I EXPOSED What’s Really Going On At Game Freak

What the heck was going on with Game Freak when they were making recent Pokemon games? Investigative journalist Gireum is on the scene to try to find out!
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Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl Review - • The Failure of Pokémon...
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Review - • The Highs and Lows of ...
Why Modern Pokémon Games Suck - • Why Modern Pokemon Gam...
0:00 Introduction
2:55 Disclaimers and Explanation
4:52 Featured Review
7:06 1-Star Reviews
8:56 "They don't keep past data..."
10:00 "Didn't delay the release date..."
12:25 "It will sell well anyways..."
13:26 2-Star Reviews
14:16 "Hard time catching up with the industry..."
15:28 "There's no need to make an effort..."
17:01 3-Star Reviews
19:39 4-Star Reviews
21:32 5-Star Reviews
25:10 Conclusion

[@GireumRed]

CHECK THIS VIDEO FOR MORE EXPLANATION ON JOBTALK'S VALIDITY, ILCA, TPC, AND MORE: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iHTGg6V5p7Splas What is your favorite quote from the reviews?

[@ehhhhhhhhhhk]

,,I would give a 1, but salary gives it a 2"

[@Snowcloud362]

“Even if the quality is low, I think it will sell,”

[@dagoon6326]

“3 generations behind the game industry” couldn’t have guest

[@G0OG4]

“Everything is old.”

[@99999bomb]

"They dont even keep past data" had me on the floor laughing

[@bakubaku4333]

Masuda is real desperate to keep it as close to 151 workers as possible

[@artistaroundtheblock2047]

😂😂😂😂😂😂 Go to Hell!!! 😂😂

[@kleefirestar]

Kek

[@typhoonboom]

of course 151 i really think he's kicking himself in the shin with that, but like 251 workers will do wonders for the pokemon games, like 10 of those could be dedicated to bug fixes

[@UltraBall23]

@@typhoonboomMasuda hasn’t been in charge for a decade. He doesn’t make that decision.

[@cactusman60]

​@@UltraBall23 woosh

[@ChaosDarkLight]

Leave it to a Korean man to expose Japanese corporate corruption. EDIT: Wow 1k likes thanks guys. Didn't know Asian racial drama was so popular lmao.

[@willfern1096]

Historic repair

[@number3766]

I WOULD BE SO OFFENDED IF IT WASN'T TRUE!!!

[@HUYI1]

it's actually irony of the situation LOL

[@arctic_andy_infinity5708]

Honestly. What's more corrupt? Gamefreak or EA. I'm guessing you're gonna say Gamefreak despite EA ruining every game in their hands.

[@ChaosDarkLight]

@@arctic_andy_infinity5708 EA is worse, but Konami is worse than both.

[@jpcsdutra]

Reading a bit some of the reviews as you were reading them, most of the people that said "communication was good and I was heard" were management and artist positions, and most of the people that said "communication is bad and this company is stagnated" are the software and systems people. This paints an interesting picture, specially for the latest games if you think about it. They're having a good time designing the world and padding things. The world building seems to be doing fine. But the technical people that are actually responsible for programming and debugging are begging for more time and aren't getting it. This reflects perfectly the downward slope most people have been complaining about. "The music and the characters are still fine, and there's still a lot of charm BUT the game is outdated at launch and it plays like a bag of rocks and a pile of sticks"

[@zjzr08]

The concepts of Pokemon have been great (for the most part) but execution has been horrible - the GF creative crew should just be its own thing and have another development company shoulder the game design that's been assigned.

[@jpcsdutra]

@@zjzr08 It's kinda sad, really. If they gave support to the tech team like they should, the prowess of the design and art team would not only shine more, but they would be able to fit more of that in every game.

[@YujiUedaFan]

Is this also why Legends Arceus had the better lighting system, better battles, better story, better gameplay and a load or other things done way better than SV? Because the people who made SV couldn't look at the source code for LA?

[@jpcsdutra]

@@YujiUedaFan It might be related. Not only GF's staff is small, they also have stated that for many years now their staff has been split. For a while it was Team A does pokémon and Team B ventures into other IPs, flipping members between Teams A and B between releases. But since all new IPs failed, as far as we know they seemingly stopped that for a while and moved on to have it so that Team A does new things and Team B does remakes/dlc/3rd versions. Knowing that it is impossible that SV and LA and BDSP (yes, I know ILCA did it, but Masuda was in on it) were made in less than a year each, all 3 productions overlapped with each other. And the job review things stated there's poor communication amongst groups even to prevent leaks. So yes. It is quite possible that many of the developed systems for LA weren't available for sharing/consultation for SV until fairly late if at all. If nothing is done soon, this might speak tragedy for whatever is after SV, because GameFreak is betting on a new IP named Project Bloom. It'll be even more damaging if teams are split even further on a big new project. It's actually kind of impressive Game Freak ever even managed to squeeze in doing Little Town Hero at all

[@harveycustodio2625]

@@jpcsdutra I think they should delegate more SpinOff titles to others and basically make other entries into those Spinoffs since if they spinoffs are big enough they could either squeeze in more time for the Mainline Games to be made... Or GameFreak could just future proof the Coding as Well or have a Department constantly working hard to improve or upgrade and update the code used for Pokemon Games. Separate from the ones that design the games or anyone else tied to the Creative Designing aspect of a Pokemon Game.

[@SonicTheCutehog]

Here's a sad fact: Gen 1 has had six times the amount of development time of every other Pokémon game

[@FourteenthAngel]

To be fair, they weren't a full fledged company at the time. They were just a bunch of college kids trying to make it by with what they had. The whole production of Red and Blue was roughly twenty people max. It was essentially a indie game.

[@SonicTheCutehog]

@@FourteenthAngel Still, the very first games having by far the most amount of development time and still ending up buggy messes just goes to show how bad management is at Game Freak.

[@CesarTorres61296]

That is fucking sad.

[@WizardSoon]

It was just a handle of employees, interns back then. around 10 if I am not wrong. With early developers even went on to take no salary to get the game development going when they ran out of funds. Not an apple to apple comparison.

[@zjzr08]

​@@WizardSoonOverall the care (as much buggy Gen 1 was and how it has many gameplay interaction issues) at least seems a priority compared to now they can kinda sleepwalk and still sell a lot.

[@TehJakeify]

GameFreak employees being told to write and design an office worker character who hates his job/boss and has a terrible work/life balance (Larry): 👁👄👁

[@jiyanmehta7250]

It's not hard for them,coz it probably hits home...

[@coolyeh1017]

One of the best parts of SV.

[@Zerorenren4761]

Self insert character lol

[@hitbycars]

No wonder he felt so real and believable and become an instant favorite

[@personafanatic4597]

i felt bad for him. poor guy looked like he could use a loooooong nap and was just done with doing multiple jobs

[@Garde_Mystik]

Scarlet and Violet are truly the culmination of what all these reviews resulted in.

[@arctic_andy_infinity5708]

Yeah. Allowing different ideas. Great. Though probably should've worked on it for 4 years and not 3, but it's not awful.

[@The90sDoggo]

Oh yeah i bet!

[@comyuse9103]

@@arctic_andy_infinity5708 its awful. this wouldn't fly under any other IP, if it was the new monster hunter stories you'd crucify it.

[@Bothrops_Asper_89]

@@comyuse9103 This. I mean, we all saw how the internet collectivelly dragged Bethesda and CDPR through the floor after Fallout 76 and Cyberpunk 2077 were bugfests at launch. And I'm kinda concerned why the overall reaction to Scarlet/Violet has been more of a "but it's gamefreak, we should be thankful we get new Pokemon games" and how it doesn't matter if a game is buggy, because at the core it was 'fun'.

[@squadbroken962]

@@Bothrops_Asper_89 Because they're braindead consoomer cattles who swallow all this junk mindlessly because we decided to let those imbeciles in

[@OPGardevoir]

This has me convinced that Larry being an overworked gym leader AND an elite 4 member who that isn't particularly fond of Geeta is a cry for help

[@FoxGalahArtStuff]

Perhaps Larry can redeem the Pokemon Company. They said that their release schedule was a problem so perhaps he did it.

[@bladerdj3503]

The thing is... even WAY BACK during Red and Green they didn't document stuff. Granted, they were just friends who worked years on these title back then but especially after Satoru Iwata coming in, saving the code of Pokémon Stadium and even make room for Kanto in Gold/Silver they should've immediately learned their lesson. This was over 20 years ago...

[@sintheemptyone8108]

WOW. Just wow. Speaks for itself.

[@macuser7048]

Yeah but for me, it seemed like Gen 1 was more of a passion project.

[@autobotstarscream765]

Their "lesson" was burn all the documents and always keep everything quiet forever, because Japan. 🇯🇵

[@jxwong_3982]

Seems like lack of archival/preservation might be a wider issue for more Japanese companies than just Game Freak, honestly. Sega, Square Enix and Konami have all lost the source code to some of their older games as well. The Nintendo gigaleak from a couple years back is a promising sign for internal archival, but of course Nintendo is incredibly harsh on external preservation as well. Especially in the older days, with these game companies being far smaller than they now are before various logistical complications came into the picture, I get the feeling that preservation and archival simply aren’t huge priorities for many big gaming corporations there.

[@macuser7048]

@@jxwong_3982 I mean in Japan there's bigger generational gaps so anyone who would have been nostalgic for the 90s-early 2000s games would probably be outside Japan. But that is still money on the table.

[@jvgonzalez90]

Did anyone realize that the 1-2 star reviews are generally reviews from 2022 and they have far more low-score than high-score reviews? Really says a lot.

[@couchrpg6282]

Youre not saying theyre improving right? Because they have no reason to do so since theyre getting rich anyway -_-

[@endermanowa]

​@@couchrpg6282they're saying the opposite, that the company is getting worse scores now

[@couchrpg6282]

@@endermanowa its really a shame...i always loved pokemon and i still do...but everytime i boot up the game and try to look behind its issues it just reminds me of this sh*t

[@Homiloko2]

This is likely related to one specific review, where they mentioned that a lot of the current staff has low technical skills and focuses more on internal politics, while the talented staff has already quit. And they can pull it off because the game sells anyway, so.. not much hope for the next few generations of Pokémon.

[@arctic_andy_infinity5708]

I don't see it. Like there's very low scores for FNAF Security Breach and yet people still love it.

[@chrisgarbutt1893]

As a pokemon fan, this is heartbreaking! Nintendo really needs to intervene in gamefreak. The fact that employees admit that gamefreak technology and programming skills is 2-3 generations behind is severely unacceptable for the biggest franchise in the world.

[@Mrfinch9999]

Nintendo is a pretty crappy company too. They just have some really good developers that make good games. The company itself is pretty shit.

[@zjzr08]

​@@Mrfinch9999In this review site it actually got a high rating...Nintendo of Japan genuinely does good for its employees based on other recent info like in 2020 I think.

[@Yoshizuyuner]

@@Mrfinch9999 imagine trying to blame nintendo for there 2 party devs

[@TheRicardobtc]

Why should they intervene? They're actualy the ones asking them to rush the games so they can make the most profit in the shortest time possible, and the fact that SV had record sales just tells them that it's working and thus have no reason to change their ways.

[@MusicComet]

​@@TheRicardobtc How the hell would you know that for sure? Does your dad work at Nintendo or something? Like I know Nintendo isn't a saint but there's no real proof that this is true.

[@MusicaX79]

I should explain the Contract worker problem. The problem with contact to hire is that there is no hiring in the programing scene. As a 10+ year programmer that got in before this became the practice and am lucky to have the credentials to bypass this issue. The group the bring in developers for contract jobs are low level fresh out of college with 0 job experience. They bring them on, they assign them to a mid-senior developer and they have them do grunt work. Work that won’t teach you how to code it's stuff that is extremely basic and would only apply to THAT PROJECT. so, the employee gets nothing out of it, development wise. The job gets finished, or the time is up and they ALWAYS FIRE THEM. Now you are stuck with code that is not written the same as the rest of your code, so it “works” but not well, and now you must bring someone in to take care of the next part of the project. Also the new person has to work with code that isn’t optimized since it was written by someone like them that doesn’t know what they are doing cause their fresh out of college. This is why games and most products involving code has gone to complete trash.

[@macuser7048]

Pokemon sells because of the cuteness factor. The more cute monsters they design, the more it will sell plushies. I love Pokemon merch, but I was a fan of the games first and they need to work in tandem with each other.

[@nomorenames5568]

Microsoft in particular is horrible at this. The 343 studios Glass Door reviews are just person after person saying they worked on code someone else wrote that was only there for a couple months before their contract was up and every project is a complete mess. And then we ended up with Halo Infinite...

[@AB-py6jl]

I remember the Contract worker articles about Nintendo a few months ago. Contract workers should never expect to become employees. If they can get your work for the price they are paying you now, why hire you on and pay you more? Apply for the job you want right at the start, not for the job you hope to have. Speaking from someone who has worked two contract roles. Never expected to be taken on. I don't care what they say about eventually being possibly taken on. I'll believe it when I see it

[@hungryjoe7571]

Facts, exact same thing happened with halo infinite

[@BronzeAgePepper]

this has been the last 4 years of experience at my company in a nutshell. they have offices all over the world so they don't even need "contractors" in the traditional sense, they just move people from different offices between projects before they've had a chance to get deep into anything. I've worked on a project with outside contractors before though and it was a real mess of confusion and lack of communication on where everyone is at. but the lack of getting really hardcore programming skills despite my 4 years is a problem, and had been just another thing nagging at me to not only just quit, but change my whole career. problem with that is that I don't have a rock-solid exit plan, I'd probably just be grinding self-taught programming or try to make a living off of some other interest until something works out -- I have no idea how long that could take, even with all the money I have saved up and not having left my parents' place since lockdowns from 3 years ago. The economy is just getting worse and will probably continue to do so, which doesn't help either.

[@ibisskb]

No way, 143 employees. That's Snorlax's number, now everything makes sense.

[@iantaakalla8180]

I suppose we must wait for the 81st Pokémon game for Pokémon to have games without flaw.

[@compatriot852]

This seems to be an issue in a lot of other gaming companies where passion and soul is dissuaded in order to meet rushed deadlines

[@cherryvapr6969]

To be fair pokemon is a good example of consumers preference toward established and familiar and tem tems lifetime sales reflect it. I told people mtx in bo2 would lead to aw consumers vote with their money and it votes louder than the people talking

[@Lostcontroller]

This has been the standard for more than a decade now.

[@cortster12]

​@@cherryvapr6969TemTem would have been more successful if they actually tried to step into Pokemon's lane. But by focusing on an MMO and always online, they pushed away the people they needed the most.

[@zjzr08]

​@cortster12 I never get why it is an online exclusive game, like why not just turn on MMO features when the players wants to...

[@cortster12]

@@zjzr08 Right? And if you question it, the community gets very nasty about it.

[@NemusDark]

And people are still gonna pay for a overpriced dlc for an unfinshied game lmao

[@UnwantedGhost1]

Don't forget that the merchandise makes up the vast majority of the franchise annual sales nowadays. The games hardly compete.

[@PedroOver9000]

And? His point still stands

[@zjzr08]

​@@PedroOver9000I think the poster meant nothing's gonna change as sales are high due to people still buying them...

[@kleefirestar]

Pokemon fans are sheep

[@Marchingvenusaur]

I'm not. I'm done with Pokemon for the time being. The only thing I might even consider buying is a Legends game and that's only an if.

[@jgr7487]

Wait, GF has 143 employees, not 151? How could you, Masuda???

[@1607Adi_Manz]

Masuda already quit GF tho 😂

[@kriswalsh9156]

Damn, even his successor Shigeru Ohmori is lowering the number!

[@mgutierrez2351]

I’ve seen indie developers with more personnel holy fuck

[@j.k.4479]

@@1607Adi_Manz The guy was there for years, no reason that he couldn't have hired more people in the 3DS era.

[@coolyeh1017]

​@@j.k.4479in interviews Matsuda has been on record that he likes small teams and believe he works optimally only with small teams. He clearly thinks of the "too many cooks in the kitchen" problem but in reality there aren't enough cooks in the kitchen.

[@G0OG4]

people at gamefreak really saw people clipping through the floor and decided that the game is fine to release☠️😭

[@GamersXnostalgia]

Ikr, I still get my Mimikyu clipping through Medali Gym on online battles. They haven't fixed it yet, it also affects other Pokemon, but they don't care. 😂

[@veggsbacon1891]

Wait, this ain't Pokémon Backrooms. Why is everyone clipping through?! 😂😭🫠

[@coolyeh1017]

Well it was more like the devs, the game testers, and managers saw it as a problem but the suits said "ship it, we will still sell millions anyways."

[@SuperFlashDriver]

@@veggsbacon1891 More like discovering a piece of the land that you weren't supposed to and apparently continue to fall towards the never ending abyss, or even, fall towards (as Gen Xers and Boomers would call it) journey towards the center of the earth. Although, there is no center of the earth, rather, it's a neverending abyss that teleports you back to the ground, as if nothing happen. These characters are going through hell and trauma clipping, falling, and finding places where they aren't supposed to go to and end up falling out of nowhere...And don't get me started with body parts and being giants or ants in the world, that is just Battlefield's 3 beta character becoming so big you can see his organs type of horror.

[@G0OG4]

bro i just wanted to make a funny comment, why are yall making paragraphs☠️ its not that deep💀

[@TayoEXE]

IMPORTANT TRANSLATION POINT: It actually says "The higher-ups think that it will sell even if the quality is low, so they won't invest in the cost. Even if you work hard to improve the title, it won't be appreciated." In other words, devs and designers get so much flack for the quality of the games, but it's definitely a lot on the higherups decisions just wanting to maximize profit over quality. He doesn't say "I think that."

[@zjzr08]

It's still apparent that the morale seems low for the developers, and the higher ups kinda don't care as long as it sells.

[@TheCommenterSam]

So it’s not that they haven’t enough time. They haven’t enough time AND lacks manpower, technological advance and refusal of delaying any of their mainline games. On top of general incompetency! No wonder the technical and even gameplay state of modern Pokémon games end up like this.

[@idksry4335]

I dont think it’s gamefreaks fault that they dont delay releases

[@UltraBall23]

@@idksry4335Game Freak sits on the Pokémon planning board to discuss future projects. Game Freak sets their own deadlines.

[@TheCommenterSam]

@@idksry4335 Not entirely GF’s fault, but the fact that they took too slow with technology advancements and didn’t really hire much manpower despite the demand proves that they ain’t blameless either.

[@Eclipsiszs]

​@@UltraBall23Pretty sure that TPCI has a bigger impact on the decision of the deadlines

[@UltraBall23]

@@Eclipsiszs TPCi is irrelevant. They are under the board as they’re a subsidiary that follows what TPC dictates.

[@Mage_Nichlas_]

Werster the Pokémon speedrunner actually made a good point in a clip I saw. Basically while yes the Pokémon games are selling quite well, they haven't even passed the sales of Red and Blue which is bad. In the Switch era where pretty much every big Nintendo series is seeing record breaking sales like Breath of the Wild, Kirby and the Forgotten Land(is an absolute banger might I add), and Metroid Dread easily selling 2 or 3 times their previous sales records, GameFreak hasn't sold past their first attempt from almost 30 years ago due to the myriad of issues we've known for the last 5 years. Voting with your wallet is actually working to a certain extent as GameFreak isn't seeing the big bucks roll in like their other Nintendo developers are.

[@jxwong_3982]

At this point, I believe the franchise itself has ceased to revolve solely around the games, which have only become one part of the larger marketing behemoth. The games are the media from which new concepts, especially new designs, regions and storylines, originate, but those concepts go on to be fleshed out and proudly displayed, advertised and marketed to the fans in a thousand other forms of merchandise and media, many of which can reach kids and rope them into the larger franchise more easily than a $60 game on a $300 console which parents might be hesitant to drop the first investment on. The games have lost centre stage, but Game Freak’s role as a conceptualiser remains-thus why the games seem to be losing priority in terms of refinement but are generated on a rapid timescale to maintain momentum for the rest of the franchise to pick up their ideas, detach them from those technologically shoddy pieces of software and distill them into pure marketing fuel. Pokémon isn’t the largest video game franchise in the world, but it is the largest multimedia one, and therein lies the issue. The games may have never caught up to their original performance, but the series as a cultural and marketing phenomenon is always growing larger.

[@MediaMunkee]

@@jxwong_3982 KnowledgeHusk's "Pokemon doesn't care about their own games (and they never have to again)" video encapsulated this perfectly. 20% of the franchise's profits come from the games, 10% from the card games, and 2% from the anime. Almost exactly two-thirds of Pokemon's profitability is in the merch. Pokemon is a merchandising business, and everything that isn't the merch is just a delivery vector for new creature designs.

[@valentinchappa6702]

Metroid dread barely outsold the previous highest selling metroid. Barely. I wish it sold twice as much.

[@lime148]

Not a good point at all actually, it's rather daft and pointless. No Mario game has outsold the original Super Mario Bros; do you think that series is stagnating too? Besides those exceptions (of which only BotW had a *significant* increase in sales over the previous record), almost all of their series peaked sales-wise in the 80s/90s, simply due to the nature of the industry back then. Not to mention SV have sold 22 million (on a $300 console) compared to the RBY record of 31 million when it was at its peak as a cultural phenomenon. I think SV was dogshit and can't stand modern Pokemon by the way, I just hate dumb KZbinr logic even more.

[@TheBBCSlurpee]

Damn this is some hopium

[@UnwantedGhost1]

I bet Larry is based on the Game Freak employees.

[@ShadowLoves2Game]

Fr maybe Larry is their cry for help?

[@Ash_x_pika]

@@ShadowLoves2Gamehmmm

[@Ash_x_pika]

@@ShadowLoves2Gameprobs

[@UnwantedGhost1]

@@ShadowLoves2Game Wouldn't shock me if it were true.

[@darkmodeenjoyer3367]

​@@UnwantedGhost1would make a lot sense Larry is obviously supposed to base on Japanese workers Looking tired, over worked, etc. If I had to gauss when the artists got to make the charater design and personality. They sadly had a lot of references nearby

[@keeysOST]

I really question GF's ability to make a game, when both MonolithSoft and Atlus can put out large scale RPG games on the same system, with not only better performance and graphics, but more engaging gameplay too. It's baffling that Pokemon is the more popular RPG series.

[@zjzr08]

Because let's be frank, we like Pokemon for the Pokemon, not exactly the RPG gameplay (PLA seemingly more wanted than SV despite PLA lacking many battles and arguably puzzle elements traditional RPGs have is an example of that IMO).

[@SlimeDoesArt]

You can look at their original games too; they're extremely mediocre at best. Little Town Hero is a joke of a game, Giga Wrecker has a lot of issues, ranging from poor physics to bad art direction. Tembo the Badass Elephant is *way* too short and simple (has a nice art direction, though). Harmoknight is a cool concept for a rhythm game but had extremely forgettable music, which is a problem since this is a RHYTHM game. Pocket Card Jockey was actually pretty fun with its writing, but if many people consider THAT one of your best ORIGINAL games in recent times... that kinda says a lot about their competency.

[@keeysOST]

@@zjzr08 I can understand that, but even though I absolutely look the pokemon in the games I just could deal with the same gameplay after X and Y. There's only so much their designs can carry a game in my opinion.

[@keeysOST]

@@SlimeDoesArt It's even worse for their original games because I think they gave even smaller teams/budget, and even less time. No wonder the devs don't get the opportunity to up their skills.

[@JunaidWolf3]

Let’s not forget both those game company’s have other game series to work on gamefreak doesn’t but now they r working on a new game series and maybe now they could work better on Pokémon or they just will allow Nintendo to help more

[@startheangel9760]

Remember when we all thought Gamefreak has multiple development teams to develop the games? Turns out the team is short and overworked

[@jxwong_3982]

They do have multiple dev teams, but they’re all working on their own different games at the same time, so the manpower per game is actually spread a lot thinner. When combined with their already relatively short deadlines, this is a recipe for disaster. And on top of that, as some of these reviews have showed, people different teams are not able to communicate with one another due to security concerns, which can lead to improvements that were made in one game not carrying over to another game that was developed within the same period (see: the fan criticism that Scarlet/Violet didn’t reproduce a lot of the improvements that PLA made).

[@Darkblood14]

U just labeled every Japanese company lmfao

[@lasercraft32]

It makes me so sad because I love the Pokemon series so much... There's SO MUCH potential that's wasted! Like, imagine if they worked on a Pokemon with all the passion, resources, and dev time that Tears of the Kingdom or Breath of the Wild got... it would be AMAZING!

[@JoViljarHaugstulen]

Or they could at least be willing to work with other companies and license out the IP so that others could actually use it to create more games most of which probably will have more passion and creativity compared with Game Freak though I suppose that isn't saying much.

[@lasercraft32]

@@JoViljarHaugstulen They kinda tried that with Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl... needless to say it didn't go well. I wish they would work with a more competent company next time.

[@JoViljarHaugstulen]

​@@lasercraft32 I mean that wasn't really a licensing agreement allowing another company to create a pokemon game? It was more like contracting a development studio to create a game on their behalf wasn't it? There was also Genius Sonority which created Pokemon Colosseum and Pokemon XD:Gale of Darkness which turned out quite well I think Oh they are janky and have issues but they are at least a bit different from normal pokemon games which I enjoyed. It is different in the way you get pokemon and in that every battle is a double battle and Pokemon Colosseum has a way darker tone with the protagonist being an Ex-member of the criminal team in the region and gasp being a teenager and not a young kid

[@lasercraft32]

@@JoViljarHaugstulen True...

[@fraymakerfan3628]

I highly recommend playing fangames and Rom Hacks. Despite Nintendo's attempts to stop its modding community, it's still massive. If you want a challenging but fair Pokemon fangame, I recommend giving Pokemon Reborn a try.

[@wolfgangfegelein2450]

I hope this video reaches a large audience like the last one, there are a lot of Pokemon fans who need this reality check. It's okay to skip the obviously bad games and come back in a few years when the games are actually worth your money again.

[@toottootsonicwarrior5777]

Exactly. They can't make excuses anymore if the company itself is admitting to these glearing flaws. This is a big win for the fans who rightfully call out the bad practices of a company fully willing to partake in anti consumer and even anti employee behavior.

[@lcyurchuk]

Good thing there have been no bad games

[@toottootsonicwarrior5777]

@@lcyurchuk Bruh i hope you're being sarcastic because if not? Damn the franchise really is doomed.

[@lcyurchuk]

@toottootsonicwarrior5777 Bruh, I hope, YOU'RE being sarcastic, because If not? You must not know a good game if it slapped you in the face

[@toottootsonicwarrior5777]

@@lcyurchuk Okay troll.

[@Garde_Mystik]

It hit me that "even if the quality is low, i think it will sell, so I don’t spend a lot of money." this was said a literal 3 days before LGPE's release

[@Seba20901]

"Even if you do your best and make something good, it will be normal" that is so heart-breaking

[@johnathanwilliams8979]

After a while, its true tho. Super Mario bros is a great game. But nowadays people look at that old game compare it to something new and say it's meh

[@conspiracypanda1200]

​@@johnathanwilliams8979It should not be true upon the game's immediate release tho. I personally don't want to be made to pay full price for games that are "meh, good enough", and the devs clearly don't want to be making a "meh, good enough" product. Everyone is suffering here except for the highest execs and bean counters.

[@petercottantail7850]

The video focused really hard on that one line of "low quality and still will sell" but missed the rest of the paragraph that you are quoting. That line and the "even if you try to make it better it wont be appreciated" Felt like the worst part

[@CiderVG]

So basically everything we thought was true is true?

[@VestedUTuber]

More like everything we thought was true turned out to be worse.

[@Wooperplus]

What's sad is that DeNA is putting a lot of love and care into Pokemon Masters paying tribute to past games and fleshing out the characters even more. There just seems more effort put into that game than the mainline

[@verifeli]

There just seem more effort by spin-off devs rather than GF.

[@tuannguyencanh6096]

Sadly DeNA is also cutting corners in a few aspects. Like for one, Characters have noticeably less dialogue when compared to characters released in the first year or so. And well, they are making characters without EX changes like the ones found in the variety scout. Those are the only two problems I've seen, but credit or credit is due, Masters is probably the most interesting product that Pokémon has so far for me. Day 1 PMEX player here btw

[@user-lq4ct6dr5m]

The music slaps with this game

[@princesspikachu3915]

@@tuannguyencanh6096Pokémon Conquest is technically the most interesting game in my opinion. It’s a DS game that came out after the 3DS. It’s probably one of my favorite games on the DS next to The World Ends With You. It’s a strategy RPG with a pretty cool premise and it’s also a very clever crossover.

[@zjzr08]

​@tuannguyencanh6096 Recent months have been kinda alarming with less free gems, more frequent Master Fairs, Variety Scouts, and frankly lesser effort units (like less interesting Sync Move animations, dialogue, and even Ex forms).

[@ZeroRulz0]

As bad as the scarlet and violet launch was it still sold a metric fuck ton of units. Whatever lesson there was to learn got overshadowed by that fact

[@deykuzor]

I still haven't purchased scarlet or violet. I don't understand why everyone did.

[@eclipticsonata1313]

@@deykuzor Me neither. I was tempted for half a second when Amazon had it for $42, then I was like nah, I'll just wait and see what the next Pokemon looks like.

[@Gamesmarts194]

​@@deykuzorPokemon is pretty much a cash cow at this point. Whether all the NEEERDS are bashing the game or not doesn't matter; it's a popular IP from one of the most well-known gaming companies in the world. Like it or not, it's going to sell, and it's going to sell a ton.

[@charg1nmalaz0r51]

yeah but if they dont sort their shit out eventually the IP will be tarnished and less and less people will stick around. Nothings too big to fall, it has happened before. Sailing off of past success only lasts so long.

[@doetah]

pokemon has lost sales before in gen 5. Whatever happened then they're trying to avoid it.

[@Caerulis]

I'm so done with this franchise

[@startheangel9760]

Nexomon 3 looks way better than SV and it's an indie companies first attempt at transitioning to 3D

[@comyuse9103]

@@startheangel9760 never liked nexomon, but 3 does look way better than any pokemon game to date. although i say kindred fates looks way better.

[@VikingBoyBilly]

Gamefreak is a microcosm of everything that's wrong with the game industry at this point.

[@eurybiaball63]

Microcosm?

[@jacobmonks3722]

We haven't heard of any sexual harassment in the company, so there's that, at least.

[@steffimaier7297]

Played since Red and Blue and stopped buying after Sun and Moon. And I agree with the statements that "people will buy it regardless", since most Pokemon fans are too brand loyal and at that point even would buy it if the game only showed a test screen.

[@charg1nmalaz0r51]

I dont. Yes people will buy it because its pokemon but if they consistently put out garbage like the past few titles eventually the IP will be tainted and people wont buy it because its pokemon. Obviously this will take longer due to the popularity of the franchise and will probably reset peoples negativity if they put out a good release. But imo if they continue down this route they will eventually destroy that trust in the brand.

[@doetah]

@@charg1nmalaz0r51 The IP is already tainted. There is consistency in pokemon's inconsistency; their business strategy to keep pokemon relevant is to pump out games yearly regardless of quality. It's only a matter of how long before the trust in the brand has completely eroded.

[@Ghost-ul8eu]

This sounds like me played the first 7 generations and after sun and moon I was done.I did play legends Arceus though which was fun,but I'm not buying any more mainline games until they make them good again. It angers me that people are willing to put keep shelling out money for mediocre games.As long as the fans keep buying them gamefreak will keep making them.

[@steffimaier7297]

@@Ghost-ul8eu Heard Arceus is good and interested to try it out. The only way (for now) to play the newest games if I got them as gift or second hand.

[@ultimapower6950]

I think I’ll most likely stop buying as well. After all If I wanted to play Pokémon I could just play some rom hacks, many of them miles better than modern Pokémon will ever be

[@testerwulf3357]

This really does show how money hungry they are..less employees than they need, as hiring more would require paying more, and using outdated tech because keeping up with latest tech would cost money so instead they stay with tech as long as possible because "it still works" even if it's not efficient; Rushing out games too knowing people will still buy..which is hard on the devs

[@hegyak]

This is an interesting idea though. Super Monkey Ball's engine, was modified to Run F-Zero GX. Same hardware. But both games are great. Because the Developers put in the effort to make it great. Too bad Game Freak developers are under Constant Crunch to Push game out NOW. Optimization be damned.

[@thenonexistinghero]

I don't think the amount of employees should be any issue. But using outdated tech is a big issue. And not just for Game Freak, but for a lot of Japanese developers. Many still create games that basically look like PS2 games in a higher resolution and still work like them mechanically. Oh and also still animate like them. Falcom is pretty similar. Their games work well on the performance side, but their current games have looked like early PS3 games in a higher resolution for like a decade already. There's been quite literally almost no graphical progress since they released the first Cold Steel game in 2013 (save for higher resolution and some minor details and effects).

[@2lazydidntpickahandle]

Y’all remember when the “Nintendo official seal” meant something? I’m honestly surprised they still allow that to slap that on. Nintendo usually is strict about QC.

[@Shrekinspace]

unironically i don’t get why gamefreak or whoever thinks pokemon NEEDS some sort of yearly mainline release. do they honestly think the pokemon ip can’t survive off merch, the tcg, spinoff made by other devs, the anime, etc.? those other outlets of revenue are the main reason it’s the most profitable ip of all time, i think it’s safe to say pokemon will still pull in millions/billions every year if they took a couple years to develop the next mainline game

[@TheOfficalAndI]

The answer to that is pretty simple. Annual releases make more money.

[@zjzr08]

Because it likely directly gets more money towards Game Freak (the developer) and Nintendo (the publisher) rather than just TPC which mostly just for licensing Pokemon.

[@Shrekinspace]

@@zjzr08 nintendo’s other franchises aren’t treated like this though, mainline releases in most nintendo series are usually pretty spread out. i also highly doubt most of the staff at game freak want to keep this up. it most likely is just other higher ups squeezing as much revenue as they can, and nintendo not caring since they still reap the benefits of it, so they probably are still at fault for not intervening and enforcing quality control

[@zjzr08]

@@Shrekinspace I mean I don't exactly disagree on what you said, just saying the bosses of Game Freak likely wants this for more direct income, while you're right Nintendo probably has apathy to the games as long as it sells, although they did intervene with SV's bug issues.

[@MagillanicaLouM]

That's what I'm saying, there is no downside to having a regular ass release schedule, they'll just miss out on idk, .6% of the billions they already make. Pure greed

[@Hunter_6430]

tl,dr: “This is unacceptable! GameFreak should be better than this! Pokémon as a franchise is too valuable to deserve this!” *”we know.”*

[@JustJulyo]

A corporate company acting corporate and heartless What a shocker

[@jonsnow9541]

okay, fair enough

[@clanker2821]

Though most are indeed corporate and heartless, to let it run so deep to a point where it stunts actual growth isn't just a company being Mr. Money Bags anymore, it's just a company being flat out moronic and digging their own eventual grave.

[@AxelonIV]

You must be fun at parties

[@hassassinator8858]

​@@clanker2821Disney.

[@JD-xz1mx]

You give the impression of not actually knowing what the word "corporate" means. You know most charities are corporate as well yes?

[@asleepydude5941]

8:03 I’m not even surprised because Iwata was the man who made Pokemon Gold possible to begin with when gamefreak didn’t even know how to manage storage on the game chip. Without Iwata interference in the production, we literally would’ve gotten Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow/Green 2 instead of Gold/Silver/Crystal This is why I stopped supporting this company with the video games post 3ds era

[@renbothegoatman]

​@user-rd6zt2hi7r it'll end on a good note at least

[@cin2110]

imagine your ceo doing your specialized job that you got degree for better than you and instead of you but still pay you lucky fuckers

[@HandheldGamer1991]

They need to stop making more mons and just do regional variants! Thebonly new thing should be that regions legendary and mythical! 1k mon is to much to keep up anyway if you want to give each a unique animation new moves abbiloties etc. Granted they dont do that now nor did they do it in the past but if they just keep adding new ones even if the team changes they will never be able to achieve that feat! Also the new game every2.5 years will give us another 900 mons in less then a decade so we are doomed!

[@phillnyetheplaylistguy3759]

​@@user-rd6zt2hi7rwhat's wrong with unova mons?

[@macuser7048]

They still made a good game with Red and Green though. It's not like they had no idea what they were doing.

[@suppengroove]

really wished more youtuber with focus on pokémon, would be like our boy - he's just open with the junk we get! no blindly swallowing

[@HandheldGamer1991]

The super big poketubers that praise every new release are the ones hurting the franchise the most and should be slaped across their fucking face!

[@elmonetina9696]

The only sensible thing to do is stop buying.

[@pablo8524]

This is true, money is all TPC cares about

[@johnstrife7]

The shills and stew pid children and parents are the problem

[@johnstrife7]

The shills and stew pid children and parents are the problem

[@BananaReidy]

Poor leadership and poor management leads to poor quality products.

[@eldragonball14]

But The game sells well so they don't care

[@princesspikachu3915]

They make quality products; the TCG artwork is gorgeous, my Pikachu shorts are comfy like that Youngster’s, and the plush toys are very soft and cuddly. Only the games are mediocre or bad.

[@nekomarusmommymilkers]

​@princesspikachu3915 and its the mainline games look at pokemon masters and Unite they're fine and masters has voice acting s

[@Monsteretrope]

I've done my part, not bought a game since Sun/Moon.

[@Seba20901]

11:01 counterargument: just look at what Sakurai says about his work in Smash Bros. He is literally an outsider working with Namco Bandai using characters from the 60% of the entire industry an even then he was able to keep all the secrets of the game until the last announcement... WHILE DIRECTING AN INTERNAL SOCIAL MEDIA TO KEEP ALL HIS WORKERS INFORMED ABOUT THE DEVELOPMENT. And I know there were some small leaks but is still proof that a company can perfectly have its secrets while still having a harmonic communication with all his employees. But that requires super futuristic NASA levels of technology that Game Freak lacks

[@coolyeh1017]

Also Sakurai is a workaholic who works himself dry (one time he came to work with an IV bag because he got sick). He also is super in touch with game development, his KZbin videos are just introductory material but they highlight a lot of things I would have never thought of.

[@roxynano]

​@@coolyeh1017I will say this. At least Sakurai works because he cares so much and wants to maintain a high quality experience, even if his own health is negatively impacted. I think Game Freak is at the opposite extreme where they are too lazy to do anything ambitious.

[@DragonDArrior]

There are probably only working 151 people at Game Freak, because Masuda is so obsessed with that number

[@microinfinito]

I feel sad for the people trying to make a living in this environment because people tend to criticize them instead of the company. Even though there’s corporative greedness behind all this, it’s consumers fault for validate this practices through constant and massive purchase. If the company sees you happy with trash, they’ll offer you trash 2 for 70 bucks + DLC.

[@autobotstarscream765]

Hence "Game FrEAk" and "Pokémadden" since 2001.

[@kamatari1220]

Most people are blaming management and the company itself, not the lower level workers. 100% agree that people buying their crap is what is driving them to continue giving us crap. Several of the reviews in this video even mention it!

[@KunningFox]

Feels nice knowing that all my complaints about the rushed development of the new Pokémon games and the incompetence of the development company were right on point, not gonna lie. I hope that they will eventually get their act together, but I guess it's just wishful thinking at this point, considering it sells better than ever regardless of quality.

[@TheGalaxyWings]

Hey I randomly found back to unova while looking for gen 5 remixes on deezer, shoutouts to you and everyone who worked on it, I wish every Nintendo game soundtrack got this treatment

[@EmikaSandra]

Yeah, this all sounds pretty accurate. It really does seem like Game Freak was always meant to be a 2D game company. Once they shifted over to using 3D models for the main franchise, the games released just kept getting sloppier. But it's not like they can't make any good 3D games either. Many of the older 3D spinoffs are actually really good, most likely because they didn't require as much crunch time as the main series. Most of the issue likely has to do with the low employee numbers, extreme crunch times, and general indifference from the higher-ups regarding game quality. In my opinion, I think the only way for the Pokemon games to match up to the quality of the latest technology at this point is for Game Freak to either go back to making 2D sprite-based games or hand the IP over to a different developer, like Bandai Namco. Makes me wonder what company reviews would have looked like back in the 2000s and early 2010s...

[@TankEngine75]

GameFreak would never hand the Pokemon IP to another developer

[@Dukstless]

"But it's not like they can't make any good 3D games either. Many of the older 3D spinoffs are actually really good" Stadium was made by Nintendo, Orre games and PBR was Genius Sonority. Rumble and Hey You Pikachu was Ambrella. Snap was by HAL. Pokepark was Creatures Inc. What 3D spinoffs are you talking about?

[@zjzr08]

​@@TankEngine75They kinda did with ILCA and Genius Sonority before.

[@TankEngine75]

@@zjzr08 Yeah but they will never do it permanently, they may hand a few games over to another developer, but there not gonna give out the whole IP to another developer

[@EmikaSandra]

@@TankEngine75 I know. That's the sad part.

[@devinnall2284]

Imagine what we'd get if Gamefreak spent five or six years developing a proper game instead of just putting out crap every year

[@elgatochurro]

3 should be enough, but why 1?

[@pg13snipez]

Honestly it would be a deltarune kinda deal, but Honestly 2 years for a game to get done would be PERFECT

[@starchild199x]

Even if everyone online that watched this video stopped buying their games today, they would STILL make bank. It's not about the chronically online Pokémon nerds, it's about the GENERAL POPULATION and that makes me so fuckin sad. I have a strong feeling that this series has rode on nostalgia and brand awareness alone instead of technical prowess and genuine effort. And I don't see Game Freak failing unless enough people either unite and stop buying their games, or make enough noise to call out the OG's and get their asses fired. In the words of Finn the Human "YOUTH CULTURE FOREVER!"

[@starchild199x]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/kHWmgXR8ZZh1g6s

[@doetah]

things that are the most popular tend to appeal to the lowest common denominator.

[@nicvane8751]

Honestly it’s really sad seeing this happen with a franchise you love

[@macuser7048]

Haven't liked it since gens 1-3. So I usually stick to those along with rom hacks.

[@Nameless_mixes]

This was somehow one of the most hilarious and depressing videos I’ve ever watched… If these reviews are genuine, then they basically confirm everything we’ve been fearing for the last decade (Gen 6 - present). Too many projects, not enough staff, no deadline flexibility, lack of both creativity and technical skills from the top down, etc etc etc. It’s so disheartening to know that a company like this has fallen so far from grace. They’re probably going to reach a point where people won’t want to work for the company. What happens then? You can’t sell games if you can’t make games. I’m so worried for where the franchise will be ten years from now.

[@FieryMeltman]

Honestly, Gamefreak imploding would be one of the best possible outcomes. At least then there's a chance for a better developer to take over, such as Nintendo.

[@iantaakalla8180]

As much as I want Pokémon to continue, it has to die. Either metaphorically or literally. It is very clear Pokémon has immense brand loyalty, and it is clear Game Freak will never change their practices. Therefore, no one from the inside can force a change in work environment, and there will be no boycotting of Pokémon, Game Freak’s only cash cow. Therefore, Pokémon must die. Furthermore, even as official Pokémon dies, it will live on. People know of how Pokémon designs their Pokémon from back then to now. They know the structure. They know of the stories, from the mainstream to spinoffs to the manga. It is amazingly impressive how many people can make a good Pokémon romhack or game. Pokémon has long outgrown Game Freak itself. In fact, since Gen 6, it no longer deserves Game Freak, but even given the very beginning, Pokemon should have never been made at all or by Game Freak. Game Freak should have piddled away in obscurity and died when they tried something more ambitious. Instead, they got lucky.

[@Maho3942]

Sold my copy of the switch games and haven't looked back since. Gamefreak believes fans are idiots that'll buy em anyway. Tbh, they aren't wrong. No more. No more games, no more dlc for me. I will not support this anymore

[@autobotstarscream765]

Glad you were able to sell, that means they didn't sucker you into pre-ordering the digital copies and that more copies are in the ecosystem undermining the resale value as these don't deserve to become $100 used games, and it gives you money back to scratch that Switch monster collection itch with the many games the system has to choose from. 🤑

[@lucalopez9604]

From what I'm gathering it seems the people generally happy about Game Freak's work environment are the artist and game planners and other people in management positions, they all seem to have honestly a great workplace for them where they are listened to and don't seem to be having trouble. In more artistic pursuits especially seeing newer faces is a net positive, they might not have the skills the older people have but they do bring new and fresh ideas to the table. Meanwhile, the software engineering side of GF is in shambles. They are not listened to, their efforts are wasted, they are forced to constantly fight against the higher-ups to make something work, all while their talents goes to the garbage and they don't feel fulfilled. GF has a favorite child and it's not the engineering department.

[@iantaakalla8180]

This explains why Pokémon games seem to be really underbaked playable versions of books. Those in control prioritize the stuff that would work for audiobooks.

[@timelink3315]

This was an amazing video. I watch many critical videos about the Pokemon franchise and I have to say this was the most informative one I've seen. You didn't seem too nervous during the video the comedic timing and points you made were solid as well! My first video of yours watched, won't be my last!

[@gta71000]

Just watch the employee count drop all the way to only masuda left and all he makes is a Pokemon egg hatching simulator.

[@UltraBall23]

… Masuda already quit GameFreak

[@KStarPR]

Didn't Masuda want breeding cut because he thought nobody liked it?

[@diethylmalonate]

So pokemon go?

[@startheangel9760]

​@@KStarPRIf he thought the picnic method in SV was any better he's sadly mistaken. It's a boring waiting game that forces you to either farm sweet and salty herbs or buy a bunch of sandwich ingredients

[@MTGDuelist8870]

"i love pokemon, and i want it to be better" Gamefreak: "Your living in a dreamworld!"

[@pinstripecool34]

Distortion world

[@MTGDuelist8870]

i want pokemon to burn :D

[@EpicMetalMitchell]

I hate to say I'm not surprised, but as someone who graduated college in 2018 as a comp sci major, has been working for a certain company since then, it lines up with my personal experience. I won't say which company, other than it's not a game developer, and that it's quite large - and that you'd expect us to be on the cutting edge of innovation when in reality, we're not at all. I didn't even get a workstation for the first two months, and my coworkers were urging me to wait even longer since the first one I could have taken only had 4GB of ram! But the two things that stand out most are the stagnation of technical skills and the upper leadership either not knowing or not caring about the technical details of their product. For the former, to give an anecdote from my experience in cybersecurity, I was taught in college that AES was the golden encryption standard in terms of how long it'd take to crack, and that it'd be quantum-proof, but the rumblings I'm hearing through the grapevine is that it actually isn't quantum-proof and we should all be frightened. But nobody knows for sure because the only people researching it are doing it as a hobby or side-interest, and for everyone else just doing normal work there's no incentive to learn more. As far as leadership, yeah it's hilariously inept how I can spend years on a project to vastly improve the overall capabilities of the system, and get 85% of the way to deploy it, only to be told at the last minute, Nope! Too much money (even though they already spent most of it on the work thus far) too much risk (how could you not have seen this in advance) and nobody wants that responsibility (that's quite literally your job higher management! The benefits outweigh all of this!) This whole thing, for both me and GameFreak, is equal parts hilarious and demoralizing.

[@YujiUedaFan]

Is it EA?

[@HenshinFanatic]

Cybersec, so Symantec or whatever they call themselves now, that or one of their competitors.

[@bluebaron6811]

The lack of love and dedication put into SV is just sad. Alola was the last time I could tell GameFreak put real time and effort into a mainline title. Was it the pinnacle of the franchise? No, but it was on the better end of the stick. Now half the Pokémon are gone. There are no cameos by any previous characters in the series. There is no Battle Facility. There is no growing Berries. Pokémon Refresh was replaced with whatever crud this "picnic" is. They're deliberately making Pokémon worse with minimized movepools (I'm looking at you, Toxapex and Rillaboom; you used to be kings.) All of the magic is gone. As much as I'm hyped for a Black and White trequal, I fear that *somehow, someway,* GameFreak will find a way to screw up the *one* Pokémon game that can't be screwed up. Just... how did we end up here?

[@xlbthedemigod5662]

They still have no excuse to cut anything

[@testerwulf3357]

How did we end up here? I'll tell you..they're still making employees function off of a schedule that only worked for 2d game making..3d games require more time as they're much more complex but they REFUSE to give more time or hire more staff. The outdated tech surely ain't helping either..And due to the lack of time and being forced to make 3d games the developers can't make anything good enough. They have to remove features because they just cannot add a lot in such little time, and it's led to much worse games as a result. The resent games are a giant red sign showing the lack of time they had to develop it as they didn't even have enough time to patch the mass amount of glitches before it was sold (and even after sending a patch out there are still places with horrible frame rate drops).

[@macuser7048]

Also what the heck is Pokemon Sleep? lol I know it's an app of Pokemon sleeping, but that's all it is.

[@Twiddle_things]

You're hyped? I'm horrified. They're going to massacre B/W.

[@DJLizardon]

​@@Twiddle_thingssame :(

[@HaughtyToast]

It's weird that Gamefreak is 100% motivated by money but also insists on keeping unskilled and unmotivated employees that don't give them their money's worth in production. Like what the heck? That's so backwards no matter what way you look at it. And they're apparently payed well to so it's not as though they're concerned with the payrate. Why not hire new people when even laymen outside of the company can identify that as the problem pretty much immediately?

[@GamersXnostalgia]

This is kinda cool to hear, knowing that a website like this exists to let us know how things actually are behind their doors. Gotta love this content, the kind of stuff I look for, I was glued to this video. 😂

[@mihaitirlea2509]

It's amazing how many of the company's problems were predicted just by looking at the games

[@leahdrook5161]

Actually I met somebody who worked at gamefreak during while making black 2 and white 2. When they heard that matsuda was working on next game (that would X and Y). They realized that black 2 and white 2 would be the last games and instead matsuda was more focused in X and Y development. They left to pick up pieces, so they put as much they could, (now they could not do everything but they tried) because of that we got black 2 and white 2 with all that content.

[@jiyanmehta7250]

Well at this point we just have to accept that GameFreak will never change and Pokémon will die creatively.

[@razrafz]

it already kinda is tbh

[@jiyanmehta7250]

@@razrafz yep it already is.Its a sinking ship but instead of the passengers(fans) jumping out to save their lives,they are staying in and sinking along with the ship.

[@WarriorStar1302]

This video confirmed everything that Game Freak was suspected of and then some. I’d like to see more reviews of Japanese game companies like Konami and Kojima productions.

[@macuser7048]

Sega too. And Square Enix.

[@Junebug6969]

i heard a rumor that game freak had a data loss and that resulted in the permanent pokedex cut. did these job reviews reveal that to be true? "they dont keep past data"

[@zjzr08]

Even if they did lose data most Pokemon data are found in the internet anyway or I assume could be gotten from Creatures (i.e. 3D Pokemon assets) again - all moves and abilities still have them programmed in on SwSh so it wasn't a full data scrub and probably just had no animations.

[@coolyeh1017]

I mean they made all those models for XY as "future proofing." Though we know that the modeling and animations come from Creatures Inc who are shown to be a bit more competent with documentation (according to modders) as they also handle the TCG and reprint old art work and cards with no issues no matter how old. Likely Gamefreak had poor documentation practices and the transition from 3DS to Switch didn't pan out so well.

[@york3538]

Some wild revelations but I think it kind of makes sense. Japan's culture with seniority and usually trying to uphold more traditional workplace ideologies are not always the most efficient. Also some comments to me came off as perhaps some higher ups like to pick favorites but who knows? Either way it does seem like with time GameFreak is slowly changing to better adapt to the current scale they're now operating at. It's just probably too late given how Gens 8 and 9 have turned out so far. They have some really cool ideas and the concepts are there (Gen 8 has a region heavily based around competition and the Pokemon League being like this grand-scale sport that's deeply rooted into their culture. Gen 9 has an open world with 3 different storylines that feel distinct and allow you to go about exploration as you like, mostly...) but where GameFreak likely fails is in the smaller details and optimization of not only their workplace environment, but also in terms of the general graphics and performance of the game. At the end of the day, most of it is due to the Pokémon Company itself and the demands made on such a comparatively small development team to produce a large scale, triple A title. I really hope the company improves with time and that some form of change is made either within GameFreak so they can meet the heavy demands or the Pokemon Company itself so that GameFreak can find some form of relief. 😎 It's cool to get some deeper insight into GameFreak after all this time and it's actually think it's a genius idea to look into the company reviews to see the inner machinations of the company through the lens of people with strong opinions or at the very least a strong sense of voicing their own experiences. That one guy who put the review saying he wishes there's a system where the older people can reignite their careers in some way was pretty wholesome too! 🥺 Also I'm proud of you for stepping out and using face cam with live commentary! That takes a lot of courage to step out of your comfort zone and do that! That's epic dude! 😁 Also subbed!

[@giovani_luiz]

Regarding some good reviews that contradict some of the bad, they might actually come from people from different departments. So maybe departments related to game dev might have seniority, bullying, low skills, pressure, lack of ambition etc and others like marketing are getting all the good things because they're the ones actually making unpolished games sell like water in the desert. I would not be surprised if the reviews talking about horizontal corporate culture actually are from people from the marketing team.

[@zjzr08]

TPC is the "marketing team" though so that's outside GF's main power...from what I read it's most CG (computer graphics I think) and game design which shows concepts are welcome but the execution into a video game is not.

[@bonk78624]

"They don't even keep past data." So, yeah, remember when GF told us they had to do those Pokémon Models from scratch after losing it? Yeah.

[@TheSilentChloey]

This is actually quite frightening to hear, that there's some very concerning trends happening...

[@chairwood]

what

[@Usagizaka46]

Wow. Gamefreak is worse than I imagined. 😐 I understand why Omura Yuusuke (BW2 lead artist) went to freelancing. In my late teens I wanted to work for this company. Lawl. Hopefully more people will take the training and grow. Gireum, I love this video and I hope it blows up. These employees have been a saying the very things we as players have been observing with every release. Don’t think I’ll be getting that DLC after all. Oh. Btw. That’s a nice room!

[@WizardSoon]

The Pokemon Company (Not The Pokemon Company International) might be similar too.

[@zjzr08]

​@@WizardSoonInterestingly TPC actually has a good rating, but it's likely because they aren't under game development, and more about hyping the brand, licensing to other companies (mobile game developers or non-games), and probably are finding effective ways to connect to more audiences.

[@WizardSoon]

@@zjzr08 you are not wrong. The Pokemon Company is more of a brand management company. What I am referring is the work culture.

[@zjzr08]

@@WizardSoon I still think the work culture in TPC is fine enough, just saying not as bad as GF seems to be.

[@jiyanmehta7250]

​@@zjzr08well TPC don't have much of obstacles,as compared to GF.And especially when they're responsible for making this franchise,the games,the anime,the merch look like water in a desert,things are bound to be better over there.

[@puer4787]

Bro can you please do this for every single major japanese company? Atlus at 3.3 Stars really surprised me with how low it is

[@FylixAerou]

I think it would make for an interesting series!

[@powwowken2760]

None of this is remotely surprising. Gamefreak's success has always been because of an amazing concept, not amazing development skills... Although the employees themselves openly admitting that they didn't even need to bother trying because the games would sell regardless still feels extremely insulting even if we all knew it was true already...

[@Gigamyt3]

On the subject of your 'camera shyness', I think you did pretty well. You seemed relaxed and have great public speaking skills for articulating an unscripted video like this. Don't be so hard on yourself! As for Game Freak, none of this surprises me given the output of recent titles. I will say that this is close enough of a confirmation to those rumors surrounding the data migration system for pokemon assets breaking down during the Sword & Shield development that resulted in the Dex being cut down.

[@RudyGGames]

Is there a way to get in contact with those workers who left a review? Would be interesting to get their perspective some more.

[@The_D_ray]

Every single time you stared at the camera silently after reading something obvious about the state of the company, made me burst in laughs. I mean, that would have been my exact reaction.

[@SpectreXS]

12:26 This should be the new pokemon slogan, rather than "gotta catch'em all".

[@SilverDreamweaver]

Excessive outsourcing is not a good thing. It leads to slower development, feedback, implementation, etc. due to lagging communication, and it also leads to skill atrophy within the company due to the outsourcing of skilled work.

[@miserablepile]

Nintendo's score is so high because of contract and outsourced work

[@KenBladehart]

Gamefreak earns more money than Disney, yet they still refusing to staff up and create specialized departments

[@itranscendencei7964]

Thumbs up and comment for algorithm. This needs to be seen by as many people as possible. Knowing that the people working at Gamefreak know full well that the games they are releasing are subpar but continue to do so because they know it will sell well anyway is just too much for me personally. Pokemon is my favorite franchise of all time, but Gamefreak can screw themselves if that's how they're going to conduct themselves. They want a small team to maximize profits, and don't care about the quality of the games they are releasing to make said profits. Only way to make them hear us is to speak with our wallets. I already decided that I wasn't going to buy the Gen 9 DLC until the games were fixed, but I might just skip the next games all together too if this continues.

[@jamesprumos7775]

So, the moral of the story is, if you want Pokemon games to get good again, stop buying them.

[@AveryAnarchy]

well, the "they don't bother to keep past data" answers the question that's been bugging me of "why don't they just port the older games onto the Switch to give more production time especially when it would make them more money"

[@archivistknight2278]

Truth is, if you really want the Pokémon game of your dreams, you don’t spend your money on every mediocre GameFreak Pokémon games. You have to hit them in the wallet to really get their attention. But sadly, that probably won’t happen anytime soon.

[@lioncyh]

Absolutely Quality content! Never thought this clip exposed the current "mainstream" JP companies works. I hope this alert to other gamers to know that even JP gamers don't fully trust them in today industry.

[@doopness785]

I pretty much knew all these problems just by playing the games.

[@soramercury7074]

this video is pure gold and i hope more people like you with great connection to the community and as much influence capabilities continue to make informative videos like this. we have to rescue this franchise by ourselves, by not buying shit that is thrown at the market unfinished and without being a complete package anymore.

[@harukami912]

At this point, I get hyped for indie games like Coromon and Cassette Beasts rather than the actual thing. Let's just give our money to the people who actually deserve it, it's for the best.

[@comyuse9103]

it is insulting to even compare cassette beasts. cassette beasts is easily GOTY material, you shouldn't put it anywhere near the same level as that garbage that gamefreak puts out.

[@harukami912]

@@comyuse9103 And that's why indie is the future of gaming.

[@MochaSlushes]

When two dedicated British guys make a far better game than a multi-million dollar company with 140+ employees

[@tonyg9775]

It's hilarious that we are at a point where some fan games have better quality than the mainline games on a likely smaller budget

[@angeldude101]

Often because they get longer development times, on top of sticking with the older 2D styles so they don't need to worry about the complexity of 3D development.

[@ceruledge7934]

Oh shit damn. Yeah, I enjoy modern games, but truthfully, they are mostly rushed messes with lots of cut corners

[@kjmudkipzofthemudkipdynast2657]

Same

[@Ash_x_pika]

I love zelfs totk

[@fws91]

Satoshi taijiri should be ashamed of what his dream company has turned into. He needs to fire the suits or should’ve not had Pokémon company been created. He no longer has the passion and just cares about the money with his hands off approach. At least miyamoto innovates and learns from his mistakes and still has that passion for great games to be made

[@wolfgangfegelein2450]

Tajiri took his money and ran damn near 20 years ago brother. He has no involvement with Pokemon at all anymore.

[@fws91]

@@wolfgangfegelein2450 unless his wikipedia profile is outdated, he is the president of game freak.

[@LunalynDragon]

that moment around 5:40 when what we all suspected was basically ALREADY confirmed as true I wish I could say I was shocked, but it's painfully obvious. I honestly feel really bad for the devs.

[@VaporwaveSunset]

Having an undersized development team for such a large and demanding project such as pokemon sounds awful

[@CagedRyno]

They’re right about the title selling well no matter what. Many Pokemon fans are a seperate category from Video game fans. I remember reading a lot of comments from people who were upset that anyone would dare criticize Gamefreak when Sword & Shield got released. Same thing when Scarlet & Violet got released. There’s a lot of Pokemon fans that don’t play any other games so they don’t understand the criticism and don’t like the constructive criticism towards their favorite IP.

[@gtdfg4594]

Bit of a rant ahead, sorry for that I gotta say, I was hyped for Gen 9. Was even going to buy it a month or two after release, but after seeing the state the game released in, I chose to wait a little while more. Maybe they'd fix it, maybe not, who knew - but I wasn't going to buy it in this state. Then, 3 days after release, it was confirmed that the games sold 20 million copies. And it felt like such a gut-punch. I bet that if I get S/V, I'll love it - I'm a longtime fan that unironically really liked BDSP and Sw/Sh, despite their myriad flaws. But seeing that it does NOT matter the state that the game was released in and it'll break records in sales: this was the first time I've felt well and truly bothered by a game's success. A franchise that I love. I echo many sentiments in this comment section in asking, how did we reach this point? This video is the confirmation I needed, the closest to actually hearing from them what is happening. And it's heartbreaking. I'm privileged in this being such a big worry of mine - let's face it, first world problems and all that - but I've never felt saddened because of a game franchise's handling, what the hell. I still love this series, I've replayed Shield 5 times, am planning on replaying BD, and going back to Sapphire on the GBA: those experiences will never fade away. But I do not plan on giving GameFreak any more of my money. And I don't like doing this, because, again, I know I'd love S/V! And, to me, it doesn't matter if boycotting GameFreak actually succeeds or not, but I know that I'd feel bad for owning this game, in particular. I don't want to reward this behaviour, y'know? Thanks for reading, if you did reach this point. I just feel completely disillusioned. And thank you for this video, Gireum. I needed to know this.

[@EclipseTheTube]

Thanks for covering this. Such a shame the entire situation

[@stellarkym]

That's why we should STOP buying their games. They all suck anyways.

[@UberDragon]

Good salaries, low technical skill required, don't have to try hard, don't have to communicate with others, do the same thing over and over without worrying because it will sell well. Honestly I think I'd probably give that a 5 star rating, lol.

[@deadpoolfan1002]

My favorite Nintendo hating KZbinr has uploading, what a great day

[@sweatpg3d213]

Fr, bro makes hating that much more enjoyable

[@ceruledge7934]

Gamefreak isn't Nintendo

[@deadpoolfan1002]

@@ceruledge7934 “🤓”

[@EWOODJ]

​@@deadpoolfan1002Yeah. How dare they use common sense.

[@deadpoolfan1002]

@@EWOODJ alright buddy

[@OhsoLosoo]

I don’t understand how every game outsells all the previous if the quality is plummeting like this. Didn’t the last game sell the most out of any in the franchise?

[@Gatherway-Duo]

Scarlet and Violet did sell very well, but that can be attributed to the fact that the install base of the Nintendo Switch is absolutely enormous. Sword and Shield actually sold better (by roughtly 3 million units) and the best selling Pokemon game of all time is still the original Red/Green/Blue on Game Boy.

[@cosmicsvids]

@@Gatherway-Duo And that a large majority of the fan base has lower standards or simply kids who don't know any better. Kids games always sell even if they are bad.

[@BlueSpinDash]

I bet Joe "shill" Merrick wrote those 5-star reviews