How Will These Games Celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Pokemon?

[Rivvon]

I think that with (hopefully) a brand new engine for these games the ability for Pokemon to follow you again could be a reality, it seems like they've been trying to bring it back for a while (in Gen 5 to be precise) but it's never happened. And EVERYONE would love the ability to access another region, preferably an older one :3

It would be fairly easy to implement Pokémon following you at this point. In gen 4, they had to draw new overworld sprites for each and every Pokémon by hand and animate their "walk" cycles by hand, too. Now, all they need to do is take the already-sculpted, already-rigged 3D models and give them a "walk" cycle and lo and behold, the Pokémon is now following you around on the overworld! Just make it optional for the people who aren't too fond of it and you've got yourself the return of a beloved feature! I'd imagine there could be a little miniature Poké Ball or "walking" icon on the bottom right of each party Pokémon's "box" in the party menu, and if you tap it it would light up and the Pokémon would come out of its Poké Ball to follow you.

One possibility is that instead of being able to revisit old regions, they'll bring back features that are iconic of the previous six generations.

As an example they might bring back the Bug Catching Contest and Apricorns from the second generation. Something like that.

My only fear in that case would be that the 7th generation would become some kind of "Greatest Hits" generation instead of having a strong identity of it's own.

The thing is, something like Apricorns would be okay because they existed to give you access to new Poké Balls (ones that I'd love to have back, by the way)--and the juice blends for the PokéAthlon but that's a different topic. Johto had a lot of identity on its own that if Sun & Moon incorporated Pokémon following you and Apricorns I wouldn't think that's taking away from the identity of Sun & Moon's region. I can imagine more than one region has Apricorns, as in real-life, corn grows in more than one continent. Same thing with character customization; if I leave my home country to visit another, I'm not gonna stop styling my hair and changing my clothes.

I considered putting the Bug-Catching Contest in my list some posts above, but I thought against it because I realized--as fun as that was, what does it bring to the table? It was a fun activity to help you get some of the rarer Bug-Types. You can incorporate that any other way and still have it be successful. So that's an example of something that can remain Johto-exclusive. Other things, though, such as Contests, can be shared across generations without feeling like they're ripping off another game (it's already been done since Contests are both in Hoenn and Sinnoh).

I'd be inclined to agree with this; I think there is an inherent danger in that if they go overboard with the homages to each generation prior...after all, there is a LOT of content. That said, this is what third titles and sequels are for. If Sun and Moon are seventh generation titles, I'd expect them to be pioneers, and not representative of the generation as a whole, so if they were more 20th Anniversary titles rather than fresh, wholly original instalments in a brand new gen, I don't think it'd be cause for alarm...unless we didn't get any follow-up again, as would be the case with XY if Sun and Moon weren't connected to them in some way.

I'm not targeting this towards you specifically but just in general: I really don't get this mindset. I'm sure I'm in the minority, being someone who actually wanted "Pokémon Z." But how can people be so eager to leave gen 6 behind--and for some, leaving behind the concept of "third versions" behind entirely--if they're so certain Sun & Moon will be just as content-deprived as X & Y? Why would you want that? If the days of third versions are over, that means Sun & Moon have to step up their game, and not be the typical, lackluster (content-wise) "first games" of the generation. Otherwise, we're gonna need a third version again and we'll just be back at square one. I really don't think there would be much issue if Sun & Moon literally "brought it all together" and incorporated lots of features from previous games. Some people felt that Kalos didn't have much of its own "identity" because all it did was pay homage to gen 1, which made it feel like it was trying to be gen 1. But if Sun & Moon brought together features from all previous gens, it would feel more like a culmination of what made the previous games so great, rather than it trying to be something that it's not.

That's an awesome idea, I'd really like to see the best/well-received feature of each region being implemented into S/M. To add on to Gen 4, how about a revisit to the Distortion World? Maybe even Cyrus has captured Giratina and you get to battle him for the lulz?

I think that the new region will have some sort of connection to all past regions, like a melting pot of sorts. I'm not just talking about little NPC references like "hey I came from *blank* Town from the *blank* Region!". I talking about cultural and plot elements from past games

Aaah I'd love to visit the Distortion World again! But I feel as though there'd have to be some like plot reason to be able to do that... I was trying to think of other things like "Unova's" Nature Preserve and the Sinjoh Ruins, places which are related but not really to other regions that could be visited. But it's hard to think of what they could do without going out of their way, story-wise.

I like where you're going with the "cultural and plot elements from past games," but could you maybe give an example? I keep thinking about stuff like how in Crystal Version, the main legendary of focus was part of the minor trio rather than the major two/three mascots.

 

[pkmin3033]

I'm not targeting this towards you specifically but just in general: I really don't get this mindset. I'm sure I'm in the minority, being someone who actually wanted "Pokémon Z." But how can people be so eager to leave gen 6 behind--and for some, leaving behind the concept of "third versions" behind entirely--if they're so certain Sun & Moon will be just as content-deprived as X & Y? Why would you want that? If the days of third versions are over, that means Sun & Moon have to step up their game, and not be the typical, lackluster (content-wise) "first games" of the generation. Otherwise, we're gonna need a third version again and we'll just be back at square one. I really don't think there would be much issue if Sun & Moon literally "brought it all together" and incorporated lots of features from previous games. Some people felt that Kalos didn't have much of its own "identity" because all it did was pay homage to gen 1, which made it feel like it was trying to be gen 1. But if Sun & Moon brought together features from all previous gens, it would feel more like a culmination of what made the previous games so great, rather than it trying to be something that it's not.

Well, I'll try and respond to the point anyway, whether aimed at me or not.

I think one of the reasons people are so keen to move on is because these third versions never change things sufficiently enough that it feels like a whole new experience or even a worthwhile one, at least for the majority of the game. You're running through the exact same sequence of events that you did previously, only you've changed your Legendary of choice, maybe added a couple of side characters who pop up maybe once or twice, and your reward for persevering through this a second time is postgame content that quickly loses its appeal, if it ever had any at all. It's the version that we SHOULD have gotten the first time around, though. It's irritating to buy the game again when the changes are so superficial it feels on some levels like we wasted our money on the first versions; at least, I think that's a part of it.

Personally, I'd be all for not needing third versions anymore if it meant that the first games included all those features; if Game Freak actually stepped up their game and delivered that complete experience the first time around like they ought to. Not many other titles out there will re-release themselves a year or two after their release with such minimalistic changes. Because, let's face it, the changes made in third versions would be in-game patches (or paid DLC, which is still preferable to paying full RRP) on other consoles. Do I think we need third versions or sequels now, as things stand, to get the full vision of what the developers had in mind? Yes. Do I like that? No. In fact, if it were any other developer, any other franchise, I wouldn't stand for it.

I'm not sure how content-deprived Sun and Moon will be if they're seventh gen titles, but if history is anything to go by, they'll be standard-issue first entry titles, 20th Anniversary homages or not. Because it's just the way Game Freak work. It's the way they've always worked.

It would depend entirely on how it is presented - and, I suppose, how familiar with the titles and how forgiving you were - whether or not Sun and Moon would feel like collaboration titles rather than original titles if they blatantly pulled together things from previous generations. It's very difficult to say how successful that kind of thing is without first playing the titles, because it can go either way. It would depend on what new content was there, amongst other things. Personally, I'd prefer to see it as drawing it all together, rather than subsidising because they ran out of new ideas or whatever, but...well, that's just me. You can bet other people will take the opposite viewpoint, because that's how the game industry as a whole works - one game owns one idea, and if another game uses it, that's stealing. If, say, Pokemon followed you in Sun and Moon, they'd be HGSS ripoffs. If they had a Battle Frontier they'd be Emerald ripoffs. If they had cameos it'd be because they're trying to be like a previous gen. People just love complaining about these things even if they wanted them.

 

[Hikamaru]

I'm not sure how content-deprived Sun and Moon will be if they're seventh gen titles, but if history is anything to go by, they'll be standard-issue first entry titles, 20th Anniversary homages or not. Because it's just the way Game Freak work. It's the way they've always worked.

It's been the formula of Pokemon for a while, in that the first games have notably less content. However, there's always the chance Game Freak will give us more content than we'd usually expect.

 

[Rivvon]

Well, I'll try and respond to the point anyway, whether aimed at me or not.

I think one of the reasons people are so keen to move on is because these third versions never change things sufficiently enough that it feels like a whole new experience or even a worthwhile one, at least for the majority of the game. You're running through the exact same sequence of events that you did previously, only you've changed your Legendary of choice, maybe added a couple of side characters who pop up maybe once or twice, and your reward for persevering through this a second time is postgame content that quickly loses its appeal, if it ever had any at all. It's the version that we SHOULD have gotten the first time around, though. It's irritating to buy the game again when the changes are so superficial it feels on some levels like we wasted our money on the first versions; at least, I think that's a part of it.

I get that. I get why people want to move away from third versions. But what I don't get is, if they want to move away from third versions, why do they want, or rather, think that Sun & Moon will be the typical "first games" of a generation? Because if they keep that "tradition" up, while neglecting to make a third version, then what, none of the games will be substantial?

It would depend entirely on how it is presented - and, I suppose, how familiar with the titles and how forgiving you were - whether or not Sun and Moon would feel like collaboration titles rather than original titles if they blatantly pulled together things from previous generations. It's very difficult to say how successful that kind of thing is without first playing the titles, because it can go either way. It would depend on what new content was there, amongst other things. Personally, I'd prefer to see it as drawing it all together, rather than subsidising because they ran out of new ideas or whatever, but...well, that's just me. You can bet other people will take the opposite viewpoint, because that's how the game industry as a whole works - one game owns one idea, and if another game uses it, that's stealing. If, say, Pokemon followed you in Sun and Moon, they'd be HGSS ripoffs. If they had a Battle Frontier they'd be Emerald ripoffs. If they had cameos it'd be because they're trying to be like a previous gen. People just love complaining about these things even if they wanted them.

Well I can tell you right now that I've never met anyone who thought of HGSS as a "Yellow Version rip-off" since it had Pokémon following you, which was technically done by Yellow Version first, albeit to a much smaller scale. Of course, there will be complainers no matter what, but I highly doubt people will claim that Sun & Moon ripped off older Pokémon games if it contained previously-demanded features. Because it's Pokémon, it's the same series. A series can borrow from and improve upon itself. Nobody thought Sinnoh's Battle Frontier was a rip-off from Emerald because they had all-new facilities with all-new NPCs--excepting the Battle Factory, but even then the NPC was new.

Pokémon following you might not have a lot of room for change, but Contests have some wiggle-room for new aspects (Hoenn & Sinnoh prove that); the Battle Frontier proves that (Hoenn & Sinnoh again); if they add depth to what can be done with your outfits and hair (layering clothes, different clothing types, a multitude of hairstyles and colors, etc.) it would be different enough from Kalos to be fresh. And that's what I don't really get about thinking they can't or shouldn't be included. These features, once improved upon from their initial appearances, can feel almost brand-new. So it wouldn't take away from the "identity" of Sun & Moon, but rather add to it, making it a game that feels like there was a lot of time and care put into making all these features come together in a way that fans have wanted for some time.

 

[pkmin3033]

I get that. I get why people want to move away from third versions. But what I don't get is, if they want to move away from third versions, why do they want, or rather, think that Sun & Moon will be the typical "first games" of a generation? Because if they keep that "tradition" up, while neglecting to make a third version, then what, none of the games will be substantial?

Because that's what they've come to expect from the games - why would Sun and Moon be any different? I can certainly see the point: Game Freak don't NEED to make an effort to make the first version of Pokemon more substantial any more than Square Enix need to put effort into Final Fantasy, or AAA developers like EA need to put an effort into their annually released titles. No matter what they do, these things are going to sell hundreds of thousands. Cutting content also allows them to repackage it later and sell it again a year or so later and sell even more. Will that change if they do away with third versions? I have absolutely no idea. I would certainly hope so. But even if it didn't...well, can you see it spelling the end of Pokemon? Because I certainly can't.

Well I can tell you right now that I've never met anyone who thought of HGSS as a "Yellow Version rip-off" since it had Pokémon following you, which was technically done by Yellow Version first, albeit to a much smaller scale. Of course, there will be complainers no matter what, but I highly doubt people will claim that Sun & Moon ripped off older Pokémon games if it contained previously-demanded features. Because it's Pokémon, it's the same series. A series can borrow from and improve upon itself. Nobody thought Sinnoh's Battle Frontier was a rip-off from Emerald because they had all-new facilities with all-new NPCs--excepting the Battle Factory, but even then the NPC was new.

You have a lot more faith in the fandom than I do, then. Maybe you won't find that sort of complaint here, but elsewhere, on boards a little less civilised, you can bet the claws will come out and people will complain. I suppose it doesn't really matter, because they'll be in a very small minority with complaints that extreme, but...well, people are never satisfied. As many people who want something, an equal number don't. Just look at the threads in this section for an illustration: people are speculating left and right, asking for specific features to be added or removed; no matter what happens, someone is going to be upset. People want things to remain the same, but they want a completely new experience. They're never satisfied.

Pokémon following you might not have a lot of room for change, but Contests have some wiggle-room for new aspects (Hoenn & Sinnoh prove that); the Battle Frontier proves that (Hoenn & Sinnoh again); if they add depth to what can be done with your outfits and hair (layering clothes, different clothing types, a multitude of hairstyles and colors, etc.) it would be different enough from Kalos to be fresh. And that's what I don't really get about thinking they can't or shouldn't be included. These features, once improved upon from their initial appearances, can feel almost brand-new. So it wouldn't take away from the "identity" of Sun & Moon, but rather add to it, making it a game that feels like there was a lot of time and care put into making all these features come together in a way that fans have wanted for some time.

Again, that'd depend on your perspective - some people would see that as a cop-out and, if Sun and Moon don't have enough of an identity without these features, they will be what people home in on, and they'll be points of criticism rather than points in its favour. If all they see and like of Sun and Moon is things from previous titles, that makes them bad games. That's how the logic goes...if one can call that logic.

It's very difficult for me to argue a point I don't particularly agree with, haha. Having been sick of the franchise myself twice in the past - once with Hoenn, and once with Unova - I can see the arguments though, and I can relate to a degree with people who have these mindsets, as I used to share it. Personally, I'd prefer to give Sun and Moon a chance to impress me, and to judge it as a separate entity, and not by the standards of the previous titles. But...well, it's Pokemon. You can expect certain things. Expectations breed excitement or cynicism, and with so little information it's difficult to go either way.

 

[Rivvon]

Because that's what they've come to expect from the games - why would Sun and Moon be any different?

People have also come to expect a third version or "enhancement" game from each generation, and look what's happened here. Whether this is going to become the norm or not has yet to be seen, but a lot of fans certainly think the series is changing--going so far as to believe that third versions are now officially "extinct"--so I'd hope that comes with changes to how the first games of a generation are treated, too.

You have a lot more faith in the fandom than I do, then.

I've known people personally who were upset that gen 5 had sequels over a third version. Trust me, I know that people will complain over anything and everything.

But like, stuff like the Battle Frontier has been so highly-requested... is it really worth excluding for the sake of the (presumably vocal minority of) people who will complain and still find themselves buying the games anyways??



I guess it's just that when it comes to thinking about "how will these games celebrate the series's 20th anniversary," I can't think of too many options. I truly feel that a game with all regions just isn't feasible. At all. But if they were to include features from those regions, from those games, it has a much higher chance of working than not. And some people will complain, yeah. But so what? It's likely that those people were either never going to buy the games to begin with, or they'll buy the games regardless of what complaints they have.

 

[WingsofBliss]

Aaah I'd love to visit the Distortion World again! But I feel as though there'd have to be some like plot reason to be able to do that... I was trying to think of other things like "Unova's" Nature Preserve and the Sinjoh Ruins, places which are related but not really to other regions that could be visited. But it's hard to think of what they could do without going out of their way, story-wise.

I like where you're going with the "cultural and plot elements from past games," but could you maybe give an example? I keep thinking about stuff like how in Crystal Version, the main legendary of focus was part of the minor trio rather than the major two/three mascots.

When I think of Unova, it's got a whole medieval England theme going on in a lot of its towns 'n stuff(not to mention their evil Team), along with some American splashed in(Clay's town and Castelia). I think though that the culture in the first four regions are somewhat similar though, I think because they're based on Japan. Unova and Kalos are really the only ones that do seem separate from the first 4, culturally speaking.

The Distortion World thing I kinda threw out there, mostly because that was the #1 feature that stood out to me in Gen 4.

One thing I forgot to add was Secret Bases from Gen 3. I liked them even better in ORAS, that and the character customization in XY are things I'd like to see return.

 

[Thunderflare]

Okay, thinking about it, here are some things they can do for the 20th year anniversary.

The return of Team Rocket.
Blaine searching for Mewtwo.
Iris and Cynthia team up to search for the secrets of Lord Rayquaza.
Koga sent on a secret mission in the region.
N runs a Pokemon shelter and rewards you for releasing Pokemon back into the wild.
Bianca is an assistant to the local Pokemon Professor.
Adds for Diantha's latest movie litter the area.
Steven Stone teaches you about Mega Evolution.
Blue takes you under his wing and teaches you how to be a Pokemon Master. You'll be able to challenge him once you're the Champion.
Three words: POKEMON...WORLD...TOURNAMENT!

 

[Lunar]

Okay, thinking about it, here are some things they can do for the 20th year anniversary.

The return of Team Rocket.
POKEMON...WORLD...TOURNAMENT!

I'd never really thought about it but Team Rocket returning would be such a good tribute to the original games, and one I think many fans would love to see given their long absence.
Pokemon World Tournament would be amazing to have back and would be a fantastic way to pay homage to the various characters in Pokemon throughout the years which would be a great touch.

 

[OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]

I'm not sure if Giovanni will remake TR after losing to Ethan/Lyra. He seemed crushed, much like Ghetsis later did when crushed by Nate/Rosa after having been crushed two years before.

 

[MarinoKadame]

It would be great if we didn't had an evil team in this game and more like a friendly one that would help us defeat a single antagonist.

 

[Sabrewulf238]

It would be great if we didn't had an evil team in this game and more like a friendly one that would help us defeat a single antagonist.

I want there to be an evil team that isn't called a team (instead called a task force or some sort of police group) and I want there to be a team who are infamous around the region for being terrorists and trouble makers, but the reality is that this group you've been battling and chasing after are actually genuinely trying to do good and it's the group with good publicity who has a leader up to no good.

It's kind of a cliche I guess but it would still be pretty progressive for Pokemon in terms of story. :P

I do wish they didn't signpost the villain quite so obviously though. Lysandre was practically screaming "I'm up to no good" the moment he appeared. Same goes for Diantha too, she looked like such a champion. (it wasn't just how she looked though but also the way she was just shoehorned into the story made her look suspicious)

For the champion I wouldn't mind if they had regular clothes travelling the region and then had a costume change when you fought them as the champion. (kind of like what happened with Iris except within the one game) In a way I think that would actually make it more awesome. (although maybe a little cheesy :P) Also maybe I'm expecting too much but it would be nice if champions were included in the story more naturally and not just "hey look at this random cool person who totally isn't secretly the champion!!!"

 

[Master of Memes]

It doesn't have to be major. I'm just happy to get new Pokémon, but if I were in charge...

- Kanto Starters get access to Ash-Greninja mechanic
- Split Pikachu evolution
- PWT
- Meet Ash
- Eevee pre-evolution
- New key item that lets you listen to every single soundtrack piece *even RG lavender town*
- Pokéwalker app for IOS, Android, etc that features RBG styled sprites for every single Pokémon from each generation
- Dark Mewtwo

 

[Thunderflare]

I'm not sure if Giovanni will remake TR after losing to Ethan/Lyra. He seemed crushed, much like Ghetsis later did when crushed by Nate/Rosa after having been crushed two years before.

That was a long time ago. There are three years between Red/Blue and Gold/Silver, and two years between Black/White and Black/White 2. Estimating similar gaps between games, its probably been over 10 years. He's also part of the Pokemon World Tournament, so I think he's gotten over it.

It doesn't have to be major. I'm just happy to get new Pokémon, but if I were in charge...

- Kanto Starters get access to Ash-Greninja mechanic
- Split Pikachu evolution
- PWT
- Meet Ash
- Eevee pre-evolution
- New key item that lets you listen to every single soundtrack piece *even RG lavender town*
- Pokéwalker app for IOS, Android, etc that features RBG styled sprites for every single Pokémon from each generation
- Dark Mewtwo

First of all, Ash is not a canon character in the games. Red is a completely different character from Ash.

An Eevee pre-evolution would be completely pointless. But the "Ash" Greninja and Dark Mewtwo are very likely, considering they are in actual Pokemon games. Another Pikachu evolution might be interesting.

 

[TCB]

Well RBY -> Bank -> SuMo is a start. Perhaps we'll see appearances from previous characters in the games.

We always had new Eeveelutions debut in even number generations, but hey things can always change.

This is a loooooong shot, but maybe returning features of past games could make a reappance here. Like Seasons for instance. It'll be pretty disappointing if these games are barebones under the guise of celebrating 20s years and it ends up being another XY thing.

 

[firekid115]

My "safe" prediction is that numerous popular characters from previous generations will appear in the story somehow. Characters like Cynthia, Blue, Steven, Misty, etc

I hope they take it a bit further than that though, "celebrate" the anniversary by bringing back cross-gen evos, actually being quality games, etc

 

[OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]

I too think we'll get several cameos.

 

[JolteonUsedOutrage]

Hmm, I think it would be neat if we could visit the "capitals" of all the previous regions post-game and do some kind of events there. Get a starter or a legendary or fight a previous champions(or all of the above). Also it would be cool if we would get references to "our" characters in the previous games, like in B2/W2 when N said that a hero helped him the past in that Reshiram/Zekrom/Ghetsis fight.
Plus I love what MarioMan said. It would be awesome if we could interact with characters of the previous games somehow.

 

[Sturdyhax]

I really hope that old features are put in to Sun and Moon. The Pokemon walking with you is something everybody loves and maybe we will get a decent battle frontier. It would also be cool to have a new region but be able to visit parts of the old ones.

 

[_Dud_]

I'm almost sure Game Freak will include a few Generation 1 references to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Pokemon, even though they've done it a lot this year already (*cough* Pokemon GO intro *cough* Red & Blue on 3DS *cough* Pokemon Base Set TCG *cough*) I'd also love to see them bring the "dual regions" feature again! I'm sure the game will be a prominent step forward this year, since they skipped last year so possibly they will have more time to design the game.