Official Pre-Pokémon Sword & Pokémon Shield Speculation & Leaks thread

[prog rocker]

What anti-christian propaganda things in Pokémon? I haven't seen anything like that anywere, not even implied.

 

[SushiPushi]

What anti-christian propaganda things in Pokémon? I haven't seen anything like that anywere, not even implied.

(I was confused too at first but quickly realized OP meant the church leaders who were calling Pokemon demonic.)

 

[SinnohEevee]

A Middle Eastern region can just be a region with rivalries among the subregions without any need to go too deep. Maybe different groups believe they are the one Arceus favours.

 

[prog rocker]

(I was confused too at first but quickly realized OP meant the church leaders who were calling Pokemon demonic.)

No, I meant this:

Basically the anti christian propagandar we had in gens 1-2 but turned up to 112. If i was at Gamefreak, I wouldnt want to risk with such a thing until stuff cools down.

I have played every single game (USUM included) and talked to every single NPC and I haven't seen anything like that.

 

[SGD]

Deciding not to add the Battle Frontier in ORAS is another example of Game Freak's vision of making the games casual and removing the aforementioned options.

The exclusion of the Battle Frontier isn't so much a further casualisation of the Franchise, as it is a reflection of GAME FREAK's apathy (if only at the time), which in my opinion is far worse.

Spoiler: A bit of a Tangent, I didn't want to take up space.

What I mean is: GAME FREAK didn't exclude the Battle Frontier to make the games more easy and approachable, as the Battle Frontier is 100% Optional and its inclusion/exclusion has no effect on the gameplay, they excluded it because they believe/d most players have shifted to a more causal attitude.

Put simply, the Battle Frontier wasn't included because only a tiny number of players would have appreciated and used this game feature. Players get fed up more easily than they did in the past and aren't attracted by these 'demanding' challenges.

They believed that not enough people would've used/appreciated the Battle Frontier, it very much became a: Why bother? situation.

They had become Apathetic and I fear for Pokémon's future if they retain such a view point, Pokémon is being made more casual, yes there is no denying that and it currently seems that they were not as Apathetic about anything in Gen VII as they were about the Battle Frontier, but still I fear an Apathetic mindset more than I do a Casual one, to quote another Video Game: "Apathy is death. Worse than death."

I suppose you could equate the two view points to being: A Watered-down feature vs. No feature at all.

Both bad, yes, but one worse than the other.

 

[SushiPushi]

No, I meant this:

I have played every single game (USUM included) and talked to every single NPC and I haven't seen anything like that.

My reply still stands. "Propagandar" = "The-church-leader-you-find-when-you-search-up-'why pastor meme'".

 

[prog rocker]

Oh, right. Guess I read the thing backwards. Sorry.

 

[William-Jdubz]

No, I meant this:

I have played every single game (USUM included) and talked to every single NPC and I haven't seen anything like that.

We've only had really religious connotations in Gen 5, but the religious / evil assumed propaganda was in Gen 1-2 when people called pokemon like Alakazam and Poliwhirl satanic, its all silly mind you, but it was everywhere in the media especially in gen 1. This is all old history, but likely will repeat in a region associated with the middle east lol

 

[prog rocker]

We've only had really religious connotations in Gen 5, but the religious / evil assumed propaganda was in Gen 1-2 when people called pokemon like Alakazam and Poliwhirl satanic, its all silly mind you, but it was everywhere in the media especially in gen 1. This is all old history, but likely will repeat in a region associated with the middle east lol

Again, thanks for correcting me. English is not my native language so I guess that's why I got it backwards. Wait a minute...

when people called pokemon like Alakazam and Poliwhirl satanic

They considered Poliwhirl satanic? I-I don't know how to react to this...

 

[SinnohEevee]

There's plenty of religious people who play Pokémon, me among them.

 

[William-Jdubz]

Again, thanks for correcting me. English is not my native language so I guess that's why I got it backwards. Wait a minute...

They considered Poliwhirl satanic? I-I don't know how to react to this...

Its stupid, the nutters did this lol

 

[William-Jdubz]

There's plenty of religious people who play Pokémon, me among them.

Im also a religious person, but we all know how a middle eastern religion will go atm, will be worse than the negative criticism that go has received. I really think we should wait.

 

[prog rocker]

I'm a Christian, and I never heard anything like that before. I understand Kadabra and Houndoom, but Poliwhirl, really?
I guess you're right about a middle eastern region. Let's wait for things to calm down a bit, which is a bit sad since I think it could have worked if it wasn't for that.

 

[SushiPushi]

Another consideration is that there are parts of the middle east that ban video games and pokemon still, so I feel personally with that in mind + the social issues, its better to let stuff cool off.

The biggest issue is if Lets Go broke fans, can you imagine what a region on the middle east would be like, the serious modern connotations with it + how the US and UK is like with their war against them, it wouldn't be a smart move. You might as well show the Japanese bombings in Lets Go Eevee and Pikachu while we are at it lol

I dont feel the world is ready for it until the religious wars tone down.

I mean, Game Freak did a region on Hawaii with no mention of how the United States overthrew Hawaii's monarchy. Heck, Alola is autonomous in the Pokemon universe, so why can't a Middle Eastern region be peaceful? Plus, I'm sure there'd be no outrage if the region was based on Saudi Arabia. With how it's portrayed in pop culture as being $$$, it'd be a stretch to say it's synonymous with terrorism. Not to mention, burqas and other controversial aspects of the culture don't have to be portrayed at all. If anything, we've seen that Game Freak likes to create a rosy world where everything is perfect and is being clearly ruined by the evil team. Thus, all that has to be portrayed are positive aspects to create a positive new cultural experience in a distinct region.

TL;DR - If only the non-controversial aspects of Middle Eastern culture are used, games will sell like normal, and people can enjoy a new distinct aesthetic in the Pokemon world.

 

[William-Jdubz]

I mean, Game Freak did a region on Hawaii with no mention of how the United States overthrew Hawaii's monarchy. Heck, Alola is autonomous in the Pokemon universe, so why can't a Middle Eastern region be peaceful? Plus, I'm sure there'd be no outrage if the region was based on Saudi Arabia. With how it's portrayed in pop culture as being $$$, it'd be a stretch to say it's synonymous with terrorism. Not to mention, burqas and other controversial aspects of the culture don't have to be portrayed at all. If anything, we've seen that Game Freak likes to create a rosy world where everything is perfect and is being clearly ruined by the evil team. Thus, all that has to be portrayed are positive aspects to create a positive new cultural experience in a distinct region.

TL;DR - If only the non-controversial aspects of Middle Eastern culture are used, games will sell like normal, and people can enjoy a new distinct aesthetic in the Pokemon world.

I think the only way to go would be an Egyptian styled one, Assassins Creed did very well with the Egyptian styled game, Pokemon would correlate very well, especially with already Egyptian based pokemon like Lucario and Cofagrigus being fan favourites. Something like Egypt also has a lot of lore and familiarity to drawn from. I feel that would be the best way to go.

 

[Oriden]

I really don't see any problem with a region based on a Middle Eastern country... all they really take is the shape and maybe some inspiration for the landmarks/overall culture of the region/designs for a few pokemon. They could easily just take the shape and add a bunch of random stuff to the region so it's barely recognizable, play the culture off in a way that you wouldn't even know what you're looking at- which, for most people who have an issue with them, would be easy because they don't know a damn thing about what they're condemning, they're just stereotyping a group of people who happen to have a few bad seeds- as if Christianity doesn't have its fair share.

I don't think it's fair to rule out a region just because a country or two have outspoken discrimination going on- Japan's not involved in it, the rest of the world isn't involved in it, and not even the entirety of people living in those discriminating countries are involved in it. In the US, at the moment, we just have the misfortune of having a leader who is encouraging a bad mindset, and he didn't even win half of the popular vote.

Plus maybe some exposure is just what people need. We all got a good dose of Japanese culture via games and anime, and we got fans of Japan everywhere now. Wouldn't hurt to give us the positives of a Middle Eastern culture.

And those people who thought Pokemon were demonic/satanic? They never went away. We just stopped listening to them.

 

[SinnohEevee]

Demon Pokémon can make good antagonists.

 

[Knightwolf09]

Maybe we should get more antagonist pokemon. Shadow Lugia was a cool concept, Necrozma was actually a rather cool and even a somewhat sympathetic enemy. A pokemon that's not always good, can be an interesting match up, and maybe we'd get more fights like Ultra Necrozma, that frakin monster.

 

[Team Gaara]

GF is perfectly capable of making a region based on the Middle East without it having terroristic or problematic connotations if they want, LOL.

 

[SUP3RN0VA]

What I want more than anything is for dragon Pokémon to be based off actual dragons, don’t want semi hybrids, don’t want dinosaurs, don’t want reptiles, don’t want wyverns, don’t want serpents, some actual dragon origin inspired Pokémon please lol

I think it fits it more spiritually than design-wise, though. I could also go for an actual feathered serpent Quetzalcoatl design.

And as far as dragons go- the non-dragon dragons are great, but we could use some more actual-dragon dragon designs too? There's an imbalance lately where for dragons we're getting slugs, turtles and trees instead of a good dragon and I'd like to see it be more of both. Especially since there are so many different kinds of dragons in mythology. How about more feathered dragons? More chinese dragons? More wyverns? Fairy dragons, amphitheres, hydras, kirins... there's plenty to work with.

Really, nothing against the non-dragon dragons- I absolutely adore Alolan Exeggutor- but what passes off as a dragon lately seems to have become more of a joke and I'd just like to see a balance to it.

I myself would like to see more 'Draconic' looking Dragon Pokémon in the next gen. While I don't mind some of the non Draconic looking ones, all my favourite Dragon Pokémon look like Dragons. Most of all, I hope Gamefreak never pulls another 'Turtanator' nonsense ever again. We finally get a non legendary Fire/Dragon Pokémon, and it is that pathetic joke of a Dragon? Also, while I appreciated that Gamefreak made a non legendary Pokémon based on an eastern dragon, I just couldn't get into Drampa's design.

Here's hoping Pokémon 2019 brings us many amazing Dragon Pokémon.