My ideal Kanto remake would be very barebones:
- Kanto in full 3D.
- 151 Pokémon + new evos, unrestricted during the main game. Rosters updated to make up for it. Bruno with Steelix, Agatha with Crobat, Giovanni and Blue with Rhyperior. Maybe mix some Yellow and RB rosters. Give Yellow rosters to Blaine (and maybe Giovanni), RB rosters to everyone else.
- Day/night cycle.
- Cinnabar Island bigger and with a visible volcano.
…
For me, these are all obvious things that should definitely get put into the remakes. And, yes, GameFreak should
totally give some random Trainers their teams from one of the other games set in Kanto or a mix thereof!
…
- No customization. Red is iconic. Leaf renamed to Green (Blue in Japanese) as in Adventures. Change Blue's dialogue to Green a bit to imply he looks down on her for being a girl, as a bully like him naturally would.
…
I wouldn't throw character customization away altogether, but I agree that its inclusion would have to be done
very carefully! Maybe players could have a separate avatar for when they're online like how users can give their PSS (Player Search System, not Pokémon Storage System) profiles avatars in
ΩR/
αS? In-game, BettyNewbie's idea would probably apply, though I wouldn't mind seeing some additional outfits! As for default names, their use has always been optional, but I wouldn't mind seeing conventional names listed as alternatives to typing in a different name of your own choice. And I wouldn't exactly say that Blue has ever been a
bully, per se; it seems to me that Blue's more like the kind of person who is apathetic towards other individuals unless and until they've proved themselves to him that they're worthy opponents.
…
- Sevii Islands are retconned to Orange Archipelago, with a small four gym quest as in the anime, and an additional Team Rocket quest that ties into the Johto story.
…
No, no, just
no! Don't you even
think about leaving the Sevii Islands out at sea with no life preserver! It's not that I wouldn't mind seeing the Orange Islands make an appearance in the games, its just that I'd rather have them show up
in addition to the Sevii Islands! The two areas could have four gyms apiece, and that would make it so that the two archipelagos south of Kanto share a Pokémon League.
…
- Lugia and Ho-Oh are catchable in the postgame and require the birds and beasts to be in your possession, respectively. The National Pokédex would trigger the beasts roaming around Kanto. Team Rocket does NOT interact with any legendaries. (this would probably throw canon to the wind, though, because the beasts are supposed to be dormant until the Johto story, but generally anything that deals with legendaries other than the cover ones isn't canon anyway)
- Leave Mewtwo be, as in RBY and FRLG. The allure of Mewtwo is that its always doing it's own thing, completely unbound.
…
Maybe the legendary beasts could just be starting to stir in preparation for their appearance in the
ΩR/
αS/
X/
Y timeline's equivalents of
G/
S/
C/
HG/
SS? This would maintain the logical consistency of this fork of the
Pokémon franchise's canon chronology. Not that it really matters, though, since players of
FireRed and
LeafGreen were able to catch one of the legendary beasts post-game (I believe which one became available depended on which starter you picked at the beginning of the game….)
…
Sevii Islands is the biggest thing I'd change, because the gem quest isn't necessary in a future remake and the old fans would love to be able to visit the Orange Archipelago in the game. The Orange League itself isn't necessary, because in GSC and HGSS you beat the 8 Kanto gyms and there's no league afterwards, so the prize for beating the postgame would be the E4 rematch and admission into the postgame battle facility, which could work as an Orange League of sorts.
…
What makes you think that getting the Ruby and the Sapphire wouldn't be necessary to connect Kanto's PC infrastructure to that of Hoenn in Kanto remakes? All Kanto games since the introduction of the Hoenn region indicate either that Bill is impressed by what Lanette has done with the PSS (Pokémon Storage System, not Player Search System, in this case) in Hoenn or that he is proud to have worked with her to create the PC infrastructure shared by Kanto and Hoenn, depending on whether you are playing these games' English or Japanese versions, respectively. But even if Bill and Lanette
did work together to create the PKMN-SS (Pokémon Storage System,) we don't know which parts of it they collaborated on! If the PKMN-SS's
software was a joint effort, then its
hardware would still have to be set up independently! In that case, a hard link between Kanto and Hoenn would still have to be established in order for their PKMN-SSes to communicate. According to the Sevii Islands parts of
FR/
LG's plot, doing so requires the Ruby and the Sapphire to be used as what I think is some kind of signal booster that allows such communication to bridge the large physical distance between Kanto and Hoenn.
Putting the Orange Islands into Kanto remakes would give GameFreak room to add more Gyms to them, but, like I said earlier, what I'd really like to see is a set of eight gyms split between the Orange Archipelago and the Sevii Islands. The resulting league could then either have its own Elite Four or share its E4 with Kanto and Johto (the fact that Kanto and Johto share the Indigo League makes an E4 rematch make sense in context.) Maybe defeating the Indigo League the first time around would give you access to either pre–Gen.-II Johto or the Orange and Sevii Islands and then doing so the second time around would unlock the other region? Would this, however, be augmented with the use of different Champions each time around. The first time around, you would, of course, face Blue since he would have just defeated Lance, whom you would face the second (and maybe the third?) time(s) around. Lance could probably stay on as Champion the third time around, but why shouldn't
Green get a chance to be a Pokémon master in Blue's absence while he's off training for a grudge match against you?
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I need to mention that these gyms would be harder than the 8 Kanto gyms. Each would focus on: Doubles, Triples, Rotation, and even Inverse Battles!
…
Using gyms to give players more chances to face off against Gym Leaders in these kinds of battles would be awesome! Maybe we could see a Gym where three people share the role of Leader and they each contribute two Pokémon to a team that they use in a three-on-one Gym battle against you?
…
But really, the postgame would depend a lot on when the games would be released. Because you'd have to acommodate a lot of legendaries, like ORAS did. You could have all sorts of legendaries, because having them in the game isn't canon. For example, Reshiram, Zekrom and Kyurem are in ORAS, but we know from XY dialogue that the events in the new timeline happened more or less in the same way as in the original one, so the Tao trio, at first glance, had no business being in Hoenn. The Lugia thing would just be a way to "canonize" its role as master of the bird trio, even though canonically Lugia is supposed to be resting deep inside the Whirl Islands.
…
I blame Hoopa for the excess of non-Hoenn legendaries in [I]ΩR[/I}/
αS. And maybe Lugia wakes up a little earlier in this fork of the timeline and just
roost in the Whirl Islands? This would clear him to leave there to hunt or something.
…
I'd probably have to fit Mega Evolution somewhere in there. Maybe you get your starter's Mega Stone from Mr. Fuji, like in Origins, and then the postgame quest involves it somehow, letting you acquire a Mega Ring at the very end of it. Then the E4 and Champion would have Mega Evolutions of their own. Introduce Mega Lapras, Mega Machamp and Mega Dragonite.
…
Didn't the case that Mr./Dr. Fugi gave Red in
Pokémon Origins contain both Mega Charizardite X and a Mega Bracelet/Ring?
Loving the ideas that have been getting put out here. I think I would make use of that clock and where if you start a game at a certain time and show up late, Oak gives you Pikachu. Difference here from Pokemon Yellow is that it only happens if you start at a certain time and the other Kanto starters are available to you even if you start with one of them (as well as Pikachu in Viridian Forest).
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My ideal Kanto remake would be very barebones:
- Kanto in full 3D.
- 151 Pokémon + new evos, unrestricted during the main game. Rosters updated to make up for it. Bruno with Steelix, Agatha with Crobat, Giovanni and Blue with Rhyperior. Maybe mix some Yellow and RB rosters. Give Yellow rosters to Blaine (and maybe Giovanni), RB rosters to everyone else.
- Day/night cycle.
- Cinnabar Island bigger and with a visible volcano.
- No customization. Red is iconic. Leaf renamed to Green (Blue in Japanese) as in Adventures. Change Blue's dialogue to Green a bit to imply he looks down on her for being a girl, as a bully like him naturally would.
- Sevii Islands are retconned to Orange Archipelago, with a small four gym quest as in the anime, and an additional Team Rocket quest that ties into the Johto story.
- Lugia and Ho-Oh are catchable in the postgame and require the birds and beasts to be in your possession, respectively. The National Pokédex would trigger the beasts roaming around Kanto. Team Rocket does NOT interact with any legendaries. (this would probably throw canon to the wind, though, because the beasts are supposed to be dormant until the Johto story, but generally anything that deals with legendaries other than the cover ones isn't canon anyway)
- Leave Mewtwo be, as in RBY and FRLG. The allure of Mewtwo is that its always doing it's own thing, completely unbound.
Sevii Islands is the biggest thing I'd change, because the gem quest isn't necessary in a future remake and the old fans would love to be able to visit the Orange Archipelago in the game. The Orange League itself isn't necessary, because in GSC and HGSS you beat the 8 Kanto gyms and there's no league afterwards, so the prize for beating the postgame would be the E4 rematch and admission into the postgame battle facility, which could work as an Orange League of sorts.
I need to mention that these gyms would be harder than the 8 Kanto gyms. Each would focus on: Doubles, Triples, Rotation, and even Inverse Battles!
But really, the postgame would depend a lot on when the games would be released. Because you'd have to acommodate a lot of legendaries, like ORAS did. You could have all sorts of legendaries, because having them in the game isn't canon. For example, Reshiram, Zekrom and Kyurem are in ORAS, but we know from XY dialogue that the events in the new timeline happened more or less in the same way as in the original one, so the Tao trio, at first glance, had no business being in Hoenn. The Lugia thing would just be a way to "canonize" its role as master of the bird trio, even though canonically Lugia is supposed to be resting deep inside the Whirl Islands.
I'd probably have to fit Mega Evolution somewhere in there. Maybe you get your starter's Mega Stone from Mr. Fuji, like in Origins, and then the postgame quest involves it somehow, letting you acquire a Mega Ring at the very end of it. Then the E4 and Champion would have Mega Evolutions of their own. Introduce Mega Lapras, Mega Machamp and Mega Dragonite.
…
I like this remake idea, Cerberus. I think it's a good compromise.
I'd also change the Route 5 Daycare into being a full breeding one (as it should've been in FRLG), and have Berry Pots similar to HGSS. Of course, Mossy Rock would be added to Viridian Forest, Ice Rock to Seafoam Islands, and a new area to the Power Plant for Leafeon/Glaceon/Magnezone.
…
It'd be nice to have a full-blown Day Care Center on Route 5, but the one in the Sevii Islands should be kept since it's really very tedious to Fly back to a local port, take a Seagallop Ferry back to Kanto, Fly to either Cerulean City or Saffron City, and then (finally!) traipse down Route 5 to the Day Care. The ability to Fly directly to routes as players of
OmegaRuby and
AlphaSapphire can would likely make this less frustrating, but I'd
still like to have a Day Care closer by than the one in Kanto while waltzing through the Sevii Islands! And, yes, it would make sense for the Moss Rock, Ice Rock, and magnetically-charged area to be in those locations.
…
While the game wouldn't be likely to have customization, I wouldn't mind seeing a limited form of it that let you dress in Red and Green's older outfits (including Green's
beta outfit). The unselected PC should also have a secondary rival role (as standard with almost all games released since RSE), maybe with a team based on that of Green's Adventures counterpart.
…
Great idea! I like how you think!
…
Now, one thing that would have to get a major overhaul even in the most minimalist remake is Celadon Game Corner. Game Corners are obviously a thing of the past, and while they could just stick Voltorb Flip in there again, the complete makeover
Mauville City received in ORAS suggests that they might do something different.
One idea I had earlier in the thread was a video arcade. The slot machines would be replaced with arcade games with various minigames, including
Pikachu's Beach from Yellow. It could even include ports of the old
Pokémon Pinball game and
Pokémon Mini games. Doing well in the minigames would get you coins/tokens in return, which could then be exchanged for prizes (like in the old Game Corner). The Gambler trainer class would be entirely replaced with a true Gamer class based on
stereotypical gamers. The Celadon Team Rocket side quest would otherwise play out the same.
…
Yeah, losing the Game Corner entirely would wreak havoc with how players find Team Rocket's lair!
…
There should also be more allusions/references to Gen 2. I'd like to see several references to Johto being in the west, and I wouldn't mind seeing foreshadowing of things like Viridian Trainer House, the Magnet Train, Lavender Radio Tower, and of course, Team Rocket's resurrection. The following characters should have appearances: Archer, Ariana, Petrel, Proton, Silver, Eusine, Karen, Janine, and maybe, Clair.
The following characters from later games should also have appearances: Prof. Rowan (was canonically in Kanto at the time; could give you a Sinnoh starter), Looker (as the
Global Police agent on the SS Anne), Bertha (is probably related to Agatha), Brawly (friends with Bruno), and a few others. (None of which include Cynthia, don't worry. :P)
Thanks for pointing these connections out! I
completely forgot about the Global Police officer on the
S. S. Anne, Agatha and Bertha
might be related since their east Asian names share several similarities, and NPCs have mentioned that Brawly and Bruno used to train together!
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Red: Ride 'em, Yoshi! Yeehaw!
Yoshi: Wango!
NOTE: Please send me a private message if you have an extra copy of the special Mew that GameFreak distributed to owners of Generation III games on September 30th, 2006, and can think of a good place where we can meet for a trade.