A return to a more Gen 1-2-like feel? A return to a more humble journey/a more realistic setting?

[henrymidfields]

So we have the first glimpse of Sun and Moon the Alole region, and I have noticed that with both XY and SM, there is a bigger focus on the real-life Hawaiian culture that the Pokémon region is based on. Are we going back to a situation similar to Gen 1-2 where Pokémon had bigger emphasis with the real-life setting?

Shadao (who has been following my History of Shoyo/Poke-Japan creation project) wrote a blog earlier this morning (at least in Australian-time) about how the Japanese trailer focuses more on the young humble boy and his adventures, more seen in rather than the epic story of recent games, also seen in Gen 1-2:

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View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2r0_F-_ClcQ

by Shadao:
There is something I do enjoy about this trailer of Sun/Moon. And I think I know why. ...it's about a young boy looking friends after he moved and connecting with through Pokémon. There's something about it that makes me feel like I'm watching the opening title of the original Pokémon show (the Aim to Be A Pokémon Master Japanese one). And I think I know why. Pokémon started with a Japanese boy from Pallet/Masura Town leaving his humble home to go on Pokémon adventure. And this trailer seems to hark back that type of archetype by framing Sun/Moon in the story of a young Japanese kid moving to a new place to call home.

If the Japanese trailer indicates anything SM seems to return to its roots in both aspects. But is it really so? And if so, yay or nay?

Anyway, my response:

Spoiler

While I don't really care much about the story (*1) what I definitely approve of is the setting returning to its roots. Pokémon back in the 90s was quite a unique RPG in that it relied heavily on our real-life setting, which I don't remember seeing in many other games. Yokai Watch obviously came years later, and Earthbound was a borderline case. The only other case that I knew was Shin Megami Tensei.

I loved both GSC, RBY, because all of those featured regions and cultures that more closely aligned to our realistic world - this was one of what was special in my Pokémon playthroughs. They even had actual real-life geography back then, and I could easily imagine myself as a Pokémon trainer, adventuring in my hometown of Tokyo.

Then RSE came out, and frankly, I hated that this was the start of a direction away from the real-life based premise that I thought Pokémon stood for. I did not want a mix-up of out-of-place tropical features in Kyushu, and I did not want an isolated region when the real thing is far from isolated. Even more infuriatingly, there was no justification for it: they should have gone overseas like Yokai Watch 3 did, and actually model the region from Hawaii (which SM did), coastal Queensland, or Guam-Saipan - all explicitly tropical places, all familiar as holiday destinations for the primary Japanese audience.

XY renewed my interest, because of the games coming back to a more real-life-based setting, with the Kalos region being more explicitly based on France. I was excited to see a Pokeverse-version of France, and I thoroughly loved the heavier emphasis on geographic realism. And SM has finally done what RSE should have done, by actually modelling the region from Hawaii. While it does give me unpleasant reminders of how Gen 3 started screwed up the real-life based world-building, I am very much excited that GF seemed to have come back to its roots in this regard.

(*1) I don't always need an epic story like Zelda/Fire Emblem, just as long as it's not stupid like the recent Mario games. (Excluding Galaxy 1 and maybe 2)

 

[Icy Wind]

......you do realize that the games aren't supposed to stick true 100% to their real life counterparts? The games are set in fantasy regions that are inspired by real life regions, but that doesn't mean that they have to stick true 100% to them.

If game freak were to meet your standars of a more "realistic" setting, then girafarig shouldn't have existed in gen 2 because johto isn't based on Africa, the pancham line shouldn't have existed in gen 6 because Kalos isn't based on China ect....

Also, last time i checked, there are no icy caves(seafom islands and the ice path) in the middle of the real life Kanto and Kansei regions. Gen 1 and 2 were never a "realistic" setting.

 

[Boss1708]

1. It is too early to make conclusions of how realistic the Alola region is going to be, and how closely will it resemble Hawaii.

2. The trailer, if anything, reminds more of Brendan moving from Johto to the tropical region of Hoenn, rather than Red or somebody else.´

3. I think most fans would prefer for the main series Pokemon games to not be limited by real life locations accuracy. Sometimes GF might feel like going more creative, like with Hoenn, Sinnoh or Unova, and sometimes they might prefer to stay closer to the real locations they are based on, like with Kanto, Johto and Kalos.

4. Don´t you think Hoenn and Alola can COEXIST? Why do you want to "overwrite" Hoenn? It personally annoys me, as a Hoenn fan... Hoenn can exist, with its less geographically realistic take of things, and Alola can exist, with its (hypothetically) more accurate geography. What´s wrong with diversity of region design?

 

[Lufenium]

Sticking to the question at hand:

I think it's too early to say. We've literally only seen 2 minutes of footage of this game, so how it "feels" is very much unknown. The map shown in the trailer looks somewhat...small to house an entire region, so I think there's a possibility that it's only a part of what's to come. We'll just have to wait and see. I'd personally like to see a region divided between several islands. It'd be a big change.

Regarding story, again, too early to tell. Given that the legendaries were shown in this trailer, and they're on the box, I'd say it's a fair assumption that they're going to be featured in the story at some point. X/Y's legendaries had no real relevance to the plot but still managed to make it in to the big climax of the Flare storyline.

As for realism, I imagine it'll be as realistic as Kalos was to France. Geographically they'll share similarities but beyond that it's all down to GF's creative freedoms. Which is fine with me, I have always enjoyed their worldbuilding.

 

[Esserise]

I don't think having a more fantastical region is really a big deal. They've got artistic license. That just seems like another, perfectly valid outlet for creativity to me. Nobody ever said that they had to render our real-life geography with total fidelity... I think that would be pretty limiting, anyway. If that doesn't suit your tastes, then that's fine, but nobody gets things their way every time.

Anyway, in regards to the actual topic, I don't know. It feels as though we have "reverted to Gen I" in some way or another multiple times now. Gen I certainly has its charms, but at some point, you've got to unshackle yourself from it and move on.

E: Actually, this is something that I will give Ruby/Sapphire and Diamond/Pearl a lot of credit for. To me, they kind of feel like the only games that don't somewhat exist in the shadow of Gen I. Maybe that's down to them being made in the post-Pokémania, pre-"our fans are all nostalgic 20-year-olds now" period. Maybe it's because they both have remakes that feature Kanto/Johto and can offset some of the nostalgia onto those. But even with as much as I love Black/White and admire their boldness and innovation, they were definitely playing up the, "hey, this might remind you of something from the 'good old' days" angle to a degree. Whereas the tone I get from RS and DP is more, "yeah okay, Gen I's over buddy, this is the new thing in town, deal with it." And I like that. While I would never quite say that Gens V and VI were backward or detracted from making progress overall, I do think that RS and DP have a stronger emphasis on stepping forward rather than looking back. And I would like to see that from SM too, if possible.

 

[Shadow Rush]

Return to a more G1-2 feel? G2 is a better example because it meshes established pokemon with a few new ones so GameFreak can flex their artistic muscles. (Maybe be lessen the workload too.) Not to mention, it reflects the migration patterns of animals.

A humble journey? Yes, because a GameFreak developer mentioned in an interview recently that they want to revert to simplicity.

More realistic? Asides from region design and plot/theme? Probably not in the main game, but the side games like Pokemon Colosseum are likelier. I would like whomever is writing the story to take their time with it. We had an exposition dump halfway into our journey in Kalo instead of a breadcrumb trail leading to the finale/revelation. This is one of the reasons why people still grumble about G6.

 

[Fairy Type Arceus]

1. It is too early to make conclusions of how realistic the Alola region is going to be, and how closely will it resemble Hawaii.

2. The trailer, if anything, reminds more of Brendan moving from Johto to the tropical region of Hoenn, rather than Red or somebody else.´

3. I think most fans would prefer for the main series Pokemon games to not be limited by real life locations accuracy. Sometimes GF might feel like going more creative, like with Hoenn, Sinnoh or Unova, and sometimes they might prefer to stay closer to the real locations they are based on, like with Kanto, Johto and Kalos.

4. Don´t you think Hoenn and Alola can COEXIST? Why do you want to "overwrite" Hoenn? It personally annoys me, as a Hoenn fan... Hoenn can exist, with its less geographically realistic take of things, and Alola can exist, with its (hypothetically) more accurate geography. What´s wrong with diversity of region design?

This, Hoenn was a great region infact to some including myself the best region. It's all a matter of preference

Also hope our characters are moving from hoenn to Alola

 

[henrymidfields]

......you do realize that the games aren't supposed to stick true 100% to their real life counterparts? The games are set in fantasy regions that are inspired by real life regions, but that doesn't mean that they have to stick true 100% to them.
If game freak were to meet your standars of a more "realistic" setting, then girafarig shouldn't have existed in gen 2 because johto isn't based on Africa, the pancham line shouldn't have existed in gen 6 because Kalos isn't based on China ect....

Yeah, well of course I don't expect to see a carbon copy, but I'll have to draw the line when they get the more general stuff wrong and when there was a better way of doing things. Kyushu actually has winter seasons, for starters, and it is not an isolated island - Hawaii/Alole would have been a better choice. Also have you not heard about Takeshi Shudo's novelization of the Gen 1 Anime?

4. Don´t you think Hoenn and Alola can COEXIST? Why do you want to "overwrite" Hoenn? It personally annoys me, as a Hoenn fan... Hoenn can exist, with its less geographically realistic take of things, and Alola can exist, with its (hypothetically) more accurate geography. What´s wrong with diversity of region design?

Well, all the hate for Kalos annoys me as a Kalos fan, so too bad, I guess. You and I will just have to deal with it. As for the reason why I would like to see Hoenn overwritten, I've written that in my past blog entry.

Also hope our characters are moving from hoenn to Alola

This I can agree with. I actually would wish to see Phoebe in Alola.

 

[Boss1708]

Well, all the hate for Kalos annoys me as a Kalos fan, so too bad, I guess. You and I will just have to deal with it. As for the reason why I would like to see Hoenn overwritten, I've written that in my past blog entry.

I don´t like Kalos myself, but I am glad that other people like it. I don´t want to "overwrite" Kalos, and ruin the fun of you Kalos fans, just because it is not of my taste. My fun and your fun can COEXIST. But you want to "overwrite" Hoenn and ruin the fun for those of us who like Hoenn. This is very selfish, in my opinion. Can´t you just enjoy what you like, and leave the rest of fans enjoy what THEY like?

 

[zoroarctic]

It's Game Freak's creation. They're free to do whatever they want with it.