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With things like outsourced games (BDSP), prequels (LA), sub-series of the main series games (Let’s Go, Legends), and DLC (SwSh), could we see the definitions of a generation change?
Over the years, things that were staples of a new generation (new gaming system, new sprites/models/graphics, new Pokémon) are no longer staples. The only thing you can really even use to define a new generation anymore is the introduction of a new, previously unknown region, so I suppose the more proper question is, will we see the end of a new region every 3-4 years?
With remakes seemingly becoming increasingly requested due to the hardware shift up to the Switch, and new spins on the main series games like the Let’s Go or Legends series being developed, I think I personally would much rather see these alternative concepts of games be developed instead of the “same journey, new coat of paint” type of approach they’ve had for 20 years. I don’t really want more regions to be made as much as I’d love to see older content be given the Let’s Go/Legends/BDSP treatment.
As an example, rather than having a new region by 2023, what if 2023’s game was Let’s Go Johto/Johto remakes (when I say Let’s Go I moreso mean the casual gameplay style rather than individual gameplay decisions, like the forced catching/battling mechanics and lack of Abilities/EVs). By 2023, we will be 11 years removed from our last visit to Unova. This is comparable to RSE’s gap to ORAS being only 9 years, RBY’s gap to FRLG being only 8 years, and so on.
I see no reason why we shouldn’t get Let’s Go/BDSP/Legends versions of Johto and Unova. The game series often follows the anime, but thankfully the anime has also moved away from the typical “in one region, then the next region after” style they used to follow. So if the anime is able to adopt a style of bouncing between all sorts of places in the Pokémon world, why shouldn’t the games?
So following my hypothetical 2023 Johto remakes release, maybe we get an early 2024 Pokémon Legends: Ho-Oh that takes place in the era of the burning of the Brass Tower, and after that an early 2025 release for Unova remakes (probably two games together, a part 1 and a part 2, Grey 1 and Grey 2 since I can’t think of better names right now), then late 2025 we get Pokémon Legends: Original Dragon.
Next thing you know we’d be in a 7 year generation, but we’d also be 12 years removed from Pokémon XY, so the next logical step would almost be to release Pokémon Z, and soon after that, Pokémon Delta Emerald, because why not? We’d be just as far removed from Gen 6 by then as we are now of Gen 4.
I believe that Game Freak and The Pokémon Company could just as easily sway from the 3-4 year generation cycle as that, while it’s true that the new games of a generation have historically sold the best, we don’t know the full potential of what a game like Legends could do. If it sells well enough, they might even move away from the idea of paired games and entertain more ideas like my hypothetical Pokémon Gray, Z, or Delta Emerald as being one single master game for that region, which would most likely mean the end of version exclusives and more concepts like mass outbreaks or raids to rotate available Pokémon.
Tl;dr: I think they can afford to move away from new generations being rushed out every 3-4 years in favor of fresh game designs like Legends Arceus, Let’s Go and remake styles of games, and maybe even end paired releases, and give us more opportunities to visit older places in the Pokémon world in their fullest potential.
Over the years, things that were staples of a new generation (new gaming system, new sprites/models/graphics, new Pokémon) are no longer staples. The only thing you can really even use to define a new generation anymore is the introduction of a new, previously unknown region, so I suppose the more proper question is, will we see the end of a new region every 3-4 years?
With remakes seemingly becoming increasingly requested due to the hardware shift up to the Switch, and new spins on the main series games like the Let’s Go or Legends series being developed, I think I personally would much rather see these alternative concepts of games be developed instead of the “same journey, new coat of paint” type of approach they’ve had for 20 years. I don’t really want more regions to be made as much as I’d love to see older content be given the Let’s Go/Legends/BDSP treatment.
As an example, rather than having a new region by 2023, what if 2023’s game was Let’s Go Johto/Johto remakes (when I say Let’s Go I moreso mean the casual gameplay style rather than individual gameplay decisions, like the forced catching/battling mechanics and lack of Abilities/EVs). By 2023, we will be 11 years removed from our last visit to Unova. This is comparable to RSE’s gap to ORAS being only 9 years, RBY’s gap to FRLG being only 8 years, and so on.
I see no reason why we shouldn’t get Let’s Go/BDSP/Legends versions of Johto and Unova. The game series often follows the anime, but thankfully the anime has also moved away from the typical “in one region, then the next region after” style they used to follow. So if the anime is able to adopt a style of bouncing between all sorts of places in the Pokémon world, why shouldn’t the games?
So following my hypothetical 2023 Johto remakes release, maybe we get an early 2024 Pokémon Legends: Ho-Oh that takes place in the era of the burning of the Brass Tower, and after that an early 2025 release for Unova remakes (probably two games together, a part 1 and a part 2, Grey 1 and Grey 2 since I can’t think of better names right now), then late 2025 we get Pokémon Legends: Original Dragon.
Next thing you know we’d be in a 7 year generation, but we’d also be 12 years removed from Pokémon XY, so the next logical step would almost be to release Pokémon Z, and soon after that, Pokémon Delta Emerald, because why not? We’d be just as far removed from Gen 6 by then as we are now of Gen 4.
I believe that Game Freak and The Pokémon Company could just as easily sway from the 3-4 year generation cycle as that, while it’s true that the new games of a generation have historically sold the best, we don’t know the full potential of what a game like Legends could do. If it sells well enough, they might even move away from the idea of paired games and entertain more ideas like my hypothetical Pokémon Gray, Z, or Delta Emerald as being one single master game for that region, which would most likely mean the end of version exclusives and more concepts like mass outbreaks or raids to rotate available Pokémon.
Tl;dr: I think they can afford to move away from new generations being rushed out every 3-4 years in favor of fresh game designs like Legends Arceus, Let’s Go and remake styles of games, and maybe even end paired releases, and give us more opportunities to visit older places in the Pokémon world in their fullest potential.
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