Generation IV Remake Speculation

[Boss1708]

Objectively harder than what? I’ve personally had much more trouble with some of the Battle Fromtier facilities than with Restricted Sparring.

Objectively hard*. Not objectively harder*.

Typo.

 

[swiftgallade46]

Objectively hard*. Not objectively harder*.

Typo.

I mean, that’s not objective either. Plenty of people may find it easy or simple.

 

[Boss1708]

I mean, that’s not objective either. Plenty of people may find it easy or simple.

You are wrong. The AI counters your monotype team and on top of that you can't heal more than twice.

This is objectively more of a challenge than any facility that heals you after each battle.

This is why I would say Restricted Sparring is the hardest facility along with the Battle Pyramid and Battle Pike. All 3 of these facilities share in common that you are not healed between battles.

 

[swiftgallade46]

You are wrong. The AI counters your monotype team and on top of that you can't heal more than twice.

This is objectively more of a challenge than any facility that heals you after each battle.

This is why I would say Restricted Sparring is the hardest facility along with the Battle Pyramid and Battle Pike. All 3 of these facilities share in common that you are not healed between battles.

None of that makes me wrong. The fact remains that someone could still hold a different opinion.

 

[Boss1708]

None of that makes me wrong. The fact remains that someone could still hold a different opinion.

I am not talking about opinions. I am talking about factual observations.

 

[Esserise]

You seem to have missed my point. Regardless of commercial succes, series can still be changed if the developers want to. Risks can still be made, if they want to. Commercial succes doesn't necessarily mean a franchise is good.

Okay, so what's the "risk" you're proposing? Making the game a touch harder for people who don't want to play with other humans is not what I would call a "risk" in the same sense that going from Skyward Sword to BOTW was. I absolutely would love to see Pokémon take a huge "risk" like that (whether we're talking full open-world or not; the precise nature of the mechanics is less relevant than the spirit and the scope of the change), but merely adding the Battle Frontier back ain't that. Merely adding Challenge Mode back ain't that. A risk like BOTW requires a truly bold vision for how the game could be reinvented in a way that allows it to play and present ideas like it never has before. If you ask me, SM had some loose inklings of that energy, but in the end didn't go anywhere near as far with it, so for the most part, I simply don't think GF really have that kind of thing in them at the moment - although I think the current performance of the series shows that they're still in good shape even without that "bravado." However, I also can't say that I've seen a lot of fan proposals that contain such dynamic vision, either, especially not from people who are just asking for them to wheel some old features back out of the warehouse. That's nostalgia, not bravado.

And while commercial success is not necessarily an indication of quality, I guess it bears mentioning that they're not unrelated concepts, either. Obviously there's never going to not be at least one area of something in which improvement can be made, and while quality is always subjective, I think it would be difficult to argue that the games are not still largely proving themselves to be "good" in a lot of ways that many people deem important and appealing. That isn't to say that someone who has a lot of grievances with SwSh shouldn't be listened to. After all, I have my own criticisms of the game that I would certainly like to see be taken under advisement. But at the same time, I'm willing to bet that GF have a clearer and wider view than I do about what areas of the game that need improvement are worth dedicating more of their time and effort toward in order to satisfy most of their player base.

I don't think the lack of commercial success with spinoffs completely disproves the idea that the Pokémon brand has power.

Oh, there's no doubt that Pokémon has brand power, my point is more that the main series games aren't performing as well as they are on that alone, as some detractors have claimed - I think the likelihood is that most people actually are pretty satisfied with the games and the direction they've been going in. Within that, I also think that Game Freak are probably wiser to what the majority of their audience will appreciate than players within the more insulated "hardcore" fandom are. I mean, do we really think TPC can't afford to do some market research? That they can't run some questionnaires to gauge feedback about the games? All I'm saying is that the audience outside of the Internet may be sending Game Freak very different signals compared to what people on forums like here and reddit would like to see.

I completely disagree. Dmax adventures are a total slog; there's no excitement whatsoever. And no, I wasn't only looking at the basegame: SwSh does lack in challenging PvE content. It's all-around easy.

The Frontier was definitely different, in that regard.

I mean, that may very well be your experience, but what it means is not so much that there aren't options for challenging battles, but rather that the options that are there just aren't to your liking, or don't generate difficulty in the precise way you'd prefer. And that's fine, but arguably that's part of the reason why the Frontier model got the axe - because for the majority of players, a challenge gauntlet in the form of the Frontier wasn't to their liking. Thus we now have Game Freak trying to devise some sorts of harder or more complex modes, but in ways that they think might have more of an appeal.

Specifically with Dynamax Adventures, I mean, they're a "total slog" to you, but a lot of fun for me. Something like the Battle Arcade or Battle Pyramid might be fun for you, but all it ever does on my end is make me groan; I don't find them to be an enjoyable challenge at all. My wife found the last few levels of the White Treehollow to be too daunting to complete, but I live for that motherfucker. Meanwhile, did anyone like the Battle Agency? Ultimately I think it's really tricky in the first place to figure out what kind of challenges players will even be receptive to.

I'm not really sure why you think that. From my experience the Frontier wasn't challenging; it was the on that was a slog. I would train up the best teams possible, get a semi high streak (40 -60) and still lose. What's challenging about having to win 100 battles in a row without losing a single one? Sometimes, I would get to like 98 and lose right near the end. It felt so luck based.

To be fair, a Battle Frontier that uses SwSh's Tier system wouldn't have this issue. Losing no longer kicks you all the way back to the beginning.

Remakes should always include ALL of the content that the original game(s) had, plus obviously new content and improvements – on top of that, not instead.

But I don't think all content is necessarily useful in a modern context. I think that part of updating a game to new hardware should involve figuring out where you can dump the clunkier old workarounds that had to be relied on previously because the technology wasn't as good when the original games were made. Doubly so when working to preserve something that may not be relevant anymore might come at the cost of some other aspect of the game. Like, I'm not going to be very upset if XY remakes leave out the Friend Safari, because frankly I'd hope that by 2030 or whatever they'd have figured out a better way of making Hidden Ability Pokémon available, and if that method also happens to tie into a new feature that better demonstrates what the new hardware can do, I think that's a perfectly valid approach.

 

[AngryBinacle]

The Frontier had a lot of diversity. They can also easily add more options if they want to. It's not only to my liking, but to many others, as well. GF never said it wasn't popular, they just wanted to cater to the growing mobile era a few years back (which is quite stable now). Throwing the baby out with the bathwater (ditching the whole BF) wasn't necessary, either. A lot of BF complaints were about raising competitive Pokémon, as well.

And I wonder, do the long turntimes really make the Max Raid battles fun? Does the exp. share really make the game a fun challenge? Is the story really on-par with the past few gens, especially the ending? Do the graphics hold up with other games, even with this kind of artstyle? Were Pokejobs a fun and engaging mechanic, was Pokémon Camp? Etc. etc.

I enjoyed SwSh, but it lacked a lot of 'gusto' which even the DLC didn't add; The world feels empty, even in the Wild Area. Exploring has been downgraded, I remember how everyone, including me, thought the Max Raid Dens would be a bit like the Sinnoh Underground. How wrong we were.

So, yeah, options have been taken away from the main games. I think that's a logic concern. Some have been replaced, but lots of the mechanics aren't truly engaging or tickle the player's choice.

The increasing lack of options and downgrade in player agency is, in my eyes, 'objectively true'. My opinion on the new game mechanics and the old ones is obviously subjective.

I hope the Sinnoh remakes stay true to the originals and improve upon its gameplay-flaws (half of which aren't relevant in this era anymore). I'd be disappointed if we get downgrades in terms of exploring, story, options and challenges like the BF and post-game. HGSS was the superior remake, for example. It almost only added stuff instead of replacing it.

 

[RK9]

Max Raid Battles are a drag really.

This is one of the few new 'mechanics' I'd be happy for if it got removed. Rewards are good but anything else is a big drag.

 

[AngryBinacle]

Max Raid Battles are a drag really.

This is one of the few new 'mechanics' I'd be happy for if it got removed. Rewards are good but anything else is a big drag.

I honestly also don't see how pushing one or two buttons, then waiting on 4 other turns + weather effects + stat buffs/debuffs + Healing Dew + status conditions, then repeat, is fun. Especially not if the AI-matchmaking sucks.

But others are welcome to think it's engaging; I just don't see the appeal besides the rewards.

 

[RK9]

I honestly also don't see how pushing one or two buttons, then waiting on 4 other turns + weather effects + stat buffs/debuffs + Healing Dew + status conditions, then repeat, is fun. Especially not if the AI-matchmaking sucks.

But others are welcome to think it's engaging; I just don't see the appeal besides the rewards.

Yeah same.

Barriers, weather, lengthy animations, AI partners making it just a solo carry and 3 waste of turns, it's all a big mass with little appeal if it weren't for the rewards. (Not to mention the '4 kills and it's over'. The AI partners are so weak they die when you sneeze at them. Literally an attack that hits everyone is needed and the benchmark of 4 is easily reached.)

 

[Poke Dragon]

I actually like Max Raid battles because we haven't had an extensive Player vs AI that involves multiplayer. Yes, they had that kind of thing in the past, but not in the way that you can just join any player in the world to work together against the AI without having to go through Friend Codes. If not Max Raid battles then they should have something similar just as long as any Pokemon is allowed to be used and you can connect to any player.

 

[Esserise]

GF never said it wasn't popular

Daren posted the quote in which they did only a few pages ago:

"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 just wanted to cater to the growing mobile era a few years back

You say "just" as if there weren't multiple factors. This certainly would have been a significant factor in the decision, but it strikes me as very presumptuous to assume it's the only one, when there are other indications such as time and development resources as well as the prospective value of the feature for most players and the usefulness of it on a system where it's no longer the only oasis of battling after beating the game.

If my years in the Minecraft fandom (which enjoys a vastly more interactive and transparent connection with its developers than Pokémon does) have taught me anything, it's that fans definitely can provide useful input, but my god can they not see the full picture of game development.

And I wonder, do the long turntimes really make the Max Raid battles fun? Does the exp. share really make the game a fun challenge? Is the story really on-par with the past few gens, especially the ending? Do the graphics hold up with other games, even with this kind of artstyle? Were Pokejobs a fun and engaging mechanic, was Pokémon Camp? Etc. etc.

I mean, do you actually want my takes?

For me, the turn times in MRBs don't really feel that long. (Aside from instances when weather damage is applied, when someone uses a multi-strike move or you're battling something with an ability like Cotton Down - and I do think they should improve that! But the overall concept is strong and brings something properly new to the table and to the series's repertoire.)

While I don't necessarily agree with it being perpetually active, the Exp. Share is but one of many factors that determines the degree of challenge you'll deal with, and it does help to cut down on grinding, which players might not find very fun nor challenging - just tedious.

Is the story as good as previous games? Personally I like it less than some, yet more than others.

Do the graphics hold up? Not relative to other games, but historically, Pokémon has always lagged behind in the graphics department, so that's at least in-line with my usual expectations.

I myself didn't like Poké Jobs, I find them vastly inferior to Poké Pelago, but I find Camp to be quite fun and very cute. And I think it's clear from how lots of people have posted their personal anecdotes or cute moments that have occurred while camping that people have gotten something from it.

 

[Poke Dragon]

Oh, I want Pokemon Camp to stay as a feature in the Gen 4 remakes. ORAS still had Pokemon Amie. The only tweak I think they should make is to decrease the "hitbox" for larger Pokemon in open-world areas so they can have the same interactions they have in non-open-world areas. Just so the larger Pokemon aren't pushing each other when they want to "talk".

 

[AngryBinacle]

Daren posted the quote in which they did only a few pages ago:

"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."



You say "just" as if there weren't multiple factors. This certainly would have been a significant factor in the decision, but it strikes me as very presumptuous to assume it's the only one, when there are other indications such as time and development resources as well as the prospective value of the feature for most players and the usefulness of it on a system where it's no longer the only oasis of battling after beating the game.

If my years in the Minecraft fandom (which enjoys a vastly more interactive and transparent connection with its developers than Pokémon does) have taught me anything, it's that fans definitely can provide useful input, but my god can they not see the full picture of game development.



I mean, do you actually want my takes?

For me, the turn times in MRBs don't really feel that long. (Aside from instances when weather damage is applied, when someone uses a multi-strike move or you're battling something with an ability like Cotton Down - and I do think they should improve that! But the overall concept is strong and brings something properly new to the table and to the series's repertoire.)

While I don't necessarily agree with it being perpetually active, the Exp. Share is but one of many factors that determines the degree of challenge you'll deal with, and it does help to cut down on grinding, which players might not find very fun nor challenging - just tedious.

Is the story as good as previous games? Personally I like it less than some, yet more than others.

Do the graphics hold up? Not relative to other games, but historically, Pokémon has always lagged behind in the graphics department, so that's at least in-line with my usual expectations.

I myself didn't like Poké Jobs, I find them vastly inferior to Poké Pelago, but I find Camp to be quite fun and very cute. And I think it's clear from how lots of people have posted their personal anecdotes or cute moments that have occurred while camping that people have gotten something from it.

Regarding the BF, I don't want to be presumptuous. I definitely don't hold a crystal ball or anything. I just think that GF has been deleting more enjoyable/different battle-styles/systems than they've added. The Battle Tree in USUM was quite okay, in my opinion for example. Co-op mode was fun. A shame SwSh doesn't have that. The new battle modes added are sometimes barely optimised. Turns in general could be much faster; Dynamax battles really show how slow it can be sometimes. Graphics are also not something I'd really complain about, you just start to see all the bad things when the features disappoint. I think GF could do better, and should do better. Just too many things in SwSh are 'mehhhh', compared to their other games, even.

Don't get me wrong, I always loved the idea of battling big raid bosses with friends. DragonQuest had a lot of these awesome battles, for example, proving the turnbased genre could do this. The way it's implemented in SwSh is just very slow and daunting, in my opinion. Could they tweak this? Definitely. Hopefully. Same with Pokémon Camp; I really like to see my Pokémon move around, but it's just so ... minimal? You can throw a ball, okay, play with a bell, fine, make some curry, meh, but that's it? The washing-up after a battle, and then feeding them manually with Pokémon Refresh had a bit more interaction. A shame they didn't go further with this. Following Pokémon? Nice! Wasn't necessary for me, but I get the appeal. The reality is a bit more 'ehhh', though, as it's very poorly implemented. That's what really bothers me with SwSh; Bad implementation. As if GF forgot they have 25 years of experience making fun games; as if Nintendo doesn't give enough inspiration with their 'fun before anything' mindset.

Anyway, I think, deep-down, we seem to agree on quite a lot. I hope you see that I'm not bashing the games or anything. I personally own Shield and the DLC; I bred a lot of Pokémon and collected a living Galarian Pokédex. I wouldn't have done so if it didn't provide me with fun or any sense of satisfaction. A lot of my friends have bought it, as well. But even they seem to hold it in different esteem than some other, older games. Which had flaws, obviously, but offered some really good things which GF didn't consistently add to their games. And I think that's where GF misses the ball sometimes; Consistency in two important pillars: Exploring/story and mechanics ('keeping what 'works'). A lot of my complaints about SwSh come down to that and the conclusion of the paragraph before this one.

I am excited for Sinnoh remakes, but my fear is that some of the 'pillars' of DPPt will be downgraded, like exploration and 'difficulty' of certain moments (I'm aware the games aren't truly difficult, but it had more challenging moments than SwSh, in my opinion). Should it be a carbon copy? No, please, no. The dex was a major issue back then, Pt fixed most of that, luckily, but still. The many ways of seeing Pokémon were also very engaging, though that might've changed with the new feature of Pokémon walking around areas. I also hope they pull from Platinum first and foremost, seeing how it was pretty much an improved-upon version of DP.

 

[Daren]

"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."

I should note that was bulbagapedia's truncated explanation. I tracked down a translation of the interview from reddit at the time. Here is the relevant part:

Q:We noticed ORAS had a lower difficulty level compared to previous Pokemon games. What bought you to this decision? Any chance that future games will have the possibility to adjust difficulty level as seen in Black and White 2?

A:What? How come you've already played the games? hearty laughter [the games were supposed to come out in Italy the day after the interview] We created a "balanced" game that was suited for our time and age, where everyone is very busy and young people have various means of entertainment. Using smartphones and other devices they can access a great number of games, so the time they dedicate to a single game is less than in the past. The player can choose to keep on playing after the main story and continue to the post-game, where the difficulty rises and there are much more difficult Trainers and challenges to overcome.

Q:Why wasn't the Battle Frontier in the remakes?

A:This question is connected with my previous answer. We didn't put the BF in ORAS for this very reason. Interviewer's note: In short he means that they didn't include the BF because only a very small part of the players would have fully appreciated and made use of this feature; nowadays players get bored and frustrated more easily and they aren't interested in things that are so demanding/challenging.

Of course this is apparently the end result of Japanese--Italian--English translating, but from this he didn't say they weren't popular; he said modern players don't spend as much time on games so they were left out.

*

Still, I admit as much as I like Platinum I don't have very high expectations for the likely gen 4 remakes right now since every gen since 6 has been disappointing me and ORAS in particular felt inferior to Emerald.

 

[AngryBinacle]

I should note that was bulbagapedia's truncated explanation. I tracked down a translation of the interview from reddit at the time. Here is the relevant part:


Of course this is apparently the end result of Japanese--Italian--English translating, but from this he didn't say they weren't popular; he said modern players don't spend as much time on games so they were left out.

*

Still, I admit as much as I like Platinum I don't have very high expectations for the likely gen 4 remakes right now since every gen since 6 has been disappointing me and ORAS in particular felt inferior to Emerald.

I have trouble keeping my expectations low (I'm easily hyped), but I do agree with your point. The remakes make me a little anxious; I obviously want them to be amazing and I know that GF should be able to deliver, I just have trouble seeing it after SwSh. I really hope I'm wrong. Pearl was my very first Pokémon game, clocking at around 500 hours of playing.

 

[Esserise]

I should note that was bulbagapedia's truncated explanation. I tracked down a translation of the interview from reddit at the time. Here is the relevant part:

Of course this is apparently the end result of Japanese--Italian--English translating, but from this he didn't say they weren't popular; he said modern players don't spend as much time on games so they were left out.

The "interviewer's note" still gets that same point across, though, no? Although, from the text you've posted here, it almost seems to me like the Battle Frontier topic wasn't even much more than a passing mention in the interview, with that discussion being more about the overall game difficulty, which muddies things. At any rate, not having a clear answer is frustrating, as in the end it means we're all left to speculate.

Still, I stand by my own arguments about the problems with the Frontier, and I still think that it would need some considerable reimagining if it were to be brought back. (Which, to be perfectly clear, I'm not even against - I've pointed out before that the lowered barrier of entry for creating competitive Pokémon in SwSh would probably make me more inclined to try it, and that the same logic that resonates with Max Raid Battles and Dynamax Adventures specifically reminds me of the logic they applied to the Platinum Frontier back then.)

 

[Bolt Strike]

Okay, so what's the "risk" you're proposing? Making the game a touch harder for people who don't want to play with other humans is not what I would call a "risk" in the same sense that going from Skyward Sword to BOTW was. I absolutely would love to see Pokémon take a huge "risk" like that (whether we're talking full open-world or not; the precise nature of the mechanics is less relevant than the spirit and the scope of the change), but merely adding the Battle Frontier back ain't that. Merely adding Challenge Mode back ain't that. A risk like BOTW requires a truly bold vision for how the game could be reinvented in a way that allows it to play and present ideas like it never has before. If you ask me, SM had some loose inklings of that energy, but in the end didn't go anywhere near as far with it, so for the most part, I simply don't think GF really have that kind of thing in them at the moment - although I think the current performance of the series shows that they're still in good shape even without that "bravado." However, I also can't say that I've seen a lot of fan proposals that contain such dynamic vision, either, especially not from people who are just asking for them to wheel some old features back out of the warehouse. That's nostalgia, not bravado.

If you want to know what I think they could do to take a huge risk and reinvent Pokemon, I would do the following:
-The entire game is one big Wild Area and you can go anywhere you want in the game.
-Gyms can be completed in any order and they scale up based on which order you choose.
-Following Pokemon becomes standard in the main game, but it has an actual gameplay purpose behind it. The lead Pokemon can use field abilities much like Poke Ride/Secret Techniques. There could also be different ways to clear certain obstacles, much like BotW. For example, you could cut down a tree like normal or you could burn it with a Fire type. You could break a boulder or push it out of the way. You could jump across a small river or surf across it. The exploration would have a lot of flexibility based on the makeup of your team. And if you still don't have any Pokemon in your team that you need, you could use a rental Pokemon.
-The game doesn't have a real "end", it has multiple different goals based on player preference and what aspects of the gameplay the player chooses to focus on. If you want to take on the gyms and take on the Pokemon League, you still can. But maybe you don't care and you'd rather be a coordinator like in the anime? Or you want to complete the Pokedex? Or just fight the evil team? The game lasts as long as the player wants it to and they can set their own goals for what they want to achieve.

Is it absolutely revolutionary mechanically? Not really, it's basically just expanding on what they've already done and throwing in a bit of BotW flavor. But as you said, it's not about the mechanics, it's the spirit and scope of the change. In this case, that would be expanding the world and how you interact with it in a way that allows players to customize their experience based on their preferences.

But I don't think all content is necessarily useful in a modern context. I think that part of updating a game to new hardware should involve figuring out where you can dump the clunkier old workarounds that had to be relied on previously because the technology wasn't as good when the original games were made. Doubly so when working to preserve something that may not be relevant anymore might come at the cost of some other aspect of the game. Like, I'm not going to be very upset if XY remakes leave out the Friend Safari, because frankly I'd hope that by 2030 or whatever they'd have figured out a better way of making Hidden Ability Pokémon available, and if that method also happens to tie into a new feature that better demonstrates what the new hardware can do, I think that's a perfectly valid approach.

I think you're missing the point about what makes those features appealing. The Friend Safari isn't just a way of distributing HAs, it's also a social feature that encourages players to make friends with people to build out an encounter table. If they have a better way of accomplishing that, then maybe people would be more okay with them replacing the Friend Safari, but otherwise the game would feel lacking if they just replaced it with a completely different method for obtaining HAs. Similarly, ORAS removing Emerald features altogether because the execution doesn't work for a modern audience when they could instead update them so the core appeal still remains makes the game feel like one step forward and two steps back.

The Frontier had a lot of diversity. They can also easily add more options if they want to. It's not only to my liking, but to many others, as well. GF never said it wasn't popular, they just wanted to cater to the growing mobile era a few years back (which is quite stable now). Throwing the baby out with the bathwater (ditching the whole BF) wasn't necessary, either. A lot of BF complaints were about raising competitive Pokémon, as well.

And I wonder, do the long turntimes really make the Max Raid battles fun? Does the exp. share really make the game a fun challenge? Is the story really on-par with the past few gens, especially the ending? Do the graphics hold up with other games, even with this kind of artstyle? Were Pokejobs a fun and engaging mechanic, was Pokémon Camp? Etc. etc.

I enjoyed SwSh, but it lacked a lot of 'gusto' which even the DLC didn't add; The world feels empty, even in the Wild Area. Exploring has been downgraded, I remember how everyone, including me, thought the Max Raid Dens would be a bit like the Sinnoh Underground. How wrong we were.

So, yeah, options have been taken away from the main games. I think that's a logic concern. Some have been replaced, but lots of the mechanics aren't truly engaging or tickle the player's choice.

The increasing lack of options and downgrade in player agency is, in my eyes, 'objectively true'. My opinion on the new game mechanics and the old ones is obviously subjective.

I hope the Sinnoh remakes stay true to the originals and improve upon its gameplay-flaws (half of which aren't relevant in this era anymore). I'd be disappointed if we get downgrades in terms of exploring, story, options and challenges like the BF and post-game. HGSS was the superior remake, for example. It almost only added stuff instead of replacing it.

Thank you, this is precisely my issue with how they handled the Emerald content and how they handle content in general. They really do throw the baby out with the bathwater so much, that's exactly what I was thinking. Were there issues with some of those older features being too tedious/challenging? Certainly. But that doesn't mean there was no benefit to them whatsoever. Instead of just cutting the features altogether they should've modernized them so that the core appeal of those features can still be enjoyed for a modern audience.

 

[Minya_Nouvelle]

The Friend Safari isn't just a way of distributing HAs, it's also a social feature that encourages players to make friends with people. If they have a better way of accomplishing that, then maybe people would be more okay with them replacing the Friend Safari, but otherwise the game would feel lacking if they just replaced it with a completely different method for obtaining HAs.

I'm sorry, but I've read this a few times over now, and it makes me giddy. Lol, yes, I was totally friends with the 50 or so people I friended on X to get all the friend safaris I wanted. I totally did not initiate trades with random strangers in the PSS just to add them to my friend list.

Like seriously, I'm going to need you to elaborate. Perhaps you have a personal experience that is different than mine? And I'm honestly just trying to understand, because when I think of social features in Pokemon Games, Friend Safari is not really on the forefront of my mind. As far as social interactions in ORAS go, Secret Bases was where it was at.

If you want to talk about a social feature, let's talk about the WiFi Plaza from Platinum. Now THAT is a social feature I have fond memories of. It was so great. It would be awesome to get an enhanced version for a remake of DP, but my hopes are really really low.

The Frontier had a lot of diversity. They can also easily add more options if they want to.

Okay, I can understand liking it for the diversity. I just hope that if they bring back the frontier, they make it a little more diverse; some of them were kind of bad (Battle Palace). I think that restricted sparring could have been a frontier facility, though I think a mode that forces you to use a mono-type team is a little more diverse than the Castle was. Are you just referring to the amount? I guess SwSh only has about 3 compared to the 5 in Platinum.

 

[Shib]

I remember how everyone, including me, thought the Max Raid Dens would be a bit like the Sinnoh Underground.

Did people really think this? I thought that they first showcased Max Raids at the infamous E3 and it literally showed exactly what the finished thing was - co-op multiplayer battles. I might be remembering wrong butI didn’t ever think it would be more than that - Dynamax adventures I saw a lot more people hypothesising might be more like the Underground but frankly it seemed a smaller number than those that thought it would just be basic multi choice paths - which is what it is.

Ive said it before but I really think that Gamefreak got a bit screwed over by Nintendo implementing the NSO requirement. Max Raids are so much more enjoyable with human partners than the AI idiots and having more trainers roaming the wild areas when connected to the net makes them feel so much more interesting than roaming them alone. For context my first play through used an NSO linked account - second play through used one that wasn’t and I’d definitely say that Sword/Shield felt more lacking without the NSO account.