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What do you value in a Pokemon Game?

The things I value:

-A region with a large pokedex - At least 400 Pokemon - with plenty of options to choose from even in the early routes.
-A region where exploration and adventure ultimately emphasized, as if it were running around through a beautiful labyrinth of routes, forests, caves and cities without handholding the trainer. Nearly all the houses are searchable, and the sense of challenge is tied more to how well you solve the mysteries around you.
-A region that stays alive active before and even after you become champion, with Gym Leader and overworld trainer rebattles, Pokemon outbreaks, minigame areas, and easter eggs and special areas hidden everywhere. Heck - add an entirely new region after being the champion as well!
-Quality of life features: Trainer customization, custom Pokeballs, secret bases, sitting on chairs, and following Pokemon add so much to the adventure that would otherwise be a total grindfest of a game.
-A Well designed Battle Frontier. I love all the different ways to spin battles, as they breathe life to the same old rule you have to abide to ingame.
-Battle Format variety ingame. I wish Double, Triple, Rotaion, Horde, and Inverse battles could appear more often as you face even the ordinary trainers. Singles everywhere just becomes very repetitive, unchallenging and boring in gameplay. Bring on the gimmicks!

...No doubt: My standards for pokemon games is too high right now. :/
 
I think for me it would be the ease of understanding how the game works, because if it has too much complexity behind playing it properly, then I am most likely going to be less interested.

Reminds me of this:

[URL='https://time.com/3750545/does-nintendo-have-any-big-ideas-left/' said:
Iwata's Interview in Times 2015[/URL]]
“If it takes a lot of explanation for people to understand your entertainment product,” says Iwata, “you’re doing something wrong.”


For me, I also value the easy-to-understand game-play. I put a lot of value in storytelling (both lore and overall plot) and character design/development.
 
  • i like good stories and characters, like b/w. it made my heart stir? i dont know a term to explain it lol
  • difficulty like in lance or cynthia
  • music, areas
  • overworld pokemon like the mareep in flocessy ranch
  • ways to "bond" with your pokemon like where they could walk behind us (im sure everyone wishes for this...), or when they would look back at you in battle or seeing them tired/sleeping in amie.. the different animations bring life to them ^o^
  • the pokemon which make you go "they are my friend" lol
 
For me, the game has to be enjoyable, have loads of new features to keep you interested, good characters and story that you can genuinely care about, an interesting region, and, of course, an interesting selection of Pokémon.

And the game doesn't have to be perfect to be enjoyable. I personally see something good in every Pokémon core game.
 
  • Decent characters. I like learning about rivals, gym leaders, champions, etc. Pokemon are the main focus of the games, sure, but they can't do much to progress the plot on their own. Developing characters and seeing how their interactions with Pokemon factor into their jobs and motivations makes them feel a bit more relatable and down-to-earth.
  • Good wordbuilding. Whether or not there's a competent plot, I don't care, just do whatever it takes to make me want to learn more about the world of Pokemon. Having a good plot probably is necessary for that though...
  • Good side content. There needs to be things for me to do aside from battling or catching/raising Pokemon. Contests, the Underground, Pokeathlon and Pokestar Studios were some of my favorite content in the series, and they're likely why I liked the DS era so much. I wasted most of my post-game hours on these things.
  • Battle frontier. I dislike standard battling formats and the Battle Tower, but I really like the gimmicky styles of the other facilities. I'd like at least one non-standard battle facility.
  • Diversity in the Pokedex. I really don't care how many we get each gen, as long as I'm not seeing Pidgey everywhere.
  • Some decent challenge.
  • Regions that are diverse and big.
In terms of consistency, I don't think my favorite games list adheres to these ideals very well.

And then, there's a few games that do have more things on this list than others, yet still rank further down my favorites list than those others do.

I like all the Pokemon games, but not a single one will ever have everything I've put down here.
 
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  • designs of creatures
  • strategical aspect of the game
  • the competition while battling
  • different battle situations that even both pokemon can faint during a battle
  • many different battle styles and scenarios
  • races and other tournaments like the contests
  • abilities, moves , forms and mechanics
  • type and ability changes
  • move combos(hypnosis+ dream eater + nightmare)
  • abilities and moves that intearact with each other
  • status conditions
  • usefullness of moves and abilities
  • interaction with other people and players who like pokemon games and discussing it all online
  • story telling
  • in game changes that create new niches and make the game growing and better
  • every generation that tries to bring balance and power after the last one
  • fixing glitches and making fans get what they want more often
 
In no particular order:

-I value interaction with my Pokemon. Having them follow you and you could talk to them to see what they were doing in HG/SS was wonderful and I still miss it so much. The introduction to Amie was fantastic as well. Something I'd always wished I could do with my pokemon! Refresh is just as nice (though I do miss the puzzle minigame. I was so good at that), plus the added bonus of grooming your pokemon after battle was neat! Not gonna lie though, I was super cheap and appreciated the free status heals while at the same time was like "This should use up an antidote or something. I LOVED the photo club thing in US/UM. Taking pictures with my favorite pokemon after big events and evolutions was really fun, and knowing gamefreak it's probably canned like Following pokemon was. Hopefully the camping will be as nice as Amie and stuff and isn't just mostly "MAEK CURRY NAO, YES?". This is the most important part of the game for me.
-New Pokemon. I will never think there are too many pokemon. Regional variants are also awesome and count in my eyes.
-Lore. I love making up stories for when I play pokemon (and if I could write comics I totally would. An outlet for my creativity that's not just words would be nice~) but its nicer to have lore about the region, characters, pokemon, etc. to build off of. It doesn't have to be direct lore either. You don't have to tell me during the story either "[Pokemon] is seen as a bringer of good fortune for [town], and that's why there are little statuettes and decorations off it everywhere here." Just have an NPC mention it while standing infront of a statue in background character dialogue, or even just on a sign or in the pokedex or something. Or show something interesting. Like in Skyrim they have books you don't have to read that are interesting, or a location tells a story without someone saying "This old jail flooded and the inmates used the chaos to attempt an escape and killed most of the guards." You piece this together through how the location looks and through items and notes scattered about.
-Character designs. Not just Gym Leaders and Rivals and what not. But random trainers too. I hated how trainer classes in Sun and Moon were just another's model but with something in their hands like sports equipment. Not impressed, Gamefreak. I'm super disappointed at all the gym leaders wearing sports apparel. They all look really goofy to me. Especially the ghost leader. Though at least it's not a girl so he'll be less likely to be turned into a creepy fetish by a lot of artists like the poor Hex maniac was. I miss when Hex maniacs were witches.
-Bigger Activities to do with my pokemon outside of battling. Contests were cool. The Pokeathlon was fantastic and I want it back so badly. I love the idea of not only having a team of pokemon I've trained to fight gym leaders and the league, but also maybe a pokemon trained to be a Beauty Contest winner, and a group of pokemon who are good at jumping/running/etc in a game. I can only battle so many different ways before it gets boring.
-Pokedex data. I like learning the average height and weight of my pokemon, seeing its locations in a region, seeing any variations I've come across, and hearing its cry. I miss the footprints. Why did they stop giving them this in Gen 6? They still have the body type listed for pokemon which I'd argue is even less interesting that the footprint. At least with the footprint you get to see something interesting you might not be able to see with the regular art. You can already tell a pokemon's body type by looking at it. I also kinda liked Fire Red/Leaf Green's habitat feature, even if I disagreed with some of it.

I want to talk about customization options (not just things like hair, clothes, etc.) but it's 6:30 AM, this is getting long, and my sleep aides are kicking in. I'll either edit this after I've slept or just post another reply depending on if someone else has posted or not.
 

I valued them for creating interestic abilities and specific pokemon for strategies: Mimykyu, Ditto, Zoroark, Shedinja
for creating abilities like Soundproof, Bulletproof...
I hope that they create better pokemon abilities then boost power with stats.
I hope for form changes during battles with type and ability change.
I think that they should not invent too big new mechanic in next games but use what we got from gen 6, 7 and 8
(maybe add some new megas or gigantamax that are "fussions" of 2 pokemon, this would be nice during double battles)

Lately they focused too much attention on new projects then on main series games, hope they focus more on main series next generation and better plan projects in time... the not-main series not every year, butt 2 or 3 like the main series and invest more in people producing new generations and allow them to use what they alredy created in gen 8 to make a better gen 4 remakes and gen 9 and give them some time for it... maybe one year longer... and buff abilities like Water compaction, steam engine that they reduce damage too not only rise stats.

I like when everything is logical and makes sense... like a new ability like gulp missile from Cramorant should work also when surf, muddy water, waterfall and other wave like water move is used againt the user of this ability... even sludge wave, then could throw out different pokemon out.

I like when things make sense and are logical.

Like Teleport, should theoreticaly and practically allow user to switch itself out but should work like Acupressure and allow you to chose the oponent to switch him out too. would make fantastic strategies and as a psychic type move would not work on dark types...
 
Content.
Challenge.
Immersion.
Diversity.


I think the first point is pretty self-explanatory. I want the game to keep me busy with a great decent story (it's still Pokémon, after all), with many things to do during the main story, but most importantly afterwards, whether that's through locations to explore that are only accessible after becoming the Champion (the Sevii Islands will always be one of the coolest "regions" in the history of Pokémon to me, and being able to travel to Kanto again in Generation 2 just felt incredible), new battle facilities (RIP Battle Frontier), daily small jobs etc. I've also always loved aspects of the games that did not (directly) relate to battling, such as Secret Bases, Contests, the Underground, the Pokéathlon, even those weird film studios.

The second point is challenge. I don't want the game to hold my hand, I want to learn by myself (not that there's much left to be learned after all these years). I want to be challenged, I want to be able to be underleveled (damn you, Exp. Share) and be defeated, I would very much appreciate for the challenge mode to make a comeback, and I want the challenge to continue in the post-game section. There are so many possibilities: rematches against stronger Gym Leaders, Elite Four and Champion, rivals, the special trainers you meet along your journey, and even regular trainers; all sorts of battle facilities (removing the Battle Frontier(s), Trainer Hill/Trainer Tower, Battle Tents, Black Tower/White Treehollow, Pokémon World Tournament etc. and exchanging them with a generic Battle Tower/Metro/Maison/Tree was probably the stupidest decision in the history of this franchise). I think it's great that they started making online competitive play more accessible, but that doesn't mean that people don't care about "classic" IN-GAME battles with a special twist anymore!

Point three: immersion. At least that's something they usually get right, with Pokémon regions generally being interestingly designed and offering a lot of environmental variety. Still, the route and overall world design has become noticeably more straightforward and linear since generation 5. Please, Game Freak, LET ME GET LOST like in Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh back in the day. Another thing that bothers me is that the lore around mostly Legendary (and Mythical) Pokémon seems to get less and less attention. Look at how little the game tells you about the Cover Legendaries from Generation 6 onwards and compare that to the likes of Groudon, Kyogre, Rayquaza, Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina. A particularly sad example is Zygarde, which was completely ignored in its own home region and then suddenly popped up in Alola for NO REASON whatsoever. What's also annoying is that "Event Pokémon" are only handed out nowadays rather than giving you access to some sort of key item that enables you to go look for it, and catch it yourself. It's unrealistic enough that some teenager could be powerful enough to catch the literal Pokémon God (as I said, it's still Pokémon), but at least make it look epic by having you climb on top of the highest mountain, create a magical Stairway to Heaven (sort of), and then challenge him in the hardest battle you can face in the entire game (at least that's what it should be). Or the little sequences before you can battle Shaymin and Darkrai, respectively, or the little puzzle you had to solve on Birth Island, or the mysterious messages on Faraway Island and Southern Island, or the seemingly endless climbing up or down on Navel Rock. All of these details made Legendary and Mythical Pokémon so much more fascinating and honestly left me in awe. Fast forward a few years, and now you just get them handed to you by a random delivery person in any Pokémon Center you walk into. Wow, awesome.

My last point is diversity, which I think can be understood in pretty much every possible way. I want diversity in the selection of Pokémon that are available in a particular game, meaning that there should be a high number of completely new Pokémon available to give them some spotlight, but still make some older ones available too. That's one thing I disliked about Black and White, I didn't like most of the designs back then (and it's still one of my least favourite generations in that aspect), so I found it rather hard to enjoy playing through the main story. I also want diversity in battles, so again, abandoning the concept of unusual battle facilities with their completely own rules such as the Battle Pike, the Battle Pyramid, the Battle Arcades etc. was a huge disappointment to me. I guess the only facilities that are safe are the Battle Tower and the Battle Factory, in a way. And lastly, an issue that affected Generation 6/7: it's perhaps not the best idea to release a game that takes place in a tropical region like Hoenn, followed by a game that takes place in a tropical region like Alola, followed by another game that takes place in Alola.



So, overall, I'm really not happy with the direction the Pokémon series has moved in over the last five to eight-ish years (and that's not even taking into account that they effectively killed fantastic spin-off series like Pokémon Mystery Dungeon and Pokémon Ranger, as well as standalone games like Colosseum, XD, and Conquest). I'm aware no game can ever be perfect and that's fine, but I still have to say that I haven't genuinely enjoyed a Pokémon game since Platinum and HeartGold/SoulSilver, although Generations 5 and 6 were still pretty great. But ever since Sun and Moon, I've felt nothing but disappointment. I guess at this point I'm just waiting for the inevitable Sinnoh remake since it's my favourite region alongside Hoenn, hoping they won't completely mess it up. It's a real shame that quick profit seems to be more important for those in charge of Pokémon than treating the franchise with care, not alienating old fans that have supported them for years and decades, and most importantly making sure the games coming out in the future will still be worth playing.
 
What I value the most:
  • A big amount of game content (especially a wide variety of Battle Facilities).
  • Some entertainment sidequests.
  • A fleshed out Region that is atmospheric makes me feel immersed in the game.
  • Interesting Human Characters that are fun to interact with.
 
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Content: I like being able to do a lot in my games. When I finish the story, I like to be able to do other stuff to continue playing the game, especially if it's a really hyped up game (like Pokemon usually is).
Story: I like engaging stories. I've never felt like Pokemon's stories have been too engaging, but they've had some interesting characters over the years, so that's helped a lot.
Customization: In RPGs, I like being able to make my character fit me and the play style I enjoy playing. Pokemon's been doing a lot better with that in recent gens with allowing us to customize our characters more, and we've always been able to choose the Pokemon we want to play with (except in Yellow, where we were forced to choose Pikachu, but we were able to choose the other 5 Pokemon in our team).
Challenge: I like to have a little bit of challenge in my games. I don't want it to be too difficult to where I'm consistently struggling and having to grind regularly to get to where I need to be in a game, but I also don't want it to be too easy or for my hand to be held either. I like being able to choose my difficulty level, especially in games where I'm new to the series and might need a little more hand holding than someone who's played for years.
 
Other than the Pokemon themselves, I like games that have replay value. I should be able to finish a Pokemon game and want to get back into it afterwards, instead I've recently felt that there's little point in continuing to play after the main storyline ends because most of the post-game content has been crap ever since X and Y imo.
 
I value a good variety of Pokemon to choose from. In a new generation Id rather have more new species than older ones
I value diverse areas since they are fun to explore
I value at least some challenge in the game, I dont want things just handed to me
I value a somewhat engaging story since it makes the experience better, though Pokemon has really never been about the plot, I want it to be entertaining.
I value interesting characters, again because it makes the game interesting
I value new features that are fun, as well as the return of older ones that work well
 
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