The Adventure After the Adventure: Pokémon Postgames

Introduction

Hey there, Smogon! shaymin here, and, well, I don't know if it's just me, but do you feel that there's something missing from Pokémon games as of late? Like... something that should be more fun but just isn't there anymore like it was back in the old days? I don't even have my nostalgia goggles on and I have always felt that something just appears to be missing! Anyway, I want to go into detail here about why exactly I've been so disappointed in Pokémon games as of lately, and it's one factor and one factor alone: the postgame. The primary adventure, while cheesy, is fine. Everything else is fine—a lot of Pokémon games are rather linear and are completely fine in storyline progression—but to me, the real importance lies in the freedom that you get after you beat the Elite Four and why Game Freak seems to be fully taking advantage of maximizing said freedom.

The Explanation: What went wrong?

Ever since BW, I've always felt the postgames were done incorrectly. Don't get me wrong here; I understand the main objective in every single main series Pokémon game is to beat the eight Gym Leaders and beat the Elite four and all that good stuff... but nowadays, that's just the beginning, isn't it? What happens afterwards is the real meat of the game, if you ask me, and when I see things like the Battle Maison, Battle Institute, and Battle Subway, it's really disappointing, and it genuinely feels like a waste of potential for what could've been. I understand that the Battle Frontier may not make a return in future games, but Game Freak can, at the very least, throw people like me a bone here and actually put some substance into the postgame. I was disappointed, for example, to see that ORAS's postgame is basically the same as XY's. You beat the Elite Four, and then you have a choice of participating in the following Battle Facilities: Battle Maison, Battle Institute, and Battle Chateau (in ORAS, it's really just the Battle Maison).

...Perhaps it's just my own stringent expectations, however. But enough of what was missing. What am I looking for?

I'm looking for an adventure after the adventure. As I said, defeating the Elite Four should just be the start. Why not actually assume the role of Champion yourself, or utilize that position to some degree? It seems that, aside from your parents, rival, and the professor, word regarding your successful Elite Four defeat has apparently reached a grand total of zero people, making it seem as though your victory never happened. Why is that? You should be treated like a King or a Queen of some sort, but I suppose that's not happening, isn't it?

Why is it that it took until ORAS to make some sort of second storyline—an adventure after an adventure—when it should've been this way the whole time? There's a whole plethora of what can be done after you beat the Elite Four, and Game Freak shouldn't stop there; not by a long shot!

So what should Game Freak do?

As much as I'd love for a proper Battle Frontier spiritual successor of some sort, the chances of that happening are pretty slim, and I realize that. So I'm not expecting any postgame activities to cover the battling aspect, and I understand that might even turn some of the more casual fans away. Join Avenue in Generation V does a pretty decent job of having fun activities that can be done, as well as the concept of having your own villas (which I personally think is really sick, but at the same time, it was kinda wasted). I personally believe that, when it comes to postgame structures in Pokémon, you have to think big but make it a small package of some sort so that players won't know what to expect. The Pokémon World Tournament in Black and White 2 was an excellent example of this, as being able to battle old Champions and Gym Leaders was something that made playing the tournament itself endless fun!

However, as I mentioned in the previous paragraph, I'm look for another adventure after the main adventure is over. The Delta Episode was a perfect example of what I'm speaking of. For those of you who haven't played ORAS yet (SPOILERS INCOMING), think about it as an additional story of sorts. There's a meteor heading towards the planet, and you have to figure out some way to stop said meteor. Then, a mysterious person, Zinnia, comes along and causes quite a bit of trouble! You'll have to play through the whole thing yourself, but that's a rather loose description of what happens.

Going back to what I mentioned before, being an actual champion of a region would be a huge game changer. I think that it would be pretty boring to sit in a room and challenge people all day, but in that aspect, let's think outside of the box here. You can be a traveling champion, and, for those who desire it, you could be the person who manages the Pokémon League itself! It'd be a really interesting turn from how Game Freak usually does things.

So! To get more to the point. What do I think would be my ideal Pokémon game post-adventure? Well, I hate to keep mentioning it, but I don't want the storyline to end right before you face the Elite Four. For example, most (from my recollection, it honestly seems to be all of them that follow this pattern) games have you face the evil team's boss and capture the legendary Pokémon, and the plot would end somewhere between the seventh and the eighth gym. But I must ask... why so soon? As for how I mentioned earlier ORAS's Delta Episode being something I was looking for, it provided a great continuation of what happened after the story ended; it gave a sense of adventure, as the player knew that their journey was not over.

And it shouldn't be.

Call me crazy if you'd like, but the journey shouldn't really end. I understand there's only so much you can cram into a Pokémon game, but I truly feel that little quests here and there that have to do with the game's plot should definitely be worth considering. Imagine if you can pick and choose your own adventure in a way. For example, after the events of the Delta Episode, you never really see or hear from Zinnia ever again. But why? Wouldn't it be fun to challenge her to a friendly battle every now and again? And you can even think bigger than that! To accentuate Steven's character and make the plot flow a little more, why not travel with Steven as he studies and does research on Pokémon? If Game Freak was crafty, they could even throw some allusions here and there to future Pokémon generations. It'd really be fun stuff!

One final thing that should be taken into consideration is minigames. For any of you who haven't played HGSS's Pokéathlon, it's basically a hub of different kinds of minigames that your Pokémon can play in order to win stuff. That's the summed-up version of it. More specifically, it's many different athletic competitions that your Pokémon participate in. For example:

Hurdle Dash, which is more or less self explanatory. You control three Pokémon simultaneously and jump hurdles with them;
Snow Throw, which is basically a snowball fight;
Goal Roll, which is a four-way soccer match;
And a lot more! These are just the three that I've played personally, but the other games are Pennant Capture, Circle Push, Disc Catch, Block Smash, Relay Run, Lamp Jump, and Ring Drop!

This basically takes me back to the Pokémon Stadium 2 days, where all I would do (more than battling, at least) was play the minigames pretty much all day. Perhaps there could be a huge festival-like area that's like the Pokéathlon, but more expanded, once you finish the game as to give the player more to do? I think it's the small things like this that really enhance the playing experience.

One other thing that could be done is doing a bit more on the side of exploration. In Generation IV, there was something called the Underground, which I think is one of the greatest additions to Pokémon games to date! For those who don't know, the Underground is basically a feature back in the DPPt days where you actually travel underground and mine items. You also have a unit of currency called Spheres to purchase things like traps and other really interesting items!

What I think can be improved upon here is add some sort of expansion to the Underground in future Pokémon games. I think Game Freak missed their chance by not making the Underground Wi-Fi compatible, but only making it accessible if you're near some friends. Hopefully nowadays, with literally everything connected to Wi-Fi, the Underground would have a tremendous boost in player experience. Think about mining rare items together with friends, like fossils and rare stones and things like that, and there's even a small minigame where you try to steal the other players' flags (although I think that can be improved as well... perhaps with more defined traps of some sort) for a little fun. All in all, I feel that these things should be brought back in some medium or another in the future.

In addition, the foundation of Pokémon was always to "catch 'em all," so why not deliver on that by adding some sort of minigame based around trying to catch rare Pokémon? I suppose this is what the Friend Safari (ORAS) and the Safari Zone in previous generations were for, but I feel they could be improved in some way. At least the Friend Safari was taking things in the right direction somewhat by interacting with others that might have Pokémon you have not simply by having a different-typed Safari!

So why does Game Freak do this?

So, enough of the ranting, and more with the actual reasoning. Why does Game Freak leave the first two games bare, only launching more postgame content in the third game?

It can most certainly be said that the first two games of a generation are introductory. I mean, Ruby and Sapphire, Diamond and Pearl, and Black and White were all pretty good examples of this. The following release tends to be packed full of features and postgame goodness, so it's natural that a lot of players would be drawn to this. At the same time, though, I feel like it's pointless to get the first two games when the following release tends to be the one that's more worthwhile anyway.

I also think Game Freak veered off this path when HGSS had its own Battle Frontier and postgame activities. The game was literally packed with things to do and it felt amazing, but it was simply a remake. Yet (and keep in mind that this is just my take on things), ORAS didn't really generate that same feeling that HGSS did. Why is that? Was HGSS simply an exception to the rule and not the rule itself?

From a business standpoint, this certainly makes sense! To the average Pokémon player, this doesn't matter; the majority of the time, they're going to get the first games of a generation anyway. After all, being a Pokémon fan on the internet, one can definitely expect to be bombarded with spoilers and things that they'd rather not come across, which is the risk of waiting until the "third game" or "sequel" or what-have-you. This is also the inherent advantage that third games and sequels have over their introductory counterparts: by having more extensive features as well as a more extensive postgame, they appear a lot more attractive in comparison! That's... some interesting marketing on Game Freak's part, even if they're basically selling you the same game twice, one of which just has more than the other.

The Future of Pokémon Gaming

So, with all of that being said, what does this mean for the future of Pokémon gaming? All I'm saying here is that I'd like to have more substance in my food... if I'm not getting enough, how am I supposed to enjoy what I'm eating? Cheesy metaphor aside, that's legitimately how I feel about certain Pokémon games (BW, for instance, ORAS to a degree, XY to a lesser degree, etc). I know everyone is tired of hearing about the Battle Frontier, but I think it's a large step in the right direction. Nonetheless, I think we need more than that these days.

At the same time, though, one can most definitely say that Game Freak has been doing this intentionally. Adding on to the (awful) food metaphor, Game Freak always gives fans kinda what they want but leaves them hungry for more, whether it be more features, more Pokémon, more extensive post-games... So, in a way, while I think it isn't worth it anymore getting the first games, I can understand the rationale that Game Freak is going by here, so it definitely makes sense!

But what does everyone else think? Granted, I may be a bit over-analytical here... but these are just my personal findings of Pokémon games as of late. Does everyone else think that things are usually fine the way they are, or do you think that Game Freak needs to add slightly more to their "introductory" games in order to keep gamers hooked?

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