I'm Getting Tired of Pokemon

If it ain't broke...

There was a time where I’d call Pokemon my favorite franchise. I’ve played every generation and remake to some extent, and even have a full 720 Pokemon Pokedex in Y version. There are even some spin-offs such as Pokemon Battle Trozei, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, and Pokemon Rumble that I’ve played for extended periods of time as well. I have tins upon tins of Pokemon cards, and a whole shelf of Pokemon figures. I’ve read the manga, and when I was little I watched the anime. Needless to say, I love Pokemon. But I love what Pokemon was, because sadly, I’m growing a bit tired of the franchise.

Complex systems like EV training have had their
depth stripped out for accessibility's sake

The sixth generation was where they began to lose me. I’d a bit paradoxical considering that Y is one of my favorite entries in the whole series, but it's chock most of that up to it being the first 3DS title, bringing Pokemon to the third dimension. If you imagine X/Y releasing on the DS, stripping away its visuals, you have a very basic, easy Pokemon game. That is the core of my problem. Since X/Y, the games have gotten progressively easier, and added in new systems that appeal to the casual audience. For example, the PokeNav’s new radar feature turned out useful for shiny hunting, but completely superfluous in every other facet, not unlike the Pokemon Aime or Super Training. All of these additions are meaningless when their end results can be much more efficiently emulated with a bit of skill and patience. The PokeRadar is much better than the Nav for finding specific pokemon, a soothe bell and time build friendship much better than Aime, and a macho brace combined with reps train a pokemon’s EV stats and gain EXP where Super Training doesn’t do the latter. In Game Freak’s accessibility crusade, they’ve taken the depth out of Pokemon. The challenge of the first five generations has been completely erased. This series isn’t moving forward, just laterally.

Walking with your Pokemon desperately
needs to come back

My issues are compounded by the fact that true gameplay additions end up stranded in particular games. Let me elaborate, walking with your Pokemon is trapped in Heart Gold/Soul Silver. Secret bases are stuck in Ruby/Sapphire and their respective remakes. GTS negotiations didn’t move past Gen five. It’s like rolling a snowball down a hill; it gets bigger as it goes down right? Well, if Pokemon is that snowball at the top of the hill, it rolls partway down, then someone catches it and sends a new snowball down instead. Each entry is two steps forward, two steps back. When you combine those issues with the ridiculous oversaturation of the brand, well, it’s hard to care anymore.

These games make a ton of money, but quality has been
sacrificed in the process

Let’s list off the Pokemon games released in the last five years. Thanks to Polygon, I have a list of all the titles, because there are too many for just one person to remember. Starting in 2012, in order, The Pokemon Company released: Pokemon Conquest, PokePark 2: Wonders Beyond, Pokemon Black/White 2, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity, Pokemon Rumble U, Pokemon X/Y, Pokemon Battle Trozei, Pokemon Art Academy, Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, Pokemon Shuffle, Pokemon Rumble World, Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon, Pokemon Picross, Great Detective Pikachu: Birth of a New Duo, Pokken Tournament, Pokemon Go, Pokemon Sun/Moon, and Magikarp Jump. And still to come this year are Pokken Tournament DX and Pokemon Ultra Sun/Moon. Wow. By the time of Ultra Sun/Moon’s release, 19 Pokemon games will have launched since 2012, not including different versions of the same game, i.e Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. That is absolutely insane. A franchise like Super Smash Bros. is constantly exciting because we have to wait for a new entry. There are always people speculating about new titles, and anxiously awaiting news. Pokemon has saturated the market to such an extent that it isn’t even exciting anymore. I haven’t been truly excited for a Pokemon game since X/Y back in 2013. Of course, for me to be excited in the first place, the game itself has to be interesting.

I enjoyed Pokemon Sun quite a bit more than I expected to

Pokemon Sun was a pleasant surprise. It shook up the formula and had a fantastic setting. Sun actually ended up being my second favorite game of last year. I still had to impose some artificial difficulty on myself by turning off the Exp. Share, but it was a more challenging game to an extent. Sun really felt like a step in the right direction. Of course, I should have known better though, as this year’s suite of Pokemon games is downright disappointing. Pokken Tournament DX adds barely anything to a game that launched last year, and Ultra Sun/Moon looks to be the first mainline Pokemon game I skip. I’ve seen no indication that this game adds anything meaningful outside of a new story and a few odds and ends. Pokemon Black/White 2 were fantastic sequels because they felt truly new, they added new Pokemon, battle styles, locations, and they continued Black/White’s story. Ultra Sun just looks lazy. It isn’t much different than Platinum or Emerald to be fair, but I wasn’t feeling this resentment towards the franchise at that point. Though, I don’t think all hope is lost.

Game Freak has an excellent opportunity to get a
fresh start on the Switch

Game Freak has already announced a brand new mainline Pokemon game for the Switch. With no confirmed release date, I want the devs to take all the time they need to truly deliver an experience for novices and veterans alike. It really isn’t too late to turn this ship around. Keep the core formula of collecting gym badges, and take it into a full 3D landscape. Then, reintroduce sought after features such as walking with your Pokemon, contests and secret bases, and a fleshed out online. Bring back that sense of challenge. Go full anime and let me explore the region with my friends in real time, imagine playing a Pokemon adventure Co-Op. Add a touch of non-linearity and let us truly explore. The heart of Pokemon is so good that I don’t want Game Freak to squander this opportunity with just another Pokemon game. Innovate, re-invent, evolve, do whatever it takes to restore this franchise to its past glory. I know Game Freak has it in them, they just have to show it.