgot how much they hated SS and bought the new gen anyways.

[@BarryFRFX]

Many people have been focusing only on the performance issues of Pokemon, so I figured it'd be good to make a list of all the gameplay issues and omissions (compared to other Pokemon games and the rest of the RPG industry). Please comment if I missed any. General: *Extremely slow 25-year-old text display for battle effects. Status Effects like Klawf's are shown line by line, when they could be shown easily with a single animation. *Practically no end-game. No battle tower or similar functionality. *No dynamic content difficulty. Instead of basing the difficulty of a gym based on how many badges you have already, each gym has static difficulty. This means if you just intuitively follow the east/west path, you'll end up stomping half the gyms as over-leveled. *No voice acting *Team Star Gameplay is just walking forward and pressing R. *No hall of fame when you beat the elite 4. *Vast removal of clothes customization. You can't change your outfit at all despite this being possible in Sw/Sh and most RPGs. *Can't change age despite there being tons of older students in the game. *Removed player card customization. *Removed status animations from Pokemon. *No Elite 4 Rematch. World: The world feels empty and lifeless because: *Extremely few side quests. *Can't actually interact with most NPCs. *Can't enter the vast majority of buildings. *Shops are just menus that sell mostly the same items. *No dungeons or interesting indoor areas. *Overworld is mostly simple textures and terrain with Pokemon randomly scattered and idling about. No interesting wildlife behavior. *No real reason to explore because the world just has the same Pokemon and items scattered randomly everywhere *Various bugs with overworld Pokemon display, like spawning inside of terrain, tera pokemon losing their sparkle UX and Controls: *No audio or visual cue for shiny pokemon in the overworld. *Unreasonable lag delays for many simple actions like changing pages in Pokemon box or just interacting with a stake. *No search in Pokedex. *No filtering TM machines by type in inventory. *In general, every UI action takes many more button presses than should be necessary. *ZL targeting is extremely unresponsive and finicky. Poor implementation of a simple lock-on mechanism that even Zelda 64 pulled off. *Let's Go Pokemon movement is extremely clunky. Pokemon don't run fast enough to keep up with you, and their movement AI is subpar. *Minimap doesn't show the location of other players. *Camera often gets stuck on objects. *No control remapping. Options: *Removed Set/Switch option. *Removed option for no battle animations. *No option to skip cutscenes. They have an absurd "skip cutscenes" options that don't skip the vast majority of cutscenes. The vast majority of games just have "hold {button}" to skip. *No difficulty setting despite the game being so easy. It provides basically no challenge. *No way to turn off minimap rotation. *No more text border options. Gameplay removed from other Pokemon games: *Removed most of what made PLA interesting, like the catching mechanics, interesting Pokemon placement, more item variety, etc. *Dexit *Mega Evolutions still gone. *Z-moves, Gigantamax just replaced with another similar feature. *Another needlessly complex cooking minigame just to replace the one they removed *Fishing *Diving *Can't use rare candy to evolve level 100 Pokemon.

[@MusicComet]

I hope a lot of pokemon fanboys see this, would be nice to also include flaws in the story (because there are some from what I remember, just not huge).

[@goldoan]

Looks like you got most of it. I'd just add some points on social and competitive features that were cut. - The Or/As friend/ power system that made online really streamline - a customizable battle timer - various battle modes like triple and rotation battles - in game gts

[@Sassafrass95]

I honestly was mad when I found out I couldn't dress up my character like a little lady and was instead to literally just be stuck with a school outfit of various colors. I want to be able to dress my character up in pretty dresses and curb stomp the enemy while looking fabulous dang it!

[@KevinAccetta]

You forgot to include: *No double/triple/rotation battles *Forced Exp Share

[@markguyton2868]

Ironically Legends resolved a few of these issues, shame both dev teams working on Legends and SV that were working on the games _at the same time_ didn't talk to each other...

[@jordanfast7354]

Why is the world so okay with unfinished video games imagine buying a burger from McDonald’s. And getting just the patty with no buns and expected just to eat it.

[@chrispybacon3]

At least they’re actually acknowledging the problem. That’s a start but they’ve still got a long way to go before they redeem their reputation.

[@Blackemperess]

Unfortunately its just PR speak. They won't do jack about getting the game to a stable state let alone improving the quality of everything else.

[@samiframe4255]

The only people who think their reputation is bad are haters. True fans enjoy the games for what they are

[@Blackemperess]

That's an odd way to say _braindead sheep who are more than happy to be fleeced for broken unfinished products_@@sam4255

[@StripedTheProtector]

@@sam4255 Dogshit opinion. You're part of the problem.

[@VitorCaetanoNH]

I feel like the reason why the spin offs don't work it's because you can't take or bring your Pokémon's. I think one of the main attractions to the series is the collection and the combat, but with the spin offs, you get none of it

[@IronDino]

I also think that's why Stadium and Stadium 2 were so cherished.

[@lunatic0verlord10]

Then they should make spinoffs that are compatible for that format.

[@zariarogers2846]

This is why I have not bought much of anything. I can't use Furfrou AT ALL. I didn't get Arceus, I am not getting the DLC, I did not get the SWSH DLC, etc.

[@lunatic0verlord10]

@@zariarogers2846 The last mainline Pokémon games I ever bought were USUM.

[@Hewer86]

​@@zariarogers2846I'm confused are you saying that whether you buy the games or not hinges on Furfrou

[@gregvs.theworld451]

If they were to make more Legends games, if they gave them a little more time to polish them up and maybe expand on some mechanics, I think aesthetically the Legends format has sooo much potential for new games. Imagine if each one was a different historical time period or region, like have a Legends game with an ancient Greece aesthetic, or American settlers in the wild frontier, or a French Renaissance theme, or a medieval Europe coat of paint? Or hell they could keep doing Japan but in different historical eras, it could be so dope.

[@tanzolo4487]

Legends was not made by gamefreak

[@TheGalaxyWings]

French revolution in a pokemon game 🔥

[@RancorSnp]

We will know soon enough, but I am pretty confident that we are getting another Legends game in Gen 9. In my opinion Gamefreak has clearly shifted the way they develop the franchise starting with Gen9. Up until Gen 9 EVERY pokemon game was for everyone. However generation 8 completely threw that idea of the window. the only game aimed at the competitive players was Sword and Shield, BD/SP would only be interesting to the people that sit there whining they want the games to be like the old ones, without the gimmicks without the new graphics etc. While Legends has the target audience of people that do not care about the traditional forumla much and instead want innovation in the franchise. The way they introduced it also - at least to me - pretty clearly stated that Legends is the new series of pokemon games. Gen 9 - I'll be honest S/V is nowhere near as good of a VGC format as SwSh was. Though it still is widely considered a fan favourtie due to having possibly the best story in the pokemon series so far, and if you follow the intended order it's actually a bit higher difficulty than the games before. I do not know what they will do for the second game of this generation, as it's too early for a remake, and I'm not 100% confident they would go with Let's go for this slot. But I fully expect it to be a simpler, less gimmicky and more "old school" style game again And of course - the last game of this generation I'm very confident is going to be a Legends title. Remains to be seen if it will be similar to Arceus or keep trying to innovate more

[@yddet4369]

Oh God Pokémon manifest destiny...

[@gregvs.theworld451]

@@yddet4369 I was going to say obviously they probably wouldn't want to adapt all elements of that idea, but now that I think about it if they have to whitewash the history, maybe they shouldn't touch it at all. Okay better idea: Don't make it about the white European people for once: An American Legends game with a heavy Native American aesthetic with the PC and surrounding cast being original natives to the Unova region. Lots of open landscapes, no big cities yet.

[@LWeOAreVOneE]

As a life-long diehard Pokémon fan, I love your suggestions! I would buy the crap out of a new Pokémon game with sprite art. Scarlet and Violet had so much heart, and it's a shame they didn't get the time they needed to reach their full potential. I would love if they'd go back to making gameboy-like games for their speed and profits and let the big 3D games cook as long as they need to. I really think Scarlet could have been my new favorite Pokémon game (currently it's Black&White) if they had just had more time to polish it properly.

[@Cirex2118]

I really want them to recognize that the fans want more quality and they actually do it, I REALLY hope so...

[@iminumst7827]

Fan's don't want quality. Pokemon releases the lowest quality games they can manage and they sell by the billions.

[@FWCrash]

For me that train has sailed. Gen 4 remakes was all i looked forward to for almost a decade, and boy that turned out well now didnt it? Done with the franchise, regardless of what they do now

[@shadeblackwolf1508]

I am certain that for them to acknowledge the issues, they're seeing worrying trends internally.

[@blazie42069]

Remember that acknowledgement is the first step, action after this gen would be the second step

[@1992holycrap]

Everyone had better keep a close eye on them going forward, as well as take them to task if they half-ass it again.

[@maliquedavis7719]

​@@1992holycrapwe already know that's not gonna happen. The community will fold and buy another game the moment its its released without even thinking about it like the pokemon community usually does

[@RippahRooJizah]

@@maliquedavis7719 Reminds me of a picture of a steam group dedicated to boycotting a CoD game, which shows a good number of them playing the game they were boycotting.

[@rayveck493]

ORASS was the peak imo. The environment, the music, the updated graphics, the online format . It was all great . They should have just stayed along those lines and used the increased performance of the new system to have ALL REGIONS available on one game and keep the ORASS graphics . It would be virtually unlimited game hours and replay value

[@gustavolopes5094]

Peak of perfecting the stablished formula were the 3DS games. Peak of artistic expression and quality of production itself was gen 5. After the 3DS, we should have rethought the formula for the home consoles...

[@Teachermook]

Also, the fact that mystery dungeon is so low saddens me. It's a wonderful series!!!

[@enrique9925]

Also, COD has several teams. So 3 years of development looks like 1 because while a team release a game there are other working on the next game.

[@RubenGoMoRadioboyPlus]

I think the main games should start to split in two. Every year a 2D video game introducing new Pokemon and locations. And every 4 years a 3d, open-world game, mixing everything from previous 2D games. Zones and pokémon. Which can be continents. Re-explore all those 2D areas in 3D, having passed the time, forward or backward, a cataclysm or any other phenomenon.

[@goldmemberpb]

Yeah, let's give them more work. That makes sense. You want them to sell the same game region in 2d and 3d?

[@a-s-greig]

​@@goldmemberpb they've already done it for Sinnoh...

[@RandomDSdevel_WCFaWF]

A game including a bunch of regions close together - say, maybe all the regions in the _Pokémon_ world's equivalent of Japan so far, for example: Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh (maaaaaaybe plus Alola at a large stretch of the imagination due to the sizable Kanto/Johto influences there) -, but I don't think that's happening any time soon. Game Freak's just not equipped to handle it. (And maybe it'd make more sense to wait to do this until an entire area of our Earth's globe had corresponding Pokémon regions first? I don't know. At the very least, at least one region needs filling out between Johto and Sinnoh where the Sinjoh Ruins can fit.)

[@calebolds9609]

Thinking about how the Mario Wonder team didn't have a deadline and was told to just keep going until its done Or how the entire last year of Tears of the Kingdom's development was spent on polish and quality control

[@MysteryDisc]

If Gamefreak were ever to revisit the classic style presentation of the games, one of the scrapped ideas that I would like to see come to fruition is route variation between different save files. This could take different meanings, like someone's file is in an autumn setting while another has spring. Or a difference in lore like a route where some type of construction was planned but either abandoned or completed depending on the save file. Even something as simple as just making routes that are rotateable, so you encounter pieces of it in a different order.

[@tobysinbad]

I’d die. I’d love that so much I’d just die. I’m so easy to please but that’s just such a charming idea

[@21Raph___A]

I know this is never going to happen, but I would LOVE for Gen 10 to go back to the B&W art style. Every single character and pokemon has so much life and expressiveness in B&W2 compared to every single 3D game, and it would be the perfect way to celebrate 30 years of a once legendary franchise.

[@ComfeyCuwawa]

It would be amazing if they went the Square Enix route with their old games and do it in a HD 2D artstyle, akin to Octopath Traveler, Triangle Strategy, and their Final Fantasy/Dragon Quest remakes.

[@FlowMoon__3]

I hope they don’t use anything of B&W 1 bcuz that game was the beginning of the end for Pokémon. The map design was linear and bad, the difficulty dropped, and it had barely a post game. They need to take from gen 3 or 4

[@tumultuousv]

Not happening lol

[@tumultuousv]

​@@FlowMoon__3pokemon has always been linear

[@Purpylon]

Careful. BDSP was an attempt to go back to the original style and it failed miserably.

[@goldencoatl2061]

I haven't been able to get back into the games ever since the gut punch that was BDSP. Gen 4 was always my favorite and special to me, and I watched the Gen 2 and Gen 3 remakes fly so high with so much hope and expectations for eventual Sinnoh remakes only to be thoroughly disappointed. I think it would take a lot to get me to enjoy a new game again, even though Pokemon has been a big thing for me for almost 20 years :(

[@HunterStiles651]

If you want a good Gen IV Remake I recommend the ROM Hack Renegade Platinum by Drayano. My man Drayano is doing the Lord's work showing the world that Pokemon has a lot of potential that wasn't being utilized even back then, and that Pokemon can be amazing not just by the standards of a kid's game but masterpieces in their own right.

[@TheChaosOfTheShadows]

Tbh Legends WAS the remake, with all it added to the story of Sinnoh.

[@gwagner1380]

For me it is Black and White. I love the old games and Diamond is perhaps my second most played game to date but Black and Black 2 are my most played game period. Those games resonated with me and they came out during a difficult time for me so for me, I am waiting for their remakes in order to know whether I'll keep playing Pokémon or not. I don't want to hate the franchise, it is a dear one to me but things sure have changed from the times we had trozei, ranger, colosseum, mystery dungeon and the likes. There has been a noticeable drop in every aspect and it just hurts I just hope with the outsourcing change they want to do so they can keep pumping games as often, I just really really hope we don't have a Mass Effect Andromeda on our hands whenever the next full title game comes around.

[@GottaFistDemAll]

They better not screw up Gen 5's Black/White remakes, or better yet don't do it at all.

[@Carcosahead]

man at least gen 3 remake gave us mega evolution, gen 4 remake literally are the same fricking games, no update pokedex, no "new" fire pokemon, no acces to the evolution forms, buggy, chibi, slow pace, I feel sorry for gen 4 fans man

[@squiddysquad9568]

I blame everyone that still buys those games that we will never see a better quality Thank you for that you guys are the reason

[@barcster2003]

I stopped unfortunately plenty of others didn't. I liked it up till Sun.

[@7thHourFilms]

When they made Gold and Silver, they were having trouble compressing the code to fit on the cartridge. So, Nintendo programmer Satoru Iwata came in and helped them. Apparently, did such an amazing job that the team had enough room to add all of Kanto to the game. That was 20 years ago. They haven't gotten any better at coding and it's gotten more obvious as the consoles have progressed. AND they're doing that on a horrible release schedule.

[@exaltedfalcheon1793]

Iwata was the GOAT! THE GOAT!!!

[@TheGuyWhoIsSitting]

Then you look into the game and realize that there are a ton of unused maps still in the code. Also gen 1 had a more robust compression algorithm for the Pokémon graphics. So I’m not even sure that’s the actual case for Gen 2. Because Gen 2’s compression algorithm for the graphics is not the most compressive. In gen 1 you can’t make out anything without decompressing the graphics. In gen 2 you can.

[@BryanPopeProductions]

You say that they're still selling a lot but I think it's worth mentioning that even after almost a year ScarVi hasn't reached Sw/Sh, in fact they appear to still be 3 million copies behind. That's huge for their first legitimate open world release and no doubt due to the backlash over the quality so although it's not like it "only" sold 10 million or something closer to what it deserves, it's still evident that fans are waking up slowly but surely. At this rate the next game could take a massive hit.

[@erkantiryaki5542]

Scarlet and Violet sold more than Sword and Shield if you look at how many copies have been sold in the same time limit for games. Sadly you are wrong.

[@erkantiryaki5542]

​@@leolightfellow It is sadly not the truth though.

[@BryanPopeProductions]

@@erkantiryaki5542 Why would you look at a specific timeframe instead of total amount up to this point unless you were GameFreak trying to skew stats to make them look good? That's why people THINK it sold well, because yes out the gate it sold massively but then faced a massive dropoff and, like I said, is still 3 million behind Sw/Sh. Facts are facts, the numbers are easy to find.

[@tumultuousv]

I mean.... didn't it break records the 1st 3 days?... it's not even been out a year. Dlc coming. It's obviously going to sell more than the other one. Which that also had several years of being "the first mainline pokemon on TV console" so... it had that going for it.

[@BryanPopeProductions]

@@tumultuousv Yes it did which speaks volumes to its incredible falloff. You think the company wanted it to be 3 million behind its predecessor this late in the game? Their big massively hyped open world game stopped placing in the top 10 sales charts 2 months after release and still struggles to break 20k combined sales every time the charts are revealed to the public, so roll your eyes and twist statistics however you want but these numbers are NOT GOOD. The shitty DLC is not going to convince 3 million more people to run out and grab the game at this point, that didn't happen to Sw/Sh DLC and that looked way better than the garbage they're showing now (even though it ended up sucking something fierce)

[@aaronmorgan5860]

Would be nice if Arlo could review Pokemon Colosseum and XD Gale of Darkness. These 2 games are very different when it comes to the standard Pokemon games that we usually see. These 2 games looked to be ahead of their time when they first came out when it came to the battle animation and gaming environment. The concept of shadow pokemon having different shadow moves also made battles a lot more interesting, especially when it came to XD Gale of Darkness.

[@stewriley2899]

For gen 10, it should have ALL the pokemon. I mean 10 gens with 25+ years, it's kinda a big celebration and having a massive game with all of the Mon would be a dream come true

[@StarwayBunny]

I really like the statement that modern Pokémon IS FUN, just not up to code in terms of quality. A lot of people say the Pokémon franchise is just straight up bad now. But no, the fun has always been there, they just have been dipping in quality control.

[@-lord1754]

"Guys i swear the game is still fun its just buggy!" Lol

[@StarwayBunny]

@@-lord1754 Well yeah. Lots of people have a guilty pleasure with say Sonic 06 even though it is a buggy and broken mess. Lots of people say it is fun but horribly made which detracts from the overall experience.

[@-lord1754]

@@StarwayBunny Sonic 06 was and is unique in terms of gaming SV is a generic monster collector rpg and anything good it did has been done by other series for decades. Big difference lol.

[@StarwayBunny]

@@-lord1754 Pokémon was revolutionary when it first came out. Sonic was revolutionary when it first came out too. You say Pokémon is a "generic monster collector" when it was THE monster collector for a good chunk of time. It might not have been the first but it was undoubtedly the best, even back then. Even putting subjective opinions aside, it was the best selling, the best marketed, the most enjoyed, so on and so forth. That's like saying Breath of the Wild is dumb because it's just another generic open world RPG where you hunt and craft things. Also I could use that same line of logic for 06. It was just another story driven platforming game. Sonic also wasn't the first platforming game, and heck, I don't even think it did it BEST (Mario fan here) but it was still awesome and enjoyable. Also what does it matter to you if I have fun with a game series? You don't have to. "Guys I swear the game is still fun it's just buggy!" When you say that it almost seems like you're trying to paint me as a liar for saying I enjoy the game. But I assure you your opinion has no bearing on my enjoyment for something. I still like it. 😅

[@-lord1754]

@@StarwayBunny Yeah it WAS revolutionary. Now its been totally usurped by its contemporaries. I do think you are lying lol i think its fanboyism and trying to convince yourself SV is still a salvageable game

[@rishraff6528]

If doing pixel graphics, a HD-2D (like Octopath Traveler) Pokemon art style would be amazing

[@I_am_ENSanity]

Honestly, I still replay Soul Silver, Fire Red, and Omega Ruby on my phone as well as fan made ones like Uranium.

[@NairaMB]

I really like what you propossed, Arlo. I have to admit my expectations are low with Pokémon's next Gen, and with more and more of the fan base growing tired of what they're doing, and everyone trying to argue "what would be best" for the franchise based on their own personal interests and view of the franchise, I am growing very skeptical of what fans propose to make the games interesting again. I think your suggestion is down to earth and takes into consideration people's likes, specially the older audience like us.

[@raymond4218]

Arlo has presented the possibility of a Pokémon Renaissance that I hope to one day witness

[@JsYTA]

I'd argue the opposite, their current model is too sustainable. They aren't loosing sustainability they are locking themselves behind it. Pokèmon isnt a game franchise like Mario or Zelda, its the business of brand management. They've built an icon more powerful than a single medium and I think it speakes volumes that the Pokémon Company is able to capture such a large iconic status from just the concept of Pokèmon alone. Unlike Mario or Zelda media which always aims to bring you back around to sell you on games, the Pokèmon Co would much rather invest in bringing Pokèmon to life to the masses. Honestly I think the secret is to significantly slow down their game production and actually further embrace being a brand first. They should focus on everything else and stop forcing games to be paced with them. Give games their own freedom and time to embrace the brand, not set the brand.

[@MondoVeedo]

Makes me really appreciate how nintendo handles the games they specifically work on themselves. Not counting pokemon company.

[@PhantomOfficial07]

We already kinda knew you didn't mean pokemon company.

[@thenerdbeast7375]

I think a great way to "uprez" pixel graphics for new games would be to do a Paper Mario thing of 2-D art moving in a 3-D environment.

[@dorugoramon0518]

I think they actually did this in the 2d DS games and worked really well.

[@dr.wolfstar1765]

So happy someone is finally saying the quite part out loud

[@Gloomdrake]

Quite what?

[@arminarlert7273]

Everyone has been saying this issue out loud.

[@lyianx]

Dude.. we've all been saying this out loud for years. But the language of money is much louder.

[@chaeusxcvi2360]

For people saying fans have been saying this for years, they're talking about someone from the actual pokemon company finally addressing it

[@arminarlert7273]

@@chaeusxcvi2360 That makes more sense.

[@captainseg]

Out of all the Pokemon games released in the Switch, I only find myself replaying Pokemon Legends and Rescue Team DX. I just got Scarlet and enjoying it so far. BUT I only replayed Sword and Shield once (still dont like it much) and I only played Lets Go Eevee once (It was ok). Compare that to the GBA and DS era where I am replaying not just the main games, but also the various spinoffs that were released. There was time and it shows for these games.

[@internetguy7319]

RTDX and Legends suck though

[@carnage0685]

Rescue Team DX is the perfect remake. Everything is so on point. It's the original experience like how people experienced it 15 years ago (at the time DX came out i mean), but it's just like, ACTUALLY updated. Not changed for the sake of changed, but ACTUALLY updated, as if the same game made back then was released on a console today, but the post game has all this added stuff that you would expect if the game was made now. I hate the fact that that kind of care, attention, and respect for the source material is so amazing to me, because it shouldn't be. RTDX shouldn't be the exception, it should be the norm, and back before the early to mid 2010's, it WAS the norm.

[@captainseg]

@carnage0685 I was so happy when I finished Rescue Team DX on my first run. It was perfect! Makes it hard for me to return to the original.

[@DreamTiger5]

I’ve tried to be the optimist regarding the quality of Pokemon games in recent years, but after Scarlet/Violet I can’t keep it up. I need them to change, ideally go back to basics and scale things back, anything to bring the game quality back to where it was. I’m going to stand my ground and not buy any new Pokémon games until they improve. They don’t need to keep making them more expensive, just make them fun and we’ll polished. It’s such an iconic franchise it will sell well regardless. My ideal cycle would be 2D mainline games with visuals similar to Octopath every few years and 3D Legends games on a longer cycle, maybe every 5 years if not more.

[@gemknight9889]

Same here. I'll still go back and play Emerald every few years or so because the simple 2D art style works really well, and the lack of fancy animations is a lot easier to stomach when you're looking at sprites instead of 3D models. I'll still be interested in big budget 3D games of course, but only if they get the time they need to actually wow people, and not... whatever they've been doing so far.

[@zerochill4096]

That... honestly doesn't solve the problem. In many ways, it exacerbates the problem of a formulaic release that people have been complaining about over the past decade and a half. There's unfortunately no winning for the devs at all since any decisions they make will be heavily scrutinized and damned by the playerbase

[@rga8895]

Honestly speaking, if you love Pokemon, the best thing you cand do for the franchise is to not buy their products. The Pokemon company does not care about the quality of their games, they do not care about you or what you feel, they only care about money. And that is the only way they will listen to you. So... if you want a better product, do not buy Pokemon. If you are either OK with the quality they are putting out or you enjoy mediocre products, then keep buying. Simple as that...

[@Kinta02]

when fanhacks like radical red are by far offering the best experience pokemon has to offer you know gamefreak has fkd up

[@AlphaStoutland]

Just seeing how great Pokken Tournament and New Pokémon Snap look make me want to see Namco Bandai collab with Nintendo on a mainline game. They have the talent to make these Pokémon look awesome and actually look alive, combine that with the catching mechanics of Legends Arceus and OH BABY.

[@Lordodragonss]

New Pokemon Snap had struggle with lighting though.

[@EmperorPenguin1217]

Yeah Pokken was awesome, of course that game never got a sequel

[@pixelmentia]

I loved Pokémon Blue / Red / Yellow / Silver as a kid, and it really helped me get through a rough time of my life, but whenever I've tried a more modern Pokémon game I just can't get into it. It's been forever, but I remember the original games being less handholdy, having less dialog, and feeling more like a real adventure. The gameplay was simple but there was a sort of mystery to them. Every time I've played a modern Pokémon it's like it's guiding me through the whole thing, forcing lots of dialog and cinematics on me, and it's just so overly stinkin' cute. Why haven't these games grown up with the people who played them? Why do they treat you like a child when the original games didn't, and yet were played mostly by kids? We need a Breath of the Wild reboot of the franchise.

[@EmilTapio]

This is a very solid post, so many good points i can simply agree with. The original games were very easy, to a point. If you didn't level enough you would be slammed by the next gymleader and such. That was all good! You could run around without the bicycle but if you got one then you had one and that great fastrail. Just let the player explore and figure things out themselves! It's not a positive with all the tutorial tips and handholding. Pretty sure everyone would agree

[@legobeylov7470]

S/v barely has really any hand holding

[@PhantomOfficial07]

@@legobeylov7470 Not the only issue he stated

[@icanhasyellow]

Peak was HGSS and BW2. ORAS was pretty good, too! All on the DS.

[@rogelioortiz3003]

As a gen oner, who has only watched on the sidelines for over a decade, i probably buy a game-boy-color-style game that had ALL generations (or 2.5-D). Have all features that have worked, omit what hasn't. Achievements or rewards for catching, gym leader and trainers adaptability (for more open world feel), no level cap (wilds quantity cap perhaps), choice in starting region, maybe shake up the type system. Less graphics, more content.