Game Help: The problems with Pokémon games

[Youripasted]

Pokémon had always that feeling of emptiness:

Gen 1 had nothing. Cut content shows that it originally had a plot in a very similar vein to Sakaguchi's Final Fantasy VII with Team Rocket and Silph SPA conquering Kanto and resurrecting fossils with a trainer who had to espose and smash them. That's a real shame...

Gen 2 was sightly better than the previous, but just more of the same.

Gen 3 had an environmental theming that just ended up in two people who want to expand land and sea because yes. Bruh...

Gen 4 had a little talk about emotions and valuing life in the world, but there isn't space for that, so it's about four text boxes.

Gen 5 is where this brand dared with criticising the Pokémon system as much as I do, but then it did just not dare and do anything like that anymore.

Gen 6 has so much cut content that its plot is non existent.

Gen 7 had a consistent plot, but the Ultraspace and Multiverse aren't being explored anymore...

Gen 8. See gen 6.

Gen 9 had apparently something going on with Paradox Pokémon. But that was a bait.

Now let's see the problems with these games more accurately.

 

[Devalue]

Likely never intended Pokemon to be a plot-heavy game. Tried to capture the experience of catching bugs. Lends itself more towards exploration, discovery, and the journey as a whole. Includes the stories of those around you, such as Lillie and Hop.

Cannot remember when the game tells you to gather badges in Red/Blue. (Forces you to in Pewter City, at minimum.) Brings up this quote, shortly after getting your starter:

To make a complete guide on all the Pokémon in the world… That was my dream! But, I'm too old! I can't do it! So, I want you two to fulfill my dream for me! Get moving, you two! This is a great undertaking in Pokémon history!

Tells you to explore as your first goal, not become the Champion or beat up Team Rocket.

Alternatively, take a gander at X/Y. Pushed the friendship angle hard. Ventured through the forest together. Watched a fireworks show with Shauna. Gathered information about the mysterious Mega Evolution. Battled Team Flare with Calem/Serena a few times. Visited a disappointing haunted house together. Compared Pokedex records and battling skills. Also caught and evolved your team of Pokemon too, naturally.

Could certainly argue there are too few points of interest or overly simple stories. Runs the risk of being too text-heavy for the latter point. Means less time actually going out and adventuring. For example, how many people went back for History lessons in Scarlet/Violet? Forgot it existed, personally, despite the occasional reminder.

 

[_confused_piplup_]

Well, when it comes to lore and plot Pokemon is surely a bit lacking. Surely, one of the problems being they chose a standard way of making games: new region, new story, different characters, new gimmick and so on. This doesn't help because it doesn't consider the entire lore as a whole and it creates problems. One of the examples is SV. It literally talks about time-travel, yet pokemon like Dialga or Celebi aren't even mentioned. You might think that they don't really have a role in the story, but that's exactly the point! They had the opportunity to complicate the story and mix pokemon from different generations together, making an actual cool plot. However, they didn't. Why? Because it's not the main thing. I'd say the story often is just complementary to the legendary lore or simply to give you something to do in your gameplay. The main problem is that they kept inventing stuff looking at each game individually but not at the entire pokemon universe as a whole, which is where gen 6 kinda helped with the concept of Multiverse (yeah, because it all started with Delta Episode in ORAS).

 

[ReKoil]

Compared to any good RPG with an actual decent plot, Pokemon will always be sorely lacking. All of the story-lines are lackluster.
Imo in Pokemon the story pretty much gets treated as 'something to do while you're exploring', rather than 'exploring to further/uncover the story'.

I don't consider it a problem at all though. Pokemon to me is just not meant to be a plot heavy game that you play for an amazing storyline. To me it's a game you play to explore a region alongside your Pokemon and have fun together. It does that quite well if you ask me.