Is it too soon?

I've seen several people in the fandom say how they feel having gen 9 in 2022 is too soon - that it would be better to have this generation be released in 2023 instead, with 2022 either focusing more on other, more minor things (like Legends DLC) or having a bit of a break until the next major games.

What do you guys think? These games are slated for a late 2022 release, probably around October or November, as is typical for mainline games. Do you feel this generation should have been delayed, or are you fine with the date?

By the time it comes out, it will mark three years. Looking at the game, it looks like this is the game they have been wanting to bring out for the Switch and not Sword and Shield. This game looks 10 times better than even Arceus.

That being said, i feel like people have forgotten they work on games well in advance and have probably been working on it since before Sword and Shield was released. So no, I don't think the end of 2022 will be too soon.

I don't think it is too soon. Looking forward to these games.

Alright, I am obsessed with gen 4, so I obviously wanted something more for PLA. Too soon? I don't think so because Swo/Shi who are the actual main line games, consider the dex and competitive, were released in 2019. So, not too soon. However, I wish they would have spent more time for developing gen 9. I like that they got PLA elements, but on the opposite, the graphics still doesn't look great or innovative to me. So, yeah I would have preferred a big DLC for PLA and Nov 2023 gen 9, but whatever lol.

Honestly with Covid... SWSH feel like a lifetime ago. I'm all on board for Gen 9 it looks FAB af.

It kinda does. I'm not anywhere near done with BDSP or SwSh and I'm playing Legends:Arceus atm.
Gimme some time to finish things rofl

I'm internally crying. Way too soon. The fire and water starters look awkward and the grass starter looks generic. The overworld looks like gen 8's wild area. WHY GAMEFREAK!

No buy unless national dex. That's literally my only criteria for buying this game.

We had this hint back in Sun and Moon pointing to Spain. We had a Spanish speaking character in one of the towns similar to the French Speakers in Unova. So I was completely caught off guard when we got Galar. That being said, I think this have been planned since Sun and Moon.

I am not sure how people are going about saying the Graphics look like Gen 8. To me, they are a massive step up from Sword and Shield and more comparable to Let's Go Games that had superior graphics. We aren't going to get realistic graphics that I feel like people are hoping for. Yeah we got them in New Snap, but that was a very small game compared to an entire region.

Nah, I think its been a reasonable amount of time. I didn't really play BDSP or L:A so this seems like a pretty appropriate time to start a new Pokémon adventure. :)

Feels too soon. Rushed Sword/Shield (or seemed like it). Fears even worse with Covid pushing back many games' release dates.

I mean SwSh came out over two years ago at this point. Did I wish for another year of dev? Yeah. Am I mad? Not at all - this looks pretty good.

Ho-Oh said:

Honestly with Covid... SWSH feel like a lifetime ago. I'm all on board for Gen 9 it looks FAB af.

Click to expand...

I'm on the opposite end myself. Thanks to COVID 2020 and 2021 both felt like they whizzed past so quick, so yeah SwSh still feel recent to me lol. Regardless, I hope the new games are dope~

I generally wish for mainline series to be pushed on (at least!) 4 years gap, since IMO it will become very hard for GF to consistently push out a new gen every three years and keep game sales of Sword and Shield in the long run, something like a fall in sales like in gen V can happen, and i really do think that would benefit the games (the space between mainline entries, not the fall in sales). In a 4-5 years time the technological leap is bigger and more obvious, and in the meantime they could make more side series games on current generation engine. Side games is where IMO the franchise is suffering since the departure from the 3ds on the switch, and putting out more of them in the time between the generations would drive up the hype for the next gen, but that is besides the point. Consider how will the gen V remake play out, which is GFs least favorite gen since its the worst sold gen. Too me, BDSP felt like a "Yeah, it's mandatory remake time" while it could be HGSS level Remake, but they are not doing it, because the new game needs be put out on the announced date, so the development of a newer one can begin. GF still did not fully adapt to the 3D era, and i don't think that in terms of graphics quality, but rather in that it takes more time to develop a modern 3d game, as it was mentioned in the previous posts. Consider that bewteen Rockstars GTA V and VI there will be at least a decade of time between releases. They could be making more Legends and similar games in older regions, without the need to pump out new gen with new mons every 3 years. There will soon be a thousand mons and 9 regions, and the latter feel more disposable as the time progresses.
But the thing is, GF makes more money off toys and merch than games, so they will just keep on pumping them out every 3 years, I guess.
Edit: I also think the releases are correlated to the lifespan of a nintendo console, one is a early console game (Gens 4, 6, 8) which makes fans switch (no pun inteneded) consoles, and the the other one is the definitive gen on the console game, when the game has bigger install base and devs are more familiar with its capabilities (gens 5,7 and 9) when Nintendo is already in the final phases of creating a new console.

PLA was released not even a month ago I believe, and it's honestly insane how when it was announced together with BDSP people were like "finally, they are giving the remakes to other company so GF can fully focus on a single game". Like, everyone was talking about that and how PLA could get another DLC, but Pokémon Day happened, SV got revealed, turned out they were developing both games at the same time, and nobody cares about PLA anymore either because the games lacks content lmao.

Honestly I'd rather they released some actual, good DLC for Arceus and gave these games at least one more year of development.

Does SwSh being 3 years old by the time SV comes out really relevant considering GF are the ones developing these games and they were behind PLA? PLA that won't even be one year old the moment SV is released? I think the time gap between generations is irrelevant if the timeframes between releases are a total mess, personally.

Yeah, this is going too fast for me. I just finished Legends Arceus a few days ago, which I played pretty much right after Shining Pearl. And there's still enough other games I'd like to play or replay. I have no urge to play Gen 9 anytime soon.

I'd prefer if they took some more time to polish things and deliver a greater quality game (Legends Arceus could have been a masterpiece if they gave it some more time)... but I guess they have no reason to bother when they know people are going to buy anyway.

Definitely too soon, although seeing the comments here about people who think it's fair, I can understand.

I did want gen9 to be at least revealed in the trailer, but also wanted to then claim that it was going to be a release for next year. Would have much preferred that as since they had a choice to have more time to make the game better, why not?

Wanted to add a little bit more since I didn't say it in my original post. While I don't think it was too soon to announce it. I think they could have held of till Spring of next year. I know they want more money and the Holidays is where they are gonna get the most. But we haven't had a game release outside of the holiday season since Pokemon X and Y, which was kinda inside that door of 'holiday season'. But I really wish they would release games at different parts of the year.... everyone releases games during the holidays. And the more games released, the less people will buy.

Yeah, it is.

Yeah it does feel too soon. 3 years was fine when the games were on handheld. But if you look at what a letdown Sw/Sh were with its abysmal animations, poor story, empty wild area and linear routes I hoped they'd start taking more development time.

I guess the pokemon Go and merch departments need a new gen every 3 years to keep pumping out the money. I do hope these games will be great though, but after Sw/Sh I don't want to get myself hyped up anymore. Better to expect the least and maybe get pleasantly surprised than expect the best and be let down.