Forum - View topicThis Week in Games - Not The Best Of Pals
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BadNewsBlues
Posts: 6267 |
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I’m more under the belief that removing Pokemon from the game is more of a logistics issue than an developmental issue between having to balance them to keep them from being too overpowered, figuring out a way to make all the Pokemon obtainable especially if you don’t have access to the older games, to say nothing of having to make their animations and 3D models not look janky. But you would figure if the development time was an issue why not just pull with Ubisoft did with the Assassin’s Creed games and increase development time. Especially as the last four major Pokemon games each had issues even the ones that were remakes of handheld games.
Which would be interesting with the fact that bar the orignal Super Mario Bros.2 none of the Mario games are particularly challenging compared to what you might get out of classical CastleVania or typical Contra game. And while they reinvent the wheel every once and awhile the games still mostly feel done before even with the new gimmicks that get introduced. Last edited by BadNewsBlues on Fri Jan 26, 2024 5:51 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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db999
Posts: 331 |
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That reminds me of something I didn't mention. They can't delay the game because Pokemon isn't just a video game series, it's a whole Multimedia Franchise. Now I'll admit I don't know if Gamefreak is the one who sets the release date, or if it's The Pokemon Company, but once a date is set they can't change it because not only do the games need to come out at that time so does the anime, the trading cards, the clothing, the lunch boxes, the key chains, stickers and everything else all need to come out at the same time to capitalize on the new release. If you delay one, you have to delay everything and that would likely lose The Pokemon Company and Nintendo, truck loads of money. Last edited by db999 on Fri Jan 26, 2024 5:49 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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FireballDragon
 Posts: 686 |
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They need more development time. As much as I've enjoyed the recent titles, they do have a lot of flaws that all seem to be commonly tied together by an air of "incompletely realized potential."
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FishLion
 Posts: 209 |
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More specifically, it is even harder accomplishing all of that with an ever increasing number of Pokemon. They started with 151 in generation one and then they added about a hundred more for generation two. Several decades later, they have to contend with making the hundred or so new Pokemon added not break the more than one thousand existing Pokemon's delicate balance, while also finding away to make all those Pokemon somewhat accessible on a very strict time table. |
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Gnarth
Posts: 175 |
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Sorry but that's not an excuse. Why would any consumer care about all that? What matters to the players is the product they get offered and at what price, and when you offer a disaster that barely functions at full price you deserve criticism. I'm not saying you're wrong: maybe it's all TPC's fault and not Gamefreak's (or maybe it is and a different studio could've pulled it off), but ultimately this doesn't matter. Pokemon is the highest grossing media franchise of all time: there is absolutely no excuse for any mainline game to release in a state remotely close to S/V, but if fans don't care it becomes the norm. And don't get me wrong, you don't have to care (I enjoyed Cyberpunk at launch and don't regret the preorder), but please don't defend the big company from deserved criticism. Also, I don't know who so-called "YouTube Grifters" are, and I form all my opinions on my own by means of logic, but there are plenty of YouTubers that are long-time Pokemon fans who have harshly criticized the game. Meanwhile, Palworld is an indie game made by a small studio with limited resources, with no big brands attached and marketed almost only through memes and word of mouth that managed to take the second place all time for concurrent players on Steam. This is a massive feat that is only possible when a large amount of people genuinely likes the game and should be celebrated. Of course nobody is forced to like it, but if you don't just accept you're in the minority and move on. |
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FinalVentCard
ANN Reviewer
 Posts: 634 |
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See, while no Pokémon fan denies the technical failings, they also acknowledge that the issues aren't laziness but executive mandates interfering with development. Some folks have empathy, it's weird not to. It weirds me out so much that Game Freak always gets the brunt of this "Oh, they're lazy and don't care!" attitude when Bethesda does the same thing, has never improved Skyrim's functionality and folks just eat it up with no criticism because "It Just Works". |
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BadNewsBlues
Posts: 6267 |
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Don’t know I’d say people eat up Bethesda’s Elder Scroll like games especially given the divisiveness of Starfield. Which somehow was the straw that broke the camel’s back,
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<('_')^
Posts: 70 |
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Bad take. Game Freak deserves every bit of criticism over their handling of Pokémon. It is literally the biggest game franchise in the world. No other game developers can get away with releasing half bake'd bug ridden games the way GF does. Let alone earn billions for it. The problem isn't that these games are marketed towards children, the problem is their poor quality. Just look at how cheap and ugly the scenery is in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet compares to other Nintendo titles like Breath of the Wild. Also whats up with the no voice acting? I am pretty sure they can afford it. Not to mention GF's passive aggressive dismissal of players looking for a challenge. It's very easy to implement an "Easy, Normal, and Hard" difficulty selection so the game can appeal to everyone. But nope, GF wants to exclude fans who want to take games seriously, and only pander to casual players with tictoc IQ. Literally two simple solutions to majority of the complaints regarding modern Pokémon. 1) Let the games cook. 1-2 years is not enough time to develop a AAA game. They should spend 3-4 years per mainline title minimum. Just assign separate teams to develop spin off titles or whatever to fill in the time between mainline releases. 2) Appeal to the whole family, not just the children. Put more IQ into the story writing, characters, and worldbuilding. Regardless of age, it's wrong to treat your audience like idiots. If they really want to avoid deep themes and just maintain light hearted atmosphere, then invest in more comedy/memes. Give the players more autonomy in how they interact with characters and the environment. As for the gameplay, no excuses, just add higher difficulty options. Even if they are locked to NG+ or behind a hidden menu that's fine. The more options the better. |
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StarDango
Posts: 102 |
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I would have to disagree with this. I’d argue that Pokémon has managed to maintain its appeal with a large older audience because its world building, characters, and writing has steadily matured over the years. I’d even go as far to say that experiencing the characters and the new stories is why a lot are willing to put up with the technical flaws. The games have tackled issues like the effects of absent/abusive parents on children’s development, how constantly losing strongly affects a person’s self-esteem and self-worth, and the importance of learning to forgive yourself for your bad actions and how to move forward. Not to mention how seriously screwed up a lot of the villains are when you really think of the consequences of their plans. They have also improved on applying the traditional formula of “get all the gym badges.” Since Sun and Moon, the player’s goals feels like you’re taking part in the regions culture and it’s an experience you’re not going to get anywhere else. I still think nothing can top the hype that I felt in every Gym Battle in Sword and Shield. Felt like an athlete. GameFreak really do their homework when designing everything based on the countries they choose. Not to say that Pokémon is filled with “peak writing.” No work of fiction is perfect. But it’s disingenuous to say that the games have treated their audience like idiots in terms of the story. A story doesn’t need a dark atmosphere to be mature. Pokémon has managed to keep itself family-friendly while also delivering some pretty harsh or bittersweet or even heartbreaking stories (Silver, Cyrus, N, Lusamine, Lillie, Hop, Bede, Volo, Arven, Kieran, etc.) I do agree that what GameFreak needs more of is time. I’m a strong believer that what is good about Pokémon does show that they care more than their critics say they do. The real problem is that they need more time to develop. They already have other teams handling spin-offs. I believe the Diamond and Pearl remakes were made by a different studio entirely. So that’s not the issue. It could be a simple case of: Good ideas, not enough time to tune the execution. Whoever is in charge needs to fix THAT overall. Whether its GameFreak’s choice, the Pokémon Company, or some other higher power. Last edited by StarDango on Sat Jan 27, 2024 4:04 am; edited 1 time in total |
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TokimekiCrisis
Posts: 48 |
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The no voice acting thing is genuinely baffling and feels extremely outdated at this point. Even Zelda has voice acting now. It's especially odd when you realize how stacked the anime's voice acting cast was over the years from people like Aoi Yuuki to Megumi Hayashibara. Even if most of the game is still mute the pre-rendered cutscenes should have it because they come off very awkward with the dead silence. I'm glad Palworld exists and is doing well. No, I don't expect Pokemon to go hide under the bed in fear of it because I know Pokemon as a franchise prints millions regardless of whatever they do with it, but it's nice to see other options being put out there and hopefully the developers will take some cues from these other games out there and breath some new life into the franchise. As an aside, I find the recommendation of Cassette Beasts odd because that game is way more of a carbon copy of Pokemon right down to the battle system, overworld graphics, and everything about it compared to Palworld. I'm not surprised games like Temtem and Cassette Beasts failed to be a thing but Palworld did. The former two did absolutely nothing new or interesting with the concept and just aped Pokemon down to the letter so there was not much point in playing them over Pokemon. |
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psh_fun
 Posts: 91 |
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Don't people joke all the time how Skyrim gets ported to everything and they keep re-releasing it? Ironically, people do complain when they try to add new stuff to the later releases because it always breaks all their mods and people get upset and tell Bethesda not to add anything else or update Skyrim at all anymore. Although comparing sequels to ports doesn't seem right. We'd have to wait until Elder Scrolls VI to see how much different it is compared to Skyrim. We can look backwards at Oblivion and how much different Skyrim was to it and I'd say they did a fine job updating things between those two games. |
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MetalHunter
Posts: 56 |
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As a huge Dragon Quest fan Palworld, or at least its fanbase (if it could be called that) has been pissing me off. Not just because you get a bunch of people saying that Pokémon needed competition, when the competition existed last month. But because people keep dragging that stupid comparison chart out trying to make something out of nothing, when anyone who’s used obviously doesn’t give a single shit about Dragon Quest.
Anyway my view of Palworld is that if they didn’t outright copy several of the Pokémon I probably would have tried it down the line. But the sketch company, and the reactionary fanbase around it turned me away from it. Not to mention that even if it doesn’t use AI it still feels icky supporting a company this neck deep in web-3 nonsense (I have no love for Square btw). As for Pokémon’s flaws, yeah, it’s what Jean said. People just need to realize the franchise isn’t for them anymore. Scarlet and Violet are far from my favorite entries, but even I can acknowledge that the franchise is trying to evolve. It’s the Sonic Frontiers problem where the ambitions of the developers were a bit too high. There’s nothing really wrong with the franchise as a whole. The games individually sure, but the franchise itself is perfectly fine. |
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RickyTheRat
 Posts: 28 |
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That could be taken in a couple different ways. One is the scenario some people are pushing forward in that fans have grown out of it, but the other is the franchise itself has changed and targeting a different audience now. I'd argue it's the later. I can easily go back Heart Gold and Soul Silver and enjoy those games and marvel at how much content and care they put into them, but yes, like it or not, this is what Pokemon is now and I doubt it'll go back to that era. The franchise isn't for me anymore, but not through of any fault of my own. That being said I disagree about the comments about how people should not expect franchises to grow up with them. We see that all the time. Digimon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Kamen Rider, Precure, Super Sentai, there's a lot of franchises that grew up along with their initial audience and are branching out and doing a lot of creative things for both new and old audiences. I'd argue the main issue with Pokemon is it became a worldwide global franchise at one point so they play it extra safe to appeal to everyone in the world. I sometimes wonder what Pokemon would be like and what kind of things we would be getting if Pokemon still prioritized the Japanese market like all those other franchises I mentioned. Detective Pikachu, only it's more aimed at teens like Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth. Shin Pocket Monster directed by Anno? An adult parody spin off like Akibaranger? |
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Joe Mello
 Posts: 2302 Location: Online Terminal |
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This is mostly my take, but a lot of the people who go "What if <thing> was messed up and adult?" are unimaginative and boring, two of the worst traits for having authority on anything artistic. |
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BadNewsBlues
Posts: 6267 |
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I don’t think it’s that the can’t but that don’t want to. Eventhough the games, the anime, the manga, the movies, the TCG etc are all under the same umbrella they for the most still exist and function independently of one another. And of course not all fans are going to soak up all the content beyond what they ordinarily bother with. Not to mention it’s one thing to do this with the newer games what’s the excuse for Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl & Legend Of Arceus which use existing Pokemon. |
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