Pokemon that follow you, beauty contests, arenas, movies, secret bases, underground mining, and now player customization. Why is it that the pokemon devs throw away every single one of their actually interesting features?

Is it a limitation with the hardware? It sure as fuck isn't a lack of funds, because come on, they're fucking Pokemon. They bleed money.

So why is it that they strip their games bare, taking away any interesting features, every iteration?

No clothing changing? WHAT THE FUCK

I have honestly no idea. There is no developer who I equal parts love and am irritated by like the Pokemon team.

It might just be that it's such a huge team that not all ideas get shared between teams (would certainly make sense for a remake as opposed to a full fledged title).

What's more likely (and more insidious) is that the Pokemon team knows that all of their games are really similar, so as a way of faking innovation they remove features and replace them. It makes the differences between the games much more obvious, and is less work than consistently advancing the franchise.

They've never said why. They generally sidestep the "tough" questions. Game Freak often times makes some rather bizarre decisions. I honestly don't bother trying to figure out the why. I don't even bother getting excited for cool new features because we all know it will be removed from the next game. Most of the time it's pure greed. There's no reason Emerald couldn't be remade but they knew they could make twice the money from Ruby/Sapphire remakes. I mean why put out one game when you can put out two and make double the money? I don't know if you've read or seen any of the interviews with Junichi Masuda recently but he sidesteps the question about Emerald every single time.

They also made X/Y almost completely incompatible with OR/AS. It won't be receiving a compatibility patch like many thought.

Actually they've merged the two teams together now. It's one big team working on OR/AS. It's such a huge project that it requires their whole staff. In the old days they always had two teams working on games. Which is really odd considering Game Freak has less than 100 employees.

At a certain point I would understand the argument of feature creep. There's a formulaic approach to the Pokemon games that allow them to be very newcomer friendly. I can see it being discouraging to newcomers if there's a hundred systems in the game that they have never seen before. I also think some of the ideas offered would get old if they appeared in every rendition. I really liked the underground mining, but if I had to do that in every game to get certain items, it would get to be a drag very quickly. All that said, I'm in the same boat of feeling disappointed when they take out some features I liked. Personally I feel the mechanic of a Pokemon following you should be in every single Pokemon game.

Was legitimately kinda shocked when I heard character customization wasn't returning. That's just crazy.

@shortbreadtom said:

Pretty sure it's this. I think there might have been an interview somewhere where a developer said that character customization was something unique to Kalos so it's not in ORAS. They like each remake/version/generation to have something unique to it. In a way, it's nice that each game has something different or the games really would just be the same thing being remade over and over. On the other hand, things like character customization and pokemon following you are such popular additions and are somewhat common sense in modern gaming that I give a nice hardy WTF when they are taken out.

There's no incentive for them to change the way they make those games. They already sell gangbusters, so I would imagine they're fearful of changing the core so much, that it would annoy the people who are already in so deep they enjoy breeding and all that crazy stuff. It's why the new stuff they make only adds to the snowball but never changes it fundamentally. The only way I can see them doing anything different in the future is if the popularity of the games drop off to such an extent that there's no risk anymore. Either that or they'll finally make that fully fledged console RPG and blow everything out of the water.

The shit prints money without them trying thats why

The only explanation I have for cutting it that kinda (emphasis on kinda) makes sense is that ORAS is supposed to be a remake and maybe since customization wasn't in there they felt like it shouldn't be in the remake as well? It's a dumb excuse considering how much else they're changing but it's the only thing that I could think of.

They like making each game/generation distinct. The clothing was there to represent the fashion side of France in X and Y for example.

@dixavd: I feel that's a pretty crap excuse though. Do only French people change their clothes? No. It's a feature that could be used for any area, but they decided to be lazy and rip it out, even though they're keeping super training and amie.

I find it not only irritating, but embarrassing. Here comes Smash Bros, also a Nintendo product and big money maker,which has a million characters, customization, and even mii support that no one asked for, and right next to its release is pokemon, which can't go half a generation before ripping out features.

People keep giving them money. They don't have to do shit, so they don't.

Nintendo has always been very controlling of their properties, even when they innovate in new and interesting ways its usually in very safe and subtle changes. I just don't see them going poke-balls to the wall because they may view it as a risk.

@wolfgame: but they already tried the customization with X and Y and it was a feature that, while lacking, was greatly enjoyed and many people want. There's no risk there.

To be honest, given the house-of-cards of a database they must be working with by this point in the franchise, I'm surprised they are still committed to maintaining such a huge number of pokemon. They might be in charge of one of the biggest franchises of all-time, but that doesn't necessarily mean their product budgets for each game are any different to any normal game production. Usually developers barely see any of the money their own games bring in, that's how publishing works.

But even if they did, having even a small set of animations, sounds and special effects for almost 500 pokemon and all the associated features and gameplay and having them be as glitch-free and solidly built as they are? As a software developer, I marvel at that. It's an incredible achievement even if it might seem like a simple, easy to produce game on the surface. The sheer scope of the pokemon roster is horrifying.

I'm also not sure the idea of having something unique for each new generation is 'an excuse'. Developers are free to pick and choose what they think does and doesn't work and what will/won't be a good fit for their next game. As much as people are free to voice their opinion about whether they agree or not.

I don't understand why they are doing a fucking remake in the first place.

@the_a_drain: but they're using the same engine, they don't have to recode the mechanic, they can use the same code from XY.

They ran out of foods for new pokemon ideas? Wait, is there a hotdog pokemon yet? If not, you can have that one for free, GameFreak!

Winnie > Hotdoggie

They do that quite a bit actually.

It's brain damage brought on by years of subsisting purely on popping candy and orange soda in order to maintain a childlike state of mind.

It forces you to buy the next one. If one Pokemon game had all the awesome single player features of the other ones and it was patched to allow you to play with people who bought the newer games why would you ever want to upgrade?

That said character customization should have been kept. Fuck playing online with everyone looking exactly the same.

The only thing that really bothers me is not being able to use ORAS megas while battling someone who is using X/Y. That's fucked. I can't say I really give a shit what my trainer looks like.

Game Freak has always had a lack of foresight. I'd provide some examples but I'm on my phone and want to get off of the toilet now.

For the most part, I think the features they remove between games are pretty pointless, and there's usually some equivalent feature in the new thing to make up for it. I did miss having the Pokemon walk with you, but I was willing to give that feature up because having to produce completely unique artwork for every single pokemon seems like an excessive amount of work for what that actually adds to the game. Especially considering the number of Pokemon is only getting bigger, and their visuals keep increasing in quality. The resources it takes to have that feature could be better spent elsewhere.

However trainer customization would be a huge loss. I've been wanting that for years, and it was my favorite new thing in X/Y. I'm saving my outrage for if they release a proper new game without it though. Its still annoying they didn't add it to Ruby and Sapphire, but since they're remakes its hard for me to get too upset about it.

It's my understanding that the pokemon team has not really grown all that much over the years. Nintendo's first parties seem to take a lean approach. So the issue here is there is a fixed of amount of man hours they can put into each game. So with that limited man power they usually choose to create new features instead of recreating old features. The reason most of those side features are created is to help the new games feel newer than just some roster update and balancing. So it makes sense they are all are usually one off.

You would think the remakes would be immune to the loss of features because they are easier to make. The reason they exist in the first place is so that nintendo can still get a good quarter and the pokemon team can spend the saved resources on making the next sequel. So they toss the features to spend more tie on the next game. It also avoids the problem of having the feature appear in multiple consecutive titles which would raise the players expectation of that feature. Then they would have to permanently commit resources to that every title.

I was deeply upset that they excluded the feature in heartgold and soulsilver of letting your pokemon walk behind you in subsequent titles. It was a small but effective touch. I don't care about the other stuff (Maybe secret bases. Those were kind of neat), but I agree they have an odd habit of throwing away iterative improvements for seemingly no reason.

At this point, I'd be happy to see them take a breather on "new" pokemon and make improvements solely on the game itself. Maybe make something more grand in scope. I'm talking multiple regions, with one consistent journey between them all. I don't know. They took a great new step by going 3d, but I feel like they're eventually going to stretch themselves too thin with upwards to a thousand individual pokemon. I understand each new generation is for a new generation of kids, but at that point won't they still have all the old ones to discover? My money will be used to buy new pokemon games regardless.

#PokéGate

Boycott GameFreak. Make them work for them dolla dolla billzz.

@evilsbane said:

The original was on the GBA and people were begging them to do a Hoenn remake. They obliged. I wanted a sequel.

I'd be interested in Pokemon again if they made a game with every single region, you choose one at the start and that determines starting your choice of starter. Then all the Pokemon you'd find would be region specific (Hoenn would only have pokemon from the 3rd gen, etc.) and you go on this huge quest to beat all the gyms and become the TRUE Pokemon master. Also if it had all the mechanics like the secret bases and clothes and hair options and stuff. The 8 year old in me would die of sheer pleasure playing that game.

At some point if they kept all the features in there would just be too much going on. There's no shortage of stuff to do in a Pokémon game, and bringing in a new side activity each generation would end up with so many different things to do that it would get confusing for anyone new to the series (and they've always been consistent that people can jump into the games with any edition and pick it up easily). That said, removing a feature like character customisation seems bizarre. I guess as it's a remake of Ruby/Sapphire I can understand it, but if the next "new" title doesn't have customisable looks and outfits (ideally even more so than X/Y) then I'll be a sad bunny.

@aronman789: I wish the games would go back to the older games where there wasn't all these dumb features and complicated game mechanics. The games should have been kept simple. Red/Blue and Gold/Silver were amazing and the iterations beyond those games in my opinion is where the franchise started to decline.

@aronman789 said:

Ugh. It's possible to criticise a developer without immediately resorting to insults, dude.

@conmulligan: I'll give you the mentally challenged one was off base, but lazy isn't an insult.

I thought it was a sequel.

I've been frustrated with Game Freak for longer than I can remember, to be honest. The sheer potential the Pokemon franchise has is staggering, yet every game just ends up feeling like they took the safe route. For one, is it too much to ask for them to hire a writer or two? To try and actually make a worthwhile story? Pokemon feels like it has always been developed in a vacuum, where other, similar series like Shin Megami Tensei don't exist. Obviously I'm not saying that Pokemon should "grow up", but they could at least address the fact that so many of their fans have been with them for a long time, and tire of the same old grind. What was the point of all that backstory with AZ and the Kalos wars and such if we don't get to see it? It's so lightly hinted at, like the mere notion of mentioning that people might have died is too much for them.

On top of their light/nonexistant stories, there is so much you can do with an established world where mystical creatures coexist with humanity, yet the most we get is some Mystery Dungeon type deal that never bleeds into the main series. People dream of having a setting as potentially rich in lore as Pokemon, yet they do nothing with it. Honestly, the fact that no effort has been put towards some fabled Pokemon MMO, open world adventure game, or heck, anything innovative at all, makes me wonder if they're understaffed, under budgeted, or just plain incompetent. It would be so easy to take a page from other stories and franchises and make it their own... As you can see, it really gets on my nerves whenever I'm reminded of how wasteful they are.

Plus, yes, they totally ditch every goddamn system they create for no apparent reason. It's like they're afraid of any sort of evolution of the series, as ironic as that is.

A mature pokemon sounds awful. Almost as awful as people who think a pokemon MMO is a perfect idea. The last game had all the online integration necessary for this kind of game. Nothing is gained by having avatars jumping around in circles in Viridian City. The only inherent value might be picking a faction (team ____) which would boost you in some specific way and send you down a certain story path. But they could do that without making an MMO. Even as I'm enjoying Pokemon Y I never forget its target audience is a person about 1/3 my age, so I never get outraged that they're not implementing what 29 year old me thinks would be awesome. Cus its not for me specifically. So I can enjoy what they have or I can move on. But to expect a series that's always been for children to grow up with me is kind of selfish. Let a new generation enjoy the game.

I wish they would just make a new Gold/Silver type game where you get to revisit an old area once you beat the new one. That shit was cray. But you're right, those secret bases and underground mining features were actually really cool, can't believe I forgot about them.

@aronman789: I don't think it's laziness, though. I still hate it so much, if every game had all the cool features they keep discarding, I'd love the series so much more.

With the success the Pokemon games have, the developer have little incentive do get out of their confort zone, and appease and appeal to the fans.

So the developer does both what have been working out plus what they put their mind to. They discard the fan pressure for the most part, as most fans will probably cave in and buy the game anyway.

Because it is an easy couple million dollars in their pockets for less work than making an original game. Also, people (including me) keep letting them get away with it, so why should they stop?

@aegon said:

#PokéGate

Boycott GameFreak. Make them work for them dolla dolla billzz.

Meowth gonna get PAID in mounds of papah!

You see son, back in the olden days, it didn't take 500 dudes to make one game. And they're developing for a handheld, and they've always got a template to work from.

@shortbreadtom: Man, that last paragraph is depressing. In no small part because I find it at least a little sensible. If you have something like Pokemon, which pretty much begs to be continuously discovered by the next generation of young gamers, it makes sense to mask the lack of innovation (I fucking LOVE Pomemon, but we all know it) at least until the players are hooked. Take me for example, I've been debating the glaring similarities in Pokemon with my best friend for nearly a decade now, yet I still buy every main entry like it's ice water in the Sahara.

That said, I feel like some modified form of the "don't fix what ain't broken" rule applies here, and I can feel some form of it in entries like Black/White and X/Y. The tried and true formula always has juuuuust enough of a spin on it to keep me from getting tired before game's end, but they'd have to do something completely off the wall to "wow" me like they did back in the Gold/Silver days. And that's probably the biggest reason why they haven't done so. Change is risky just on the small scale; never mind the gargantuan shift they would have to employ to bring the old magic back.

But, that's just me. I know plenty of people - said friend included - who say different variants of "it's fine how it is" or "change is there, it's just gradual" all the time. So, perhaps I'm looking at this from the wrong end. I know that I've enjoyed pretty much every Pokemon game since Sapphire the same amount, and that's kind of a miracle; it only took three Assassin's Creed games before I checked out of that. Maybe enjoyment is in itself as good as innovation (don't actually think that, just trying to find my own counter-argument).

Me, I'm just waiting for when Game Freak decides to make a game for their OG fans with appropriate age-matching mature storylines. Like when the Digimon anime creators made Tamers. Yes, I know Gale of Darkness exists. So, like that, but good. Maybe you play as a Rocket member who becomes disgusted at the expoitation of Pokemon and decides to take down the corporation from within. Instead of eight gym leaders, it's the eight lieutenants of Team Rocket. Your rival could be the "Red" of the game, who isn't sure if you're trustworthy or not. Maybe Poke-perma-death? These are all free ideas Game Freak!

I just realized I could go on a lot longer. If nothing else, to manage to sell those games like hotcakes entry after entry, the presentation and marketing of Pokemon deserve awards all on their own.

@poobumbutt: "Maybe Poke-perma-death?" It would suck soooo much to be an Electrode or Voltorb if that happened ;-P

I don't mind the remake because it'll give them time to work on new games for the new 3DS. Probably XY sequel or third game next year, new gen for the new 3DS in 2016

I still really miss my Snorlax egg timer from Diamond and Pearl, it was easily my favorite bottom screen feature of any Pokemon game.

This statement makes me wish they would take more of a risk in their "side" games. The remakes are fun and a great for nostalgia reasons or if younger generations have missed those awesome games. But why not have a side game that does something more daring, like G/S did with two maps? I'm pretty sure the remakes are selling less than the main games (even if only by a little), and god would I love to see something unique.

@bollard: There were those Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games, but those were so not my game, I never touched them. Also, I don't remember hearing anything remarkable about them. It seems like whenever there's a spin-off Pokemon game (Gale of Darkness, Mystery Dungeon etc), it ends up being acceptable at best, at least in the last several years. Snap and Stadium might have had their own issues, but I feel they were still solid "8s" while also being innovative.

Ah, that's not quite what I meant. I still want a main-line style RPG Pokemon game, just with some more spanners in the works. Like, say, what about if there weren't 8 gyms? What if there wasn't just one large map, but several smaller ones? What if they change the way you fight battles, acquire Pokemon, or something else? I am only interested in the traditional style Pokemon games, Mystery Dungeon and the Colosseum-style games aren't my thing.

(Pokemon Pinball was the shit, though).

just sounds like how iterative japanese game development really is.

To me, it seems to be the nature of the fact that they have two teams making the games, one team making the remakes and one team making the "new" games. That's why X/Y have features that won't be in OR/AS but will likely be in the next main-entry title.