Pokémon: Mainline VS Spinoff

Bigblast99 looks at the differences between mainline and spinoff games.
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[@daicebomb]

This guy gave his thoughts on the internet.

[@thelydz77]

I appreciate this video a lot! There are so many times I've heard people call Let's Go or Legends Arceus spinoffs when they aren't, and its nice to see a video essay that goes over why. Pokémon fans have always been in an awful habit of overcategorizing things throughout the years. X Thing is Y because ABC criteria... except for this one because vibes. Has always driven me nuts, haha.

[@techguypaul]

I hope we get remakes of Colosseum/XD on Switch 2

[@SorakuFett]

I believe firmly the best solution to Dexit would be if we got a new Pokémon Stadium game with all 1025+ Pokémon in it. They would only need to make a handful of environments rather than a full open world, so that would allow for the space for every mon. They could capitalize on nostalgia, like they have with Let's Go and New Snap, and they could attract bigger spectacle for the competitive scene, like back in the GC/Wii era where major tournaments were played on Colosseum, XD and Battle Revolution. And in the new online era, they could simply update the game when new Pokémon are added rather than having to release a new one the next generation. Edit: I also believe that, to ensure everyone can get their hands on every 'mon, if they don't want to put all the older gens on Switch Online, they should take the route of Capcom and Sega and release their own sort of "Pokémon Classic Collections." That way, they can make money individually on the games and control people not being able to merely "rewind" the game like NSO, and everyone gets continuing access to the older generations with a way to easily transfer those Pokémon caught there to HOME.

[@transgirlgeology2464]

You might be my favorite pokemon content creator rn

[@Turtle-Soup]

Thank you! I’m honoured!

[@danielmalinen6337]

In my opinion, Game Freak, The Pokemon Company, and Creatures Inc. have the final word on which of their games is the mainline and which is a spin-off, even if some players disagree with them. For example, they have defined the Legends titles PLA and ZA as part of the mainline. Yes, they are different, but the decision-making power over this is not in our hands, it is in the hands of the companies that make the games.

[@Tm_Slink]

I think the MAIN Difference *In their GFs mind* is.. Does this story happen canonically. I know Pokemon has Multiverse syndrome. But it seems that mostly, in every D/P/PT game.. Legends Arceus actually happened.

[@CosmicCorviknight]

I wish Colosseum and Orre got some references in other games, the same way Hisui gets referenced in Scarlet and Violet. Maybe a Tourist class trainer could just mention something like "There are so many wild Pokémon here compared with where I live in Orre". The lack of acknowledgement makes it feel completely non-canon, despite the fact that my purified shadow Pokémon have made the long journey from Orre to Paldea via multiple consoles. And maybe they could imply that Team Rocket GO stole their Shadow Pokémon tech from Team Cipher

[@Turtle-Soup]

Nothing saddens me more than seeing my ribbon master gardevoir have a met location of “a distant land.” Just a crumb of acknowledgement would be appreciated. Also the fact we haven’t gotten the real shadow lugia in go yet is a crime.

[@Nameless_mixes]

My criteria for a mainline game: 1. There’s a professor 2. Your goal is to complete the Pokedex 3. You have some form of boss battles to serve as check points for your progress Since Colosseum/XD do not intend for you to complete a Pokedex (just capture Pokemon to transfer to your Gen 3 games that you would not be likely to find otherwise), they do not qualify. Legends has Professor Laventon, you need to complete the Pokedex, and you fight boss Pokemon in place of gym battles (similar to the Gen 7 games). So yeah, PLA does meet my criteria. As do Let’s Go and BDSP.

[@tonyplaysguitar101]

Great video! The only thing that annoys me in regards to the mainline vs spin off debate is when people exclude let's go and legends from mainline lists because they think it's a spin off 🤦 Just like you said in the video, those games are Pokemon Company certified Mainline games!

[@Bry4nMW]

I get the feeling that for some, it’s important to them that they’ve played ALL the mainline games. But they may not want to play LGPE, BDSP or PLA. So to accommodate their ideals, they want them to be spin-offs.

[@funtimemarioman]

People in the comments trying not to acknowledge that PLA and the let’s go games are mainline and trying to gate-keep being mainline. Personally I want Pokémon to make MORE games mainline as long as they feature catching Pokémon to use in battle. Pokémon gales of darkness- CANON! Pokémon ranger- CANON! Pokémon masters ex- CANON!

[@STikER326]

Canon doesn't mean mainline, those are separate things

[@matthewwilliams8267]

Let's... not do that. We see how well "everything is canon" is going for sonic (fanbase is still on fire from that tweet). Not everything needs to be canon or mainline. There's a seperation for a reason.

[@Tm_Slink]

@@matthewwilliams8267 Well we've known since ORAS that Pokemon is a Multiverse.

[@Trixie_Lavender]

I don't care what GameFreak says, Colosseum and XD are main series to me

[@joshuamtzchz2596]

The Pokemon stadium 1 and 2 legends Arceus and pokemon gold/blue are my favorite pokemon games.

[@Turtle-Soup]

Those are some great ones. Hope that the older games make their way to the switch/switch 2 so that maybe we can use more than just the rentals for the stadium games on nso!

[@Wabit-b6k]

Let’s go and Legends are both spinoffs to me, because they deviate so drastically from the main games. It’s not that they are just a cool shake up, but a pretty different experience. I really can’t consider them mainline if they drop several normal mechanics, add so many new ones, then almost none of those changes are in the next game

[@ivanzoneBR]

You forget, they were made by Game Freak, had HUGE promotional push by TPC, Legends Arceus itself being labeled "The Pokémon game that started a new era for the series" and are games that take places in the same regions of prior mainline games. There is no way they can be spin-offs

[@Wabit-b6k]

@ where was it labeled “the Pokemon game that started a new era?” Also, if it was mainline, why would it get another game in its “series” with more traditional games coming out in between? Because it’s a spinoff series. That fact doesn’t make me like it less, but if it was mainline, future games would be more like it, and the term “legends game” would exist because it would just be mainline Pokemon

[@ivanzoneBR]

@@Wabit-b6k In the reveal trailer of the game, They literally said "The Pokémon series enters a new era" when introducing the game, so they consider the game as a major part of the mainline series. Also, your logic that because the game is labeled "legends" means its a spin-off doesnt make sense, Mario Maker is considered mainline games, despite being different than regular Mario games

[@Wabit-b6k]

@@ivanzoneBR Mario maker is a spinoff

[@tonyplaysguitar101]

As long as you recognize that you think they are spin offs and that's your opinion. The fact is that they are mainline because the creators of the games said they were! That's the key here. We need to separate opinions from facts, and that's where people get tripped up. In my opinion, XD and Colosseum should be mainline, but the fact is that they aren't! Hope that makes sense.

[@inklingsquid4688]

My take on if a Pokémon game is a spinoff is if it’s vastly different as well as part of a series. I will always consider PLA a spinoff as it was meant to test to see if it would be a good series/test how mechanics could work in future games. I get why people think PLA is a mainline but me personally, now there’s legends ZA, we can put the legends games in their own little bubble now

[@danielmalinen6337]

The biggest reason why people think PLA is a mainline game is that the Pokemon Company and Game Freak themselves say and count it as a mainline game.

[@matthewwilliams8267]

​@@danielmalinen6337 exactly. The people who made and market this game made it clear that it's mainline, but bc of some fan-made arbitrary conections, it's not mainline.

[@nightwing2032]

Gamefreak and the Pokemon company have said that legends arceus and let’s go as mainline games. Plus gamefreak made these games themselves. Gamefreak doesn’t really make the spinoff games as spinoff games were made by other companies. The only Pokemon spinoff game that gamefreak has ever made is Pokemon quest. Which was also already confirmed to be a spinoff game when it fane out. Let’s go is a remake of yellow which is a mainline game as well. Bdsp is also a mainline game as well not a spinoff as they are a remake of Diamond and pearl. It’s not that hard to figure out. People are making this hard then it has to be. So legends z-a would also be a mainline game as well.