Are these games even necessary?

Now, I realise that people's answers to this will probably change over time as more information is revealed, but let's see where this goes.

There was a lot of outcry over the lack of a Pokemon Z/second Kalos game, but given the overwhelmingly positive reception SM received, a lot of it seems to have been an initial reaction to what seemed to be a smaller generation lacking in the second regional titles we've come to expect, rather than something that was truly, absolutely necessary. Despite the rather rushed conclusion to the Mega Evolution storyline with ORAS' Delta Episode, with Gen VI Game Freak proved - to what extent depends on your individual perspective - that it is not absolutely necessary for there to be two separate releases of games set in the same region.

USUM seems to be the last thing most people were expecting, with rumours of Gen IV remakes, a third version "Pokemon Stars" on the Switch, a year's gap between releases, or even a straight jump to Gen VIII, being the most popular theories prior to their announcement. It's difficult to say what the games will be, but one thing we DO know for sure is that we'll be going back to Alola again.

So, do you feel that USUM are necessary? Do we really need to go back to Alola, or should we have been looking at Gen IV remakes/Gen VIII releases at the end of this year? Do you feel like there is unfinished business with Alola, or were you satisfied with the experience Sun/Moon provided and want to move on to something new, or revisit something old? Would you want to revisit Kalos for a third version/second set of games at this point?

Just going off what little information we have and your initial thoughts - at least for now - do you feel USUM were the right choice for the next games in the series?

XY was complete and there was no need for Z due to all non event pokemon between XY and ORAS beung available.

Yes. USUM are the right choice for the next games in the series.

Sinnoh remakes on 3DS makes no sense since all remakes are on separate hand helds. Also ORAS are right before SM came along so the remakes would be too close together. The previous remakes had also came every five years.

Yes it is necessary to have USUM because a gen with only one pair games is ridiculous and shouldn't be called a gen at all. Plus we had only 300 accessible pokemon plus island scan pokemon and Magearna. Marshadow is coming along and there is still plenty of pokemon to bring back. There is pokebank but not all of us uses it or has access to it. Plus we shouldn't rely on bank always.

Necessary? I'd say none of the "third version" games or BW2-ish games were strictly necessary. However, I really enjoyed the many extra features those games provide. There's not much to say about USUM with the reveals we currently have, but I'm definitely looking forward to hear more about the games. A new story certainly sounds promising at least, and I'm hoping for a couple of cool new features (maybe a return of the Battle Frontier?).

Either way Gen VII doesn't feel complete yet, so upcoming games are very welcome.

It's simple enough to sum up... you can't have a generation of Pokemon with only one paired version that feels so incomplete. You need another set of games that add more and make you want to come back, so US/UM do feel necessary.

I'm certainly happy we are getting USUM over Sinnoh remakes. Sinnoh remakes are unneeded as the DS games still run on the 3DS and slow pace aside are still perfectly playable. Consider how the original Hoenn games were on the GBA which cannot be played on the 3DS. Sinnoh remakes will likely happen on the Switch and are likely to just be polished versions of Diamond and Pearl anyway.

USUM are needed so all Pokemon can be caught in Gen 7. There are some big names like the Ralts line which are uncatchable in Alola. Also the lack of Mega Stones available, Game Freak may regret Megas but all stones need to be available in the Gen without people having to rely on events. An improved post game something similar to B2W2 postgame would also be very welcome. The story could also explore Ultra Beasts which was largely unanswered in SM.

you can already play DP on the 3ds so I dont think we'll get gen IV remakes until gen VIII or IX

The new games seem to par the course for Game Freak, however that doesn't mean I think they are necessary. Game Freak made a few smart moves with Sun & Moon (I.E. no HM's) but otherwise made poor choices resulting in a game that lacked identity, and failed to move the series forward.

If Game Freak wanted to make a story game, they failed. And while my opinion is purely subjective, in my mind, a story based game does not place the player on rails and fill it with unneeded dialogue as a replacement for an actually engaging story that the player experiences on their own. An RPG is exactly what its name implies, a game where the player takes the role of a character within a greater world, and experiences the story in their own. Character development is not something that the game explicitly forces on the player, it is something that the player does on their own as they become invested in the characters and the story. Rather than making a "Witcher 3" of the Pokemon series expertly mixing gameplay and story, they made a "Call of Duty" style story with short, boring, player led action interwoven with frequent set-pieces filled with uninteresting characters and a predictable story.

Sun and Moon were not great RPGs like games of the past, it was a lackluster attempt to make a story driven game that led the player on perhaps one of the most linear, forgettable experiences of the series thus far, and a game that rather than focusing on a few expertly polished gameplay features, badly implements more elements than the game needs that only detriment the greater experience. I will find US/UM unnecessary until I see that they effectively fix the flaws of the original versions.

As for Sinnoh remakes, I'm sure they will come in due time, but I was not expecting them in 2017

I'd say it's very necessary. XY never had a third version/sequel to it so they had to sloppily shove Zygarde into Sun and Moon. I'd hate for that to happen with Necrozma and the next games.

Lycanthropy said:

Necessary? I'd say none of the "third version" games or BW2-ish games were strictly necessary. However, I really enjoyed the many extra features those games provide. There's not much to say about USUM with the reveals we currently have, but I'm definitely looking forward to hear more about the games. A new story certainly sounds promising at least, and I'm hoping for a couple of cool new features (maybe a return of the Battle Frontier?).

Either way Gen VII doesn't feel complete yet, so upcoming games are very welcome.

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Don't count on it. GF made it clear BF is not returning. Apparently people don't have time for that anymore and would get bored with it. If ORAS didn't have it then neither will USUSM or future games.

This gen definitely needed another pair of games. Plenty of things they can do with alola.

TBH this is the one set of games I don't want a remake or upgrade for. I want a flat out expansion. I completed everything in this game save for the photography because that was extremely stupid and tedious (it should have worked like the demo where you can use it to find encounters). This game honestly felt like the best one to have a second region post game or at least a big second area post game.

Jason Wolf said:

This game honestly felt like the best one to have a second region post game or at least a big second area post game.

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I completely agree, I had this concept run through my mind often while playing. It reminded me of Sevii islands post-game in FRLG, and as a real world comparison, Hawaii is not a "full package" it is a location where people travel to for action, not permanent residence (~85% of all people who have stepped on the islands of Hawaii were visiting as tourists, not as residents!)

The games seemed like a part of a whole, not a whole by themselves

We won't get another two region game. GSC & HGSS are exceptions and the concept was handled badly. I prefer single regions only. SM were meant to be one region and so will USUM.

Alexander18 said:

Don't count on it. GF made it clear BF is not returning. Apparently people don't have time for that anymore and would get bored with it. If ORAS didn't have it then neither will USUSM or future games.

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It makes sense ORAS didn't have a BF, as the originals didn't have one either. So far we've only seen it appear in "third versions". BW2 might not have added a BF, but it did have the Pokémon World Tournament, which was pretty cool as well. I'm hoping USUM will follow that trend and do something similar.

And if not, there's a lot of stuff that can be done with the Alola region either way.

The last time we had a game where we went back to the same region was gen V, so it has been quite a while. Considering how gen VI had remakes, it was going to be one or the other and I can understand why they chose to do third game/sequel rather than the former. Who knows, we could also get remakes alongside these games next year.

Blue said:

The last time we had a game where we went back to the same region was gen V, so it has been quite a while. Considering how gen VI had remakes, it was going to be one or the other and I can understand why they chose to do third game/sequel rather than the former. Who knows, we could also get remakes alongside these games next year.

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I am pretty sure USUM are the last gen 7 games and the last pokemon games on 3DS. The next remakes would likely be on Switch after the first pair of gen 8 games are released.

Alexander18 said:

I am pretty sure USUM are the last gen 7 games and the last pokemon games on 3DS. The next remakes would likely be on Switch after the first pair of gen 8 games are released.

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Yeah, I'm pretty sure that will be the case. The only reason why I thought otherwise is because fourth gen saw both a third version and a set of remakes in the same gen.

TBH these games sold like hotcakes so I'm not surprised they're making USUM. I guess they'd figure it'd be something nice to do for Alola as the games are pretty popular. I'm pretty happy about it because we get more expanded features/forms/lore in Alola, but story-wise I felt pretty complete with the whole thing (unlike Kalos, but that's a rant for another day). So in a way, I guess I understand why they're making them.

Kalos story was complete whether people like it or not.

Anyway, all of the pokemon games are neccessary for GF and that is good enough for me.