Thought Excercise: What Would a City-Based Pokémon Game Look Like?

[Keegman]

So it was sparked here by the mention of having battles in a city, but it was an idea I wanted to pursue in a more appropriate forum: What would a Pokemon game look like if it were set in one massive city?

First and foremost, however, I want to insist:
If you think this is a stupid idea, don't bother posting. I half agree with you anyway, and it doesn't contribute to the exercise.

Okay then. Let me start.

The "Hometown"
I could see the PC starting out in a small village or suburb on the outskirts of the city, perhaps with the Professor's house being located here, if not his/her lab (which would make sense to be located somewhere in the city. The initial "errand", as these games so often have, could be as simple as picking something up at the lab for the Professor.

The "Towns"
Would have their purpose served by districts. As they are, towns aren't really all that big, so these could simply be the atolls in the city where you are allowed/capable of entering the buildings, and of course they'd be centered around a Gym. Anyone who'se lived in any major city can tell you that, considering that most city districts actually used to be towns a long time ago, and most of them retain a sense of that. I used to live on Queen Anne Hill in Seattle, which is next to Capital Hill (very gay), Fremont (very hippy), and Ballard (very nordic). I see districts working as easy replacements for towns.

The Routes
Here's where it starts to break down for me. How do you get grass to appear regularly in cities? Well, London might have an answer. Aside from the BIG parks (Hyde, Regent's, Green, Battersea), it has a lot of little one- or two- block greens spattered throughout the city. What if, because you can't walk on the roads (maybe until you get a scooter?) you have to walk through these? They'd be full of trainers out with their pokemon, eager for some training and exercise, much like any regular dog walkers. Hell, there's a new trainer type right there: Dogwalker, someone who's been hired to take out someone's canine-based pokemon for the day.

Caves
Easy. Big warehouses. Dingy buildings. Really anything with an entrance on one side and an exit on the other.

Water Routes
All parks have lakes, and all cities have rivers. Add a port district and you're golden, I'd say.

An Issue Of Scale
The more I think about it, the less the scale of such a game bothers me. As it stands, the games we've had so far do not take place in especially spacious regions. Assuming each tile is a meter square, how big are the regions in total? Seriously, if anyone has that count, or can link to someone who's done it, I'd love to see it. It's probably not as big as, say, Liberty City in Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (which, I will concede, operates on a smaller scale).

The Legendaries
This one... this one I want to hear what other people suggest, first.

So come on. Imagine with me.

 

[Cornbread]

This could be really cool. You could have all types of themed districts to find different sorts of Pokémon within the city, like an industrial area for Electric/Steel/Poison, a park for Grass/Ground/Water, etc. But there are a few types I can't really imagine finding so well... Psychic, Dark, Ice, and Dragon come to mind.

As far as legendaries go, I'm thinking of a giant industrial generator kinda thing that's like Electric/Poison or Electric/Ghost or something. Or maybe a giant Poison-type alligator that lives in the sewers?

But yeah, I think one big city would be a really neat idea.

 

[Keegman]

It saddens me that not many people seem to want to participate. Shameful. Anyway.


The cool thing about the cities in Pokemon is that they already have a sort of fantasy about them, and there's no reason this couldn't apply on a grander scale. You could have a mentalist district, a ranching district (with the breeders, obviously), the shopping district with the big department store, and the surrounding routes are where you find the "cuter" pokemon (your Jigglypuffs, your Clefairies, your Skitties, etc.).

And for ice pokemon? Meat packing warehouse.


Okay, because Cornbread is the only one who cared to participate (and thank you for that), I guess I'll spill my load now: For a legendary, I picture Batman. Well, a Batman-like role, similar, as far as I know, to the role Mewtwo seems to be filling in the anime as of his last appearance. It could be a fighting type with a similar method to Suicune in C/HGSS—numerous scripted appearances, probably of it watching you as you cut your own swath of justice through the corrupt, mean streets of The City—culminating in a challenge of your worth and ability.

 

[Farfetched]

Ok, well I read everything. And I like the ideas. What you're suggesting is kind of a bigger, more expansive city that was in the Deoxys movie.

As much as I like the idea (VERY VERY much), I would see it as a side to a game. I don't know what you had in mind game wise, just an idea a guess?

But about my trolly idea, I don't understand why you asked me to look here. Help me out?

 

[qwrqrwqas]

I'll play.

The legendary might as well be symbolic of The Corporation - oh hell, the evil team is The Corporation.

I'd still bet on a poisonous foundry monster for the legendary though. Legendary trio could have an urban/suburban/rural theme.

 

[7487857]

I love this idea. I'll try to build off of it:

Sewers: poison Pokemon. (Grimer/Muk, obviously)

Stadiums: Might work better as a console game spin-off instead, but most big cities have Baseball or Football stadiums. Maybe a Stadium-type location could replace the Battle Frontier (it would still serve the same purpose, though).

Legendaries: Maybe the city was built over some ancient/sacred ruins or burial grounds, or built on top of a different city (like New New York in Futurama) and is being covered up in some sort of conspiracy that the main character accidentally uncovers. The Legendaries could be tied into this somehow, or maybe they're being held captive.

 

[Keegman]

I love this idea. I'll try to build off of it:

Sewers: poison Pokemon. (Grimer/Muk, obviously)

You know that one pool in Celadon, where surfing gets you nothing but grimers and muks? That's always just screamed "sewer drainage" to me. I also like Cornbread's alligator idea, but I like it so much I'd prefer to see it as a 3 stager (two of which you run into in the wild on a regular basis) than as a legendary.

Legendaries: Maybe the city was built over some ancient/sacred ruins or burial grounds, or built on top of a different city (like New New York in Futurama) and is being covered up in some sort of conspiracy that the main character accidentally uncovers. The Legendaries could be tied into this somehow, or maybe they're being held captive.

I could really get with the idea of a sub-region, like the Underground only it lets you actually move throughout the city.

 

[The dark lord trombonator]

This is a great, original idea. I'd be really keen for this. I've always felt that the cities and towns in the Pokémon universe have been crappily small.

Given the current screenshots we've seen, it may hold some promise... but I'm not gonna hold my breath.

EDIT COZ I LEFT THE MESSAGE WINDOW OPEN FOR AGES AND KEEGMAN REPLIED IN THE MEANTIME

Sewer would be epic. Poison or Water-type gym in the sewers? Or maybe that's where the Dark-type gym is. (Backstory being everyone is scared of the Dark-type which is why there hasn't been a Dark gym yet. And it's the eighth Gym). We could have a new species of Fish Pokémon that will evolve into a mutant Fish if leveled up in the sewers and a regular Fish if leveled up in a pure lake area.

And perhaps we could turn one of them park areas into an outdoor Gym.

And a settlement on skyscraper roofs. Sideways elevators take you from building to building.

 

[cowboy dan]

I would really enjoy this. Filling it with pokemon would be ridiculously easy.

dark: every town has thieves/rapscallions
dragon: a shrine similar to blackthorn
ice: icecream factory
psychic:this is probably the hardest to implement, but seeing as you can place psychic types in grass, I don't see why that couldn't be done in the city.
every other type is pretty self explanatory

 

[Keegman]

EDIT COZ I LEFT THE MESSAGE WINDOW OPEN FOR AGES AND KEEGMAN REPLIED IN THE MEANTIME

I DID THAT TOO! We are brothers, bound in laziness.

Sewer would be epic. Poison or Water-type gym in the sewers? Or maybe that's where the Dark-type gym is. (Backstory being everyone is scared of the Dark-type which is why there hasn't been a Dark gym yet. And it's the eighth Gym). We could have a new species of Fish Pokémon that will evolve into a mutant Fish if leveled up in the sewers and a regular Fish if leveled up in a pure lake area.

And perhaps we could turn one of them park areas into an outdoor Gym.

And a settlement on skyscraper roofs. Sideways elevators take you from building to building.

I LOVE ALL OF THIS! All of these things could and would work so much better than the identical Gym exteriors (barring Blaine; and which I realize exist for the purpose of making them easy to recognize for younger players) they have now.

 

[Cornbread]

I also like Cornbread's alligator idea, but I like it so much I'd prefer to see it as a 3 stager (two of which you run into in the wild on a regular basis) than as a legendary.

Maybe it could be the Gen V pseudo-legendary? Poison/Dark would be a sexy combo.

Or maybe that's where the Dark-type gym is. (Backstory being everyone is scared of the Dark-type which is why there hasn't been a Dark gym yet. And it's the eighth Gym).

I could see this getting really interesting. Maybe the Dark gym used to be a proper gym, but the leader was shunned for one reason or another (genetic mutation is the first thing that comes to my mind... but it really could be anything) and escaped to the sewers to try and rebuild his gym. Since then it's become something of an urban legend, and all the truly great trainers will one day venture into the sewers to find the gym and challenge it. Which means a hugely long, grueling sewer dungeon, which would be a hell of a lot of fun imo.

 

[Ararararagi-san]

i actually really like this idea. the thing with the districts got me thinking about the world ends with you. i definitely wouldn't mind a game like this, though i think it would be hated by a lot of people.

someone mentioned a problem with dragon, ice, psychic, and dark, but i think i found something. in the rich part of cities, some big buildings and apartment buildings have actual parks on top. this could be where the psychic and dragon live. as for dark, maybe a more rundown part of the city and ghost types would be there too. ice type can live in the food/meatpacking section because those usually have HUGE freezers. i should know, my dad used to work in those.

legendaries? maybe a ground/electric; ground because of the city aspect, and electric because of the technology. the other can be fire/dragon. just for the lulz. maybe the third can be a flying/ground type.

 

[Regiruler]

Maybe it could be the Gen V pseudo-legendary? Poison/Dark would be a sexy combo.

Drapion says hi.

 

[Cornbread]

Drapion says hi.

I know, but I meant that, as deviations from the usual dragon pseudo, dark and poison would be a pretty cool one.

 

[The dark lord trombonator]

Not liking the idea of a freezer district/meat packing industry... Ice is a challenge, I know, but you don't have to maul the game to get it. (Pun completely not intended... honestly).

There are a bunch of places ice-type Pokémon could live. They could live in a recreational area, have an out-of-town reserve, a foreign district, or someone could have a Safari Zone-esque reserve for them. Then there are always the in-game trades, the freebies... Some Ice dual-types could even be found in grassy patches.

Someone above mentioned a stadium in regards to the Battle Frontier. Contests/Pokéathlons/GenVsidesport could fill that purpose. No need to have more than one stadium in a city, especially a city that by real-world standards would be quite small.

 

[Drakon]

I like this idea. The legendary could be some personification of technology or something.

But here's where I can imagine finding the Pokémon of various types:

Grass, Bug, Flying, Normal - Parks
Water, Poison, Dark, Ground - Sewers
Water - Lakes in parks
Ice - Food (not necessarily meatpacking district) district
Ghost, Dark, Poison - the more rundown areas (abandoned buildings etc)
Fire, Steel, Poison, Electric, Rock - industrial district
Electric, Steel - power plant
Psychic, Dragon, Ground, Fighting - designated preserves

 

[Inon]

Water Routes
All parks have lakes, and all cities have rivers. Add a port district and you're golden, I'd say.

Mérida(A city in Yucatán, México) is crying.

But the idea is not bad at all, I just don't see the "Small everything" system transformed into this...

 

[Data_Error]

I'd just like to say that I think this is a great idea, and I think that some of the ideas being thrown around are great. I would be perfectly willing to play such a game.

HOWEVER, there would have to be some driving plot factor beyond the "collect badges, beat E4, profit" formula. It would either have to be the setting of some sort of multiplayer game to keep players interacting and interested, or else some kind of plot to be contained within the city beyond a basic "tournament plot". Otherwise it wouldn't serve much interest beyond that of a sidequest. It's just another area to roam around in.

Besides that, I can see where you're coming from with different potential habitats in an urban setting. On the other hand, I don't know how believably common you could make Pokémon appearances within a city (people still have to live there, so they can't be running around everywhere). I like the idea of one- or two-block "parks" that wild Pokémon might reside in where battling is permitted, but to keep the image of a city, they can't take up too big a portion of space in relation to the buildings. You don't have to stretch yourself for habitats at all, really: perhaps a spot in the city could be a designated "trading post" where you can trade Pokémon found wild in-game for Pokémon that NPC trainers bring from out-of-town, with the available trades varying from day to day. A breeding center/day care with its usual purpose could complement this. A large amount of Pokémon that otherwise wouldn't be found in the game environment could be obtained in these fashions (though obviously not all).


As for your scale (and this is a fairly irrelevant argument in relation to the concept itself), I don't believe that the games are set in very small areas at all; the anime and manga imply that the regions are roughly the size of Japanese prefectures/US states, with it taking several days to travel between towns on foot. The games, like many RPGs, scale the size of towns/routes down quite a bit just for the same of saving you time wading through a slew of useless buildings or spending huge amounts of time on the road. However, a to-scale city environment would fit perfectly well as the setting for such a game.

 

[GHU Jockmaster]

Legendary could be like Godzilla destroying the city (fire/dragon type?). That could be part of the plotline.

 

[Jasui]

As much as I love this idea, I have but one question: Why would you be allowed to just nab Pokemon off the corner of the street? Couldn't that get chaotic and endanger the other citizens? A game where you only got to fight in scheduled battles would be kind of boring. Otherwise, this sounds like a blast!