What Happened To Pokken?

Pokken Tournament was a dream come true for many Pokemon fans, but never seemed to stick. Today we explore the reasons for its disappearance.
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The Rise of Pokken: (0:00)
Wii U and Competitive Gaming: (3:28)
The Switch's Rocky Transition: (6:29)
Pokken Today and The Future (9:07)

[@JPRPokeTrainer98]

Who is your favorite Pokken character? I was a Sceptile / Pikachu main myself

[@deltacroissant2009]

Scizor

[@shisuifirr8691]

Sceptile

[@fishfish6240]

i never mailed anyone i was a pokken nomad LOL

[@makerviewr1cn356]

Decidueye and Blastoise for me

[@goroakechi6126]

LOVED Lucario and Garchomp myself.

[@castform7]

I love when Pokemon uses other, less looked at Pokemon for their side games. Like yeah you have regualars like Pikachu, Charizard, Lucario. But then you have unothodox stuff like Crustle in Unite or Chandelure in Pokken. It's just so much fun when they use these types of Pokemon.

[@Salva_632]

Who uses crustle tho

[@pairoftimberlands4236]

@@Salva_632 Quite a lot of people use him in pokemon unite. Crustle is pretty fun too, zooming around the map with shell smash.

[@Salva_632]

@@pairoftimberlands4236 Walt, really? To tell the truth i don't know much about unite, i just assumed he was there to just fill some space

[@cunnysseur4393]

clamorant* in unite

[@altabalder]

@@Salva_632 yea he is like one of the best junglers, I think? Not a ranked player, so no clue.

[@goroakechi6126]

God, I miss this game. Should’ve gotten much more attention from both its updaters and the Pokémon community.

[@owealth5474]

Seriously it was such a cool game even the story was fun

[@firezera]

developers*

[@arvistotele3442]

Yeah, at least the Pokkén community is still alive and there are still tournaments for this game

[@Marcusjnmc]

@@owealth5474 um, it still is

[@maythesciencebewithyou]

The pokemon community prefers cheap simple games

[@BeforeYouKnew]

They should have just done something like make shadow mewtwo transferable to the main series games after you reach a certain benchmark in Pokken. Sales would have shot right up

[@JoeltedUp]

That’s true actually😂 Nintendo need you on the team

[@PaintedHoundie]

Honestly youre right. Plenty of side games gave you access to a rare mon or rare moveset if you complete some task in the game. wasnt ranger the only way to get manaphy?

[@InfamousAustinT0]

I wish we got a Shadow Mewtwo movie that could have a deep story behind it.

[@B-rex395]

They didn’t do that for shadow Lugia from gale of darkness, why would they do that for shadow mewtwo?

[@BeforeYouKnew]

A good point and probably one the reasons they didn’t. Still a shame though as both would be amazing to see in a main series game (alongside Primal Dialga from mystery dungeon). Still hard to argue that if they had done it, sales would have increased though

[@RednekGamurz]

Pokken deserves more. The phase shifting mechanic is unique, every fighter has completely different playstyles, and the roster itself is surprisingly well balanced. There are flaws (no rollback netcode, local splitscreen is 30 FPS, lacking single player content, etc.), but it's still one of my all-time favorite fighting games. The core gameplay is so fun and unique. There's really nothing else quite like it, and I'm glad that the competitive scene is still alive and kicking for it.

[@RednekGamurz]

@@thecod2345 I strongly disagree. So many systems in Pokken are built around phase shifting. Characters have different moves in certain phases, some characters are better in some phases over others (meaning a big part of their gameplan revolves around it), some assists work different in different phases, phase shifting is used to avoid infinites, hell, there's even an assist that's specifically only shifts the phase and nothing else. It wouldn't really be Pokken if you could stick to only the arena fighting, or only the 2D fighting.

[@crapshack4944]

@@RednekGamurz You seem to be in the minority of people that enjoys phase shifting, I bought it for the switch and personally despise it. I could see how if your super into to fighting games with a large learning curve than you’d enjoy this, but that doesn’t seem to be the general gaming demographic. That’s why mortal kombat gets a new game every couple of years and this game got taken out of arcades within its first year, super niche.

[@crapshack4944]

@@thecod2345 as a causal gamer I dropped this one immediately. Thought smash bros was complicated and then I tried out this dumpster fire. Seriously would buy a new one if they made it exclusively 2D or 3D

[@13thKingMu]

@@RednekGamurz phase shifting is probably the main reason why pokken didn't sell as well as it should be outside the first world tournament where the final 1 person just lame zoning opponent down by using braixen and won(which ruining the fgc aspect like how Deadshot did in injustice 2). It just feels really weird to fgc players to either doing a combo or pressure that ppl prefer it being a traditional 3d fighter instead arena fighter like Tekken(which is the same company made pokken),sure it'll lose some of pokken uniqueness but it's better that way

[@RednekGamurz]

@@13thKingMu There was a lot of lame zoning in the beginning because it was new and the game was pretty unbalanced. A few balance patches, and a few years of training later, and Pokken looks like a completely different game than what it did at that EVO. Hell even Machamp and Pika Libre, 2 characters with very few projectiles, are viable, and get used often in competitive. Phase shifting wasn't the problem, it was a lack of balance and experience.

[@APlusProds]

Now imagine this… Legends Arceus open world + Pokken combat (trainer battles where you control your Pokémon fully and have different move sets/special attacks) = perfect Pokémon game

[@gamingmimigma4001]

what if i told you that legend arceus is not open world, but its many wild areas.

[@choukrihersi6335]

Yeah kinda

[@samrichey7170]

I keep seeing this idea thrown out, and I feel like people don't realize that this idea just does not work. Making every mon have their own moveset to the level of quality and polish in pokken is an absurd and unreasonable task. Lets super lowball it, say the game has like 50 fully evolved mons. Thats over double pokkens roster. Making all those mons unique and interesting play would already be a gigantic task. And if its the more reasonable like 80-100 or more? Completely unfeasible for the dev team without a monumentally insane amount of time to work on it

[@azerty1933]

@@samrichey7170 definitely not impossible, watch dogs legion pulled a game where any single npc on the map was a fully voice character which you could play, the game may have been flawed but it did proved a point, the limit in video games are further away than we think In pikachu pokepark on the wii you had some type of open world real time combat and it was already quite good, with today's and tomorrow's technology this could happen, especially with AI which can drastically reduce the amount of time to create animations and models

[@samrichey7170]

@@azerty1933 Thing is, thats a voiced playable character. Not a fully fledged complex fighting game character with its own incredibly deep moveset. Making a large amount of those is an insane task for any team. An ai can make models, but it cant make the hardest part, and thats creative movesets and balancing

[@Zactoshi]

Oh God, he didn't start off by saying "Good Morning" 😳

[@JPRPokeTrainer98]

it's like the JPR equivalent of Ash turning his hat backwards. You know it's serious.

[@castform7]

@@JPRPokeTrainer98 Wasn't the last time Ash turned his cap back when he was eating in that Psyduck episode.

[@YoMamaBih]

@@JPRPokeTrainer98 OMG 😂😂 Never tell us Good Morning again 🧢🧢

[@garatenadialga6886]

goSH goSH

[@annedrieck7316]

@@JPRPokeTrainer98 he had bad morning tbh

[@Bluebatstar]

I'm _incredibley_ thankful this game's still got an active community. It makes the game feel so alive for me and I only got into it a few months ago. and it's a great game.

[@zackmoore1351]

I feel like I slept on this. It looks awesome

[@samuelline9573]

It just needed more characters and especially more Gen 5 content. Seriously even with all the updates we only got one Gen 5 pokemon, chandelur.

[@wargreymon25]

And more gen 7 like incineroar and now that there's gen 8 they should some and even regional forms

[@wargreymon25]

@@jaretco6423 I'm surprised they never put Greninja and Hawlucha in as dlc or in the base game. I don't know if they will ever make another pokken tournament game

[@donovanjoseph737]

What ticks me off is that even when they added dlc, they STILL have an empty character space. All they had to do was add one more character and the roster menu would’ve been filled out. Same goes for the support menu, those empty spots hurt my soul

[@xKarenWalkerx]

Gen 5 is the less liked Gen. Gen 4 and 1 are the big sellers and they know it

[@PaintedHoundie]

This would take a while to do unfortunately, but pokken would stand out if it had a big roster with different niches and body types. If youve played wrestling and fighting games they could have created a list of animations for attacks in advance and gave those characters a moveset. Like the biggest roster in a WWE game was 238. Imagine pokken with 238 mostly evolved pokemon. I honestly think they could have went combat sport game route.

[@realsalu634]

I wish the Pokepark, Rumble and Ranger series cameback

[@zetamangads]

Ranger I highly doubted even though I want it too, Ranger was made for the DS gimmick

[@realsalu634]

@@zetamangads i guess they could do it, the Switch is bassicaly an Tablet, so it could have touch controls....or maybe with motion controls😨😨

[@zetamangads]

@@realsalu634 motion controls no it would too inaccurate since the Ranger series was made for the stylus, I don't if touchscreen would work but it won't happen why would they make a game just they use the touchscreen.

[@realsalu634]

@@zetamangads well....i guess Pokepark and Rumble still can get an new game....what would be horrible would be an Hey You Pikachu sequel

[@nightmare3642]

@@realsalu634 Hey you Eevee. You know if they did a sequal that's what they'd do. Eevee's like their secondary mascot at this point.

[@Sylvieboy72]

I don't know if this really means anything, but The official Pokemon channel does have the Pokemon players cup featuring pokken, with the last one being few months ago..so i don't think the series itself is completely dead!

[@TheDeathmail]

He said in the end that it's not dead... just not very big...

[@Jukem]

As a top player for this game, I will say from an outsiders point of view I can understand some criticisms such as not finding Field Phase exciting. I will say that Field Phase when you get in depth about it has a lot to offer for resource management (you get a lot of meter to go into Burst mode by winning Field Phase, more than winning Duel). Duel Phase would also be more limited without a second phase, since infinites would be everywhere and it all around feels more free with movement. This is the same reason why in DX you just can’t remove Field Phase for local battles. They’d have to change the entire game’s mechanics and make Pokken lose its identity for one mode, though I do understand the frustration of needing two consoles ever since Wii U for optimal tournament/casual play without online. It’s only one mode in the grand scheme of things and if you made those mechanic changes all around, then it might as well be Pokken 2 and not a deluxe version. As for rosters, I know there are criticisms about the size and comparisons with Smash, though I find those unfair when Smash is a celebration of video games that’s released for over 20 years when Pokken’s first definitive release has a roster of 23, which is still a good amount. Pokken has one of the most varied rosters when it comes to movesets ever. When it comes to quality, I am of the belief it’s in Pokken’s favor compared to Smash. Only about 3 moves are shared between two characters among the cast (the Mewtwos). This is including how every character has a different moveset in both Field and Duel, with each character having something to offer that makes them incredibly unique even when they’re a similar archetype. I don’t mean to bash Smash but I think it’s fair to have that opinion when they’ve even glorified clones with the term Echo Fighter. The sales comparison is also one I don’t understand for the same reasons, though DX’s sales number has been old for a long time, with Harada saying it actually sold very well (over a million is nothing to scoff at to begin with, so I feel the Smash comparisons needlessly make over a million a lot worse than it actually is). I think the sales used in this video were even before Pokken’s height in 2018 and free trial/sale period the year after. I saw a lot of people interested then so I wouldn’t be surprised if Pokken broke 2 million or more. Still found the video interesting, but I did want to give my viewpoints as someone very familiar with the scene! My biggest disagreements were definitely on Field Phase and DX being somehow more lacking than Wii U.

[@LLotad]

I know im 5 months late but what makes the switch version worse than wii u

[@Jukem]

@@LLotad I was arguing it wasn't worse/more lacking than the Wii U version.

[@LLotad]

@@Jukem oh sorry

[@Jukem]

@@LLotad you good, just wanted to clear it up lmao

[@jamclone]

I've been looking back on Pokken after playing the demo as a kid on Wii U. Even if it was really complex, I found it really awesome and it's a competitive scene I wouldn't mind getting into. I'm not sure if the scene is still alive today - and I hope it is - but yeah I agree phsse shift is a mechanic that deserves more love and would definitely draw me to go pro.

[@shadowmarauder6033]

I love Mortal Kombat, so I instantly loved the idea of Pokken. I hope it gets more love in the future.

[@marcus7984]

Actually a really good game. Even better on Switch. Love fighting games & Pokemon putting them together was crazy awesome seeing. Sad seeing what happened. Always played Mewtwo and Garchomp myself

[@autisticgamer8664]

A man of culture Wanna battle?

[@zjean3417]

Pokken's competitive scene became alot more elitist because of the lack of support for the game making it very hard for newer players to have success.

Basically: stop being snooty if you want more players?

[@sekinafi29]

@ not necessarily snootiness, more so if you want to get into Pokkén you can NOT play casually unless you like getting beat. It’s more so that the Pokkén community is much more competitive than casual.

[@Marcusjnmc]

the community is very helpful in my experience , they are also very very good at the game though

[@samrichey7170]

Idk who you talked to, but a vast majority of the competitive scene are absolutely not elitists. They are very helpful and welcoming to new players, and we have tons of resources available for newer players to learn from

[@Timorias]

Since the beginning I’ve always wanted a game just like pokken. One where you could actually FIGHT with your Pokémon in real time. It looks more like a Pokémon battle from the anime. It hurts to see it struggling today.

[@jirehtheprovider]

@King Lion26 as much as it sounda good, do you know the damage it will leave behind? It will be massive. The millions of general audiencea that play casual turn based games will abandon ship or divide the community so badly of reaching disloyalty. But, what other massive mainstream franchise sponsors turn based gaming as its brand beloved worldwide? Maybe if there are answers to this, then that will cate those audiences. But let us not ignore the possibilities though. You may as well make a completely new franchise at this point.

[@jirehtheprovider]

@King Lion26 though i can agree to this sentiment, would we still want to have Gamefreak as its main developer? For most pokemon fans I read online and talked with in the past, Most of us do not see Gamefreak as qualified (highly acclaimed) Action Gameplay experts in game design. Like, I would trust Platinum Games or even Bandai Namco first if i seek action heavy gameplay franchises or titles. But we also have to keep in mind that IF pokemon will throw away the turn based gaming philosophy in a possible future generation, How will it affect their business partnership? In this sense, the three way partnership between Nintendo, The Pokemon Company, and Gamefreak will likely need to change as well. For as much as I like to humor that Niantic has a share on the Pokemon Franchise business wise (what with all of the AR gaming elements of Pokemon Go being integrated to it), it is getting close to becoming a four way agreement. But as far as I read online, Niantic is not essentially part of the Business Partnership of the pokemon franchise. Would it even be necessary to remodel the business partnership (ala the Kingdom Hearts dilemma of Who own Sora)

[@PaintedHoundie]

@King Lion26 I dont see the majority complaining. even if they did people would eventually acclimate. the biggest thing it would effect is showdown but thats not an official format anyway.

[@castform7]

I feel like Pokken's (main) nail in the coffin was it's gameplay. It was a great and interesting idea, but it didn't really lend itself to being played by a casual audience, Pokemon's primary audience. I personally think if they made Smash Bros but with Pokemon that it would sell like hotcakes. This in no way is me saying that it was a bad idea though. I find it very creative. I just think it's a reason why the game didn't meet innitial expectation.

[@ktvx.94]

With Pokemon's core gameplay being turn based strategy, a fast paced game could've been more streamlined to transition. Yeah Smash did a much better job.

[@lee210294]

They should have relied more on the Tekken inspirations imo

[@dragonmaster3030]

Imagine if they went with a DB fighterz style of fighting game, plenty unique roster for dlc, possible for competition and casual and a great looking style that's fits Pokemon extremely well

[@thatonecaster6501]

So I played the game and...from like a fighting game standpoint and.. personally I think one of the main problems is what it's gameplay too..I feel like the development team of the game didn't know how to do this

[@castform7]

@@dragonmaster3030 I watch so much DB Fighterz. That sounds like an awesome idea.

[@KobunLaunch]

Here's an answer to the "why'd it bomb in the arcade?" question from someone who pre ordered, was hyped, and got it day 1... I didnt even know the game hit arcades first and I'd imagine many others thought the same.

[@maythesciencebewithyou]

Are arcades even a thing in this age, outside of Japan? People have their home consoles.

[@dimetrodon2250]

Matches are fairly long and always best of 3, meaning that there are going to be less plays per hour than a shorter game. Shorter games (and harder games) make more money than longer games since it takes less time between players putting in coins (or cards or tokens or whatever)

[@dadwithnomustache]

@@maythesciencebewithyou even in japan arcade machine is already dying, remember last year sega building (one of the largest arcade center in japan) stop their operation permanently because their arcade customer drop significantly over years, even their small gachapon section makes more money than the rest of arcade in the building

[@ultimateracs]

If Pokemon Snap rise from the grave 20 years later, I can see Pokken 2 in a distant future

[@jortharob3406]

The dual fighting styles made it so much better to me. Made you have to learn multiple combos not just the one that did the most damage

[@SketchaV]

I've never played Pokken but I've always thought it looked really cool. It's a shame it didn't reach the full potential of a fully realized Pokémon fighting game.

[@Missingno_Miner]

I sincerely hope we do eventually get another Pokken game in the future. Aside from it being a great concept, I love that it gives underappreciated mons that you wouldn't expect to be in a fighting game a chance to shine, including unevolved mons that aren't Pikachu.

[@anivibes2968]

I Always wanted the Battle system in the Main Line Games to be like this

[@bri1085]

A simplified version of this combat system would've been good on Legends Arceus

[@bri1085]

@King Lion26 they've shown screens of the turn traditional turn based combat unfortunately

[@lukebytes5366]

Honestly, I'm sick of turn based rpgs turning into action for the sake of it. Pokemon is perfectly fine gameplay wise, it's the utilization that's the issue.

[@lukebytes5366]

KingLion26 then I guess turn based rpgs getting stale is just your opinion, that's a great argument, isn't it? No, what's stale is the fact gamefreak isn't willing to play into the gameplay's strengths. Most trainers only use one or two types. And even with the few trainers where that isn't the case, you can just switch out before they can even take a turn. Top that off with the fact your rarely incentivised to use strategy beyond grinding, it goes from an rpg to rock paper scissors. That is why pokemon has become so stale, and the solution isn't to make it another generic fighting game, as that would just doom it to another playstyle.

[@lukebytes5366]

KingLion26 do you know how many people are tired of modern FF? And when did I ever say I didn't like pokken? I like pokken, but turning that gameplay into the main series isn't going to fix it. Your not going anywhere by ignoring my points and your hypocrisy, and saying "20 years, time for a change" when other franchises have had the same gameplay for decades and are fine, like most other Nintendo ips. And do you know why they are fine? Because they incentivise using the gameplay to it's fullest. That's what makes them fun. Pokemon isn't doing the same and that's why it's so stale. I'm not saying pokemon shouldn't innovate, but shifting completely to a different gameplay style is not innovation, it's alienation.

[@user-nm3dh5io2b]

Can we just say that, this game was meant to be based of *Tekken* right? That's the reason we have the "en" at the end

[@wargreymon25]

I think some developers of tekken helped developed the gane

[@sekinafi29]

Yes you’re right

[@user-nm3dh5io2b]

@@sekinafi29 m yes

[@mosesbakst]

I played Pokken in 2016 at Dave and Busters, and there were lines to wait to play. I think the actual issue was that each game took astronomically long by arcade standards; why have a Pokken Machine consistently making 6.0 credits every 10 minutes when you can have another Big Bass Wheel getting a 9.9 credit play every 2 minutes.

[@AlejandroDeLaRosa05]

I disagree with everyone. The reason Pokken failed was due to 0 promotional advertising by Nintendo. They didn’t try to show why it was different or even advertise it much in the first place. They also didn’t add DLC or major updates to keep up the fanbase

[@sethurott9927]

@Vixen Lunastra this is a fighting game, NOT an rpg. Adding DLC keeps the game from getting stale and changes meta. Competitive games need changes in meta.

[@NAFEDUDE]

@@sethurott9927 You don't need DLC and updates to change a meta my guy, SFIII hasn't had an update in decades and it's still got a huge following. Also the console versions *are* updated. The arcade version didn't have every character (such as Blaziken) at launch.

[@personalover249]

They did have DLC. Aegislash and Blastoise.

[@spicyaura2440]

@@personalover249 CONSISTENT dlc updates

[@personalover249]

@@spicyaura2440 I- fair enough.

[@goldenyoshistar1]

5:36 and the fact that Melee is a freaking Invincible Zombie that will never die.

[@jamiewalsh3349]

Such a great spin-off. Played the Wii U original still need to get the Switch port. Watching the PWC Pokken finals is also a joy to watch.

[@ATAGChozo]

Several years ago, I longed to play the japanese arcade version when it was the only version of the game around. Thankfully, my local arcade has plenty of Japanese imports, including Pokken, so I thankfully got to play it several months back.

[@TsuriaDragon]

It’s a shame really Pokken is a fun game but not everyone is competitive I would love an sequel

[@ShadowStitchPlays]

Community is still going strong! Weekly tournaments, active discord, and plenty of great resources!

[@Zyckro]

God such an underrated game. It has its flaws, but as someone who grew up dreaming to play a Pokémon game with real fighting action like in the anime, well, this was a dream come true… Here’s hoping we can do that again someday.

[@italocarvalho8931]

On-line dead?

[@Zyckro]

@@italocarvalho8931 Surprisingly no. You can get a match pretty fast despite a lower amount of players. Probably not enough to have super competitive matches all the time, but every now and then you’ll get something close.

[@MegaKirb]

i swear 2016 was probably one of the more iconic years of pokemon

[@FlameJackstar]

I really don't understand why this game wasn't more popular. I pretty much only just discovered it for my own and it is just. So. Much. Fun. It looks great, it has amazing combat feedback, all the moves are so creative and it's so cool to finally see the Pokémon in much more impactful action. The phase-shifting is a great gimmick, every character is unique and fun to play. And I say all this without being a Pokémon fan!

[@claytonstewart7425]

It’s sad to see this amazing game die off

[@Wildstrike277]

This game popped up in my radar after getting interest in Pokémon and it is just up my ally. I’m not big into turn-based games, which is primarily what Pokémon is, and I mostly go for arena fighting, JRPG, and hack-and-slash, as well as whatever style the Arkham series was. So hearing that there was a Pokémon fighting game with mechanics that are like the Storm Games, My Hero, and recently Demon Slayer really grabbed my attention. It’s on my list of games to get on the Switch as soon as I get one.

[@ktvx.94]

I think the worst part was the little-by-little releases and underwhelming start. If they had just gone for what's now DX it would've had much more hype and built a playerbase. They really missed a money printer.

[@sekinafi29]

They definitely didn’t have enough advertisement game. I only ever saw a few ads that I didn’t look for

[@bookmew1081]

Well said & I agree it was the fact that DX essentially was a rushed port intended to kill the original game that the series died. Had DX not happened & instead a full successor game been released for Switch a few years later with more than just a few updates it could have sold a lot better. I said in another comment replying to Castform 7 that Pokken Tournament was treated as a shovelware series when DX released only 1 year after the original home release. I explained how the Smash Games Melee & Brawl greatly evolved on their predecessors in that other comment. If only Pokken Tournament for Switch were delayed to at least 2019 & added in new gameplay modes such as a TagTeam Mode where you could switch playable characters in the middle of a match or possibly even experimented with 4 Players fighting at the same time & released with more than 40 Playable Pokemon Fighters. Just imagine how excited everyone would be in response to Galarian Slowbro being DLC & getting a Mega Evolution exclusive to Pokken Tournament until that species could be transferred into a game with Mega Evolution usable once again. Or alternatively Galarian Birds as DLC Fighters. Just imagine being able to play as Rillaboom, Cinderace, & Intelleon, or as Zeraora.

[@branflakes11]

I got this game over a year ago and been having so much fun learning the game, playing online sets and engaging with the community in Discord. It really is an underrated Gem in my eyes.

[@superlui3408]

Pokken was both the first game I pre-ordered and my first fighting game that I played and I loved it, I really hope for more Pokken in the future

[@surfingsanta2381]

I love Pokken and it's a shame that it didn't get the success it deserves. Pokken was let down by the WiiU release and its advertising. Things aren't nice with the official support either as TPCI continues to make 3v3 the standard format for their events in the Pokemon Championship which is awful. 3v3 requires everyone to play 3 Pokemon which increases the barrier for entry considerably while also dragging games on for far too long making it a viewer's nightmare. It's a shame because Pokken was getting more viewership than VGC or TCG up until they changed the format from 1v1 to 3v3. At least the grassroot tournaments and communities treat it right. Long live Pokken

[@Pioxys]

Keeping an eye on the game when it was first teased, I'll admit. I was one of *those* people who was turned off by the Tekken x Naruto Ninja Storm gameplay. I wanted it to go full Tekken. However watching the gameplay, the roster slowly grow, freaking Dark Mewtwo terrifying me with it's DBZ finisher, this game is a gem that deserves more. Or at least the love for devs to come back to it someday. The music captures what I love about Tekken's music too.

[@RikoJAmado]

Pokken was the closest thing we would ever get to anime-style battles. You could actually perform moves like “ Dodge that attack!” and “ Jump on the opponent’s shoulders and then use Thundershock!”

[@auralunaprettycure]

Agree!!

[@maxspecs]

Some of the stuff you see out of Sceptile or Pika Libre is incredibly anime.

[@FartMaster20000]

i always wanted this so badly, and i just now randomly saw it pop up on my recommended

[@raider_reaper_4194]

Just got this game and its so fun! Just wish it had a lot more characters Greninja mainly Tyranitar or Haxorus

[@MarcoBeSomething]

I really enjoyed playing Pokken DX on the Switch but eventually I stopped playing and sold it. Every now and then I see something on it and that interest resparks for a bit but I hold out cause I feel like they’re going to make a sequel.

[@RogersBase]

I want Pokken 2 to be the Pokemon Day 2024 announcement. Make it so, TPCi & Bandai Namco!

[@todaysoxygenisokay1315]

I'm still to this day disappointed they didn't add Greninja with battle bond into this game having the burst move as Greninja's final move from the X&Y championship's would have been amazing.

[@adam1st-]

Pokken tournament is one of my all time favourite games and still play it today it's a shame it didn't get the shine as other games it really deserves another chances with of course with upgrades

[@MogaMomoga]

I just got this game for xmas. I have been looking forward to playing this for ever since it came out!

[@EpicoMarko]

What's the background music for the start of the video?

[@EmeralBookwise]

It's a real shame a sequel doesn't seem to be in the works. That could have been an opportunity to streamline gameplay into something more tailored to console play by cutting out the field phase.

[@domchan3578]

Glad to find another NC based content creator. Went to ECU and was active in the Melee scene at Blue Ox.

[@KYRA_RISING]

Isn’t it obvious? Look at the amazing visuals and animations! They don’t wanna make GameFreak feel bad about their crappy work. Anything with more heart than the mainline games (Mystery Dungeon, Stadium, Pokepark) is scrapped to get rid of the evidence that better things exist. So this shouldn’t come as a shock

[@plant433]

None of those spinoffs are even affiliated with Gamefreak and Mystery Dungeon is still an active franchise what drugs are you on

[@TruExtentChannel]

Fun Fact: the Pokken controller is compatible with more that Pokken. It's actually possible to plug the controller into a PS3 and it will work perfectly (minus the missing analog sticks and home button). I found it worked great with 2D games like Mega Man 9 & 10. It also worked beautifully with PS1 games via download or disc. And of course it's also easy to use on PC.

[@SorvahrSpahr]

the moment I saw "lowtier" I was hald expecting the footage to include a ragequit at the speed of light xD dunno if it's one of the numerous accounts LTG uses or not, but it was hilarious xD regarding the video, awesome insight on the issue as usual. it did suffer from the same weakness as any 3d arena fighter. Player 2 usually gets shafted. I'd love to see a proper 2d fighting game for pokemon. it could be interesting.

[@Mystic-Aidan]

Gengar in Pokken is one of my favorite characters from any fighting game ever, and it’s a shame we may never get to see it again. I’d absolutely love for it to come back into the big time with a sequel of some sorts. That would easily be a day one buy for me.

[@MikeDaddyMCS]

I love how Darkrai would hit you with Persona 5 menus

[@pribilai7268]

When i bought the switch it was partially for this game so it made me sad that it had so little sucess. I also could not find somebody to play it with so i droped it too... But if someday its popularity rises i will be there to play it because i really love the idea of the game and also the gameplay experience always pleased me

[@Penamesolen]

I was interested in Pokken when I first heard of it, because I thought it was Super Smash but with pokemon only, and that it would be awesome since many smash-characters were unknown to me, except for Mario, Luigi, Zelda-characters and pokemon I learned about all of them from Smash. Also many friends were more interested in pokemon than in games in general. Thus many were excited to play smash but for dousins of pokemon! Unfortunately, we are oldies and are only familiar with the two first generations, barely third generation, so when there were less than twenty characters and many were unfamiliar, it was sort of like playing Super Smash again. Then, as you said, the split screen vs. get many TVs at the same place did not work, since were were more than two friends and just wanted Super Smash but with pokemon (that we knew) XD Us being oldies is not anyone but our own fault, but the fact that we had to have multiple consoles or TVs made me uninterested in getting it. Perhaps what they could retry the fighting aspect (in only a local scale, hopefully) with Pokemon Stadium 3, haha. Because again, the idea of Super Smash but with many pokemon is great, but I am also just casual that prefer playing with my friends in the same living room, rather than with friends from different houses (when Norway closed and we were isolated during the pandemic, we opted to play multiplayer games where we worked and/or communicated more together, rather than fighting games where we would usually be quiet except laugh and give snide comments).

[@Expostulated]

i literally just bought pokken dx yesterday after owning it on my wii u, the timing is perfect

[@cheeseburgerlazers]

i was a scizor main but you should do more vids on the side games i loved your take on pokken

[@D00dman]

I saw this in the store the other day and thought back to when this first came out and how badass it looked. I've never been one too big on street fighter type games, but its pretty sad that this never took off.

[@sirspookybones1118]

Yeah, this game plays nothing like street fighter. In fact it doesnt feel quite like any of the big fighting games which I feel makes it more interesting.

[@TheGloryXros]

I love Pokken Tournament, I think its a really cool side-game for the Series. And the gameplay is surprisingly deeper than you think. I wish this game took off more than it did.

[@emmanuelrojas154]

I actually just picked this up. I remember seeing something about a pokemon fighting game some years ago. Gata say, I'm liking it. Gonna see if my crotch goblin is down to play . Great vid!

[@Tvdiet]

Bought the Wii U version played it for a couple days, noticed the lack of content got bored and traded it back in

[@TheZiiFamily]

Last year I realized theres one empty space in the corner of the Pokémon select screen so i brain stormed and came up with melmetal as a potential candidate for the game and I felt like them not adding melmetal was a missed opportunity when I thought about it I mean, I’d buy that dlc if they did it But on a side topic definitely not related in anyway, how do you mod a wiiu game?

[@itgetsdarker]

I understand how difficult it is to make characters for fighting games, but the roster needs to be significantly expanded upon. I’m thinking in the hypothetical next game there has to be at least double the characters, returning included- not even counting hypothetical DLC. I strongly suggest that every Pokémon with a Mega Evolution should be a playable fighter, and that in Gen 9 (when the game would again, hypothetically release) that that Generation would introduce a few more Mega Evolutions and have those new inclusions be added DLC; on top of underrated and/or requested Pokémon that should be in Pokkén. (Leavanny An Eevee Evolution, Mismagius, Lopunny, Maractus, Ambipom, Reuniclus, god the list goes on. There’s so much potential.)

[@KingKube-1]

I can definitely say that if this game came out today, it would definitely be a hit game

[@unknownartist7204]

i'd love to see a pokken game that gets somewhat frequent dlc in the near future, as unlikely as that may be i shall wait for it

[@p3p07]

Yeah, this was like my first impression of the series.

[@Johanimate]

6:40 Machamp used ORA ORA

[@davidhill8565]

Kazuya Mishima’s fight against Lucario in his route in Classic Mode in Super Smash Bros Ultimate references this game.

[@DRDJkoolade]

Your videos are always fire!! 🔥🔥🔥

[@chileshems88]

Next time they wanna make a fighting game, they should give it to Arc System Works.

[@jesserydland8286]

Imagine a Pokkén single player campaign. You battle other trainers and gym leaders in open and fun areas. Inbetween battles you walk around in hub areas, or traverse through the world similar to any other Pokémon game. You progress through the story and catch more Pokémon. There's a Switch -out mechanic in battles. I think this would be SO MUCH FUN. My biggest problem with Pokkén was the small arenas. Never felt that good to play in for me.

[@brandoncrutchfield2258]

My biggest issue with Pokkenn was the roster, when I got my Switch in 2019 I was pretty stoked to try out that game but when I got it I felt underwhelmed with how many Pokémon you could actually play as. I didn’t get to play Stadium or Colosseum so I thought this was the next best thing, I think I’m gonna redownload Pokkenn though and give it another go.

[@midsectionmark8956]

Ya way different experience than those games you mentioned. I do think watching some good episodes of the anime especially johto battle frontier and some movies may get you fired up to play like the anime lol.

[@eligamerman]

This is one of those games that deserved to do way better than it did. Hopefully it gets the attention it deserves if it comes back in the future 🙏

[@redx5216]

I hope the next games has two mode, 1v1 and 3vs3 with switches in real time like mvc, dbfz, etc. And obviously a big roster! Pokemon like Greninja, Zeraora, Zoroark, Lycanrock, Zarude, the starters and much more.

[@Wesley_H]

The small roster killed it outright for me when I found the game secondhand at GameStop a few months ago. Had to read the label four or five times to make sure I was reading that insultingly small number correctly. There are enough Legendaries, Mythicals, and other strong Pokémon that they should have included at least a hundred.

[@vaporterra]

Pokken had and still has a whole lot of potential. It’s the closest thing we have to an all Pokemon Smash Bros game.

[@1982pokemon]

I think the biggest issue with the game was poor mechanics. Burst was way too strong for casuals and way too weak for pro play. The inherent RPS (grab, attack, counter) system with a million moves having armor made the game feel like a knockdown, then guess right on wake-up fest. Plenty of people wanted to give the game a shot, but just couldn't stomach it after a few months.

[@zanzaklaus]

Yeah, it was too complicated for the franchise's audience. I'm not too bad at fighting games, but even I felt overwhelmed by it. Without the second phase it would still have had enough depth.

[@samrichey7170]

I gotta disagree on that. Pokken is one of the most beginner friendly fighting games I know of, being all the more approachable for FG newcomers for the lack of motion inputs, all the while still having tons of depth. If we only had 1 phase, there would need to be huge overhauls for the games mechanics. In duel theres multiple endless combos that get stopped by phase shift. Some characters hugely struggle in field, and others are incredibly dominant in it. Having both balances that out, letting them fight on a more even playing field in duel phase

[@guscci7810]

Wait I've been playing local vs and the screen is not slipeded like that

[@JMrealgamer]

It’s great! I like how they mix RPG and fighting together. Last time I played a game like that it was Flying Dragon on N64. I’m going all out with MewTwo.

[@ininite4789]

What's the intro and outro songs?

[@KrazyKai64]

I didn’t know there was split screen multiplayer in the game! My brother and I always share one screen.

[@MrBraun-kq5qf]

About to buy it in 2022 lmao, I played the demo a few years ago and really liked it

[@noahpokeemon6503]

Remember when the Wii u had a card for an early shadow Mewtwo?

[@HughWanztino]

pokken should have had a story and let you have a party of pokemon that you catch. they took everything everyone likes about pokemon and took it out then made the battling completely different. that battling was a great change of pace but not when you remove everything else everyone likes about pokemon, such as type advantage strategies and team building, and throw it out the window.

[@tanzolo4487]

To be completely honest? I think this game would have sold 3 times more, if the roster for the first game consisted solely out of Gen 1 Pokemon. Think about it.. Young Pokemon fans and fans of the new ones would be on board anyway. But you’d get 2 extra generations of people interested that now feel alienated by the modern roster.. The people that grew up with the original pokemon anime are now in their early thirties… they have nostalgia and kids. And money to spent on those kids and nostalgia. This game would’ve blow up. Trust me, pokemon go created hype, let’s go pikachu and eevee were hype. Everyone of my generation knew thesse games. Because they started off with the Kanto region. Pokemon arceus etc? Most of us couldn’t care less for these games, because it wasn’t “pokemon”. Swap scizor for scyther, Pikachu libre for Electrobuzz Blaziken for Hitmonlee Secuine for Arcanine Decidieye for pigeotto Lucario for hitmonchan Sceptile for Ivysaur Garchomp for nidoking Darkrai for alakazam Empleon for poliwhirl Etc etc. That’s a goldmine.

[@Flegarbombz]

Hey that’s me ! 9:44 😤

[@Bean_Pablo]

Yo that's cool

[@gradyjelly136]

Commenting here for future me to find when the Pokken 2 hype begins.

[@garrettwise7713]

I actually just bought this game lol. I know I’m way late to the party but I’m enjoying it quite a lot. My biggest complaint would be the lack of characters. Steady small dollar dlc character packs like a lot of DBZ games do would make a huge difference

[@voidgamer8681]

I really loved the graphics of pokken and I’d love to see some of the textures in base games.

[@auralunaprettycure]

Pokémon Type Wild and Pokken are both such gems I adore them

[@LightlessSlash]

I bought the game earlier this year played a bit and got distracted by other games but I started playing again last month and beat the main story and I really enjoyed it. I feel like it’s a hard game to get into but once you understand it you can easily get better and better. I would definitely buy a pokken 2 and would love to get better if there were ever events available for that game. Also I was a garchomp main!

[@goGothitaLOL]

There's also that Bandai-Namco not long after, went back to developing Smash Bros Pokken was sandwiched between Smash 4 and Smash Ultimate, and now that the latter is finally over, they're going back to Tekken ~former short-lived Garchomp / Gardevoir main btw (never really played online tho, if at all, hell don't even have the Switch port)

[@tanhart]

Would you be willing to make a What Happened To Pokepark (and pokepark 2)? I bet itd be interesting!

[@matkacp8880]

Man I love pokken. Although I must admit that releasing fighting game without real couch vs mode is worst decision they could have.

[@gamefreakDX]

If Pokken got a sequel, it'd probably be worth changing up the formula a fair bit. I personally propose the idea that a sequel to Pokken acts like Tekken, but everyone has the same kind of playstyle like Akuma, Geese and Eliza. Basically 2D characters on a 3D plane, but maybe have a bit more movement speed across the board due to special moves (something Tekken doesn't traditionally have).

[@jaredstivers]

If they could double the roster for the second version, they might have something. But wait until switch 2 out and probably gen 10 released.