5th Gen NPCs, Towns... Pokemon lost its feel?

[GunSaberSeraph]

Didn't one of the Corocoro screenshots back in April show the hometown looking rather traditional?

My guess is that there will still be a few old styled areas, but the main focus will be urbanized.

 

[GlitchCity]

I kinda like this little detail. It seems that GF is paying attention to the outside world. Hover crafts Im still waiting for lol.

 

[Esmas]

I do agree; Pokémon is losing its feel with these games, starting in Gen IV, but I know we'll eventually get used to it and we'll like it even more.

Oh, and looking at the moving Pokémon battle sprites...that kind of ruined it for me.

 

[Shorty-]

I really don't see a problems with the changes at all. Look at it this way, The pokemon world is basically a parallel of ours. We have are urban an rural areas, and so does the pokemon world. It is only natural that the urbanized areas have more than 5 to 6 peopl living in it. Change is good, and it is the only and absolute way to try new things, and if it fails, they can always redeem themselves with something else. All this complaining and everybody is going to be playing it anyway.

 

[Kirbychu]

I've always felt that this is a franchise that doesn't have just one feel. Each generation has had it's own feel for me.

Gen I: This is Pokemon.
Gen II: This is Pokemon+.I always get this Japanese vibe from these games.
Gen III: This is different than before. This is a reboot of the franchise. Nature plays a huge role in this region.
Gen IV: Legends? I can't play through Sinnoh without thinking about all it's history.

This generation looks like it's going to put an emphasis on technology. That's what's going to give itself its own feel; it's what's going to set it apart from the all other generations.

 

[Tyrantrum]

I'm not one of those crazy Pokémon fans when they end up changing everything so it looks totally different and gets mad about it. I like how they're adding cars to the game. It makes it seem more realistic. Of course, they're still going to be adding their famous Nintendo logic into the games; they do that all of the time. One being not having to constantly feed your Pokémon so they don't die.

To me, Pokémon has not lost it's originality. In my opinion, it's just getting better and better over the years.

 

[Niprop]

Wild PORYGON appeared!


Wild PORYGON reminded you that this is not a sword and sorcery game!

 

[coconutberry]

This is supposed to be a region rather distant from the previous four regions...rumors abound that this region is actually based on the American west coast. so it's understandably much different both culturally and technologically from the Hoenn/Johto/Kanto/Sinnoh continent.

Wow, really? If that's true, that would be awesome! I hope that means that there will be less Kanto Pokemon... One thing that I didn't like about Sinnoh was the fact that it seemed like there were more previous generation Pokemon than originals. (At least, in my opinion...) Hopefully, Isshu will be different!

But back on topic, I think that the upgrades are fine. The new angles look pretty interesting to be honest, and as for the technology... I'm not really bothered by it. And the characters all looking the same aren't an issue to me either, as most of the NPC's in previous games were all clones anyway... Especially in R/B/Y and G/S/C. Besides, the games are still in development... There will probably be tons of changes made before the final game.

 

[Nick]

I think it's silly that Pokémon has a set feel. Pokémon is evolving. Gaming is evolving. We can't remain in that 8-bit generation of gaming, after all! I think with the changes that are made to technology, changes to the game should match that. I don't like how the world of Pokémon seemed to exclude any type of real life. One of the things that I read about in an interview with the developers of the Pokéwalker is how they wanted to bridge the gap as closely as they could between real life and the Pokémon world. They brought the Pokémon world to us by introducing the walker; now they're bringing our world to the world of Pokémon!

 

[A Pixy]

I like the new Big City atmosphere. I know we'll still have forests and things like that, but having giant metropolises would be nice. A good change of pace that I am more than open minded to.

 

[shookie]

I think it's silly that Pokémon has a set feel. Pokémon is evolving. Gaming is evolving.

Ha! Pun :P

I like that they're modernizing the games and make each region different from the other. If everything was a carbon copy from the original RBY/RGY then it would have gotten old fast. It's happened in most other video games that have been around for a long time, and it's why they've been around for so long.

 

[Yusshin]

For whoever said NPCs always look the same, that's true, but at least they were spread out. I see the same NPCs at least three times in that first piccy o_o It's a bit redundant; I'm sure they could've been more creative this time around, since their repetitive NPCs are boring.

I also hope the screenies on Serebii are deterioriated quality-wise. If the game's quality isn't drastically better, I'm disappointed there, too. At the moment, it looks choppy and pixely. Again, pretty sure it's going to look better, but it looks raunchy for now.

Kanto and Johto had the same feel for me. Hoenn brought up a lot of technology in one platter which further advanced into D/P/Pt. I never finished Hoenn or Sinnoh games because of various reasons, but one being that they didn't feel like they should. Nothing attached me. The fact they urbanized it so much made it too similar to the real world. I play Pokemon games for how fantastical it is and how non-realistic they are. Pokemon are simply animals, and up until Hoenn, they lived in a world similar to the 1900s without depression and with a few obligatory technical aspects, like electricity, instant-heal centres, etc. There weren't cars, tall buildings, or over-crowded streets, though. That's more like today's world. If I want to experience that, I'll just go outside - without my DS.

It's just too realistic now. Pokemon and fantasy games are attaching to a lot of people because of how non-realistic and how anti-urban they are... in the case of Pokemon, were. To suddenly connect it so suddenly to the real world made it lose its charm of being fiction. Now it's just animals used to make money and become famous in an overly-urbanized, similar-to-the-real-world region. Is that not like real-day rooster fights? Same concept; one's pit against the other for cash in an underground place. The Team Rocket of society lol

Dunno. Basically, I don't like how realistic it's become. It killed the charm Pokemon had for me.

If Zelda suddenly became overly-urbanized and technology became wide-spread, I wouldn't play it either. Zelda's charm is being medieval. Repetitive as it may become, they always add something to the new games to keep it new, fresh, and entertaining. I'm sure Pokemon could have done the same. They just killed it for me lol

 

[Vrai]

@ above: I don't want to read your post because it's purply and contrasts rather hugely with my chosen theme and I don't want to kill my eyes and I'm too lazy to highlight it all to read it so I'm sorry if I, uh... I meant to say something but by this point I already forgot it. Oh well.

Anyway, wasn't there a change in "feel" from RBY to GSC? How about GSC to RSE? Or, better yet, there was a huge jump in "looks" and "feel" from RSE to DPPt. Things change and grow, and new things become new and old things become old. Visuals are not the representation of the "feel" of the game; it's the way the game plays, the way the game works that shows how the game "feels".

 

[Yusshin]

Kanto and Johto had the same feel for me.

Hoenn was entirely different. I never finished Hoenn; I reached Winona, but that's it. I didn't get attached.

Pearl I've reached the surfing masked Water leader. Quit.

As Pokemon developped more technology, I lost interest. It lost its fictional charm.

 

[Vrai]

Kanto and Johto had the same feel for me.

Hoenn was entirely different. I never finished Hoenn; I reached Winona, but that's it. I didn't get attached.

Pearl I've reached the surfing masked Water leader. Quit.

As Pokemon developped more technology, I lost interest. It lost its fictional charm.

You might also have just gotten older and your interests changed and fallen out of favor with it. :/

There's always that possibility.

 

[NeoZX]

This is practically the The World Ends With You version of Pokemon. But I like this change. It gives off a whole new feel, that is VERY different from the other games. Really different.

 

[vibratingcat]

i like it! though the npcs should hav been looked over a bit more, its like they're all in unison coming from the same point and all moving to the left. but the cars are cool. and the train track shown could mean an awesome train too.

 

[xDaisuke0]

I totally understand you, The 'feel' is just changing. But for me, it's changing fro the better. I like how they're getting more techy, they should be...

 

[An-chan]

All game franchises evolve. It's happened to Mario - just compare the first game to Super Mario Galaxy and you might not even realise it's the same franchise anymore. It's happened to Zelda - it even evolved into two distinct timelines that have a very different style (just compare Spirit Tracks to Twilight Princess). It's happened to Final Fantasy - it evolved from fantasy RPGs into fantasy/sci-fi RPGs with epic plots. And, ultimately, all of those changes have been good. It's different, but different is often good. No game is about the setting alone, and slowly changing the setting to accommodate for people's interests is a good thing.

Also, while the first games might have been surreal and fantasy-like to you, was, for the series creator, his actual childhood reality. Red and Blue essentially represented the Japan of Tajiri's childhood. It wasn't meant to be a fantasy game, it was meant to be a representation of the actual atmosphere. With Japan evolving a lot in the past few decades, the kind of environments children grow up in have also been changed drastically. What you saw the game as wasn't what it was meant to be seen as, Yusshin. The feel is evolving as the feel of the real world evolves, because that's what the games were supposed to represent from the beginning: the real world with magical creatures added in.

Personally, I'm just super excited about the changes and the new region and the new Pokémon, too. It's going to be different, and just for that reason, it's going to rock so much.

 

[Cherrim]

Honestly, as far as including more modern technology like cars, urbanized cities, and whatnot, I have only one thing to say: Finally.

I liked RBYGSC. It was easy to imagine a world where technology is developing, but mostly in ways that let people live harmoniously with Pokémon. So they can instantly heal your Pokémon but getting around without a Pokémon that can Fly seems like a real hassle. It was charming and quaint but I never... understood it. :/ It makes even less sense when you think that they have lush sealiners but no ways to get between cities faster than a bike.

Hoenn started to change that. You start out the game in a moving truck. But it doesn't necessarily lose that feel of harmony with Pokémon. The moving truck's doors open and Machoke start helping unload all your stuff. Pokémon are obviously still a big part of daily life. Plus, you see that vehicles aren't the main way of transport (ie, they sooner put in an environmentally-friendly bike path between two major hubs than a highway). I kind of get the feeling that only notable people/situations even merit using vehicles. (Gym Leaders are fairly prestigious so that might be why you get a vehicle to move with, perhaps others use wagons or something idk lmao). But then you head out east and... they're trying to get to the moon. What. It's even more ridiculous when you believe the theory that RSE takes place at the same time as RBY. The disconnection between the technologies just makes NO SENSE. I thought the space exploration thing was cool, and tbh, I actually liked that, but it needed the surrounding technology to catch up to it. :(

Gen 4 was much like Gen 3. :/ There were hints of advanced technology--they can deal with all sorts of little gadgets and people program apps for them, but really? No one drives a car? The only way to get around is STILL by boat? And then Johto has a bullet train but nothing else. Ummm... okay. If you say so. Seriously, if a bullet train doesn't feel "out of place" and cars do... @_@; (Then again, Kanto and especially Johto are based more heavily on/in Japan so I guess it's not super strange. But it is to me, a North American.)

I'm excited for more technology. I'm not one of the people who plays Pokémon for a purely fantastical setting--to be honest, it never really made sense to me. :/ I think I'll feel more at home in a Pokémon game where technology we take for granted here in first world countries is more accessible in the game. Cars? Yeah, I wanna see them around even if I'm still hitchiking trekking my way through the region on foot.

I really like that this gen seems to be based on the Eastern Coast of the US. Do want! I think the extra technology that'll be in use will finally close this gap that always made the games seem so off-balance. I'd like to see a world closer to this world where human cities are finally starting to build up so it seems more like a modern civilization rather than a mashup of early 19th-century with cellphones. (It's not even like the old games did steampunk or anything interesting, it was just an awkward mix of gadgets and boats. :|)

Though I'm going to be a bit annoyed if the games try to shove an environmentalist mentality on us. :( "Oh no, we can't expand the city into this marsh, then where will these Farfetch'd live!?" 8| We get enough of that in the real world and plots like that are so overdone. But it almost seems inevitable in a game where the relationship between the animals (Pokémon) and humans is so intricate.

edit: lmao omg how did that get so long. Sorry for the wall of text. @_@