Should we refresh pokemon?

[edmek55555]

I think there are quite a few things that could be done to refresh the series. However I know nintendo most likely would never do this due to fear of an outlash by fans. However I think it is fair to say pokemon was most fun for the majority of us when we played our first game. I believe that is because we just didnt know as much. When you play through the first time you just worry about catching pokemon and battling and normally dont care to look for things because you really dont have the need. As for those of us who started in the red and blue days we didnt even really have a choice. However I think I have a couple ideas to keep the series fresh and feel free to add your own

Make every pokemon evolve in a manner similar to friendship. I cant think of too many specifics but maybe after a pokemon has been in so many battles, or has defeated so many pokemon, or if the pokemon beats a gym leader. It is kind of stale that all pokemon except a few evolve at a set level. It would be great to have it be spontaneous like the anime.

I believe movesets should be similar to evolution. No set level. Maybe just have it be random and there is a chance to learn a move in that pokemon's learnset each time they level up.

I think enemies pokemon should also be somewhat randomized, in the case of gym leaders and elite four they have to be of the same type, and depending on what stage of the game you are in they also have to be of a certain evolutionary stage. I would love to see every experience be unique.

Being able to choose any 1st stage evolution as your starter. I have wanted this for a long time. In the anime you see so many trainers who have pokemon they say they have had since day one, but arent a normal starter. And professor oak explains there was a huge selection of pokemon for new trainers to choose from but ash just got there late so he only had one choice. I want to start with my wooper dangit!

But that is all I have for now. Feel free to let me now what you think and please add some ideas of your own

 

[Julum]

If it was like the anime, it would be horrible. That isn't "refreshing" the series, it's completely changing it.

 

[SimH5]

Don't pokemon already evolve after they have been in so many battles, or has defeated so many pokemon?

I think learning moves at random levels could be really unbalanced. Imagine if it took any pokemon a while to learn any decent attacking moves. If there were certain mechanics to make sure pokemon aren't screwed over or over powered then maybe, but I see it being problematic.

I can agree I would like to see more randomisation in trainers. However I think gym leaders and E4 should remain same (at least until the post game) can leave story line randomisation for grunts/ regular trainers.

I have considered the idea of being able to choose from more than the 3 starters. It would be cool being able to start with something that is your favourite and would make other pokemon as special as the starters. However I still disagree with it as I have always liked the idea of a starter pokemon, and again it could end up being hard to implement, and umbalanced.

 

[Proxima Centauri B]

The anime is based off the games, not the other way around. Anyways I think those changes might be too drastic anyway. Changing some mechanics and such is ok but I dont think I'd be ok with changing the whole game and gameplay this way.

 

[GhostFingers]

Starters that aren't Grass<-Fire<-Water. Gen 6's double typing was a good change, making each starter weak/strong in two ways, but still something like Fairy<-Steel<-Fighting might shake things up properly.

 

[Sneazy Sneasel]

Starters that aren't Grass<-Fire<-Water. Gen 6's double typing was a good change, making each starter weak/strong in two ways

How? it's still as one sided as Grass< Fire < Water the Gen 4 starters' typing are a slightly better example.

 

[lugia61617]

Starters that aren't Grass<-Fire<-Water. Gen 6's double typing was a good change, making each starter weak/strong in two ways

How? it's still as one sided as Grass< Fire < Water the Gen 4 starters' typing are a slightly better example.

Maybe if we had Grass/Fight <- Fire/Steel <- Water/Fairy it'd shake things up a little?

 

[edmek55555]

Eh, I just think it hurts the experience knowing that wooper evolves at level 20, charmeleon evolves at level 36, this pokemon learns this move at this level. I just miss the aspect of mystery the game had when I was new to it, but once you know everything it is impossible to unknow it. I just think the game would be more fun if not everything was predetermined. I know change is always a chance for failure but without risks things stagnate and become stale after a while. However if the experience was ever changing it wouldnt stagnate but I understand the reservations

 

[Karamazov]

Starters that aren't Grass<-Fire<-Water. Gen 6's double typing was a good change, making each starter weak/strong in two ways

How? it's still as one sided as Grass< Fire < Water the Gen 4 starters' typing are a slightly better example.

Maybe if we had Grass/Fight <- Fire/Steel <- Water/Fairy it'd shake things up a little?

Water resists Steel, so that wouldn't be a perfect triangle.

 

[MDMassey]

The problem with not having at least some of the game predetermined is what it would actually take to create the game. Code like that is extremely complex and problematic at best. MMO games come close to that formula but there is still a certain amount of linearity that has to occur for the story to progress or for the mission to have a definitive outcome. Life we live is totally random which makes it interesting, and I agree that it could make a game more interesting, but at the same time with out direction or purpose it would get stale quickly. Look at Second Life, Nothing there is predetermined and nothing really happens there. Look at WoW and other MMO games where there are stories to follow and quests to complete and now you have something interesting.

What I would love to see is more content and side quests that we can do durring and after we beat the elite 4. Make them downloadable so they are optional for those who want to continue on and give the players some nice rewards for completing the quests. I just finished the "Looker" story in Y last night, it was a good side story, fun battles and at the end... Nothing but the ability to fight Essentia again... yippy I would have at least liked Looker or the Dr. to hand over a Thunderstone or something like that. Emma got the building and what not but I did all the work!!!

Dom

 

[edmek55555]

The problem with not having at least some of the game predetermined is what it would actually take to create the game. Code like that is extremely complex and problematic at best. MMO games come close to that formula but there is still a certain amount of linearity that has to occur for the story to progress or for the mission to have a definitive outcome. Life we live is totally random which makes it interesting, and I agree that it could make a game more interesting, but at the same time with out direction or purpose it would get stale quickly. Look at Second Life, Nothing there is predetermined and nothing really happens there. Look at WoW and other MMO games where there are stories to follow and quests to complete and now you have something interesting.

What I would love to see is more content and side quests that we can do durring and after we beat the elite 4. Make them downloadable so they are optional for those who want to continue on and give the players some nice rewards for completing the quests. I just finished the "Looker" story in Y last night, it was a good side story, fun battles and at the end... Nothing but the ability to fight Essentia again... yippy I would have at least liked Looker or the Dr. to hand over a Thunderstone or something like that. Emma got the building and what not but I did all the work!!!

Dom

I agree the game needs a linear story or at the very least a branching story in order to work properly. However the randomization I am talking about is for example, making my team flare leader have different pokemon than your team flare leader. I tried my best to avoid seeing anything about pokemon x and y online before it came out but somehow or another things still came up without me even searching, and even if they didnt I just feel like when a game is a unique experience it feels a little more special.

No matter what I do I cant stop knowing when certain pokemon evolve and the like but it kind of makes the game less special when you can say "yep this pokemon is level 20, they are gonna evolve after this battle". I just love the wonder of everything being random though I understand the reservations and I completely agree it must be incredibly hard to program such a game

 

[Gomez16]

Fire/Psychic Grass/Dark Water/Fight

I was hoping that no starter would be totally weak to the other. instead we got double weakness to the opposite.

 

[MDMassey]

The random evolution does occur with Friendship Evolution. i have had a Togepi evolve after 3 levels but another one took till almost level 20 before it evolved. It is totally random and leaves you wondering when and if it is going to happen. I would prefer that only certain mons do that and not all mons.

Dom

 

[edmek55555]

The random evolution does occur with Friendship Evolution. i have had a Togepi evolve after 3 levels but another one took till almost level 20 before it evolved. It is totally random and leaves you wondering when and if it is going to happen. I would prefer that only certain mons do that and not all mons.

Dom

opinions are bound to differ but I feel it would be a good system for all pokemon personally

 

[Proxima Centauri B]

The problem I see is with this "spontaneous evolution" is that you might need a Pokemon to evolve and it might not evolve when you really need it like for a gym battle or E4 and it would be frustrating to people. I get peace of mind knowing Pokemon evolve at a certain level so I know what level it needs to be for when I need it. I dont think Pokemon evolving at set levels is a bad thing at all. Sometimes unpredictability isnt a good thing.

 

[firulai]

i've got some new ideas to make pokemon a little bit "fresh", I created a thread that explains a new game or something like that but I will not write the whole thing here lol

 

[edmek55555]

The problem I see is with this "spontaneous evolution" is that you might need a Pokemon to evolve and it might not evolve when you really need it like for a gym battle or E4 and it would be frustrating to people. I get peace of mind knowing Pokemon evolve at a certain level so I know what level it needs to be for when I need it. I dont think Pokemon evolving at set levels is a bad thing at all. Sometimes unpredictability isnt a good thing.

Honestly the games are so easy now it doesnt particularly matter most of the time. Ivysaur can beat almost any npc venasaur can with ease. And it doesnt have to be entirely spontaneous. Friendship evolution i thin is a great example

 

[Orion-Sama]

No. That's a terrible way to freshen up the series. For one, it's extremely difficult to program. GameFreak are not really the best in this regard either, unable to program simple conditions that would allow Item transfer from previous Generations and opting for just not allowing Item transfer at all. I don't trust them to have the capabilities to undertake a daunting task such as changing the entire foundation of the existing mechanics and not mess it up.

Other than that, I see no real value or improvement in this whatsoever. I only see annoyance and frustration. Especially with the random move learning. That's just ridiculous. Gee, I sure will have a thrill taking my chances at learning a move each level using a Pokémon that may or may not evolve now. What if my Pokémon learn only shitty moves throughout the game? What if they never learn a frigging new move? What if I keep getting the same moves? That's just an exercise in tedium and even more soft resetting. Making all evolutions friendship based and NPC Trainer's Pokémon random is also unnecessary.

Yeah, I frankly see no positive value in these changes. So what if I know the levels or methods now? As far as I am concerned, that does not take away from my enjoyment of the game. Hell, I find all the older games to be pretty primitive, limiting, and lacking compared to newer ones. The formula may be old, but I enjoy it, and though I wanted to see some changes in the past, especially in the monotype nature of the Gym Leaders/Elite Four, it's obvious it won't happen so I stopped hoping and started enjoying the games for what they are and for the good thing each Gen has. The series has hit a great balance in its mechanics and playability, and the story and characterization is way, way better than it was. Despite fumbling a bit in XY compared to BW, I find these games to be really damn enjoyable. Every experience is new, even if I play the same game again. Another simple way to make it new each time is trying new Pokémon you haven't used before.

Also, if knowledge of everything is so aggravating, there's the option of turning off the Internet completely until you get and beat the game. I don't see any problem knowing what's gonna happen when I raise my Pokémon, and I vastly prefer a controlled environment than a senseless jumble of chance where I may have a great time or just throw the damn game away.

 

[Ellron]

No. That's a terrible way to freshen up the series. For one, it's extremely difficult to program. GameFreak are not really the best in this regard either, unable to program simple conditions that would allow Item transfer from previous Generations and opting for just not allowing Item transfer at all. I don't trust them to have the capabilities to undertake a daunting task such as changing the entire foundation of the existing mechanics and not mess it up.

I don't think it's that GameFreak can't program the transfer of items, more that they don't want us transferring items. From Gen IV to Gen V I understand that it was likely because of the major change in TMs--both in the list and how they worked. I'm not quite sure why they didn't allow it from Gen V-VI though. Maybe it was simply that they couldn't do it, but I feel like it was more than that.

 

[scrambled_togepi]

I'd really like to choose between single and double battle modes for the game.

No. That's a terrible way to freshen up the series. For one, it's extremely difficult to program. GameFreak are not really the best in this regard either, unable to program simple conditions that would allow Item transfer from previous Generations and opting for just not allowing Item transfer at all. I don't trust them to have the capabilities to undertake a daunting task such as changing the entire foundation of the existing mechanics and not mess it up.

I don't think it's that GameFreak can't program the transfer of items, more that they don't want us transferring items. From Gen IV to Gen V I understand that it was likely because of the major change in TMs--both in the list and how they worked. I'm not quite sure why they didn't allow it from Gen V-VI though. Maybe it was simply that they couldn't do it, but I feel like it was more than that.

I just assume it is either so players will be on equal footing at the beginning of each generation, or so they can program items however they want without worrying about how they transfer.

Starters that aren't Grass<-Fire<-Water. Gen 6's double typing was a good change, making each starter weak/strong in two ways, but still something like Fairy<-Steel<-Fighting might shake things up properly.

People always underestimate just how perfectly those types serve as starters.

The only other set of types that do super effective damage one way and 50% damage the other way is Rock/Flying/Fighting, but they still miss some major points that make Grass/Fire/Water function so perfectly as starter Pokemon.

-A flying type Pokemon is guaranteed to be available on the first couple of routes so having it as a starter is redundant. They are also available frequently throughout the game. Flying is also a secondary type with the exception of some fairly bizarre Pokemon.
-Rock type pokemon would have a significantly greater advantage then the Flying and Fighting pokemon early in the game because it is resistant to and/or strong against everything found early in the game. Normal, Flying, and Bug have no shot at fighting Rock Pokemon.
-Fighting Pokemon are not guaranteed STAB on every opponent it comes across because ghost Pokemon are immune to Fighting type attacks. This makes it harder to use then starter Pokemon are meant to be.

Water, Grass, and Fire type Pokemon are roughly equally uncommon in the wild unless the player goes out of his/her way to get good or super rods which beginners are likely to pass up. water grass and fire type pokemon are guaranteed to get stab on every opponent in the game so they are fairly easy to use by beginners who prefer to just overpower their opponents. Water Fire and Grass are about equally effective against the Normal, Flying, and Bug pokemon found early in the game. Fire has a bit of an advantage and Grass has a bit of a disadvantage but nothing too confusing.