The PERFECT Pokemon Game - Part 2

Hey everybody!

First of all I just want to apologise to the scores of you on here who read this blog from time to time; I’ve been caught up with a million and one things since we last “met” but trust the fact that I have been itching to complete this entry for a time now – its just the slight traces of OCD within me that have made this possible so I thank it profusely. That’s enough banter for now, so without further haste, let’s just dive right in! 

*(If you're new to this blog, click back through the blog posts to read through Part 1 incased you missed it)

11. Pokemon GO! Compatibility

I haven’t been very vocal about the Pokemon Go phenomenon that has the world in its coils mainly because well, I don’t love it very much.

Yes much like all of you I use a smartphone too and yes I may have downloaded the app with impressive zeal at the time, but I don’t think it remained on my phone longer than a full day. I realised that I am much happier with its 3DS counterpart.

Pokemon Go to me seemed like cheating on my spouse with someone “lesser”. But this isn’t an entry about monogamy so let’s save the rant.

The popular mobile app is a watered down experience of the Pokemon Games that has you moving around in real time, encountering Pokemon in Augmented Reality. At the moment of writing this blog entry, it has neither the entire PokeDex available nor player connectivity i.e trading and battling each other.

 I do acknowledge that tapping into the mobile market was a brilliant move on part of the developers but there is so much more room for this to grow. From the top of my head I would say maybe catching an uber-rare legendary Pokemon on Pokemon Go! And then being able to transfer it in game.

Vice versa, the Pokemon Go app could have a feature where you could transfer your well trained Pokemon into your mobile phone and then have it raise said Pokemon, just like a real life PokeWalker!

Let’s just say that I’d be a world of a lot keener to have that app on my phone if it could in some way, interact with my 3DS.

12. Hammer Down the ‘Mega Evolutions’ science

Usually when GameFreak introduces a new aspect to the game it is met with a diverse range of emotions. Some additions have been frowned over, (like the Pokemon Movie/Film Studio fuck up in Unova) and others have been applauded (like the Special/Physical split in attacks, after Hoenn).

One of the things that came out of Generation 6 and had near-unanimous approval was the concept of Mega Evolution (something I voiced my opinion over on this blog a few years ago). The ability to further evolve your favourite Pokemon a notch above, even if for the duration of a single battle, was a brilliant new concept to introduce.

Going into Generation 7 however, I was wondering if within the narrative of the games themselves, we could get some insight into the mechanics of the process. I would personally like to know what is the criteria of being able to Mega Evolve only some Pokemon and not others, or if this isn’t the case then how do we, the fan base, voice our opinions to get the our Pokemon to Mega Evolve in future installments (my kingdom for a Mega Arceus! Oh Lord have mercy) Or alternatively, will ALL Pokemon be able to Mega Evolve at some time in the eventual future? Maybe Gen 20? And why do some Pokemon have an X and Y Mega Evolution and not others? (I mean I love Charizard just as much as the next person, but what did Blaziken do not to get 2 Megas?)

You probably think I jest but these are pertinent questions! The Pokemon Company struck a fat, juicy nerve when they brought Mega Evolution into our lives, but lack of semantics in the matter makes me at least, think that I’m a zombie consumer. I’m not a zombie consumer, I have feelings. And smarts. True story.

They need to hammer down the physics involved. Explain to us the science that has gone into this! For our collective sanity.

In the meantime I would like 20 new Mega Evolutions in Generation 7 please, thanks.

13. Battle Frontier Forever More

ORAS was the feint heard around the world. One of the top 3 reasons that I was excited to return to Hoenn, apart from starter Mega’s and the nostalgia, was the possibility of the Battle Frontier in all its Gen 6, 3DS glory! But alas, this did not come to pass.

Unfortunately through the years, the Battle Frontier facility has remained a novelty for the series, and not a staple like many of us would like it to be.

Usually brought to us in in the post-game, it features an element of the Pokeverse that deals exclusively with your battling smarts. Catching elusive Pokemon and plot be damned.

It is in this way, that the Battle Frontier is a fresh change from the monotonous momentum that the game advocates to you till that point. Once the Elite 4 and the regional Champion have been conquered, trainers have little else to do than begin the arduous task of completing their PokeDex while moonlighting as Berry gardeners for their fictional wine cellars (that’s a joke, drink responsibly kids).

I really wouldn’t mind if the Battle Frontier became a formulaic piece of the Pokemon puzzle. 

The BF in Emerald was hands down the best version of the aforementioned ever, and its Sinnoh sibling, although watered down, was still worthy of praise. I loved everything about it, the challenging trials as well as the Frontier Brains. They were the logical next step up from Gym Leaders and Elite 4. Now if only they could be turned into a staple of the game and no one would ever have to write a blog post to that effect in the future! Hmmm.

14. Pokemon Customisations

This is a long time coming, and this fits in well with the ongoing signature that Trainers are developing all over the world.

Largely conceived through the slight customisations of the Pokemon in the anime series, I feel it would be pretty awesome to be able to use ‘dress up’ mechanics for the Pokemon in your party. Remember way back when Ash’s Rival, Ritchie I think his name was, had a Pikachu too, a Pikachu named Sparky, but the only way you could tell them apart was the tuft of hair sticking out on his head? And most recently it was Sawyer who’s powerful Sceptile had a scarf around his neck, which held its Mega Stone.

Small bits of the same can be found in ORAS with the Contest Pikachu, in whose case you get a brand new move along with the costume change. Where that is indeed a nifty little addition, it’s not wholly necessary to maintain in the future.

These are small little aesthetic incursions, but honestly go a long way for Trainers to stamp their unique style onto their beloved Pokemon.

For example I always wanted my Jellicent (male) to wear a bowtie. No harm in looking dapper when you’re dealing out losses to your opponents - Sweeping with style!

15. Availability of Event Exclusive Pokemon

This won’t be too much of a rant I’m afraid but bear with nonetheless.

I don’t live in Japan, but there’s an obvious bias as far as Event Exclusive Pokemon are concerned, we all know this. You guys (Japanese Trainers) get so many awesome Pokemon every so often – compare that with the rest of the world and it’s a travesty.

From Pokemon Centers to movie screenings, the audience in Japan is definitely more spoilt than any of us can ever hope to be.

Yes, I understand that Pokemon is your baby, it was born there in your country and it will forever be the Mecca for ‘Catching Them All’, but come on, have a heart!

If there’s anything that Pokemon has instilled in us, is that we, the PokeEnthusiasts are a global demographic, transcendent over our countries’ individual borders – and we would adore some love coming our way from time to time also in the form of a rare legendary! Pretty please?

16. Plot Choices that Drastically Change the Outcome of the Game

Once upon a time when I was a wee little lad, I think I must’ve been 11 years old at the time, there was a rumour going around my circle of friends about the Nugget Bridge in Kanto circa Gen 1. The rumour pertained to a member of Team Rocket who on first interaction asks the player if they want to join the ranks of their criminal organization, prompting Yes to which would alter the path the player will take from then on (this was obviously a pre pubescent tall-tale). They would then get an infinite supply of Rare Candies and would not need to defeat Gyms. Moreover they would now be able to catch a Trainer’s Pokemon (something that is outlawed in the game, believe me I’ve tried my fair share). For the sake of my juvenile moral compass, this turned out to be false; but I do acknowledge the imaginative prowess of my classmate who conjured the idea in the first place.

Fast forwarding to present day, allow a bit of a segue - Nintendo is life, we all know this.

And although a large space in my heart is and forever will belong to the Pokemon Company, I can’t help but revel in all of Nintendo’s gaming gallery, an awe inspiring collection of gaming royalty. The Fire Emblem series is a notable notch in that regard, moreover the latest installments, Fire Emblem: Fates that relates directly to the point I’m so glacially trying to make.

Fire Emblem Fates introduced a dynamic in the franchise whereby major key decisions within the game would end up changing the outcome for the player. I won’t elaborate on this for fear of spoiling it for novices to the franchise, but that seems to be the gist of the matter. Playing through Fates made me think back to the rumour I so happily engaged with as a child and back to the Pokemon series.

The games have always been based around a linear style of gameplay where the central plot is heavily engaging; sometimes painfully cumbersome (The Delta Episode in ORAS).

Riddle me this. What if in fact you did say Yes to the Grunt on the Nugget Bridge? Could there be a possibility that you could live out your days in Kanto rising up the ranks of the criminal bureaucracy to one day dethrone Giovanni as the leader of Team Rocket? Okay okay, I’ll reel it in.

What if in Kalos you had the choice to go anti clockwise rather than clockwise in Pokemon X and Y? Where Wulfric would be the first Gym and Viola would be the last? Sure it just seems to be a matter of direction at this point, but truly this would change the entire experience, from your Pokemon team to your opinion of Kalos as a whole – but that is not wholly the point I’m trying to make.

What if we as the player could deviate from the mainstream story for a change and not adhere to the linear journey that is set out for us and in doing so arrive at different places towards the end? I mean, do all of us really want to collect Gym Badges and beat the Elite 4?

Maybe some of us want to participate in Contest Battles for the entirety of the game and go all out in a regional Grand Festivals like May and Dawn in the anime!

Or, what if we had a choice in the postgame to set up a Gym of our very own? With our own signature Type and Badge to give out to NPC/Online opponents?

Super Mario Maker is a game that made a niche for itself in the world of gaming for allowing the players themselves to come up with elaborate ideas of level construction – obviously not largely as much, but I feel the Pokemon Franchise would have a lot to offer if they gave their players an option to choose their own path for themselves somewhere down the line. 

Hopefully not too farfetched off an idea to dole out.

17. Erasable HM’s

The subheading says it all doesn’t it?

But to be more forthcoming for the people who might not be aware (Haa). HM’s or Hidden Machines are an elevated counterpart to the TM’s. These moves found in-game (mostly after the completion of a sidequest or extreme plot exposition) can be taught to the Pokemon in your party with an added bonus of being practical in the overworld.

HM’s have been a staple of the franchise since Generation 1, ranging from simple maneuvers like having your Pokemon cut down small trees to scaling huge waterfalls – these in turn make previously inaccessible routes, accessible.

As far as the concept is concerned, I love it – it gives the game yet another dimension amidst all the running around and such. What I don’t love about it however, is that we are down 6 generations now and the development team has still not granted us the ability to overwrite or ‘erase’ them ourselves. Yes we can still head on over to our friendly (sketchy) Move Deleter from time to time who will erase a slot of our Pokemon attacks, but still.

If you found it in your hearts to make TM usage infinite, do us an added favour by enabling us to delete the HM moves whenever we want.

One common argument for the nature of HM’s is the linear storyline and yes I realize that noobs out there might want to erase Surf from their Quagsire while on an island cave, but come on, you guys have made it possible for X/Y and ORAS to exist in the same Generation (nod to all the Mega Evolutions found in ORAS that don’t exist in X/Y) – surely this wouldn’t be rocket science either.

Don’t do it for me, (although I would love the time saving) instead, do it for all the Skarmory and Bibarel out there who want to be part of our teams outside their status as glorified HM slaves. They deserve better.

18. Massive Overworld - DLC

This has been a dream of mine ever since Generation 2 came out. These were the days before Buzzfeed and GameFaqs and IGN and Facebook (collectively the biggest spoiler websites in the world). When I set out on my journey in Johto I was blissfully unaware of the region in its entirety. Every new Pokemon was new. Every route was a fresh new path and every Pokemon battle had its own difficulty level – Whitney’s Miltank is and always will be the stuff of legends!

So you can very well imagine my absolute surprise when I had defeated Clair in-game that I was now able to traverse that tiny body of water just to find out that I had taken my first steps back into KANTO (thanks fat stranger!) That element of surprise coupled with the realization that everything I had done so far was merely 50 percent of the entire journey, has to this day, remained unparalleled within the games.

The gaming world has changed in the past 10 years – we no longer have to badger our chaperones to wait for us at the arcade. We live in a world of handheld consoles, Internet banking and amazing downloadable content!

Put all of those elements in a blender and what do you get? You get a mainstream series game that upon certain milestone within it, allow you to access (alright, alright – purchase) DLC expansion packs making it possible for you to travel to other regions already introduced within the games.

Imagine the possibilities – the same feeling you got when you chanced upon Kanto to return to you, several times over!

Sure the developers will soil themselves on the immense workload they’d have to sit through writing code for all regions to be available in one cartridge, but atleast they wouldn’t have to fit the entirety of the PokeDex in one or more regions. We would finally be able to experience Ash’s journey in the Anime series itself!

I hope someone from GameFreak has considered this as an eventuality. It’s a win win situation for both Nintendo and the gamer. I for one would not be upset about parting with my money to be able to do that.

19. Battle System Overhaul - Attack Types and Location

With all RPG’s, a major element of the game is the battle sequences, and Pokemon has perfected the craft over the decades that we have played it. Everything from the overall graphics, to the sprites, to the attack animations is top notch, or more aptly put, the Pokemon battling system is pristine, (with the odd misstep here and there (3 v 3 battles, wtf guys, what’s next - 6 v 6 Battle Royale?)) and although Gen 7 only promises to add to the legacy of the ‘Pokemon Battle’ I can’t help but wonder when GameFreak will entertain the idea of one crucial element, and that is the Type of the Pokemon in correspondence with the Location of the battle.

Hear me out; Within the games already, we have had a taste of Sky Battles, where you can only use Pokemon that have visible wings flapping. Even a Pidgey for that matter can not participate because its battle sprite has it planted firmly on the ground. Why not do the same for underwater battles? Or go a step further with Ice and Grass types being unable to withstand the overwhelming heat emanating from a volcano area.

I can’t fathom the idea that in more realistic (ideal) situations that this would not be true.

If weather conditions have an effect on the move being used like Thunder during Rain and Blizzard during Snow, taken up a step - most recently Primal Groudon and Kyogre’s Desolate Land and Primordial Sea rendering the opposing water and fire attack, respectively, to be rendered unusable in the ensuing battle, then why shouldn’t the location of the battle not be taken into account?

Consider this: a low powered Water move like Whirlpool’s base power being bumped up, wreaking absolute chaos if used Underwater, or a Morning Sun not being able to do as much health recovery in a cave despite the time of day. Think about how about a Swalot’s Sludge Bomb OHKO’ing the opponent inside an industrial site? Or Greninja’s evasiveness drastically increasing in a forest (keeping in mind, that this Pokemon’s ninja-esque predisposition will let it utilize the dense overgrowth to its advantage)?

Every single move in that sense could be updated to match the dynamics of the Location of the Battle.

Plus, this would make sense for Pokemon League Battles as all of them are in controlled environments that don’t necessarily negate or improve any type of attacks. Factor in Location! Just do it!

20. Return of Pokemon Snap (feature)

As stated previously, if there’s a game that is a poorly done offshoot of the main Pokemon series, like Mystery Dungeon and Pokemon Rumble, or Pokemon Pinball for that matter, chances are that I won’t be, pardon the phrase, giving too much of a shit. With that being said, it was an unexpected yet pleasant surprise to have enjoyed the adventures of Todd Snap in, you guessed it, Pokemon Snap.

Bring this feature back, make it stick; have a Key Item which is like PokeCamera or something and use it take pictures of Pokemon in their natural habitat, you know, like a bunch of Marill splashing around in the water, or an Articuno flying circles around an icy crag. Maybe on of the Professor’s Assistants with an eye for photography will reward you from time to time when you show them your achievements.

This wouldn’t really have an impact on the narrative of the game, but rather serve as fun side quests that could lead you to bagging a rare item/TM or two. Maybe a close enough picture can have an impact on your PokeDex completion – hey, if Ash can scan a Pokemon for it to appear on his PokeDex why can’t we? Just saying. #noshade

TO BE CONTINUED...

(Shew, that was a mouthful(ish) and then some. But I’m so glad that I could post this! Alright guys, that’s it for Part 2 of the Perfect Pokemon Game Series – I promise that Part 3 won’t be too far off like this one was, again sorry for the delay. As always, be good, be safe and stay tuned!)