8 Ways Pokemon Had Switched Things Up Thus Far: A Retrospective
With Ash winning the Pokemon World Championship and the release of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet just around the corner, there’s no better time than now to look back upon Gamefreak’s first wave of games for the Nintendo Switch. Ever since Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee, the multi-million franchise had enjoyed unprecedented success on the console that is designed for both on-the-go play and the comfort of one’s home. As a matter of fact, Sword and Shield had outsold every other entry in the series save for the debut games! Many new features had been introduced across the four Switch games thus far but what impact did they make? While it was interesting seeing how the franchise had switched things up, the new mechanics had mostly left me wanting for more most of the time. It’s not that they were bad. They just could have been a lot better. Here’s a list of eight instances where the games tried and how they could do much better.
1. Overworld Pokemon and the end of random encounters
Hands down the best part of the Switch era, the proliferation of overworld Pokemon had made the games stunningly immersive. On top of making the in-game environment look beautiful, being able to see which Pokemon you’re encountering also swiftly dealt with the anxieties one suffers when trying to get from one place or another, especially in caves when the fear of being delayed by a Zubat or a Geodude is ever present.
That said, the implementation of this feature had been terribly inconsistent. Despite having both overworld encounters and partner Pokemon that you can walk alongside in the Let’s Go games, the option to journey with your companion was excluded from the Sword and Shield base games while no wild Pokemon appeared in Shining Pearl and Briliant Diamond’s maps outside of the underground. Further plaguing the latter was the issues with its implementation aesthetically. Even though the characters took on a chibi appearance in the overworld (a transition that is very jarring in itself), the Pokemon were not subject to the same design style. Moreover, they were also not scaled appropriately. Mods had been created to address the issue of Rayquaza looking more like a house lizard than a menacing god of the skies but some of the other concerns are not so easily remedied by the fan community. For instance, while the Let’s Go games allowed you to ride on some Pokemon, a feature that they carried over from Sun and Moon, this feature was excluded from most of the later games even though they were popular.
Despite the seemingly arbitrary way by which features are included or not, Gamefreak’s latest Pokemon release, Legends: Arceus, exceeded expectations when wild Pokemon were coded to interact rather vividly with the environment and the player. Through the joys of seeing Sudowoodoo actually pretend to be a tree amongst other things, Gamefreak had successfully overcome any difficulties they may have faced with creating fully immersive 3D landscapes through the art of environmental storytelling. Moving forward, I would love to see more cross-species symbiotic interactions in the latter games. Imagine having to stop Mareanie and Corsola from fighting one another before catching either of them or witnessing Blissey gifting eggs or healing other Pokemon in the wild when you’re battlling them. By featuring little nods to the Pokedex like these, the lore surrounding each Pokemon that is still largely restricted to just text entries could be fully realised and fleshed out in a much more exciting manner.
2. Relaxed linearity and open world possibilities
Another much-welcomed change in the Switch era is Gamefreak’s responsiveness to the fandom’s interest in an open-world game. Even though it had always been possible to play around with the intended game progression order, the introduction of the Wild Area in Sword and Shield was GameFreak’s first major attempt at taking non-linear gaming seriously. However, despite allowing players to freely explore a large, sprawling environment, the Wild Area in relation to the overall map was at the begining, nothing more than a highly decorated route bringing you to just one other city. That aside, the rest of the game ironically arm-wrestles you into moving through the region and completing the gym challenge in a fixed order. Worst is the fact that both the sequence of participants for the Champion Cup and the post-game arc following Sordward and Shielbert through the stadiums is always in the same order! This almost feels like the game is regressing as ever since Black and White, it had been possible to challenge the lead up to the game’s end boss in any order that you like.
Thankfully, GameFreak appears to be making active steps towards creating a more dynamic gaming experience. The introduction of level scaling in the Sword and Shield expansion pass for example, made it possible to alternate between the main campaign and the DLC content. Beyond this, Legends: Arceus and its focus on the research tasks that you can carry out in any way that you like despite not being, completely open-world and of course, its use of environmental storytelling which makes it fun to just explore the region, provided a much needed departure from Gamefreak’s established formula. The culmination of this appears to be the highly-anticipated Scarlet and Violet which is set to feature no-fixed gym challenge orders and even alternate story paths though its implementation and the removal of level scaling wild animals had already been questioned. Given that GameFreak had already implemented level scaling before, this is a rather disappointing development. While I can see how having differentiated areas with established heirarchies across regions would be important from a narrative perspective, it would have been nice to see efforts made still. Perhaps a trainer’s gym could be tailored by reducing the number of Pokemon on their team at lower levels or switching up the moveset or held items for a tougher challenge. While the way this will play out remains to be seen, the proliferation of options is nonetheless, an exciting development that will be incredibly fun to look further into moving forward.
3. Dynamax, Gigantamax
Dynamax and its more elaborate cousin Gigantamax was aesthetically, a brilliant idea that cleverly exploits the move to the home console as it makes full use of the wider screen with a generous dose of maximalism. The cues it took from Kaiju movies is also refreshing as it had also led to many of the best art that I’ve seen from this series. That said, big is not always better. One problem with the way it was implemented is the dissonance between the games and the anime for even though the anime allowed users to chose between Megas, Z-Moves and Dynamax at the World Championship, Sword and Shield disregards the battle mechanics introduced from the earlier games altogether. This felt unnecesary as Gamefreak could have followed Sun and Moon’s lead where Megas were only made available after the completion of the main story arc so as to prioritize Z-Moves, and similarly restrict the earlier features to the post game only. What made this decision even stranger was the way Megas were also being rolled out on Pokemon Go at around the same time such that they were dropped even though they were constantly talked about in all other Pokemon media. That aside, the way the super-sizing phenomenon was not further explored in the later games was also puzzling. While more Gigantamax forms were introduced with the expansion pass, there being no further insights into their background in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl was lacking especially since Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire had made changes to its original story to develop the lore behind Megas.
That said, the bigger problem is Dynamax’s failure to democratize gameplay still, even after GameFreak’s third try at it. Just like the problems with Z-Moves and Megas (though this can be worked around by giving better Megas to traditionally, weaker Pokemon through better typings and abilities), stronger Pokemon benefit the most from Dynamax as weaker Pokemon would still remain weak in comparison. I’m no expert on game mechanics but I think it would be a lot more interesting if the base stats of each Dynamaxed Pokemon was scaled up to say 800 in accordance to the ratio by which their individual stats were originally split. My guess is that this could potentially make even un-evolved Pokemon competitively viable and this would have been highly lucrative, especially since the anime is so, big on keeping Pokemon in their cuter, diminutive states. On top of that, I really dislike how the feature changes every move into the same boringly named Max Moves according to their respective types where the strength of each move is still dependent on the original. Instead, I would have simply taken effects corresponding to the move’s typing and added it to the move being executed without making all of the moves essentially the same as I do feel like the additional side effects were great looking and also appropriate for the platform, especially when playing the game on the big screen.
4. Increased multiplayer support
Closely related to the -max features are the Raids which I thought was an incredible idea in theory as it could have made Sword and Shield a lot more suited for the Switch’s home console setting where you are likely to have friends or family members who would love to join in while watching you play. Unfortunately, the reality is that unless you have paid for the online subscription or if you have another console nearby, you could be stuck with a terrible time due to the horrendous AI.
That said, I really enjoyed the support player mechanic introduced in the Let’s Go games which allowed for more collaborative gameplay and I would have loved seeing more of that feature. Imagine if they were incorporated into Sword and Shield such that you could just send out another Pokemon from your team when you’re about to start a Raid. Not to be snarky but I believe that the otherwise cumbersome boss fights in the Wild Area would become a lot more enjoyable as you wouldn’t have to worry too much about incompetent deadweight dragging down your chances of survival. Now imagine if they were properly incorporated into the storyline. Having a random character pop up like in Let’s Go was rather jarring but what if your support player was Leon albeit controlled by whoever’s playing the games with you? That would have been a sick instance of narrative informing gameplay! On top of that, given that the final gym with Raihan is a double battle, this feature would also tie in very well with overall game progression as we would have been working towards that pivotal battle from the start.
As we begin to talk more about the narrative, it is worth noting here that another concern I have with Raids is that they should have been more strongly incorporated into the main story. There being only one instance of a Raid until the postgame made it seem like a feature that was just pegged on in the last minute. As I did enjoy fighting alongside the gym leaders for the Sordward and Shielbert arc, what if instead of those one-of instances at the end of the game, you get to see them or any other Non-Player Characters fight alongside you in the Raids at any point in time? Little treats like these would have made the world a lot more immersive and enjoyable by making the characters seem more alive.
5. Developed lore and flashy backstories
Following from my earlier points, my overall objective in wanting to fight alongside Leon at anytime or to encounter prominent NPCs at raid is that I would love to see more use of gameplay features to further the narrative. While I absolutely loved the league cards and the backstory they provide for the characters, they were unfortunately just words on the screen with a shiny packaging. Ultimately, it is important to note that we are playing games and not reading a book. Fighting alongside them or getting rescued by them at difficult battles is what would better convince me that the NPCs are strong trainers, not unending dialogue and paratextual marketing quibs on how Galar is the strongest region with gym leaders who could be champions in other regions.
An idea that I have is that instead of constantly being told about Leon’s struggle with finding directions, maybe he could show up randomly at locations, to show that he is often lost? That aside, having cutscenes showing pivotal battles between the characters would have also been a very easy way to make things exciting while showing off their supposed strengths. On this note, a major disappointment for me was that moment at the Route 9 tunnel where Leon rushes across after the Dark Badge was obtained, causing several people in the tunnel to watch him battle against a Pokemon that had unexpectedly Dynamaxed except nothing was shown to us. By the time we make it to the other side of the tunnel, it is revealed by Hop’s phone that Leon has already defeated the Pokemon. This would have been a perfect moment for a cutscene demonstrating how terrifying Dynamax is but it ended up being nothing more than a wasted opportunity.
Similarly, following from all that buzz about how Galar is the strongest region, the fact that there were no cameos by NPCs from the earlier games was also very disappointing. Given that Kabu’s league card states that he was originally from Hoenn and he had received an invite to be a gym leader in Galar, I would love to find out how he would compare to the Hoenn league. If Galar was so strong, how would one of its gym leader fare against Hoenn’s champion? This is especially interesting as Hoenn has two champions and both of their specialty, whether Water or Rock, is strong against Kabu’s preference for Fire. Following from the Galarian Star Tournament’s excellent flashing out of character dynamics and odd pairings such as the absolutely hilarious quibs between Bede and Avery, seeing NPCs from the earlier games reappear in something similar to Black and White 2’s Pokemon World Tournament would have been amazing on top of being an excellent tie in with the anime and its plethora of cameos.
6. New campaigns and more downloadable content
On this note, I must say that I absolutely loved how Gamefreak finally introduced DLCs as they are a brilliant way of keeping the games fresh and exciting. Being the complain king that I am though, I must say that I wasn’t too happy about how there was only one DLC when Gamefreak could have used them to fully extend the longevity of the games and truly get creative.
Imagine having say, a Kalos League DLC where their gym leaders were brought over to fight in a tournament similar to the Galarian Star Tournament, unlocking the rest of the Kalos Pokemon that still haven’t been made available in Galar, possibly through trade with the gym leaders upon defeating them. Imagine having a summer DLC campaign bringing back all Bug-type specialists into Galar for a tournament, unlocking the rest of the Bug-type Pokemon that still haven’t been made available in Galar. Now imagine having a high concept DLC campaign explaining the stasis through which the game environment is locked in and how it is due to some out of control wild Pokemon whereby NPCs representing the four seasons were brought into Galar so as to solve this problem such that upon completion, seasons are re-introduced into the games and the rest of the Pokemon that still haven’t been made available in Galar are unlocked. Wouldn’t that be amazing?
7. Tailored to fit Pokedexes
A major directional change in the Switch era is that not all Pokemon would be included in each region. Despite what I was hinting at (rather blatantly), this is actually an idea that I am very much in favour of as it could be definitely used to develop the region’s lore and make them feel more unique. After all, Black and White had already done that before. My issue with this is that there was absolutely no reason why Sword and Shield still couldn’t support every Pokemon available, even after three years. What makes this all the more puzzling is the fact that they are still the main games for competitive gamers up to the month of Scarlet and Violet’s release. Should we not switch things up and allow players more variety in the Pokemon they can use? Given that many other titles such as Super Smash Bros had brought in the entirety of their roster for their first entry on the Switch, Pokemon not doing the was disappointing. Now there is no need for every Pokemon ever made to be available at launch. If I hadn’t been clear, they could be patched into the game through updates. They also didn’t have to be made available in the wild as they could be featured in trades, Raids or simply transported in through Pokemon Home like we were able to with Pokemon Bank. In any case, the option to use them should remain.
Complains aside, I must say that Legends: Arceus did an excellent job for the Pokemon actually featured within the game. As opposed to looking deeper into whether they suited the region or the source culture being referenced, what the game absolutely got right was the way they interacted with the environment with unique features programmed into their overworld appearances. This to me was the perfect reason why Pokemon had to be cut from the games at launch, but please, they should nonetheless be patched in later.
8. Alternate worlds and time traveling
Following from Sun and Moon’s emphasis on parallel universes, this generation’s greatest success was the way it played with time. Sword and Shield dropped so many hints at Leon’s past with Raihan, Piers and Sonia that the fandom became rife with works imagining what kind of adventures they would have had when they were young. Conversely, we also had a strong emphasis on what characters like Bede and Marnie have grown into, making the fandom also curious about what their life would be like should there be a time skip. To that end, both Prequels and Sequels had been widely speculated by the fandom. While neither of that came into fruition, Gamefreak exceeded expectations nonetheless with Legends: Arceus. Fascinating feudal Japan aesthetics aside, it also featured many familiar faces in a new light through their ancestors. Surprisingly, they had even brought in beloved familiar faces like Ingo in a story involving traveling through worlds, just like how its protagonists had.
Gamefreak’s engagement with huge topics like this is fascinating and from the glimpses we had at Scarlet and Violet thus far with Sada and Turo being very clearly inspired by the prehistoric and the future, I am very excited to see how this develops. Given that I have gone on for forever now, are you wishing you could time travel already or are you still excited for Gamefreak’s future?
