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Return to Classic Pokémon

ECM

Well-Known Member
Hello, I haven't posted in a while, but I had this idea, and I wanted to ask the fandom what they think about this.

Pokémon Sword and Shield came out recently, and while I and many others are enjoying this game, it is also true that these games got a lot of bad press, due to GameFreak not programming so many older Pokémon into the game, among other things.

Now, while I've heard many rumors about GameFreak lying about making new models, or wasting space in the code etc. I also think it's insanely difficult to try and balance a game with 890 different creatures, and that's without taking into account things like regional variants or alternate forms.

Now seeing as there is a lot of love for new games in a classic style, such as Undertale and Shovel Knight, it got me thinking. How would people feel about Pokémon taking an approach of having two main series, so to speak. What I mean by that is, they continue to release the 3d new age Pokémon games, but also have something akin to a retro series. Kind of like how Sega now has Classic Sonic making a comeback, alongside Modern Sonic. I feel like it'd be a lot easier for GameFreak to include all of the Pokémon, since all they need is sprites, and not so many animations. It would please a lot of older fans too, that miss the old Gold/Silver graphics, and maybe even the Ruby/Sapphire crowd if they went in that direction for an art style. It'd be more simplistic, but they could still take a lot of liberties. Plus I know a lot of people would love seeing Pokémon from gen VI and onward get the sprite treatment.

So any thoughts? Love it, hate it?
 

BCVM22

Well-Known Member
I think the “bad press” turned out to be staggeringly overblown, and I’m not sure the solution to what issues do exist is to split Game Freak’s resources even further, all in the name of bringing back sprite art.
 

ECM

Well-Known Member
I think the “bad press” turned out to be staggeringly overblown, and I’m not sure the solution to what issues do exist is to split Game Freak’s resources even further, all in the name of bringing back sprite art.
Ahh, yeah that's a good point. Although I will say, i think if they outsourced it, it could make for a fantastic side series that brings in the fans of the old graphical style. that said, you have a good point. Sword and Shield, in my opinion, are the best 3d Pokemon games so far. I do wish all previous Pokémon could return though. Perhaps the solution is to make a Pokemon Stadium app for the Switch that has all pokemon programmed into it, and that could be the competitive app for Pokemon? I'm not sure.
 

Captain Jigglypuff

Leader of Jigglypuff Army
I thought it was unfair for people to say the games would end up being horrible before they even came out. How can you say that without playing them in the first place and base your argument on the sole reason being the Pokédex or models looking rough when the game is still in production? They’re not like the Call of Duty games which hasn’t done anything different in years or the Fast and Furious movies where they are virtually the same exact movie only with different cars and locations and a slightly different script.
 
Yeah, splitting Gamefreak's resources wouldn't really be a great idea and the negative press was really overblown. I do still think that not having the national dex is the biggest flaw these games have though. Could've banned them from competitive play even if it was for balance reasons.

Overall Sword and Shield are pretty good pokemon games. Definitely not the best but also not the worst. Bringing back retro pixel-based pokemon games would be pretty pointless in my opinion.
 

Divine Retribution

Conquistador de pan
I also think it's insanely difficult to try and balance a game with 890 different creatures, and that's without taking into account things like regional variants or alternate forms.

Ok, I don't really have an opinion on the bulk of this post, but can we please stop pretending like the Dex cuts had anything at all to do with balance? Sword/Shield gave Kyurem-Black Dragon Dance, kept Toxapex and Ferrothorn, introduced Zacian and Dynamaxing, and didn't cut Delibird. Either balance had absolutely nothing to do with the decision, or GameFreak simply has no idea what balance is. It's a buzzword they tossed out in order to justify their decision, and I really wish people would stop snapping it up because none of their decisions in what stayed in the Galar Dex and what got cut make any sense at all from a balance perspective. Balance is by far the weakest argument used to justify the Dex cuts.
 

Leonhart

Imagineer
I've always been a fan of the Gen IV and V graphics from the DS era, so I'd welcome a return to basics, but I find it hard to believe that Game Freak would go down that road given that they seem to care more about moving forward with technology.
 

Sαpphire

Johto Champion
Aside from the issues that some see with it from a logistical perspective: if something like this were to happen in some form, I think the best candidate for an art style would actually be RSE. It has the perfect balance of being visually engaging but still obviously retro, and it lends itself to a more clear creative vision and expression than prior generations did.

Nostalgia sells - night not be the worst idea if they upscale staff and resources someday.
 

Aduro

Mt.BtlMaster
Ok, I don't really have an opinion on the bulk of this post, but can we please stop pretending like the Dex cuts had anything at all to do with balance? Sword/Shield gave Kyurem-Black Dragon Dance, kept Toxapex and Ferrothorn, introduced Zacian and Dynamaxing, and didn't cut Delibird. Either balance had absolutely nothing to do with the decision, or GameFreak simply has no idea what balance is. It's a buzzword they tossed out in order to justify their decision, and I really wish people would stop snapping it up because none of their decisions in what stayed in the Galar Dex and what got cut make any sense at all from a balance perspective. Balance is by far the weakest argument used to justify the Dex cuts.
True. There's no way balance came into the decision. We got some pokemon that never had any competitive viability in the first place (Wailmer, Seaking etc.) and some that are extremely powerful, (aegislash, Toxapex). The decisions seem very arbitrary to me.
The other reason they gave was to make the models look as good as possible. But it hasn't really delivered on tha either. Some of the models may or may not literally be the XY models with different textures. But they certainly don't look significantly better. It wasn't really a trade-0ff that was worth losing half the dex.

I don't think Game Freak has been honest, about the amount of things that were left unfinished for SwSh. Or the reasons why. Obviously some of the backlash has gone way too far. But most of it can be blamed on their terrible PR and being too motivated by profits rather than a commitment to making a quality game.

There are also a ton of problems that Game Freak should have outgrown, things that would not be overlooked in other RPGs. An idiotic AI for the NPCs, a ludicrously rushed and straightforward narrative, and little to no effort put into postgame. Its a console game, and certainly lacks the presentation you would expect from one. Frankly it feels like an unfinished product with very little innovation.
 

TwilightBlade

Well-Known Member
Recently it seems like only Generation 1 nostalgia sells well enough, so if GF were to scale things back and go for a nostalgic angle with the games again then they'd probably give us R/B/Y graphics because so many people still buy into the Kanto nostalgia trap.
 

Leonhart

Imagineer
TwilightBlade said:
Recently it seems like only Generation 1 nostalgia sells well enough, so if GF were to scale things back and go for a nostalgic angle with the games again then they'd probably give us R/B/Y graphics because so many people still buy into the Kanto nostalgia trap.

I think that returning to Gen I graphics would be too much of a downgrade, but I wouldn't mind if Game Freak made new games with a simple storyline in mind like they did in R/G/B/Y since sometimes simplicity can be a good thing.
 

SubtleVVeirdoh

Unova Enthusiast
Personally, I’d like to see GF go back to Gen IV/Gen V sprites and graphics. Could be nostalgia or simply me liking the more retro Pokémon games, either way I haven’t been excited for a Pokémon Game since B/W and their sequels came out.
 
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Erron Black

The Outlaw
Recently it seems like only Generation 1 nostalgia sells well enough, so if GF were to scale things back and go for a nostalgic angle with the games again then they'd probably give us R/B/Y graphics because so many people still buy into the Kanto nostalgia trap.
This is ridiculous to no end lol

Alolan Forms were testing the waters for regional variants, they likely didn't want to rework a bunch of newer Pokemon just to have the idea not settle well with fans.
LGPE was only done as a way to introduce PoGo players to the mainline games.(And what better way to do so than with the region that introduced many players to the franchise?)
Char/Meowth/Eevee/Pikachu are basically mascots of the franchise, and seeing them get something each generation, while irritable as it may be, should probably be expected.
Kantonian G-Maxes and G-Maxes in general are entirely redundant as they'll likely be ditched within the next game or generation. Honestly a shame they gave Garbodor one, when it's going to just be absent in a little while.

The whole 'Kanto Nostalgia trap' is one of the things within this community that is blown WAY out of proportion. Does Gen 1 have a lot of stuff? Yeah, but that's to be expected. It's been here since 1996 and been through everything the franchise has seen. They can't just suddenly forget about all of those critters entirely and focus on the rest. So when you take into account all the games and the years? It makes sense that Gen 1 has a lot.

To think that because of everything Gen 1 has, that them going back to the eye sores of Gen 1 graphics would get people excited and buying into it is beyond laughable.
 

Marku

Martial Arts Pokemon Master
I think Gamefreak would give themselves less work and to be able to make things faster if Pokemon went back to its 2D roots, like SubtleVVeirdoh mentions above. They would still turn out a profit by moving back to 2D because it's pokemon. I am currently playing through Platinum, White1/2 and Alpha Sapphire.

I think we could even say ORAS was the perfect blend of 2D and 3D?
 

BCVM22

Well-Known Member
They’ve given us a game per year annually since 2013 with exactly one (1) skip year in that stretch. Downgrading and rolling back the visuals of the core titles in the name of “mak[ing] things faster” would be a solution in search of a problem.
 
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