Yeah, I know Pokemon was always an easy game series- we're not talking about Final Fantasy levels of depth here in the main story of Pokemon games. But there was a certain level of challenge to the series- a certain amount of freedom the player has.
For example, Pikachu can't defeat Brock with ease at all, which encourages the player to catch and train other Pokemon. There was a certain level of exploration, of uncertainty.
But Pikachu now learns Double Kick? (To deal with Brock?) And a water/grass type is REQUIRED to face him? That just seems so utterly hand holding. Let the player figure this stuff out on their own, even if it is ridiculously easy to do, it still creates some kind of competence.
And if the rival was truly replaced...they'd better have a darn good substitute. Blue/Gary was the fuel/motivation of the story- you not only wanted to be an amazing trainer for your own purposes, but you wanted to best your smug rival. He was the part of the game that truly kept it moving, trying to defeat the person who was always one step ahead of you but lacked the trust/compassion you had as the player. So he was ultimately defeated in the end. It made Red/Blue memorable, gave the games an identity all these years later.
So, I don't mind the games creating more conveniences, but I do have concerns that they remove the very essence of what made Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow so special in the first place.
For example, Pikachu can't defeat Brock with ease at all, which encourages the player to catch and train other Pokemon. There was a certain level of exploration, of uncertainty.
But Pikachu now learns Double Kick? (To deal with Brock?) And a water/grass type is REQUIRED to face him? That just seems so utterly hand holding. Let the player figure this stuff out on their own, even if it is ridiculously easy to do, it still creates some kind of competence.
And if the rival was truly replaced...they'd better have a darn good substitute. Blue/Gary was the fuel/motivation of the story- you not only wanted to be an amazing trainer for your own purposes, but you wanted to best your smug rival. He was the part of the game that truly kept it moving, trying to defeat the person who was always one step ahead of you but lacked the trust/compassion you had as the player. So he was ultimately defeated in the end. It made Red/Blue memorable, gave the games an identity all these years later.
So, I don't mind the games creating more conveniences, but I do have concerns that they remove the very essence of what made Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow so special in the first place.