Non-GameFreak Main Series Pokémon?

[El_]

Agree I’d live to be able to level up my trainer in order to catch better Pokémon.

A Pokemon game set in the distant past without many of our conventions, has a lot of potential. I guess it could be called Pokemon Quest and be thought of as a hybrid of sorts, but it shouldn't follow Toriyama's art too much. Sugimori's original style would be ideal and something tells me that he would be very in favor of such a project.

Pokemon Conquest was sorta a blend of these ideas, being able to level up your Warlords and whatnot. That game, and the prior Genius Sonority takes could be examples of how other developers input handle the series.

I think Nintendo themselves are still a good option. They are willing to take risk and change formulas when necessary, whether that be console hardware like the Wii and the Switch, or their recent AAA titles like Mario & Zelda. It would alleviate the current real issues, such as the size of the dev team, better coding for the games, and more time taken to make a worthwhile JRPG experience.

I mentioned Square Enix myself a while back, I think the difference between wanting either them or Nintendo is a question of priorities. If you want a quality JRPG story experience, then Square is likely to be the best bet. Hell, I completely forgot they did Deus Ex, to say nothing of Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy. Nintendo I don't believe would prioritize this as much, and would seek to instead make the gameplay experience as optimized as possible.

That's what set Mario Odyssey & Zelda BOTW apart from their past offerings, despite their general stories being very similar to past titles. (If anything the story takes a backseat to exploration for both, and lore exposition) They felt revolutionary despite that, because of the gameplay approach taken to those titles.

 

[Silktree]

Conquest has always felt like a weird crossover to me, but I haven't given it a chance.

I feel that a standard JRPG experience would be different enough for Pokemon, but they could put another spin on it. No saving the world, please.

 

[Parissong]

No saving the world, please.

Unlike other villainous teams, Team Skull did not really play a part in any worldly demise. They seemed to just be there to be themselves and cause trouble. I thought SM was supposed to be all slice of life-y. Then Aethe Foundation swooped in and UB'd the world. le sigh

 

[Silktree]

Unlike other villainous teams, Team Skull did not really play a part in any worldly demise. They seemed to just be there to be themselves and cause trouble. I thought SM was supposed to be all slice of life-y. Then Aethe Foundation swooped in and UB'd the world. le sigh

I was actually referring to JRPGs in general. The only exceptions I know of are the first two generations, Colosseum, XD, Ni no Kuni (DS only) and The World Ends With You, despite the misleading title.

 

[Weiss]

I think not all, but some, of that sentiment hints at a self-inflicted problem. If you only give kids something well within their "age level" (an externally assigned label, mind you), and nothing to actually let them push their limits a little....

...I'm not sure how to finish this thought but it's definitely along the lines of creative/intellectual junk food: comfortable, even addicting, but ultimately vapid.

I agree don’t make it exclusionary for kids but they are smarter than most people give them credit. When they achieve something after some struggle that’s what bonds them to a game. Certainly did for me growing up.

 

[Weiss]

Unlike other villainous teams, Team Skull did not really play a part in any worldly demise. They seemed to just be there to be themselves and cause trouble. I thought SM was supposed to be all slice of life-y. Then Aethe Foundation swooped in and UB'd the world. le sigh

They were not the real evil just patsies.

 

[Leaf_Ranger]

Yes, but still a Japanese company.
Despite not having played any of the games, I always felt that the Ranger series was good, I just love the NPC in the main games (as if you couldn't tell by my profile picture) and so I think perhaps HAL Laboratory Inc. or Creatures Inc. could tackle the main series but with elements from the Ranger series...I would love to play an alternate story or region where (true) Team Plasma had a lareg accpetance as well as their goals and so we would have options and a deeper approach to the lore and entities behind Gyms, Leagues, Pkball factories, having the option to have Pkmn following you or inside a Pkball.

PS: bring back Ukulele Pichu (a heresy that it didn't make a cameo in Alola ) and Spiky-eared Pichu!!

 

[Leaf_Ranger]

Pokemon Conquest was sorta a blend of these ideas, being able to level up your Warlords and whatnot. That game, and the prior Genius Sonority takes could be examples of how other developers input handle the series.

I think Nintendo themselves are still a good option. They are willing to take risk and change formulas when necessary, whether that be console hardware like the Wii and the Switch, or their recent AAA titles like Mario & Zelda. It would alleviate the current real issues, such as the size of the dev team, better coding for the games, and more time taken to make a worthwhile JRPG experience.

I mentioned Square Enix myself a while back, I think the difference between wanting either them or Nintendo is a question of priorities. If you want a quality JRPG story experience, then Square is likely to be the best bet. Hell, I completely forgot they did Deus Ex, to say nothing of Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy. Nintendo I don't believe would prioritize this as much, and would seek to instead make the gameplay experience as optimized as possible.

That's what set Mario Odyssey & Zelda BOTW apart from their past offerings, despite their general stories being very similar to past titles. (If anything the story takes a backseat to exploration for both, and lore exposition) They felt revolutionary despite that, because of the gameplay approach taken to those titles.

My only problem with Sqare is their approach to bussiness models...I can't recall exactly what was it, but I remember being some despicable stuff with some content for Deux EX(...after a seach, it was the Augment your pre-order...
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoV-ZbAqVV8
)

 

[Aulos]

I voted yes, but I'm afraid the problems with the Pokemon mainline series run far deeper than the company in control. From that interview with a GF employee released recently, I got the impression that GF has stopped putting so much focus on the Pokemon series because the main profits of Pokemon at this point are mobile and merchandise. Sadly, every company will just amount to the same - deciding that expending effort, time, and money on the games isn't worthwhile. Or worse they could try to steer the whole franchise into a LGP/E direction, to try to make more money off of the mobile crowd.

The fact that GF has already laid down the ground for that approach is worrisome, but they at least still want to make games like Sword/Shield. Sword/Shield may not win any awards, but they're still better than LGP/E.

 

[Stratelier]

The other week I joked that some of the developers, if they took over, would make it into the "Dark Souls of" Pokemon games, but when you step back and look at the franchise from a thematic and meta viewpoint...

Spoiler: Pokemon already IS Dark Souls.

Dark Souls: The age of the First Flame is ending, and you participate in a seemingly endless, possibly futile cycle to rekindle it to extend said age, lest everything literally collapse in on itself.

Pokemon: GF is called upon in a seemingly endless, possibly futile cycle to rekindle interest in The First Game the franchise's central RPGs, lest the franchise collapse in on itself.

 

[FelipePR]

I mentioned Square Enix myself a while back, I think the difference between wanting either them or Nintendo is a question of priorities. If you want a quality JRPG story experience, then Square is likely to be the best bet. Hell, I completely forgot they did Deus Ex, to say nothing of Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy. Nintendo I don't believe would prioritize this as much, and would seek to instead make the gameplay experience as optimized as possible.

That's what set Mario Odyssey & Zelda BOTW apart from their past offerings, despite their general stories being very similar to past titles. (If anything the story takes a backseat to exploration for both, and lore exposition) They felt revolutionary despite that, because of the gameplay approach taken to those titles.

Well, Pokémon has always prioritized much more gameplay experience than story. The value around new games lies in advanced mechanics, more pokemons, additional methods of exploration and fresh interactions, like supplementary battle and catch systems. In other words, Pokemon value reside in the continuous development of the gameplay process.

The Pokémon story experience, usually, revolves around basical levels. Admittedly, story began to receive more attention with the fifth generation, however, they still stick to the same concept, being the ultimate challenge to become a pokemon master. Although I want a quality JRPG story experience, i cannot see it as a priority in a Pokémon core game.

Then, BW2 > BW

 

[Kallyle]

I voted yes, but I'm afraid the problems with the Pokemon mainline series run far deeper than the company in control. From that interview with a GF employee released recently, I got the impression that GF has stopped putting so much focus on the Pokemon series because the main profits of Pokemon at this point are mobile and merchandise. Sadly, every company will just amount to the same - deciding that expending effort, time, and money on the games isn't worthwhile. Or worse they could try to steer the whole franchise into a LGP/E direction, to try to make more money off of the mobile crowd.

The fact that GF has already laid down the ground for that approach is worrisome, but they at least still want to make games like Sword/Shield. Sword/Shield may not win any awards, but they're still better than LGP/E.

So in other words, Pokémon Go ruined everything.

 

[FelipePR]

I voted yes, but I'm afraid the problems with the Pokemon mainline series run far deeper than the company in control. From that interview with a GF employee released recently, I got the impression that GF has stopped putting so much focus on the Pokemon series because the main profits of Pokemon at this point are mobile and merchandise. Sadly, every company will just amount to the same - deciding that expending effort, time, and money on the games isn't worthwhile. Or worse they could try to steer the whole franchise into a LGP/E direction, to try to make more money off of the mobile crowd.

Well, this is just one more reason why the game production process should change hands. Nintendo is a company committed to the console market, portable or not, since it produces home video game solutions. Moreover, Nintendo's market share, in some measure, rely on the quality and sucess of it franchises/exclusives. Therefore, i do not see how Nintendo may lose interest in pokémon console games.

 

[colours]

It remains such a shame that Genius Sonority is barely a thing these day because I honestly wouldn't mind them taking over the main series if Game Freak ever needed a "break".