The Pokemon Switch Version

[Peppermint Phoenix]

When does everyone think it will be announced and released?

I'm thinking next year in January with a 2019 holiday release.

I just don't think Gamefreak did enough Switch work before its launch for less than 2 years into the Switch's lifespan.

 

[Stratelier]

A system based on the player's highest-level Pokemon would be far easier. (First few Pokemon could be three levels below the player's highest, next few two, etc) It would also help encourage the player to use all Pokemon in their team, rather than just relying on one.

I remember Pokemon Stadium back in the day. For the Lv.50 tournament your Pokemon had to be between 50-55 but the sum of their levels couldn't be more than 155 (i.e. only +5 levels above 50 across the entire team). However, your opponents teams were always scaled to your highest level Pokemon (i.e. they could have three Lv.55 Pokemon). I never liked that in concept.

A method I think could produce decent results could be like (this is sort of inspired by Skyrim's system, but here goes) ....
- Gym Leader's team is internally ranked in a specific order from strongest to weakest
- Their #1 (ace) Pokemon is always scaled to your strongest Pokemon's level +1
- Their last (weakest) Pokemon is scaled to your average (mean) Pokemon levels -1
- The rest of their team is scaled more or less uniformly between those two extremes
- (ergo, there's always a minimum +2 level difference between their weakest and strongest Pokemon)
- No multiplayer (i.e. trading) features enabled during a Gym challenge. (no cheating!)

 

[Bolt Strike]

This I can agree with - dynamic level scaling is basically the only way to adapt difficulty to open-world quest progression. However, exactly what should they scale the Gym Leader's Pokemon to and how? And how do you prevent this from leaving exploits for the player to abuse?

Well first of all the easiest thing to do would be to scale based on the number of badges you've obtained. Maybe the levels go up by 5-10 levels for every badge you earn. As for what scales, all of the trainer levels should go up and the wild Pokemon level range could expand (i.e. they would start out at Lv. 2-5 and then after the first gym you would find Lv. 2-10, etc.). There should also be trainers you can rematch that scale based on your current party, possibly through a special facility, that way you can train up newer Pokemon at lower levels. That should cover just about everything.

 

[Johtohfiller]

I don't mind if they don't go full blown open world, but I do mind if they don't reverse their trend away from exploration. They've been nerfing exploration ever since Gen 5, by Gen 7 they're to the point where it's basically not even there - if Gen 8 is the same I might pass on it. Something like Sinnoh would be a major improvement over what they've been doing lately. Exploration sells these days, here's hoping Game Freak has noticed.

 

[Bolt Strike]

I don't mind if they don't go full blown open world, but I do mind if they don't reverse their trend away from exploration. They've been nerfing exploration ever since Gen 5, by Gen 7 they're to the point where it's basically not even there - if Gen 8 is the same I might pass on it. Something like Sinnoh would be a major improvement over what they've been doing lately. Exploration sells these days, here's hoping Game Freak has noticed.

This. Game Freak's basically been waging war on exploration ever since they've become obsessed with casuals and it's gotten ridiculous at this point. The highest selling Switch games heavily emphasize exploration to the point where they're basically the antithesis of the 5th-7th gen games, so if Game Freak is serious about wanting to capitalize on the success of games like BotW and Odyssey, they'll have to reverse that trend. The audience that bought BotW/Odyssey probably isn't going to be super interested in SM HD.

 

[Johtohfiller]

This. Game Freak's basically been waging war on exploration ever since they've become obsessed with casuals and it's gotten ridiculous at this point. The highest selling Switch games heavily emphasize exploration to the point where they're basically the antithesis of the 5th-7th gen games, so if Game Freak is serious about wanting to capitalize on the success of games like BotW and Odyssey, they'll have to reverse that trend. The audience that bought BotW/Odyssey probably isn't going to be super interested in SM HD.

Nintendo franchises are known for their level designs. Modern Game Freak: "Level designs? Never heard of 'em." They really do seem like opposites in their approaches to game design. I can't help but wonder if Game Freak think they don't need to put in the effort because they have name recognition. Nintendo's first party franchises have huge name recognition too but they still make ambitious games. It really makes Game Freak seem lazy in comparison.

 

[Stratelier]

Modern Game Freak: "Level designs? Never heard of 'em."

That doesn't seem entirely accurate. Level design in a linear JRPG doesn't mean the same thing as it does in a seamless overworld map. However, if they are going to railroad the player down a linear story, they need to find better, less intrusive ways of doing it ... it's one of the original reasons HMs existed.

Of course, when it comes to open-world quest design one thing I would like to see in any RPG is the game holding you responsible for however long it actually took you to complete a given quest objective. Sure, you can Take Your Time (tm) as much as you want, but maybe you will get different NPC dialogue or amount of quest rewards as a result.

 

[Kallyle]

That doesn't seem entirely accurate. Level design in a linear JRPG doesn't mean the same thing as it does in a seamless overworld map. However, if they are going to railroad the player down a linear story, they need to find better, less intrusive ways of doing it ... it's one of the original reasons HMs existed.

Instead of bringing HMs back, maybe Game Freak could do something like: "You need to reach Point B from Point A,, but there are quite a few paths you can take to get there. I will leave it up to you which road you wish to go through."

Basically, it allows Game Freak to continue their obsession with the plot without instant teleportation or "you need to go this way" nonsense. After all, it's about the journey, not the destination. I feel like that might be the easiest way for them to reconcile this linear rut they've dug themselves into.

 

[DoctorWhy]

When does everyone think it will be announced and released?

Announcement around April-June 2018. Release November/December 2018.

 

[Johtohfiller]

That doesn't seem entirely accurate. Level design in a linear JRPG doesn't mean the same thing as it does in a seamless overworld map. However, if they are going to railroad the player down a linear story, they need to find better, less intrusive ways of doing it ... it's one of the original reasons HMs existed.

Of course, when it comes to open-world quest design one thing I would like to see in any RPG is the game holding you responsible for however long it actually took you to complete a given quest objective. Sure, you can Take Your Time (tm) as much as you want, but maybe you will get different NPC dialogue or amount of quest rewards as a result.

It's not just linearity. Skyward Sword is one of the more linear Zelda games but it still has intricate level design.

 

[Incinerawr]

I want to play as Red in his older and epic days, and face off against Blue in a rivalry of truly epic and timeless proportions.

Honestly, they'll probably make a brand-new game to kick things off, but I see a remake of Gen I in the making. Kanto has been such a huge influence in the entirety of Gen VII that you just know Game Freak's starting to feel nostalgic. And why shouldn't they be? The first era of Pokemon has been, is, and always will be legendary.

It's not just linearity. Skyward Sword is one of the more linear Zelda games but it still has intricate level design.

I think just about every Zelda game is linear now that we have BotW. But I loved Skyward Sword... lot of happy memories there. (Having to find literally three of everything was a pain though)

 

[Kallyle]

Honestly, they'll probably make a brand-new game to kick things off, but I see a remake of Gen I in the making. Kanto has been such a huge influence in the entirety of Gen VII that you just know Game Freak's starting to feel nostalgic. And why shouldn't they be? The first era of Pokemon has been, is, and always will be legendary.

I'd only like to see Kanto again if there were Kantonian variants of Pokémon that debuted in Alola. If Gen 1 Pokémon alone needed to adapt to survive in Alola, then surely the same should be done with a few Gen 7 Pokémon to survive in Kanto. Otherwise, I'd rather Game Freak make more references to other regions or do a revisist of a non-remake, non-Kanto region instead.

 

[Incinerawr]

I'd only like to see Kanto again if there were Kantonian variants of Pokémon that debuted in Alola. If Gen 1 Pokémon alone needed to adapt to survive in Alola, then surely the same should be done with a few Gen 7 Pokémon to survive in Kanto. Otherwise, I'd rather Game Freak make more references to other regions or do a revisist of a non-remake, non-Kanto region instead.

I guess it depends on the climate. Kanto is, in fact, a real region in Japan which has a more temperate climate, whereas Alola is dense and tropical, making it difficult for certain species to thrive. I do see more form changes as a possibility, though. They keep adding new fur styles for Furfrou... why stop there?

 

[Stratelier]

It's not just linearity. Skyward Sword is one of the more linear Zelda games but it still has intricate level design.

Or for another comparison, FFX versus FFXIII. Two games with very linear stories and relatively linear maps connecting various points, yet FFX did not feel entirely linear as you were playing it.

 

[RileyXY1]

You guys, just because the games are moving to a more powerful system does not mean that the franchise will go full open world. Stop getting your hopes up. You'll only be disappointed in the end.

 

[Stratelier]

Stop getting your hopes up. You'll only be disappointed in the end.

This cannot be stressed enough -- the more you speculate, the more you'll be disappointed that the games don't meet whatever you thought of.

 

[WallflowerCanyon]

This cannot be stressed enough -- the more you speculate, the more you'll be disappointed that the games don't meet whatever you thought of.

It depends on the person I think; I speculated to hell and back about what a "Pokemon Z" with Zygarde would be about, and yet I wasn't disappointed at all when Sun and Moon were announced.

 

[Stratelier]

I speculated to hell and back about what a "Pokemon Z" with Zygarde would be about, and yet I wasn't disappointed at all when Sun and Moon were announced.

Maybe the fact that there ultimately was no Pokemon Z is relevant? Contrast with all the Sun- and Moon- specific speculation between its announcement and release (and which I intentionally kept out of, myself)....

To be fair, speculation doesn't guarantee disappointment with whatever eventually happens, rather it creates an easy potential for disappointment given the fact you are devoting time to internally endorsing something at all.

Spoiler

Basically, watch this video but replace all references to "Star Wars" with "Pokemon".

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aB-UKwO367s

 

[Esserise]

Speculating is fine as long as you know how to check yourself b4u wreck yourself

 

[Bolt Strike]

Speculating is fine as long as you know how to check yourself b4u wreck yourself

This. There's a difference between coming up with ideas and what-if scenarios and expecting the games to include every single thing you could've ever wanted. There's a point where not getting your hopes up and just taking whatever crap the developer slings at you just doesn't work anymore when the game fails to meet even your basic expectations, and I think a lot of people have reached that point now with Pokemon. I don't see anything wrong with people discussing what could be better in the series, there's a lot of things they could (and really should) be doing better. But at the same time you need to recognize that the games aren't going to fulfill every single desire you ever had.