OK, I am going to make one long, thorough post about this, and then I am probably, hopefully, never going to talk about it again. I'm going to say my piece and get out. I can already hear the "Don't like it, don't buy it, stop ruining it for everyone else!" cries in my ear, and I don't need to repeatedly say I don't like it. But I'd like to say I don't at least once, and why I don't. Please note this is all my opinion before you scream at me, and I am never once going to presume to speak for other people or claim my opinions are facts. Disclaimer, right there.
...also, I am going to apologise to bobandbill for making a lengthy post that is probably completely unusable for Daily ^^;
The short version: No, I am not happy about this.
Now, for the longer version nobody will agree with or want to read:
I would not have preferred a third version. What I would have preferred is the game I should have gotten when I bought Pokemon Shield, because this content should have been in the game from Day #1. It is NOT entitled to say this. I would invite people who believe that it is to consider that postgame has been in previous titles, and that what you're paying for with this designed to act as postgame, something you didn't previously have to pay for separately. To address the point about third versions and sequels having the postgame and needing to buy them again: you knew those were coming. It was guaranteed those were coming, because they always did - excluding Pokemon X/Y, of course. This DLC was NOT announced when SnS were released, but has been announced two months later. The assumption that SnS would not be receiving DLC is a valid one, because this sets a new precedent for Pokemon. Therefore, it is not entitled to say that this content should have been included from Day #1. What they sold us was an incomplete experience disguised as a complete one. It's pretty standard industry practice to do this now, yes, but even so. There is a personal element to it as well - I felt that SnS were extremely lackluster, content-empty experiences, and I will explain the rest of that shortly - but I am not basing that statement solely on this. I suppose that won't make it any less valid to some, and people will still think it is, but I'd still like it understood that I have reasoning outside of personal dislike.
I will concede – reluctantly – that this is not entirely Game Freak's fault, because they clearly rushed SnS out to meet a deadline that was not within their control. If they'd been given the time they needed, we would probably be getting these games with all this content in them. Much as I dislike Masuda and his attitude and approach to these games, I do believe that a lot of these decisions he supposedly made, he made under duress, at the behest of powers far beyond himself who care only about the profit that the games are making and not the quality of them. Masuda is a composer ill-fitted for his current role, and I am sure that he did the best he could.
But it's obvious Game Freak have had this in the works for a long time, because the amount of information they revealed about this DLC practically outstripped everything they showed for SnS across about a year's worth of snippets of information. This is where all the content in SnS went. For them to be announcing it this soon, to the point that they feel comfortable putting up an expansion pass already, shows very clearly that this is at least a third of the game they originally had intended to release. Now they're going to make us pay for it if we want to experience it, because they can get away with it.
Also, what happened to "we're not adding in any more Pokemon to these games" hm? All those excuses about making models from scratch, high quality animations, how difficult it would be to balance the games with more Pokemon...we're getting 200 more. Half again as many. Just like that. Welp. What does that say about Game Freak as a company? Not much. You can argue that this is to please the Dexiteers – which won't please them, because 600/890+ is still 600, not all of them – but they'd been riding this "we're not doing it" stance long after the Dexit backlash started, so it's clearly not in response to that, because if it WAS they would have never said it wasn't going to happen; they would have kept silent about it or admitted it MIGHT happen in some form, which they could have easily done without alluding to paid DLC in any shape or form. I'm not saying more Pokemon is a bad thing. But what I am saying is that this just digs a deeper hole for Game Freak's reputation – or what's left of it, because their PR is worse than Bethesda's – and it makes them difficult to trust going forward.
Looking at what Masuda said exactly about this, "We currently have no plans to make the Pokemon that are missing from the Galar Pokedex available in-game." doesn't mean "we will never add Pokemon that are missing from the Galar Pokedex into the game" but, again, the timing of this announcement clearly shows that they DID have plans to do it when he said that. If he seriously expects me to believe that they decided to suddenly have plans to add in 200 Pokemon between November and now, with the level of detail they showed in the Direct, considering all the excuses Masuda previously cited for why that number of Pokemon had been cut...well. This will probably be a point of contention amongst people for the reason I am about to go into in the next paragraph, but I find it difficult to believe they didn't have this in the works, very thoroughly mapped out, if they are revealing it this soon. 200 Pokemon is a very specific number, and not one they'd just throw out there if they didn't have the game re-balanced to include them already planned. The entire thing is extremely sketchy, in my opinion.
Also yes, I realise this is speculation to some extent. I don't know what goes on at Game Freak. But you know what I DO know? What's been going on with Pokemon Masters. The honesty and openness that the devs of that have communicated to the players has been amazing, frankly. Game Freak cannot follow their example and be honest about their struggles with these games and their plans for the future...why, exactly? They don't owe us any information? That's a poor shield to hide behind. Game Freak have been nothing but evasive and close-mouthed about SnS since the Dexit backlash hit the internet, and whilst I can understand not wanting to jeopardise sales, the PR has been an absolute mess, and there was clearly no need for it. If they don't want me to think the worst, they shouldn't project it. Yes, I know Game Freak doesn't give a damn about what I or anyone else thinks of them. But I wanted to acknowledge the point that this is all speculation on my part, because I'm sure someone will throw it in my face at some point. The question that should be asked, I would suggest, is WHY we weren't told what was going on at Game Freak. How much better would it have been if Masuda had been upfront about this? Why the secrecy and lies? Just so people didn't wait to buy the games? So there was no negative reaction to the DLC? If there wasn't then, why isn't there now? It's still going to cost the same amount of money to buy the complete experience. Timing is everything, I suppose.
Anyways. This is also very worrying for the future, which is another reason I am not happy about this DLC. No more third versions or sequels! No more paying twice for what is essentially the same game! Yes, that's very good. But let's look at where this could lead us further down the line. Gating off Pokemon behind DLC—oh wait, that's already happened here, hasn't it? There are ways around it with Home and trading etc, yes, but it's still happened in some form. It's a start. If you're jumping on the franchise at this point, you've got a VERY frustrating future ahead of you trying to trade for all these, so it's as good as gated for some. I will give credit and acknowledge the free update is a good gesture. But that's not going to mean much to people who don't have these Pokemon already, can't afford to invest in Home or won't for whatever reason, and can't acquire them via trade. We'll call it a half-gate, then. One you can pass through if you have the right credentials, the credentials in this instance being either a) a history with the franchise, or b) a friend to trade with. Don't have either and not buying the DLC and want the Pokemon? Sucks to be you!
How about having Pokemon locked behind lootboxes, or monthly subscription fees for a "game-as-a-service" model title? Don't think those are too likely? Pokemon Go is raking in RIDICULOUS amounts of money with microtransactions, so there is clear evidence people are going to pay for it if it happens, and Game Freak are clearly under a lot of pressure to rake in revenue: lifetime sales have been declining year-on-year with Pokemon titles up to this point (I expect SnS will turn this around, but whose to say the next games will echo SnS' success?) and DLC is money they can, clearly, easily cash in on...and they can even sell basically the same content twice with one DLC pack per version.
We've already had a lootbox of sorts with the Let's Go Pokeball Plus Mew, and if lootbox Pokemon happen, people are going to compare them favourably to that example, because they won't cost as much money as that did, and they will probably be dressed up to be more consumer-friendly. An easy way to get a Pokemon you want! Rare Pokemon you can't get in the wild, right here! They'll still take your money. Lootboxes not Nintendo's style? Go download Mario Kart Tour or Fire Emblem Heroes and come back to me. Subscription services not Nintendo's style? Go look at Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp....or Mario Kart Tour again.
Yes, I know those are mobile titles, and that TPC is not Nintendo. What TPC is is the owner of the largest media franchise in the world, and they can do whatever they damn well please. Mobile practices like microtransactions and lootboxes have been sneaking into video games for years now and, like it or not, Pokemon is a AAA franchise. It might not have the budget, or the dev team, but it's a AAA franchise. These things are expected. So they'll happen. People will grumble, and complain, and there will be backlash. They'll still buy the games. Still pay for the content. And if they don't...well, who cares? Plenty of other people who do will instead of them. And it'll be great, because it's Pokemon. When in reality it's EXACTLY the same as these things that other industry titans are reviled for.
I'm fear-mongering? A few years ago we were all laughing at the idea of Pokemon ever receiving DLC. It'd never happen. Game Freak, for all their flaws, made complete experiences that didn't require additional purchases or other nonsense. Game Freak didn't gate off their content behind paywalls. Now look where we are. Maybe not for a generation or two more, but we WILL see Pokemon either as a game-as-a-service with a subscription fee, with microtransactions, or lootboxes. Or something worse. There is too much potential for it to NOT happen, and with this DLC, they're testing the waters. They're going to like the results. They're going to want to do more. For a while, people will be happy, despite being asked to pay more for the same amount of content without really knowing it. Then they'll push further. They're in this to make money, so of course they will.
At this point I'm going to make a point, because it's a good time to as I'm reading this back and arguing it with myself. That point is this: I CARE about the state of this franchise, and I'm sad to see things go this way. I will not just "vote with my wallet" and not buy the games, or "shut up and let people enjoy things". I'm allowed to be critical, and I'm critical because I care. But I'm not going to blindly consume media when it does something I fundamentally disagree with. Besides, this is the only post I'm going to make on this subject (don't quote me if you're hoping for a response or discussion, btw...VM me if you want I guess though) and I'm almost done, so bear with me. Or don't. You know you could just not read this, right?
Game Freak are going to get away with this, and it's going to be positively received, because all the ambition and the scope that they promised and failed to deliver with Sword and Shield are being put into this DLC instead. They're going to make the games what they should have been at launch, and whilst this is definitely a good thing, the manner in which they are doing it is so disgustingly anti-consumer and downright scummy that it negates any and all goodwill, as far as I'm concerned. Whether or not this DLC is any good is irrelevant, in my opinion – it's a very worrying sign of changing times, and whilst it'll happen gradually, and be portrayed in a positive light, in the end we're going to end up in exactly the same place EA took us with Star Wars Battlefront II.
I know this is standard industry practice, and THIS was what was bound to happen sooner or later - not Dexit, but this carving up of the games so that pieces could be sold back at a later date. DLC has been creeping into flagship Nintendo IP for a while now, and Pokemon was clearly next in line. I'm not against the concept, persay. What I AM against is Game Freak half-arsing their game, rushing to release it, and then locking the rest of the content behind a paywall. A lot of developers do it, but...well, this is a sign of the end of an era where Game Freak was simply better than they were. This has huge potential for abuse, and with their reputation and colossal install base, they could easily get away with it. People will THANK them for getting away with it, even.
I expect the DLC will be good. I expect it will be enjoyable. If it ever goes on sale to below half price, years down the line, I might even be a filthy hypocrite and buy it...or ask someone else to buy it for me, salving my conscience in some small way, haha. I can understand why people are excited for the content: it's more Pokemon! More of the same! I say this without any sarcasm, because more of the same has worked SO WELL for Pokemon for years and that's great. But this extra content shouldn't exist in this form, and I'm sad that it does. I'm worried for what it means for the future. And I'm disgusted with Game Freak for acting as though they're doing us a favour and like they didn't know EXACTLY what they were doing this entire time.
So yeah, that's the long version. Thanks for reading, if you did! Bear in mind it's just my opinion and doesn't have to affect your enjoyment of or excitement for the game, and neither is it an attack on you as a person. It's just a bunch of meaningless text on the internet from some person who doesn't matter at all. There's a lot of speculation, and a lot you'll probably disagree with, but...well. I hope it was an interesting read if nothing else :3
