If you could change anything to make Pokémon better what would it be?

[Nanusmightyena]

We all know that Pokémon games tend to be pretty redundant. I feel like there's a lot of us that hate the repetitiveness of the games. If you could change anything about the games in the next gen what would it be? The story? The characters? The rivals? Different designs for Pokémon? Bring back megas or z moves?

 

[pkmin3033]

Well...

1. I'd hire a competent writer who knew what an actual narrative and character development looked like. Failing that, I'd remove the narrative aspect out of Pokemon completely. It's got to be one or the other, because the current standard is so far below everything else that it's a joke. The games can work as either a story-driven experience or a player-driven experience, but not this half-arsed recycled approach each and every single time. I am absolutely fed up with Gen III's narrative.

2. Bring back everything that has ever been removed. Everything. It's time the games started making actual progress, not taking one step forward and two steps back as new features are added and old features are arbitrarily removed for no good reason. This, in my opinion, is the biggest problem with the Pokemon series: game mechanics are treated as gimmicks. It has never made any sense to take these things out. Mega Evolution, Z-Moves, the National Pokedex, following Pokemon, even the rubbish minigames like Pokemon Contests. All of these things should be in EVERY game, benefiting from the QoL improvements that are added to the core UI and battle system. Expansion is a key aspect to progression. Everything is coming back.

3. Expand the development team. Masuda needs to get it through his thick skull that for a game of Pokemon's size, you cannot work in a tiny team and expect to get a proper job done within the deadlines that he is working in. Fuck his preferences, frankly. The man is a composer, not a developer, and it really shows the way he has strangled the franchise over the years. It's time for that to change. A AAA-sized team and budget to reflect the fact that Pokemon is the highest grossing media franchise in the world.

4. Return the online functionality to Gen VI's PSS. Gen VII and VIII have absolutely garbage online features. The PSS was simple and easy to use.

5. This one would probably prove unpopular, but...I'd scrap the two versions model. One version, with postgame launch support in the form of free updates and paid DLC content. Free updates would be things like Mystery Gifts and challenges like new trainers and game rules, DLC content would be of a substance at least equal to the Delta Episode - basically, things you generally find in the sequels/third versions/alternates of a game. It's profitable but extremely anti-consumer to keep releasing 2 versions of an identical title, and I think in the long run it'd generate more player goodwill and more sales if there was just a single game that had 2-3 years of post launch support. "DLC" is an ugly acronym in the industry these days but it doesn't have to be: there is a lot of good DLC. Hyrule Warriors really got the balance right between free updates and paid DLC, and I'd want that kind of thing for Pokemon. If they REALLY feel the need to rake in more sales, then they can add a Game of the Year edition...or release a new region expansion similar to MHW's Iceborne expansion.

6. Add more in-game options. The choice between classic 2D sprites and 3D models, orchestrated and 8-bit music, the option to speed up animations, etc. Impossible? Dragon Quest XI S did all of that. No reason Pokemon can't either.

7. Oh, and whilst I'm at it...hire someone to do something about those old battle animations. Or multiple someones.

8. Add some support for older fans. Challenge Mode from B2W2 was a good start, but I'd want fully customisable difficulty: let people choose whether they want to turn on/off basically everything. Don't want to be able to heal outside of Pokemon Centers? Turn it off! Pokemon that faint stay fainted? Tick the box in the menu! Gym Leaders with higher levels and held items? Up to you! EXP share, yay or nay? Your choice! Players are quite capable of making their own entertainment here so I wouldn't want to go overboard, but but BUT it's not difficult to add options, and player choice is never a bad thing.

9. MULTIPLE SAVE FILES.

...that's about it. For the moment. I'm sure I'll think of more. Pokemon is so far behind the times and of such a low quality that it'd probably need a lot more to bring it up to standard.

 

[colours]

1. bring back battle frontier (mostly gen 3's version of it instead of gen 4's bc more fun but either works).
2. bring back everything that's been removed in past generations.
3. get rid of third versions, but still leave room for sequels. i think sequels will do well for Pokemon, just not third versions as much as i've liked them (i mean, Emerald and Platinum provided me with some of the most fun i've ever had in Pokemon gaming tbh).
4. good online services

that'd be about it.

 

[Nanusmightyena]

Well...

1. I'd hire a competent writer who knew what an actual narrative and character development looked like. Failing that, I'd remove the narrative aspect out of Pokemon completely. It's got to be one or the other, because the current standard is so far below everything else that it's a joke. The games can work as either a story-driven experience or a player-driven experience, but not this half-arsed recycled approach each and every single time. I am absolutely fed up with Gen III's narrative.

2. Bring back everything that has ever been removed. Everything. It's time the games started making actual progress, not taking one step forward and two steps back as new features are added and old features are arbitrarily removed for no good reason. This, in my opinion, is the biggest problem with the Pokemon series: game mechanics are treated as gimmicks. It has never made any sense to take these things out. Mega Evolution, Z-Moves, the National Pokedex, following Pokemon, even the rubbish minigames like Pokemon Contests. All of these things should be in EVERY game, benefiting from the QoL improvements that are added to the core UI and battle system. Expansion is a key aspect to progression. Everything is coming back.

3. Expand the development team. Masuda needs to get it through his thick skull that for a game of Pokemon's size, you cannot work in a tiny team and expect to get a proper job done within the deadlines that he is working in. Fuck his preferences, frankly. The man is a composer, not a developer, and it really shows the way he has strangled the franchise over the years. It's time for that to change. A AAA-sized team and budget to reflect the fact that Pokemon is the highest grossing media franchise in the world.

4. Return the online functionality to Gen VI's PSS. Gen VII and VIII have absolutely garbage online features. The PSS was simple and easy to use.

5. This one would probably prove unpopular, but...I'd scrap the two versions model. One version, with postgame launch support in the form of free updates and paid DLC content. Free updates would be things like Mystery Gifts and challenges like new trainers and game rules, DLC content would be of a substance at least equal to the Delta Episode - basically, things you generally find in the sequels/third versions/alternates of a game. It's profitable but extremely anti-consumer to keep releasing 2 versions of an identical title, and I think in the long run it'd generate more player goodwill and more sales if there was just a single game that had 2-3 years of post launch support. "DLC" is an ugly acronym in the industry these days but it doesn't have to be: there is a lot of good DLC. Hyrule Warriors really got the balance right between free updates and paid DLC, and I'd want that kind of thing for Pokemon. If they REALLY feel the need to rake in more sales, then they can add a Game of the Year edition...or release a new region expansion similar to MHW's Iceborne expansion.

6. Add more in-game options. The choice between classic 2D sprites and 3D models, orchestrated and 8-bit music, the option to speed up animations, etc. Impossible? Dragon Quest XI S did all of that. No reason Pokemon can't either.

7. Oh, and whilst I'm at it...hire someone to do something about those old battle animations. Or multiple someones.

8. Add some support for older fans. Challenge Mode from B2W2 was a good start, but I'd want fully customisable difficulty: let people choose whether they want to turn on/off basically everything. Don't want to be able to heal outside of Pokemon Centers? Turn it off! Pokemon that faint stay fainted? Tick the box in the menu! Gym Leaders with higher levels and held items? Up to you! EXP share, yay or nay? Your choice! Players are quite capable of making their own entertainment here so I wouldn't want to go overboard, but but BUT it's not difficult to add options, and player choice is never a bad thing.

9. MULTIPLE SAVE FILES.

...that's about it. For the moment. I'm sure I'll think of more. Pokemon is so far behind the times and of such a low quality that it'd probably need a lot more to bring it up to standard.

So as far as the multiple save files that exists in sword and shield. All you have to do is create a new player avatar and poof new save file. But, I agree with all of this. Especially the writers part. I'm probably in the minority about this but I feel like Pokémon should release a more mature game that panders to the older audience. Maybe a game that's based on the international police? I feel like they make the games only for kids when most of the players are 16+.

 

[pkmin3033]

So as far as the multiple save files that exists in sword and shield. All you have to do is create a new player avatar and poof new save file. But, I agree with all of this. Especially the writers part. I'm probably in the minority about this but I feel like Pokémon should release a more mature game that panders to the older audience. Maybe a game that's based on the international police? I feel like they make the games only for kids when most of the players are 16+.

That's a function of the Switch, not a function of the game; let's not give credit where it isn't due. I was thinking more along the lines of something that basically every other cartridge-based game has done and include multiple save files on the cartridge or the existing user profile.

I partially agree with you regarding your second point. I say partially because I believe that it is more than possible to write a story for children with enough mature themes that an older audience can appreciate them as well...I could point you towards several anime and video games that do just that, in fact. The two goals are not mutually exclusive if the writing is good enough, and for a franchise like Pokemon, it should be.

 

[faf]

1. Everything Dawn and colours has said.
2. More advanced character customization at the start, it doesn't have to be like Final Fantasy 14 is because it can be simplified like how Dragon Quest 9's is or even the Mii Maker.
3. Pokemon customization (namely dressing them up) would be neat too.
4. Better spacing/scaling of the Pokemon in battle, as of now the Pokemon look so crammed and bigger Pokemon drastically lost their size because of said cramming.
5. Have the trainers react when their Pokemon attacks/get attacked/faints. Pokemon XD did the latter two and Battle Revolution did all of them so it still baffles me why the trainers are standing around when this happens in the later games. EDIT: just realized the later games do the former, my bad.
6. Probably a bite off more than chew type of suggestion but it would be cool if there was some sort of class system in Pokemon. Don't want to be a trainer aiming to be a champion? You can be a Pokemon Coordinator instead, or you can be part of the police force, or a gym leader (perhaps this can be a promotion from a basic trainer), etc.
7. Something the Tales of series has done is preemptive encounters, back attacks, and encounter links when interacting with monsters. Pokemon can do something similar; approaching a Pokemon from the back makes a preemptive encounter occur, basically giving the trainer a free turn, back attacks allow that Pokemon to have a free turn, and encounter links can have multiple Pokemon in battle as once (probably a max of two) when the trainer encounters them in close proximity. Maybe the latter doesn't have to be there but just a quick idea.
8. Multiple buff/nerf patches for Pokemon if there is a/are Pokemon that is too underwhelming/too overpowering. Since Gamefreak has mentioned balance, this can be taken into consideration should DLC become a thing in the series.
9. Minor pop in is fine, constant pop in is distracting.
10. Skip cutscenes or at the very least have the option to speed them up.
11. Voice acting would be grand to make cinematic scenes less awkward.

There might be more but these are the things I can think of.

 

[silver-wind]

1. bring back following pokemon
2. make anime/ manga characters appear in game
3. a buff to grass and ice types, or at least give them greater move diversity.
4. An ability that sets up Trick Room on entry. so many pokemon will become usable.
5. nerf Stealth Rocks, King's Shield and other broken moves.
6. better animations. realistically, give the starters / box legendaries a few more attacking animations.
7. or, another game with animated 2D sprites, like B/W. I feel the move to 3D killed all the style pokemon had. now they just look like smooth plastic toys, with almost no texture, just standing there with a blank expression, doing a boring idle animation.

 

[Nanusmightyena]

1. bring back following pokemon
2. make anime/ manga characters appear in game
3. a buff to grass and ice types, or at least give them greater move diversity.
4. An ability that sets up Trick Room on entry. so many pokemon will become usable.
5. nerf Stealth Rocks, King's Shield and other broken moves.
6. better animations. realistically, give the starters / box legendaries a few more attacking animations.
7. or, another game with animated 2D sprites, like B/W. I feel the move to 3D killed all the style pokemon had. now they just look like smooth plastic toys, with almost no texture, just standing there with a blank expression, doing a boring idle animation.

So as far as the 3D part goes, I think 3D animations would look fine if they were higher quality such as the designs in Pokken tournament. I think the 3D models now don't look that great though so I agree there. I

 

[Palamon]

Bring back the vs. seeker and make rebattling trainers more accessible again. Trainer rematches have literally been mostly absent from Pokemon since generation five, and I'm tired of it. Please just bring this back, it will make Pokemon better.

And longer post games would be nice, something that makes Pokemon games feel replayable again, because I'll be honest gens six and seven have had absolutely no replay value to me at all since the post game is so bare and dry. Give us more stuff to do in post games again.

 

[PageEmp]

Easy. Remove Hyper beam and all it's clones from the game.

And give any line that really relied on it Tri attack or something, that is.

Oh and yeah, bring back trainer rematches. That would be neat.

 

[Benermerut]

I'm probably in the minority about this but I feel like Pokémon should release a more mature game that panders to the older audience.

Open-world Pokemon Ranger game, similar in style and scope to Breath of the Wild. Maybe not quite the same freedom to climb everywhere so you have to get the assistance of pokemon and use field moves to get around some obstacles.
An older player character with increased customization options, like facial hair.
Maybe you get a few utility pokemon partners to help you out. A Castform that lets you alter the weather, a Rotom to interact with electronic devices...

(I also think they should create an anime series aimed at an older audience. Maybe based on Pokken Tournament and the Ferrum region, to really differentiate it from the current anime.)

 

[Flowerchild]

Anime and manga characters in game.... please no

But ok on topic

1. Stop guiding the player around by the hand. Infants aren't playing Pokémon. It doesn't need to be an open world game, but pre-Gen 6 games did fine letting you find your way and using HMs to block off late-game areas without literally telling you "here's where you need to go next!" most of the time.
2. Use diagetic roadblocks. I don't mind roadblocks in Pokémon games, but when they're so ridiculously contrived that they ruin my suspension of disbelief, it's a problem. Sleeping snorlax or psyducks with headaches blocking the path? Sure, I can buy that, and it even adds to the charm of the Pokémon world. Random NPCs in Alola saying you can't pass here yet because you haven't beat X trial? Get that out of here.
3. We REALLY need a visual upgrade to the battle scene. I know 3D animation is hard so I'm not one of those people who expects them to redo every move animation every game or even every gen, but it's been almost 7 years since XY and the battles, besides being higher resolution, look almost completely the same.
4. Unpopular opinion: have something like HMs. Don't necessarily bring back HMs themselves because they have issues, but the Ride Pokémon was a great, if contrived, solution in SM. In SwSh, they tried to compensate for the lack of HMs by putting Team Yell grunts EVERYWHERE blocking your path (see #2). The one redeeming quality of HMs AND Ride Pokémon is that when you get one, you get the opportunity to revisit areas you've already passed through and find new unlocked content. I like that kind of navigational gameplay. In SwSh, it just despawns the roadblocks which is way less fun.
5. Have a decent story or have no story at all. I would happily play either of those. I would play an entire game with 0 cutscenes or plot just centered on something like a more fleshed-out version of the Wild Area + trainer battles. Or hire good writers, up to you.
6. And last but not least, the thing that will never happen but a girl can dream

Spoiler:

just go back to pixel art

 

[Maserati777]

In terms of "gimmicks" I think the game peaked with megas. I think Z moves and giantimax aren't as cool as megas were. Also a lot of Pokemon could have received megas including later gen. Gen 5 and 6 both only received 1 each which was strange.

 

[Elite Overlord LeSabre™]

For starters, I want a rival who hates you. As in, they're driven by a determination to win against you specifically at all costs, blurring moral lines and resorting to unethical, unfair, and underhanded tactics in order to win against you. And they most certainly will NOT team up with you.

An evil team who's actually evil. Contrived and cliched as they may be, at least the classic, "steal and exploit Pokemon for profit" theme provides the games with actual conflict.

Get rid of the hand-holding.and linearity.

Give some normal NPC trainers more than just 2-3 Pokemon.

And these last three are personal, 'wishful thinking but it'll never happen' things.

I don't want to ride bikes. I don't want to ride Pokemon. I want to ride around in something with four tires on the ground and eight cylinders under the hood.

Name brand hotels from companies like Hilton and Choice, not the generically-named ones they currently have.

Serena and Leaf cameos, particularly as Lv100 end game bosses who you have to double battle against.

I could think of a lot more given the chance to ponder, but that's about it for me for the moment.

 

[Nah]

Have multiple paths.

The games have always followed the same basic structure of the player is a kid that is just starting out on their journey, and specifically to become Champion of the region. This is only one way to be a Pokemon Trainer though, and it can get stale after a while. There's all kinds of ways to be a Pokemon Trainer, some of which we get a taste of, some we don't. Contest performer, Pokemon Professor, movie star, villain Team personnel, etc. These could all be other plotlines for the player to go down alongside the usual one, either by locking you into one route per playthrough, or being able to pursue all of them at once a la Elder Scrolls games. Could have a different rival for each path, or the same one who's goals change depending on which one you go down. Would offer, if done well, some significant replay value or a significant amount of content to play through, all while not completely moving away from the old formula, as the OG path is still available, and battling/catching/trading is still a necessary part of all the paths I mentioned.

That and like, give us the option to not have to play as a 10-12 year old. The player characters have long been intended as self-inserts, and personally I'm not interested playing a self-insert who's a minor.

 

[Nanusmightyena]

Have multiple paths.

The games have always followed the same basic structure of the player is a kid that is just starting out on their journey, and specifically to become Champion of the region. This is only one way to be a Pokemon Trainer though, and it can get stale after a while. There's all kinds of ways to be a Pokemon Trainer, some of which we get a taste of, some we don't. Contest performer, Pokemon Professor, movie star, villain Team personnel, etc. These could all be other plotlines for the player to go down alongside the usual one, either by locking you into one route per playthrough, or being able to pursue all of them at once a la Elder Scrolls games. Could have a different rival for each path, or the same one who's goals change depending on which one you go down. Would offer, if done well, some significant replay value or a significant amount of content to play through, all while not completely moving away from the old formula, as the OG path is still available, and battling/catching/trading is still a necessary part of all the paths I mentioned.

That and like, give us the option to not have to play as a 10-12 year old. The player characters have long been intended as self-inserts, and personally I'm not interested playing a self-insert who's a minor.

I always thought it'd be interesting for them to make a game that you start out as a international police officer like Looker or Annabelle tbh.

 

[Nah]

I always thought it'd be interesting for them to make a game that you start out as a international police officer like Looker or Annabelle tbh.

That'd be a good one too!

Honestly there's probably a buttload of different ideas for alternative routes for Pokemon games

 

[Nanusmightyena]

That'd be a good one too!

Honestly there's probably a buttload of different ideas for alternative routes for Pokemon games

There definitely is. It's sad that they won't ever use 'em. I think they could do so much more with the mainline series than they've been doing for the past 23 years.

 

[Saиdmaи]

1. Difficulty settings
2. Include all Pokémon
3. Trying new stuff out is cool and all but I'd stick to one gimmick like Mega Evolutions. Changing gimmicks each gen makes them feel random and half baked.

 

[Bellsprout]

I'm sure most people said it, but definitely an option for difficulty.

- The town map should be the - button for instant use
- You should be able to move the camera
- Vs seeker and Pokemon following you should come back
- You can pick and choose who the exp. share works on in your party
- Hidden secrets/places to explore/puzzles
- Sequels instead of improved upon third versions

People might not agree with me on on this one, but I find I like Pokemon better with as least story as possible. Imo none of the stories have been good and I don't really care about anything besides my Pokemon and facing actual challenges. I wish more was put into exploration and battling ultimately.