Add Permadeath in pokemon

[ceresbane]

So... I'm sure you guys are aware of the old fanfic about Gary's raticate.

What if you added a function in the game where if a player walks x squares after a battle where pokemon fainted, that pokemon will die/run away (I prefer dying though, because it feels more high stakes).

To those not aware Gary is apparently at the pokemon tower to pay respects to his dead pokemon that by fan theory resulted in him not getting his pokemon in time to the pokemon center.

I think if you added this function players won't simply shrug off pokemon fainting and will actually force players to actually bother bringing healing items on a playthrough (I mean I rarely ever did, rendering all of my earnings going towards pokeballs).

I think a fair number of steps is 200 squares. Just enough to escape most dungeons and just enough to make it to a pokemon center. Of course you wouldn't worry if you brought teleport or dig or an escape rope or even some revives along. I think this simple change adds a very interesting dynamic.

Shortcuts to this however will include you whiting/blacking out, using fly, dig, teleport, etc. since you aren't technically walking any squares yet. Plus when you do get party wiped you lose money anyway.

 

[Imperator161]

I've never really enjoyed permadeath in games, which is why I've never really gotten into the nuzlocke genre. Growing up, I recall becoming extremely attached to my Pokemon, especially my Blastoise in Red. Someone told me that it would die when it reached level 100. I panicked, called up everyone I knew to see if anyone else had more info (I wasn't too internet-savvy back then), and, upon failing to get an answer to my question, I cautiously raised my Blastoise to level 100, planning to turn off the game if anything went wrong. (I didn't realize the game saved at the Hall of Fame, which would have ruined my back-up plan, but as we can all guess, my Blastoise made it to level 100 jut fine.)

So what's the point of my Blastoise anecdote? The point is that I would have been crushed had anything happened to my Blastoise, if permadeath of any kind was possible. I would have cried for days if not weeks, and I probably would never have touched a Pokemon game again (and at that point, I doubt my parents would have let me purchase any more). Not the best business model for a series originally geared at kids, hmm? And yes, you can make up elaborate rules, and come up with ways around the issue if people bring the right items and the right Pokemon, but people, especially kids, make mistakes. As an optional mode, maybe it could work (though I still would argue that people could accidentally activate it, causing problems), but I definitely don't see the main games heading in that direction.

As an adult, I play Pokemon for fun. I don't want to worry about something going wrong and ruining all of the work I've put in. That's why I generally don't play games that can be made unwinnable (especially if they're more than 30 minutes or so), and if I do a nuzlocke, I save defeated team members to trade to another game rather than releasing them. I see how other people could enjoy permadeath, and like the significance that it gives the games, but for now, I think setting one's own nuzlocke rules is good enough. Backing out is always an option, if need be. And if you want real permadeath, there are plenty of other good series that offer that. I just don't think permadeath really goes along with the essence of Pokemon.

 

[LilBueno]

Nah. Even RPGs where characters can actually die don't have playable characters die from being "killed" in battle. The Pokemon games have implied death so death exists, it's just not something they'd want to use for appeal since it wouldn't appeal. Here's an interview with Satori Tajiri where he mentions that the decision to make Pokemon faint instead of die was deliberate to kids don't equate losing with dying.
https://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2040095,00.html
That mindset may not be as dominant at Gamefreak anymore, but I doubt there's any talk there about adding permadeath in a main series game for any reason

 

[VisualJae]

Will not happen as long as the targeted demographic for the games are young children.

Mods/hacks? Go for it.

 

[Ace Trainer 188]

"Add permadeath to the series"

Then do a nuzrun.

 

[Fannie]

I genuinely don't see this ever happening. It's too dark of a concept for a main series Pokémon game. I realise the concept of death has been touched upon with Lavender Town's Pokémon Tower and such but I can't imagine them flat out having your Pokémon die. I'm not sure I'd be too fond of this in the series too, even if it's just a mode or an option. It doesn't fit the happy feel of Pokémon whatsoever.

I can't see it either. As a kid, I was overly attatched to my Pokemon team. I remember having my GameBoy confiscated and being extremely upset that I couldn't spend time with them. God forbid, they died!

 

[Hikamaru]

Like most of the others said, it's not a good idea for a usually light-hearted franchise like Pokemon. Having permadeath would pretty much certainly mean a rating classification that's inappropriate for kids. Besides, you can kinda do this in a Nuzlocke anyway, in that you can't use a Pokemon anymore when it gets knocked out.

 

[SaniOKh]

To those not aware Gary is apparently at the pokemon tower to pay respects to his dead pokemon that by fan theory resulted in him not getting his pokemon in time to the pokemon center.

No, he's not. He explicitly states after the battle that he came to the Pokémon Tower to catch Pokémon, and now that he has caught a Cubone and looked for a Marowak to no avail, he is leaving.

Anyway, back to the actual topic of this thread... permadeath.
Yeah, it would be dark, which wouldn't be an issue for me, honestly, but it would also be incredibly frustrating. Imagine losing a Pokémon you spent a lot of time breeding, training etc. And what if it is an one-of-a-kind Legendary?

Let's also not forget that Pokémon is a game where you can save at will. If your Pokémon dies, you can always reset the game and reload your last saved game. While being able to save turns this huge potential for frustration into a simple annoyance... it's an annoyance nonetheless. Plus, cartridges can only save data a limited amount of times before the flash memory stops working properly, so if there's an incentive to save your game more often (permadeath would be one, for sure), it would actually cause more wear and tear to the cartridge itself, shortening its lifespan.