I just want the story to be less intrusive.

[PocketMonsterRealm]

id rather read than listen to speech but that is just me.

 

[Cyb3r4c3DS]

id rather read than listen to speech but that is just me.

Oh tbh I think you are in the minority but it's cool. I'm assuming you prefer Octopath to FFXV

 

[Mega Altaria]

I thought LGPE wouldn't be as story focused, similarly to RBY and FRLG. So I think that it would be a bit better if it was the other way around and I'm also expecting that it will be that way.

 

[Creyk]

There will be a story, sadly. We already have a rival in place.

 

[Ducolamia]

Personally, I love the idea of having an engaging story told in Pokemon. After all, an adventure without something going on is boring (or at least to me). I prefer having some sort of direction of where I want to go.

This is why I like BW/BW2 and SM. The games make an effort to tell a consistent story and overall it made the journey much more enjoyable for me. Was it flawed? Yes, but I'm happy with the fact they wanted to try something a bit different.

But then you also have games in which I believe the story kinda takes away from the experience. With me, X/Y and US/UM have good elements in their story but the execution is lackluster and I feel that if Gamefreak is going to tell a story they need to integrate it in a way that doesn't suffocate the player.

In a way, I understand a lot of why people prefer games such as Gen 1/2 and parts of 3. Without a huge story focus, you're allowed to explore more to your heart's content. Not saying the other games don't have exploration, but it's okay to stray off the beaten path sometimes. This is unlike some of the newer games in which you can't explore a town first because you have to complete the plot first. It would be better if they just gave the player a choice. For example I remember in Diamond and Pearl you had the option of challenging 3-5 gym leaders in any order you wanted and you could still go back and play the story elements. If they want to keep the evil team plotlines and such they should give the player more freedom to choose what they want to do first.

I think the conundrum we're in is that Gamefreak wants to tell a story (as said in interviews) but due to Pokemon having strict linearlities such as gyms and an evil team plotline to follow, it feels kind of cramped. I'd say I'd find this even in earlier games such as Black and White too. The entire game could've just been about N and Team Plasma, but instead they threw Ghetsis in which while it maybe a bit realistic due to corruption in big organizations hurts the moral ambiguity of the narrative. It just feels like they HAVE to put an Evil Team or Elite 4 because they HAVE to. Not because they think it's the best for the story.

Overall, just my ramblings and thoughts.

 

[Sprinter1988]

The problem I have with the story lines in more recent games is that it ultimately affects how re-playable the games are. In earlier games it was pretty easy to restart your game, grab your starter and head off on a new adventure.
I recently started a new play through of Sun and it took over 15 minutes from me entering my name for me to finally grab my starter pokemon. I don't care what anyone says, 15 minutes of playing a pokemon game without actually owning a pokemon is far too long. (Maybe it's my fault for reading the text instead of button mashing, but my point still stands!)

The first time I played Sun, all that story and dialogue was fine. I am now on my third play through and Hau, Lillie and Kukui (to name but a few) really need to learn to shut the hell up!

 

[((JAWS))]

I guess it depends on what mood I’m in really. Sometimes I just want to play the bananas out of casual catered Pokémon games.

I think the more story oriented Games and the fans to those games are really instrumental in pushing Pokémon forward. Which is quite a shame since most of the popular games are barebones in story content.

Look I’m a big Kanto/Johto kid, but let’s be real I’d be lying if I was to say Unova and Alola weren’t the sole regions bringing Pokémon to it’s true heights.

 

[Ducolamia]

I guess it depends on what mood I’m in really. Sometimes I just want to play the bananas out of casual catered Pokémon games.

I think the more story oriented Games and the fans to those games are really instrumental in pushing Pokémon forward. Which is quite a shame since most of the popular games are barebones in story content.

Look I’m a big Kanto/Johto kid, but let’s be real I’d be lying if I was to say Unova and Alola weren’t the sole regions bringing Pokémon to it’s true heights.

^^^ I agree. The best part about Alola and Unova imo was having a story to integrate into the gameplay. They have their flaws, but at most they tell pretty competent and enjoyable stories. Which is a shame for Unova considering it's one of the lowest selling Pokemon games. Alola did pretty well though and I hope they take aspects from those games and improve upon them for Pokemon 2019.

I love replaying Silver and Kanto (FRLG specifically) but compared to newer installments it feels so shallow with it's story. GSC is obviously better in that regard, but it's not nowhere as good as later gens. I prefer the story to be present in a game because an adventure with nothing happening or to guide you is kind of boring to me.

 

[((JAWS))]

^^^ I agree. The best part about Alola and Unova imo was having a story to integrate into the gameplay. They have their flaws, but at most they tell pretty competent and enjoyable stories. Which is a shame for Unova considering it's one of the lowest selling Pokemon games. Alola did pretty well though and I hope they take aspects from those games and improve upon them for Pokemon 2019.

I love replaying Silver and Kanto (FRLG specifically) but compared to newer installments it feels so shallow with it's story. GSC is obviously better in that regard, but it's not nowhere as good as later gens. I prefer the story to be present in a game because an adventure with nothing happening or to guide you is kind of boring to me.

Agreed, what many people won’t acknowledge was Unova fixed itself later in the gen. Even then though the experimental nature of Gen V was a large pull to keep me interested in Pokémon. BW and BW2 were interesting. GF took risks and eventually they paid off for fans who stuck around for it until post game (PWT, Tree Hollow/City etc.) Unova has one of the most expansive post games to date.

Ironically the PWT shows how you can still inject your game with casual minimalist battle oriented style gameplay but still produce a competent storyline like you said. But will Gamefreak do it?

They have made a conscience decision to use remakes as pulls to keep older fans interested - if you’re observant then this should tell you why Kanto pandering is rampant.

I have confidence though GF will pull through. But I don’t think Pokemon knows what it wants to be. Pokemon wants to be a household genre and other times it wants to interject it’s storylines with cultural narratives about problems within our society. That’s weird to jump back and forth from each Gen.

 

[Ducolamia]

^^Completely on point! I think you nailed why USUM bothered me so much with the story. Unlike SM in which they took a risk having a villain who was not only morally heinous, but shown in a sympathetic light by one of the characters you cared about, they also didn't shy away from the details (the frozen Pokemon, the nightmare fuel boss-fight). The story in SM felt like it clearly had an arc and story it wanted to tell and it completed it.

In USUM they go back right to the "The character really isn't evil" that we've seen plenty of times before. Instead of making the villain an interesting character, they demote her back to a less interesting role taking away any development that would've made her more interesting. Hell, one of the crucial character developments for her is done off-screen and Lillie's arc is pushed right to the side. It just feels like they cut out whatever's interesting because they have to follow a certain plotline.

In my opinion I feel because they have to follow certain events (gyms, trials, evil teams, etc.) it hinders the plot and story. Things that can possibly be explored don't have the time to because you have to reach a certain point. In earlier gens you had more freedom, but things rarely happen until you randomly trigger them yourself. I think a good middle ground would be to have the story be optional only when you want it. We have map markers now. Just tell the player they can do X whenever they want.

 

[Lucky3]

^^^ I agree. The best part about Alola and Unova imo was having a story to integrate into the gameplay. They have their flaws, but at most they tell pretty competent and enjoyable stories. Which is a shame for Unova considering it's one of the lowest selling Pokemon games. Alola did pretty well though and I hope they take aspects from those games and improve upon them for Pokemon 2019.

I love replaying Silver and Kanto (FRLG specifically) but compared to newer installments it feels so shallow with it's story. GSC is obviously better in that regard, but it's not nowhere as good as later gens. I prefer the story to be present in a game because an adventure with nothing happening or to guide you is kind of boring to me.

I think BW being the lowest selling games (as far as new generation games go) has less to do with their story approach and more with the stupid decision to make it a soft reboot with only new Pokemon. That's like making an Avengers movie with no Thor, Iron Man, Captain America or Hulk and only with new characters. I'm sure that'd go well.

Then again, SM are the second lowest selling, so maybe the bigger story focus has something to do with it. But those games were risky for other reasons as well (no gym leaders, etc.). Then there's RS, which are the third lowest selling. Those didn't really have a lot more story focus than GS, but they did take many risks and were fairly different from what came before then (a completely new region, with no connection to the previous ones). Today we look at Gen III and it seems like it follows the Pokemon formula to a T, but that's because it was then when the formula was established.

It seems to me that GF tries to shake up things a bit every other gen (III,V,VII) and that's usually not good for their sales.

 

[Ducolamia]

I think BW being the lowest selling games (as far as new generation games go) has less to do with their story approach and more with the stupid decision to make it a soft reboot with only new Pokemon. That's like making an Avengers movie with no Thor, Iron Man, Captain America or Hulk and only with new characters. I'm sure that'd go well.

Then again, SM are the second lowest selling, so maybe the bigger story focus has something to do with it. But those games were risky for other reasons as well (no gym leaders, etc.). Then there's RS, which are the third lowest selling. Those didn't really have a lot more story focus than GS, but they did take many risks and were fairly different from what came before then (a completely new region, with no connection to the previous ones). Today we look at Gen III and it seems like it follows the Pokemon formula to a T, but that's because it was then when the formula was established.

It seems to me that GF tries to shake up things a bit every other gen (III,V,VII) and that's usually not good for their sales.

Honestly it's a shame that's the case. Even when they do it well (V) it isn't as appreciated. Honestly I liked the soft reboot. I don't think it was dumb because I knew what they were going for. They wanted to recapture the sense or adventure gen 1 had and I think that succeeded.

I'm guessing for most people they have an aversion to change so when things finally shake up people don't like it. I've seen people who've never been interested in V try it now and they love it and wish they've done it earlier but they weren't a fan of the style of Pokemon.

In terms of story I think gen V suffered in the fact that it was too late to be appreciated. Even with a sequel it was still the lowest selling Pokemon game with all the new changes they made. I felt the story was most balanced here too, tis a shame we'll probably never get something like that again.

 

[WhiteBlair]

I recently started a new play through of Sun and it took over 15 minutes from me entering my name for me to finally grab my starter pokemon. I don't care what anyone says, 15 minutes of playing a pokemon game without actually owning a pokemon is far too long. (Maybe it's my fault for reading the text instead of button mashing, but my point still stands!)

The first time I played Sun, all that story and dialogue was fine. I am now on my third play through and Hau, Lillie and Kukui (to name but a few) really need to learn to shut the hell up!

That is the common problem people face with Generation 7. Regardless of the story, too much hand-holding kills the re-playability of the games despite the amazing story locked behind. If only SM characters would've still carried their persona (Lusamine) in USUM along with the Necrozma arc, then maybe.

I love how the story evolves in Pokemon franchise, though it depends on the region. Expecting Kanto and Johto, as solo, to have deep story just wouldn't work due to having limited areas to explore whereas Unova and Alola, as being vast regions, let the story progress as you play more. That's why I don't have many expectations regarding the story we will have in LGP/E's Kanto, but I'm still as hyped as ever while I was disappointed with USUM for not fixing SM's issues and XY could've certainly used a third installment to offer Kalos a much better story.

 

[Zoruagible]

Cutscenes are really the only problem
Pretty much every other game out there lets you "Press A to skip cutscene" or something along those lines.

I love the Sun and Moon games, but the fact you can't skip those cutscenes is really annoying when you've played through it multiple times. You can get through dialogue faster in the games by hitting B repeatedly.... but can't skip cutscenes.
They can keep cutscenes, they just need a way for people to skip them if they're playing through the game again.

 

[Mega Altaria]

Cutscenes are really the only problem
Pretty much every other game out there lets you "Press A to skip cutscene" or something along those lines.

Yeah, you’ll probably be able to still figure about what the story is without cutscenes. But I personally think it’s better to use the START button to skip cutscenes.

 

[TheWanderingMist]

There will be a story, sadly. We already have a rival in place.

What? Who complains about getting a story? A fairly well-done story at that. Even Super Mario Bros. had a story, simple as it was.

 

[furyfairyeryn]

There will be a story, but I'm 100% sure it will be less wordy than Gen 7's. Gen 7 has a ton of "lore" to explain and terms to define, and on top of that they're weirdly wordy. It'd be hard to make a remake of Yellow as wordy as S/M. The story probably will be sorta barebones and will just be "Team Rocket takes over Kanto and you gotta stop them" like in the original, but maybe with a couple of twists here and there. It definitely will be less intrusive than Gen 7's.