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Generation VI: The Future

What will it be?


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Blazing Charmander

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With the latest round of news from CoroCoro about Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, there has been speculation about how a certain revelation affects the possibility of a third Kalos game following X and Y. I'll post what this concerns in spoilers in case anybody is trying to avoid leaks:

CoroCoro has revealed that all Legendary (not Mythical/Event) Pokemon will be obtainable across XY and ORAS. In the past, some Legendary Pokemon have been held back to be exclusive in later games, yet that would appear to not be the case this time.

This information could be seen to imply that the Hoenn remakes are the last games of Gen VI, along with hints about a new, distant region being made by NPCs in X and Y. Could Game Freak be preparing to release a patch or DLC for these games instead of developing a full, rebranded third adventure?

When I look at Crystal, Emerald and Platinum as games that were repackaged, improved versions of each generation's main game pair, I often feel that more could have been done to include some of those refinements (graphics, new mechanics and new areas) in the first games. But then again, time constraints etc. etc. The likes of GS, RS, and DP then begin to feel redundant and inferior to their third counterpart once it is released. The benefit with the 3DS is that Game Freak can smooth out the original package like they traditionally have done with third games, but incorporate it as a patch (Pokemon X/Y v2.0) at a cheaper cost to the consumer.

It would be interesting to see what others think about the future of Gen VI. I've seen a lot of discussion in this vein already within the ORAS section, but maybe this thread would be a better place to talk about it generally.
^ Original OP content.
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I'm amazed by how continuously popular and useful this thread has proven to be since the release of ORAS in late 2014. Game Freak are doing a good job of keeping their cards close to their chest, so it's only natural that this has fueled high speculation concerning the future of our beloved franchise.

For the uninitiated, this thread is the hub for any and all general speculation about what the remainder of Gen VI could have in store for us.
 
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Like I have said to myself (I wasn't listening though, so I turn to you guys), I'm really excited about the Hoenn remakes. But I am really excited for what comes after the Hoenn remakes. Whether that be Z, or a completely new region.
 
I honestly don't believe Gen VI will continue after OR/AS. There's really no incentive for Game Freak to a third version or sequel. Especially not if they're making all non event legendaries available between X/Y and OR/AS. Not to mention tons of new Mega's in OR/AS and X/Y having no real wiggle room for a sequel. While BW2 sold better than any of third versions, it still sold less than any of the paired versions. Maybe a sequel could happen but a third version? No way is that going to happen again. I think the most likely scenario is 2015 will debut Gen VII and that new region X/Y hinted at. Pokemon's an annual franchise now. Since Platinum we've had a new game every year and I don't think they'll stop now.

One last thing I should mention is the B-Team handles third versions/sequels and they're busy doing OR/AS.
 
I think the most likely scenario is 2015 will debut Gen VII and that new region X/Y hinted at. Pokemon's an annual franchise now. Since Platinum we've had a new game every year and I don't think they'll stop now.
I disagree about this point, and I'm surprised at you given what you said about this in the past. Just in 2011 no game was released in Japan, so while the series is close to being annual, we haven't had more than three consecutive releases so far. If anything, Game Freak should release Generation VII in early 2016 around the 20th anniversary.

There is no room for sequels in this generation if it is meant to last three years at most. Generation V included sequels, but no remakes were released in 2011. It is naive to expect Game Freak to release new games every year without recycling content. Hopefully, the next generation will include sequels (possibly for an old region) rather than more remakes.

Updating XY would make a lot more sense than releasing a third version with barely any new content, especially given what we know about the legendaries. I also doubt that ORAS would include so many Mega Evolutions for Pokémon outside the Hoenn Pokédex if another Generation VI game were being planned. Since Zygarde has two hidden moves which are both based on Land's Wrath, I expect to see Mega Zygarde X and Y.
 
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I think the most likely scenario is 2015 will debut Gen VII and that new region X/Y hinted at. Pokemon's an annual franchise now. Since Platinum we've had a new game every year and I don't think they'll stop now.
I disagree about this point, and I'm surprised at you given what you said about this in the past. Just in 2011 no game was released in Japan, so while the series is close to being annual, we haven't had more than three consecutive releases so far. If anything, Game Freak should release Generation VII in early 2016 around the 20th anniversary.

There is no room for sequels in this generation if it is meant to last three years at most. Generation V included sequels, but no remakes were released in 2011. It is naive to expect Game Freak to release new games every year without recycling content. Hopefully, the next generation will include sequels (possibly for an old region) rather than more remakes.

Updating XY would make a lot more sense than releasing a third version with barely any new content, especially given what we know about the legendaries. I also doubt that ORAS would include so many Mega Evolutions for Pokémon outside the Hoenn Pokédex if another Generation VI game were being planned. Since Zygarde has two hidden moves which are both based on Land's Wrath, I expect to see Mega Zygarde X and Y.

While that is true for Japan, from my perspective Pokemon is an annual series. Since Platinum, North America has seen a Pokemon game released every year. What I said is true from my point of view (and yes that is sort of a Star Wars reference). Also I do agree that updating X/Y just might happen. A standard third version from what we expect would include the unavailable legendaries and now more Mega Evolutions. OR/AS is doing both of those though which cuts out a sizeable portion of a potential Z's post game. 7/16 of the revealed Megas aren't from Hoenn. We all knew there were going to be non Hoenn megas but nobody was expecting Game Freak to give Megas to the early route birds or bugs. At least not in OR/AS.

Then there is the big question of if the B-team are doing OR/AS right now, what will the next project be? If the main team is working on the new region then I'm super curious to see what the next b-team game will be. Game Freak is always working two games at once.
 
While that is true for Japan, from my perspective Pokemon is an annual series. Since Platinum, North America has seen a Pokemon game released every year.
But the Japanese dates are the ones that reflect Game Freak's pace, and the releases are worldwide now. Also, the gap between BW and B2W2 was still 19 months outside Japan, which is closer to two years than one. Since ORAS are going to be released in late 2014, any gap over 13 months would bring us to 2016.

I think that a March 2016 release date would make sense for several reasons:

* Plenty of games were released in March outside Japan.
* Japan's academic break takes place in March, so it is actually an ideal period for new game releases. Releasing XY in October was apparently inconvenient for Japanese kids who were busy with exams.
* It would be very close to the 20th anniversary, but it would still allow TPCi to do something different on the anniversary itself (like an Origins sequel and/or an eShop release of past games).
* It would make it possible for 2015 to focus on promoting the new ORAS content (as well as anything added to XY), spin-off games, Hoopa and Volcanion.
* It would still give enough time for VGC 2016 to be based on the new generation.
* It would still fall under the 2015 fiscal year (which starts in April), so it would boost the New 3DS' sales for that year.

Then there is the big question of if the B-team are doing OR/AS right now, what will the next project be? If the main team is working on the new region then I'm super curious to see what the next b-team game will be. Game Freak is always working two games at once.
They don't really have a B team, as most of the staff (only 73 people) are involved with all the games. They were working on XY while developing B2W2, but I doubt that they moved onto ORAS as soon as they were done with B2W2. I assume that whenever an employee was done with B2W2, they shifted to XY, but at least some of the employees focused on XY to begin with. They probably alternated a bit.

What I'm getting at is that they will probably focus exclusively (or almost) on the initial versions in 2015. A bit before their release, they will start developing the next games and Generation VIII (for the 3DS' successor) the same way they handled B2W2 and XY.
 
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Given that they were able to release a patch for XY's Lumiose Bug, what's to say that they can't do that for XY + ver 2 DLC?
 
So... if they release this in patch form... we'll get Zygarde's new formes and all, but no different features throughout the game (unless you want to do a hard reset? Yay...), and no room for alterations in the storyline. I mean, the majority of the people who want to see something to the effect of a sequel or 3rd version have probably finished X or Y, right? I can't see how quietly sticking in 2 Zygarde formes will really satisfy the need for lore, story, all that stuff I love about those trio masters...
 
Regarding paid DLC, there is a misconception about Game Freak's stance on it. Let's look at what Ken Sugimori said about it:

"When it comes to business, the one thing I’ve always said ‘no!’ to is ‘the act of buying Pokémon with money,’” says Sugimori. “That is something that has been said since the days [Satoshi] Tajiri was completely involved in everything.”

“The reason being, is because it’s one of things that could ‘ruin the worldview’ of Pokémon,” Sugimori continues. “I believe the reason we don’t simply commercialize [Pokémon], is that it’s a way of protecting the brand, and for this purpose, we have the specialty company called The Pokémon Company. Therefore, suppose we sell a Pokémon for 100 yen, then we must prepare something that is worthy of that 100 yen, along with a reasonable consent for doing so.”
Sugimori concludes, “If we ever get the idea of ‘this could be fun if we could sell it for real-life money,’ or something similar during the planning of a future game, then perhaps we could sell them for 100 yen."

Basically, he means that while paying only for a Pokémon is a no-no, it could be justified by adding actual content around it. The Dream Radar is an example of this. It was required for the Therian Formes at the cost of $3, but there was an actual mini-game as well as other Pokémon and items. A DLC expansion for XY could provide better content for around the same price.

They could always make the expansion free for anyone who owns both X/Y and OR/AS as an added incentive to own a version from each release. Paid DLC would be the alternative for XY players who aren't interested in ORAS.

I can't see how quietly sticking in 2 Zygarde formes will really satisfy the need for lore, story, all that stuff I love about those trio masters...
The version mascots are only given screentime in the story climax. A bonus post-game event wouldn't necessarily be a step down from that; Lysandre and/or AZ could show up to explain the rest of Kalos' lore and how Zygarde fits into it. Maybe Xerneas/Yveltal from the opposite version will also be present to make things more dramatic, as Zygarde will have already been caught. I could see the player being forced to use Zygarde against that mascot and have it Mega Evolve during the battle.

Think of how Rayquaza is being incorporated into ORAS. Why does Zygarde need to be any different?
 
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i think ORAS is the end of gen VI because if they did a sequel for 2015 then gen VII would be released for the 20th aniversary and i hope and think that we will get a sequel or remake of one of the origanl games which would mean gen VII wouldn't come out till 2017 which i dont think would happen
 
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I'm really intrigued to see what Game Freak are planning for after OR/AS. I'm not sure how I'd feel about X/Y getting DLC content, but it'll be interesting either way.

In some ways I want a new Kalos game. It's a great region and Zygarde is interesting enough to warrant a game dedicated to it. I'd also like to see what Game Freak do with the New 3DS, if they make a game solely for that system at all.
 
I have no idea what's coming, but I'm prepared to face it with my worthy team. ^_^
 
I have to say I'm pretty disappointed if this is it for Gen VI. X/Y's plot was severely lacking, and I thought maybe a third version could've filled in the blanks. I really hope half-baked plots aren't the new trend for the main series games.
 
X/Y's plot was severely lacking,
I doubt that a third version would fix that to a notable extent. The core story is the problem.

and I thought maybe a third version could've filled in the blanks.
So could added events for XY. They wouldn't fix the story, but at least the loose ends would be tied up.
 
That's true. R/S and D/P had decent plots which the third versions (Emerald and Platinum) sort of expanded on. But I guess you can't really expand on an incomplete plot like X/Y's.

I just hope these added events don't require serial codes, another trend I'm not pleased with.
 
I really hope half-baked plots aren't the new trend for the main series games.

Didn't Masuda claim they made XY short/easy because "people don't have time for video games nowdays"? If they keep this mentality, I think we really have reasons to be worried... although BW managed to be pretty short/easy too and still bring us the best plot/characters in the pkmn series so I guess it's possible to still give us a good story with these limitations...
I saw many people complain about DPt being too hard, and while I only played Diamond out of these (never played Platinum) I think I'd appreciate it a lot if next gen could be as hard/long as these were... I mean, who said we have to go through a game quickly? I'd much rather play it over a long period of time - enjoying it for a while will definitely make wasting money on it feel more justified
 
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I just hope these added events don't require serial codes, another trend I'm not pleased with.
I don't see why they would do that, as these hypothetical events would be meant to be broadly accessible. It would be better for them to offer DLC via eShop for a small fee.
 
Didn't Masuda claim they made XY short/easy because "people don't have time for video games nowdays"? If they keep this mentality, I think we really have reasons to be worried...

Ugh are you serious? What a dumb thing to say. I thought maybe because they spent more time updating the graphics for Gen VI, the plot ended up taking a backseat. But if he did say that, then things don't look good for Gen VII. Or any future generation, for that matter.

I don't see why they would do that, as these hypothetical events would be meant to be broadly accessible. It would be better for them to offer DLC via eShop for a small fee.

They're not hesitating to do it with event Pokemon in the US. But I'm probably just being pessimistic.
 
Ugh are you serious? What a dumb thing to say. I thought maybe because they spent more time updating the graphics for Gen VI, the plot ended up taking a backseat. But if he did say that, then things don't look good for Gen VII. Or any future generation, for that matter.
He never said that they deliberately dumbed down the plot to make the games more accessible. He was just talking about the difficulty (mostly in regard to the Exp. Share).

Masuda was actually asked to evaluate XY's story in comparison to BW's, and he said that he thought of them as being equally interesting. That's worrying in a way, but it could be a one-time fluke. I do agree that their priority in this generation was the 3D graphics.

Actually, here's a quote from an interview:

Masuda said:
We tried to do that a little bit with Pokémon Black and White, telling a story that, while it appealed to kids, would also be something that adults could enjoy more than previous titles, dealing with some more in-depth themes. With X and Y, we’re also hoping to have some of those more in-depth themes as well. But at the same time, we’re trying to create – with Pokémon X and Y in particular – this warm and kind atmosphere in the games. That’s one thing we’re trying to get across.

We’re trying to increase the depth and appeal to adults more in the gameplay this time. For example, in the battles, we’re introducing Mega Evolution and hoping the strategic elements will be even more fleshed out than before.
I think that a "warm and kind atmosphere" is problematic when it is forcibly blended with a plot about mass destruction. We can also infer that he thought that the new battle mechanics would be enough to please adults, which is flawed thinking.

smalllady said:
They're not hesitating to do it with event Pokemon in the US.
Event Pokémon have never been broadly accessible. The kind of expansion I'm alluding to would be something new.
 
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I have to say I'm pretty disappointed if this is it for Gen VI. X/Y's plot was severely lacking, and I thought maybe a third version could've filled in the blanks. I really hope half-baked plots aren't the new trend for the main series games.

I'm pretty much in agreement that XY were lacking in the plot department; especially following a story as cohesive (at least in Pokemon standards) as that in BW. It seemed to me that Game Freak had focused on the transition to 3D and new mechanics for the start of Gen VI, with the plot taking a back seat this time around. This is a shame because I was kind of excited to see whether Mewtwo in particular would have its backstory expanded on, considering the focus on the mystery of its Mega form pre-release.

This is why I wouldn't be opposed to an update for XY instead of a third version that ties up some of the loose ends in the games. I was breathtaken by the 3D environment while playing through X, but the novelty began to wear off shortly into the post-game and I was able to see that the Kalos region and its plot felt somewhat incomplete. For one thing, much of southern Kalos is completely inaccessible which makes it feel like Game Freak purposely close the door on areas for the sake of including them in the inevitable third adventure. This seemed especially evident to me in B2W2, since the Unova region portrayed in BW was much more linear and barren in comparison to the latter version.

A patch for X and Y containing the extra content normally expected in a third version would ensure that those games are the definitive main games of Gen VI, rather than suffering the same fate as GS, RS and DP, which were all outclassed and made redundant by the third version that followed them. Only BW bucked this trend in my opinion, simply because you can still play them alongside B2W2 without the sense that they're outdated. Of course, this is because the plot intertwined between the two sets of games in that generation. In other ways, even that generation featured improvements in the later games as demonstrated by my point above about the inclusion of new areas in Unova, as well as new features such as PWT, Habitat List, Join Avenue and Black Tower/White Treehollow.
 
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