Pokémon General Thread

I'd prefer they refine the gimmicks they have instead of going down the Sonic route of throwing out the baby with the bathwater every gen and try to re-invent the wheel every gen with flashy new mechanics like they've been doing since G6.

A lot of the additions and "gimmicks/changes" to Pokemon in the Gen 2-5 were generally quality-of-life changes (Gender and Breeding, Double Battles, Physical/Special split, non-cosmetic alt-forms, Making TMs infinite use etc), simple cosmetic things that didn't really affect game-play all too much (Walking Pokemon, Seasons etc), or fun/optional side content (Battle areas, Contests, Underground, Secret Bases etc).

This idea of making these *huge, big, flashy* gimmick changes that dramatically change battles in flashy ways and are often given *significant plot relevance* to their existence is something G6 started with Megas and continued into G7 with Z-moves. While Z-moves seem... pretty much done as is (not much you can improve on there outside of more signature crystals), Megas are phenomenally half baked with a paltry number of Megas (that overwhelmingly favour Kanto mons) that GF itself has admitted they've shelved and aren't going back to any time soon.

I'd rather they tweak and expand upon Megas then add a new toy that has a not unlikely chance of being half baked and then dropped for the next shiny.

Mostly I want to see them bring back Let's Go's Wild Pokemon Encounter system (but keeping the traditional wild battle format), add more Megas and Alolan style regional variants that aren't Kanto mons and bring back and refine some of the old fan favourites like Battle Frontier, Secret Bases, PSS (PLEASE, PSS was perfect why do you keep reinventing the online wheel?), ORAS Lati@s styled flying and the like.

I mean, they're definitely gonna have a big flashy gimmick ALA G6 and G7. But I'd rather a more subtle, QOL gimmick like Double Battles or Breeding was back in the day and some of the other stuff to be polished and refined.

Edited by PippingFool on Feb 23rd 2019 at 1:17:09 AM

As far as battle gimmicks go I'd really prefer they work more with existing mechanics than try to shoe-horn something new in. Maybe add a new battle type or two if they absolutely have to have some gimmick. Otherwise I'd just like more quality-of-life options

This would have no chance of happening, but a third Pokemon game set in the Orre region could have one of the darkest storylines yet: Cipher learns about the Fairy type and worried that they might have an advantage against their Shadow Pokemon plan initiate a campaign of genocide against Fairy type Pokemon in Orre. This campaign would be so brutal and prioritized by Cipher's new leader and foot troops that Fairy types would not be encountered as wild Pokemon at all and for the main story the only Fairy type Pokemon that players can use would be the Sylveon that the new protagonist starts with.

Man, everything I hear about the Colisseum games is so needlessly dark.

And I’m sure the games themselves are not actually like that, so what is it about them that makes fandom react like that?

The Colosseum games aren't that dark. In fact, the tone is more comparable to Generation 7 games.

Pretty much the above post. Colosseum and XD: Gale of Darkness were only really dark in comparison to the lighthearted Gen I, Gen II, and Gen III Pokemon games released before and after those two. We also don't see how Cipher forcibly closes off the hearts of all the Pokémon that they turn into Shadow Pokemon.

Edited by CybranGeneralSturm on Feb 22nd 2019 at 7:04:45 AM

GF itself has admitted they've shelved and aren't going back to any time soon.

Source?

The games themselves are very much not like that, no. On paper some of the concepts sound dark, but in terms of how it FEELS, it's at most only slightly darker than the mainline games which are very saccharine to begin with.

Source?

I have a vague memory of an interview some time post-SM saying that they weren't planning on doing anything with megas but weren't ruling out coming back to them later. Do not recall precisely when this interview was or who exactly was interviewed. I think it's still possible there might be new megas in gen 8, but wouldn't actually expect them

Re:Colisseum stuff: The question was specifically why the fandom is so fixated on them being dark, not whether they actually are

I always felt the Colisseum games would naturally lead to a 3D pokemon game as early as the Nintendo 64 console as I believed they clearly had the hardware for it,why wouldn't you make a 3D pokemon game if it made you oddles of cash?

The answer being that Pokemon games are built around being portable,and the n64 was not,though you saw a change from the Gamecube onwards towards portability

It's not like they can't redo the animation. We see in Amie/Refresh they're fine on the ground.

"Dark" Pokemon games are so overhyped.

Like Mystery dungeon yeah?

More like SMUSUM.

I dont know what you mean sorry,acronyms confuse me

I assume they mean Sun/Moon/Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon and picked an abbreviation that no one ever uses.

Dark =/= good, but you can appreciate a game for implementing dark themes into a game with a lighter tone. I think S/M and the Mystery Dungeon Series do this well. As while those games are light in tone, when the darker parts hit they're a lot more impactful.

For example, Mystery Dungeon has unfortunate implications of kidnapping, attempted murder on your main character, and getting ganged up on while you are alone. In the first games alone you're being hunted down as fugitives by the same people who helped you for a crime you didn't commit. Sure these could be worse, but it doesn't change the fact that these are still terrible things to happen in a game marketed towards kids.

I think people are just numb to the fact that things like these in games are so common that it's a game(ha) to see how far some developer can push what's the next "most awful thing" possible to happen to people within their games.

A story doesn't have to be super graphic, gory, or horrifying to be dark obviously. I'm more of a fan of the physiological approach. If you're able to take a minute to step back and realize, "hey that's kind of messed up" I think it works at least as a concept. In that case I think games like Mystery Dungeon succeed in that mark.

You know, I think it's actually good that Game Freak hasn't made status ailments able to be inflicted on trainers otherwise there would be quite some nasty stuff going on. For example, Confusion could result in one of a few options:

-The trainer throws away some money or an item (panic ailment from Shin Megami Tensei/Confuse from Persona)

-The trainer stares off into space, wasting their turn and thus the turns of their Pokemon.

-The trainer will attempt to run away if battling a wild Pokemon.

Edited by CybranGeneralSturm on Feb 22nd 2019 at 11:13:11 AM

What if trainers could have the Burn status? That would be fun.

Anyway, I'm with PippingFool in that I'd rather they just refine what already exists instead of dumping everything to add in some new gimmicky successor to Mega Evolution and Z-Moves, though I disagree on the idea of going back to Mega Evolution. It's been years and I still hate it as a mechanic.

I'd like Gen 8 to mainly just focus on the fact that it's on the Switch; take advantage of the new hardware to do stuff they couldn't do before like larger-scale battles, more dynamic environments, and a larger general scope.

One thing I thought could be a neat aesthetic touch was a scrapped concept from Pokemon Battle Revolution, where certain attacks were supposed to damage/change the arena. So, for example, using a big laser move like Hyper Beam might blow a hole in the wall behind the target, using a big water move like Surf or Rain Dance might leave puddles all over the floor, fire moves might leave scorch marks or brush fires, Sandstorm might leave a fine layer of sand across the floor even after the weather dies down, ect.

Edited by Anomalocaris20 on Feb 22nd 2019 at 3:04:24 PM

It's like a countdown to Explore Pokemon: [Insert Gen 8 region here]!

Hmm...

Just watched the three we had, and now I'm not so sure anymore what they're building up to. All the videos are anime-based.

Anime-based trailers were a thing in Gen 5 and ORAS, at least.

Anyway, considering that each new "console" effectively creates a new series of Alternate Universes, and despite the fact that LGPE had them, I could see a future Pokemon Gen declaring Canon Discontinuity on Megas. Personally I would also want that gen to declare Canon Discontinuity on what caused Megas to be needed in the first place: the Eviolite. Without it, you could just add standard evolutions.

Conversely, the concept that Ano alluded to from PBR actually was expanded on in X & Y in the form of Natural Objects. I think that, regardless of what you think of Kalos or Megas, this does need to come back.

On that note, what field effects (including weather) and/or moves would change the battlefield?

And, given the capabilities of the switch, would it be possible to have a dynamic battlefield that allows for Tree Cover, Geo Effects, or Ledge Combat?

"Anime-based trailers were a thing in Gen 5 and ORAS, at least."

They made their own animation for the game content though. These trailers we got are mostly explaining obscure places that are Ashnime-exclusive.

Well then, they're building up to where Ash is going to go in November.

So I'm guessing that Meteor Village wasn't featured in today's travelogue?