Ash going back to Kanto? Can this hint at Kanto in USUM?

[Bguy7]

If I could pick any region to go to post-game, Kanto would be the last.
We've been there in R/B/Y, G/S/C, LG/FR, and HG/SS.
And I've had enough with the Kanto pandering. Kanto got the majority of Megas last generation, only Kanto Pokemon got Alolan formes.... Red and Blue came back but Lance didn't.

Johto, Sinnoh, and Unova could really use some love.
I'd honestly not bother playing postgame Kanto, I'd just leave my character in Alola and act like I can't go anywhere else.

To be fair, at this point Kanto is tied for the longest time without appearing in a game with Johto and Sinnoh. Regardless of how many times it happened in the first four generations of Pokémon, it's now been nearly ten years since the last time the games have gone there. I'd rather see other regions too, but Kanto has no less of a reason than Johto and Sinnoh, and, in all honesty, more of a reason than Unova.

 

[Bolt the Cat]

If I could pick any region to go to post-game, Kanto would be the last.
We've been there in R/B/Y, G/S/C, LG/FR, and HG/SS.
And I've had enough with the Kanto pandering. Kanto got the majority of Megas last generation, only Kanto Pokemon got Alolan formes.... Red and Blue came back but Lance didn't.

And for all of the times we've been there, what's come of it? GSC and HGSS were a regression for Kanto overall, and FRLG was basically just a rehash of RBY with a post game tacked on. Has Kanto ever really been improved or fleshed out the same way that BW2 has or even ORAS has? No. It may have gotten the most attention in terms of quantity, but in terms of quality it's never really gotten the same level of improvement as more modern remakes and third versions/sequels. So in that respect another Kanto game designed similarly to the way BW2 and ORAS were would still make Kanto feel fresh. I'm sick of the Kanto forms too, but the region itself really hasn't gotten the facelift it deserves.

 

[Sceptile Leaf Blade]

And for all of the times we've been there, what's come of it? GSC and HGSS were a regression for Kanto overall, and FRLG was basically just a rehash of RBY with a post game tacked on. Has Kanto ever really been improved or fleshed out the same way that BW2 has or even ORAS has? No. It may have gotten the most attention in terms of quantity, but in terms of quality it's never really gotten the same level of improvement as more modern remakes and third versions/sequels. So in that respect another Kanto game designed similarly to the way BW2 and ORAS were would still make Kanto feel fresh. I'm sick of the Kanto forms too, but the region itself really hasn't gotten the facelift it deserves.

True, but let's be real. Are we really going to get a big facelift for Kanto in a game where they're tacking on Kanto in the post-game? And that's even assuming we'd even get Kanto in USUM in the first place, which is a very very big if.

 

[Satoshi & Touko]

To be fair, at this point Kanto is tied for the longest time without appearing in a game with Johto and Sinnoh. Regardless of how many times it happened in the first four generations of Pokémon, it's now been nearly ten years since the last time the games have gone there. I'd rather see other regions too, but Kanto has no less of a reason than Johto and Sinnoh, and, in all honesty, more of a reason than Unova.

I'd agree with you if it wasn't for the fact that Kanto has all this other fanservice it gets and continues to do so at insane levels. I especially disagree with the last statement. I think Kanto deserves a good long time on the back burner.

 

[Bguy7]

I'd agree with you if it wasn't for the fact that Kanto has all this other fanservice it gets and continues to do so at insane levels. I especially disagree with the last statement. I think Kanto deserves a good long time on the back burner.

I'm going to restate what Bolt the Cat just said. Things from Kanto get a lot of attention, but Kanto itself really doesn't. Even in Heart Gold/Soul Silver, it was minimally present. The region itself hasn't really been a big deal since Fire Red/Leaf Green, and maybe even Red/Blue. The point of my last statement was that the main reason for regions to be re-released is because of how long it's been since we've been there. If you count Heart Gold/Soul Silver, then it's been just as long since we've been Kanto as since we've been to Sinnoh and Johto, even longer if you don't count those games. So if revisits to Sinnoh and Johto are needed, then Kanto really is needed as well.

 

[Fayh]

I really doubt we will go back to Kanto in USUM.
While I would LOVE to have another two-region game, I want to revisit Kanto in its own game, preferably a gen 1 remake/sequel on the Switch. One can dream, right? Kanto REALLY needs a facelift.

Aside from a few hints that could very well just be part of the whole 20-years-celebration, nothing really points at Kanto coming back in these games. It's only a little over two months until the games come out. I think if USUM featured a whole "new" region (new on the 3DS), Nintendo would have advertised it by now - or at least mentioned that some BIG news were coming soon. There's no reason for them to wait with such a big reveal. If the game featured two regions, they'd have hyped it up by now to get attention and more sales.

Of course, I could be wrong and Nintendo could have decided to keep this as a big surprise for an upcoming reveal, but I wouldn't count on it.

 

[Erron Black]

So if revisits to Sinnoh and Johto are needed, then Kanto really is needed as well.

This ^^^

Kanto's actual last full revisit was in Gen 3, and even then it wasn't much of a remake as it was a remaster. I'd love to see Kanto come back soon and receive an ORAS treatment. I don't think it'll be likely though, due to the RBY rereleases on VC.

 

[Bguy7]

Kanto's actual last full revisit was in Gen 3, and even then it wasn't much of a remake as it was a remaster. I'd love to see Kanto come back soon and receive an ORAS treatment. I don't think it'll be likely though, due to the RBY rereleases on VC.

I'd love to see either sequels or reboots myself. Modern remakes would be nice, but I think that at least Kanto needs to go beyond that and get completely remastered. Either make a sequel to the original games (or Gold and Silver if you prefer) that's up to modern standards, or do a whole new version of Red and Blue with a modern story and design, but based upon the original.

Really though, I don't think that the Virtual Consoles excludes the possibility of something like that happening. A major purpose of remakes is to bring the older games up to modern standards, and for obvious reasons the Virtual Console re-releases don't do that. They'd be two completely different experiences that don't really get in each other's way.

 

[Sceptile Leaf Blade]

I'd love to see either sequels or reboots myself. Modern remakes would be nice, but I think that at least Kanto needs to go beyond that and get completely remastered. Either make a sequel to the original games (or Gold and Silver if you prefer) that's up to modern standards, or do a whole new version of Red and Blue with a modern story and design, but based upon the original.

Really though, I don't think that the Virtual Consoles excludes the possibility of something like that happening. A major purpose of remakes is to bring the older games up to modern standards, and for obvious reasons the Virtual Console re-releases don't do that. They'd be two completely different experiences that don't really get in each other's way.

Not really sure on that. A remake would pretty much make the virtual consoles obsolete. I think the only appeal of the virtual consoles right now is the ability to play through these regions at all for those that don't have HGSS or FRLG, because those games aren't sold anymore, and the second-hand prices go to hundreds of euros for those games. I think Sinnoh remakes are more likely than Kanto remakes for that reason, people wanting to experience Sinnoh can't get those games for a fair price anymore, or at least not easily outside of illegal versions.

 

[Fayh]

Not really sure on that. A remake would pretty much make the virtual consoles obsolete. I think the only appeal of the virtual consoles right now is the ability to play through these regions at all for those that don't have HGSS or FRLG, because those games aren't sold anymore, and the second-hand prices go to hundreds of euros for those games. I think Sinnoh remakes are more likely than Kanto remakes for that reason, people wanting to experience Sinnoh can't get those games for a fair price anymore, or at least not easily outside of illegal versions.

Wait, why can't people get them for a fair price any more? I just bought Pearl and LeafGreen in their original packaging for about 20 Dollars each on Ebay a few months back. I think that's pretty fair.

But I'd also prefer a 3DS version of Sinnoh over Kanto or Johto right now.
Kanto and Johto have already been featured repeatedly, while Sinnoh has only appeared in Gen 4. Kanto can get some love again later.

 

[Erron Black]

Not really sure on that. A remake would pretty much make the virtual consoles obsolete. I think the only appeal of the virtual consoles right now is the ability to play through these regions at all for those that don't have HGSS or FRLG, because those games aren't sold anymore, and the second-hand prices go to hundreds of euros for those games. I think Sinnoh remakes are more likely than Kanto remakes for that reason, people wanting to experience Sinnoh can't get those games for a fair price anymore, or at least not easily outside of illegal versions.

They really aren't pricey. Older games are usually less costly, at least most of the ones I've seen are. Nearly every single one I find are usually under $20, but that's because they're outdated and people want to play the newer games. Not many people are going to pay the $40 for an older game when they could get the newer game for the same price.

 

[Bolt the Cat]

Not really sure on that. A remake would pretty much make the virtual consoles obsolete. I think the only appeal of the virtual consoles right now is the ability to play through these regions at all for those that don't have HGSS or FRLG, because those games aren't sold anymore, and the second-hand prices go to hundreds of euros for those games. I think Sinnoh remakes are more likely than Kanto remakes for that reason, people wanting to experience Sinnoh can't get those games for a fair price anymore, or at least not easily outside of illegal versions.

VC doesn't eliminate the possibility of a sequel, sequels are a totally different game taking place in the same region. Look at Unova, did BW2 make BW1 obsolete? Not really, the story was completely different and there were certain areas that were removed. Similarly, there will probably be reasons to play the originals over the sequels.

In fact, VC could actually help the possibility of sequels. One issue that would've come about with sequels at this point is that they'd be far removed from the original story and younger players might not understand some things about the story having missed out. Now, that's no longer a problem because the VC games exist as a reference. They could even bundle in a copy of the original VC game if they wanted to.

 

[Sceptile Leaf Blade]

They really aren't pricey. Older games are usually less costly, at least most of the ones I've seen are. Nearly every single one I find are usually under $20, but that's because they're outdated and people want to play the newer games. Not many people are going to pay the $40 for an older game when they could get the newer game for the same price.

The copies of HGSS I've been able to find were all very expensive. Look at this for instance. €160,- for a new copy of HeartGold, or €60,- for used. Or take a look at this. €221,- for a new copy of SoulSilver, or almost €57,- for used.

Or from a UK source:

Link close to 400 pounds for a new copy of SoulSilver. And Amazon UK doesn't even have new copies for HeartGold available.

 

[JLK2707]

I strongly doubt that they will include Kanto in US/UM, since it would just take up too much memory. After all, the Nintendo 3DS has only x amount of memory and so much that it can take.

 

[Orphalesion]

And in order to really fix balance issues, they're going to have to. In fact, they're going to need more than Johto Pokemon since even if they included all 251 Kanto and Johto Pokemon + their cross gen evos, Megas, and regional variants, they'd still have issues with Ghost because the only Ghost Pokemon in that bunch are Gastly/Haunter/Gengar, Misdreavus/Mismagius, and Alola Marowak. So ideally, they'll want Pokemon from various generations. Not just 1st gen. Not just 1st gen + related Pokemon. Not even 1st gen + 2nd gen + related Pokemon. They can't fix the balance period without some completely original 3rd-7th gen families thrown in.

^This. I also see nothing wrong with Kantonian Forms of Gen 3-7 Pokemon, Alola demonstrates that Pokemon can gain a form for any number of reasons.

Also Alola Forms could be easily added to a special section of the Safari Zone. This is were Regional forms belong in games that take place outside their region, imho.

 

[Swagga09]

Sun and moon was lagging and loading slow even with 1 region so I doubt a 3ds cartridge can have enough space for two.

 

[Bguy7]

Not really sure on that. A remake would pretty much make the virtual consoles obsolete. I think the only appeal of the virtual consoles right now is the ability to play through these regions at all for those that don't have HGSS or FRLG, because those games aren't sold anymore, and the second-hand prices go to hundreds of euros for those games. I think Sinnoh remakes are more likely than Kanto remakes for that reason, people wanting to experience Sinnoh can't get those games for a fair price anymore, or at least not easily outside of illegal versions.

The Virtual Console games are so old and obsolete right now compared to modern Pokémon games that the only real reason to play them is either nostalgia or curiosity. A new game set in Kanto would not change that one bit.

 

[Fayh]

Sun and moon was lagging and loading slow even with 1 region so I doubt a 3ds cartridge can have enough space for two.

That was because of models and effects in the battle appearing all at once. My copies did not lag outside of battle.
And can't the cartridges have up to 8 gb? Sun and moon was around 4, wasn't it?
So space is not an issue. Still highly unlikely though.

 

[windwakemeup]

Dear god no, I grew up with gen 1 and even I'm getting tired of the gen 1 milking...

 

[Det. Viper]

I've always been curious to see a region years after the major events of a game takes place but with the VC games coming out these past couple years and the remakes ORAS, I really don't want to go back anywhere. If it's Sinnoh then yes but I do not want to go back to Lanto at this point.