[Game Idea] Pokemon: Unity (A game based on the idea of 3 different cultures in one)

[CresentAzure]

I'm new here, and one of the main reasons I joined this forum is to share my thoughts on possible Pokemon games.

One thing is clear: I'm not a game designer or anything like that, in fact, cooking is my thing (^w^)... But I'm a video game lover, and I love writing my own stories and ideas for different games, and for quite some time now I have developed not only the general idea of a pokemon game, but even a lore, characters, story, cities and interactions with the characters, and I would love to share them with you and know what you think.

The game would be called "Pokemon: Unity" and its main attraction would be the size of the region, the ability to explore and discover new areas and history not only of the region, but also of the different characters that we meet.

The region would be called "Allr", it would be divided into 3 clearly different zones, since each one would be inspired by a different region of the world. These zones would be "Axis" inspired by the Scandinavian region, "Cliope" inspired by Greece, and "Yoshido", inspired by Asia and Oceania.

The history of the region would begin almost 300 years before the events of the main story. These 3 countries would declare war with the hope of growing in territory and forcing their beliefs and traditions on the others; each country would represent a clear aspect that would mark them: Axis would represent strength, Cliope intelligence, and Yoshido spirituality. From these constant conflicts three pokemons would be born and feed on war and hatred: Jormsnath, Gazuda and Inaptos. These pokemons would be known as "The Chaos trio". The leaders of the countries took these Pokemon as their greatest weapons and the war only got worse.

But the birth of some heroes who opposed the war ideals of the leaders would give rise to the hope of peace, and from this hope 3 other pokemons would be born that would serve as defenders and advocates of peace: Thormer, Athenyx and Kitsoul. After several confrontations and sacrifices, these three heroes would manage to win over the Chaos Trio and join the countries under the same region, taking these three new Pokemons as "The Guardian Trio"

Returning to the present, the game starts like most: We are new to the region and we don't know anyone. There are three important differences, the first is that depending on our choice of gender certain characters in the main plot would change, the second is that this would also affect certain aspects of our past, and the third is that we would not be a 10-year-old without experience, we would already be young people of 17-18 years old with experience in training pokemons. We would arrive at Axis city, capital of the region and we would be received by Professor Pine, who is dedicated to the study of Pokemon Origin and Mythology. We would be introduced to the Regional Champion Nyx and our main rival: Tyson, a trainer from Galar specialized in Ground type pokemons (in case we choose to be a boy), or Liv, a trainer from Kalos specialized in the Fairy type pokemons (if we choose to be a girl), and we would also be introduced to an important and at the same time interesting character: Fae, a trainer that the champion Nyx took as her apprentice and future holder of the title of Regional Champion; Fae admires Nyx and tries to be like her in every aspect, and will choose us as her rival to help her improve.

From here it is quite similar to the development of other games: Our goal is to become the new champion of the region by beating all the gyms and defeating the elite and the champion. But we would also have another problem, and that is that there is a threat to the peace of Allr: the Team Revolution.

This team would be led by Alder, the former Pokemon Professor of the region, who, oppressed with the idea of ​​evolution, wishes to awaken the Chaos Trio in order to create conflicts that, according to his words, "Like Pokemons, humans only improve through the battles. stagnation in peace only generates weakness, and weakness will lead to the loss of everything that was once the greatness of the Region... Therefore, only conflict and wars can help us to improve, to make us more stronger, wiser, but only if it can control and affect everyone equally."

In this way we would be involved in a mission to preserve the peace of Allr with the help of Nyx and the other gym leaders.
I would leave the story here so as not to dwell on it so much and move on to talking about gyms and trainers.

The Pokemon gyms would be distributed among the countries of the region, locating 3 in Axis, 2 in Cliope and 3 in Yoshido. I will name each Gym Leader along with its pokemon type, the city it would be located in, its alternate "profession" and the Badge we would win

-Gym Leader Lucio, Electric Type, Lux City, D.J., Pulse badge
-Gym Leader Bricio, Fighting Type, Khan City, MMA Fighter, Balance badge
-Ilta Gym Leader, Psychic Type (at day)/Dark Type (at night), Vall City, Writer, Dual badge
-Gym Leader Chrysa, Steel Type, Port Heras, Pokemon League Organizer, Union badge
-Gym Leader Amarion, Ghost Type, Eridian City, Retired Explorer, Eclipse badge
-Gym Leader Susan, Water Type, Aalala Island, Surfer, Wave badge
-Gym Leader Ayane, Grass-type, Hana Island, Biologist, Bouquet badge
-Gym Leader Eliel, Flying Type, Wind Island, Chef, Combination badge

The Elite Four and the battle for the Championship would take place in an area that the 3 countries have in common, Unity Island. These would be the ones that would form the Elite Four:

-Baco, Fire Type, Basketball Player
-Aspen, Ice-type, Breakdancer
-Breena, Fairy Type, Graphic Designer
-Otto, Dragon Type, Explorer
-Nyx, Regional Champion and Archaeologist, No specific Type but uses some Ghost-type Pokemon.

During the adventure we would meet our rivals, and also with other trainers who will challenge us and help us on certain occasions:

-Tyson, Main Rival if we choose to be a boy, from Galar, Ground Type
-Liv, Main Rival if we choose to be a girl, from Kalos, Fairy Type
-Fae, secondary rival, Allr's local, like Nyx does not have a specific type but uses Ghost-type pokemons
-Niels, Secondary Rival, Allr's local, Bug Type

Now I would like to mention some interesting facts and curiosities about these trainers:

- Nyx, the regional champion, was named after one of the legendary pokemons of the Region: Athenyx. She is Amarion's granddaughter and Fae's mentor.

- Nyx, Breena and Ilta have been friends since childhood, in fact, Breena and Ilta would be a couple. An indication of their friendship would be the use of repeated Pokemons, in addition to the fact that Ilta and Breena could be seen together several times.

- Lucio and Bricio are brothers, and they have a good relationship unless it comes to spicy food.

- Baco, Aspen and Susan would be best friends, growing up together on Aalala Island and being the youngest trainers in the region. This would bring them comical problems with Otto who can't stand the trio's childish attitude.

- Otto, Chrysa and Nyx would be the trainers that we could see more times during the adventure; This could be due to different reasons: Otto is an explorer who travels throughout the region, Nyx because she is chasing the Team Revolution, and Chrysa because she is the Organizer of the Pokemon League so she must ensure that everything is in order.

-Otto will say several times that Eliel is the best chef he knows, and he could be found in Eliel's gym when challenging him.

- Amarion will mention other ghost-type trainers from other regions: Morty and Phoebe, admitting to having met them at some point in his life.

- Nyx would mention several times that Otto could win the position of champion, but he has never tried. Otto for his part would say that he is not interested in being a champion, but rather working as Nyx's right hand protecting Allr region. They would be known as "The Protectors of Allr" among the people.

-The Chaos trio: Jormsnath, Gazuda, Inaptos, and the Guardian Trio: Thormer, Athenyx, and Kitsoul, are named in reference to deities and their rivals, or myths of the regions they represent: Thor and Jörmundgander, Athenea and Medusa, the Kitsune and Inari.

This game idea is highly inspired by the fourth generation (my favorite), in fact, the concept of a champion without a specific type is taken directly from Cynthia. This idea is more extensive, but I wanted to mention what in my opinion would be the most interesting/important facts. if you want to hear more just ask, and likewise if you have any suggestions, problems with the story, or if someone with more talent wants to use my ideas to create an epic fangame (hopefully it happens) just say so!

 

[Caelumide]

Hello!

I can tell you've already put a lot of time and effort into this concept, with the characters being the most fleshed out part about it, and have a solid idea that you're able to work off of, which is one of the most important step when it comes to making any sort of game in general. You're already off to a great start!

My first piece of advice for you is to pinpoint what'll be the weakest aspect of the game, which in your case seems to be the game design, then work around that as best you can; based on this thread, characterization and lore appear to be your biggest strength, so I highly suggest you take advantage of that by making the game more plot heavy and character driven since a compelling story oftentimes makes up for weak graphics. I know a lot of people out there only want to play games with pristine graphics, but at the same time I know there are also just as many people out there, myself included, who highly prefer plot over graphics.

My second piece of advice for you is to play around with the concept some more, compile a list of what you like best about it so far and see if you can take those ideas even further. Like, for example, the Ilta gym leader's type changing depending on the time of day-- that's such a unique idea I haven't really seen any other fangame (or would it be a rom hack?) do before! It's a fun gimmick that has a multitude of benefits for both the player and game itself, namely giving more freedom to the player and upping the replay value. Obviously not every gym has to do this, but if you gave each of them their own interesting gimmick, it would definitely be appealing to a lot more people. Not to mention this would really set it apart from every other game with the same formulaic plot and gameplay.

Before I offer you anymore advice or suggestions, I have a few important questions to ask:

1.) How do you pronounce 'Allr'?

2.) How did you choose the names for each zone?

3.) What do you define as Asia and Oceania? There are officially a total of 14 Oceanic countries and 48 Asian countries, do you intend to blend every single culture into one for Yoshido?

I ask because you need to tread extremely carefully when it comes to representing multiple different countries with extremely different cultures as one single country. A lack of extensive research and knowledge is bound to lead to cultural appropriation in Axis and especially Yoshido later down the line, and you also run the risk of misrepresenting Asia through an orientalist lens by blending so many Asian cultures at once. Wouldn't it be much easier, and require a lot less research, to base Axis and Yoshido on one country like you did with Cilope? Instead of Yoshido being inspired by all of Asia, why not make it inspired solely by Japan, assuming that's the country the name is based off of? Same with Axis, why not have it be one Scandinavian country like Denmark or Sweden?

I hope this was helpful! ^^