Truth be told, I fully expect things like the entire Battle Zone (Frontier Included) to be DLC in the potential Sinnoh Remakes. Unless they specifically add new content, which would be a bit of a task with how much stuff Sinnoh got to begin with.
Unless it's in the main game I don't see GF winning in the following scenarios:
They later add it in as DLC, likely charging for it. Now if it was free DLC
MAYBE they can get away with it... but eitherway unless they release a "complete addition" a few years later people would still complain that it being DLC means it can very likely become lost content when the servers letting you access the expansion goes down.
They don't add a Battle Frontier and instead focus on some other ideas (which is the more likely case). Infact, if they're not going to put it in the main game, GF knows they'll lose any argument if they tried making it DLC so probably won't bother to instead focus on something they have actual interest in.
As I said, at this point the only way I can see the Battle Frontier concept being saved if it's made into it's own peripheral app like Stadium/Revolutions or they fuse its features into the Battle Tower (expy). Another idea is they could "downgrade" facilities to just make them an additional side feature you come across on a route or in a city where they don't have to be so strict with the challenge at first.
Imagine playing GOAT Platinum, shutting the game off after Cynthia and saying "A'ight. That was cool. Time to sell the game on eBay since I'll never play it again."
Sadly, that is the issue we do have and is GF's reasoning to not do Battle Frontiers or any more expansive/competitive post game content anymore. The casual gaming community, many being Nintendo's target audience of little kids, will probably beat the many story, do some of the easy post game stuff, and then never go back to the game unless an event happens. Instead they know focus on making post game episodes which aren't bad and some do introduce post game battle facilities and features for competitive, but that's more of a bonus. Though with that said, maybe GF should think about having (free) DLC story campaigns that just reuses assets already in the game.
You heard it here first fellas. The game that has a gigantic emphasis on the number of options you can build a team with and trade with friends is NOT meant to be replayed.
With its huge emphasis on keeping a collection, until Bank and HOME were released, it was almost impossible to replay a game without losing everything you had. (...)
But now with Bank and HOME one could truly replay to their heart's desire... as difficult as it might be for me to find a reason.
I can see both sides of the argument. First off, let's take away replaying the "most recent game". Even with Bank,
Siggu is right that GF encourages you to keep your save file for the most recent game until the next game comes out. But when that does happen, you play through the new game, and your transfer all the Pokemon you want to keep out of your old game, what about the old game then?
In that case, I see
Volt-Ikazuchi's point that now there's no excuse not to restart and replay those games over and over trying different Pokemon combinations or the various fan challenges like a Nuzlocke, solo challenge, or speedrun. Maybe even try to conquer the features you initially ignored first time through like actually "complete" Pokemon Contests, Battle Frontier, Pokeathlon, Musicals, and PokeStar Studioes. There's not really anything stopping you from modding the game like making it a randomizer, making your Starter a Pokemon you want to start the game with, downloaidng someone els'es mod which made bosses & trainers more difficult, or maybe doing "what if" scenarios and giving certain Pokemon moves and Abilities they normally wouldn't have.
What's only keeping someone from doing that is them just not wanting to. And that's alright, if you don't feel like you'd be interested in doing that, then don't. But don't say there's no replayability because that's not the case, you just don't want to do it cause you have other things you want to pay attention to. Granted, GF could allow for more flexability in the game. We all still waiting for a game that let us challenge Gyms in any order, maybe even having the region mostly open for us to explore with only certain offpath areas blocked off to be cleared once we beat Gyms or after certain story events. Oh, and also multiple save files wouldn't hurt, or at least unlocking a "New Game +" save file that let us replay the game again with maybe some additional options all while not touching our original save (and let us send some Pokemon to it from the NG+ file so that we can restart the NG+ file if we wanted to).
They definitely are, just not for purposes of gameplay in the games. The many different silhouettes of Pokémon help make them easily distinguishable.
This. Silhouettes have got to be my favorite thing about Pokémon. Remember when we saw the shadow of melmetal, and later on, zarude and everyone just went to town? Definitely better then the “mysterious glitch” thing with sirfetch’d where everyone and their mother knew it was a farfetch’d evo
Do silhouettes actually make Pokemon distinguishable? Maybe to a Pokemon fan if they're used to seeing the stock art, but if you took all the first stage com mon bird Pokemon and showed them to a casual player I'd bet they'd make some mistakes. Same with the bugs of similar shape, fish, the "pink blobs", various rock Pokemon, etc..
Do not mistake them giving the Pokemon a unique pose that thus gives them a unique silhouette for them purposely designing a Pokemon to have a certain silhouette. Going back to my TF2 and Overwatch example, no matter what pose or animation the characters are in those games had purposely design their characters to have different silhouettes so that, when you see them through a solid object, you know what characters are up ahead.
With Pokemon I don't think this is the case at all with the majority of the mons. They most certainly pay attention to the body shapes and puts them in unique poses for the stock art, MAYBE for the purpose of Who's That Pokemon, but during the actual designing of the Pokemon they're not caring about silhouettes cause they're more focused on making sure the Pokemon just looks good (details, colors, textures, etc.).
I still think the eeveelutions past gen 1 were a mistake (well, not financially), but thats old news
Eh, I think the problem with later Eeveelutions is that to get them it became more complicated. First 3 you just needed Evolution Stones and that's it. Then Umbreon and Espeon was based on the new time of day mechanic even though you have the Moon Stone and newly introduced Sun Stone. For a long time people thought about a Grass-type Eeveelution and when they finally do make one it doesn't evolve from the Leaf Stone but rather yet another new evolution method that was location based (and paired with an Eeveelution that didn't really have a stone associated with it at the time). Infact you can argue Leafeon and Glaceon didn't have a good reason to be made as only they evolved needing the Moss Rock and Icy Rock (while there was other location based evolution it was for Magnezone & Probopass in a place with a strong megnetic field, if anything we should have gotten a solo Steel-type Eeveelution). Sylveon is even moreso this as it's the only Pokemon to evolve via the Pokamon-Amie/Refresh Affection stat. The Eeveelutions were meant to show off unusual evolution methods (notably that other Pokemon also used):
- Gen I was via the Evolution Stones.
- Gen II was both the Friendship stat and time of day.
- Gen IV is location based... but as I mentioned the goofed as the locations they made only can be used by Eevee. Now, if they still wanted to do Leafeon and Glaceon, what I would have done is also used another new evolution method introduced that gen: knowing a specific kind of move. Have it so when taken to a place with a strong magnetic field, an Eevee that knew Aromatherapy evolves into Leafeon and ones that knew Mist evolves into Glaceon (Eevee would have Aromatherapy and Mist added to it's Level 1 movepool so needed a Move Reminder to get).
- Gen VI, if they wanted a Fairy-type Eeveelution, I say instead of giving it its own evolution method (thus completely missing the point) maybe instead re-use Pancham's evolution method. Exposure to a Fairy-type party member while it knows a Fairy-type move. It honestly makes more sense cause what about having a high affection in Pokemon-Amie equal Fairy-type?
Though now that they've made getting Leafeon, Glaceon, and Sylveon easier this may not be the case anymore.
My point is just e happy with the games you get. My brother hated the difficulty of Gen 1 and thought it was boring, but it was all he had, so he played it. I mean, most of you guys are hating so much on the games here that I'm beginning to wonder why you even use Smogon.
... No. I WANT the games to improve, especially as they move up in improved hardware allowing them to tell more intriguing stories. Yes, the mechanics are fine. I can play any Pokemon game and find enjoyment in it because they've not only have fine-tuned the battling mechanic but they do also do experiment side features here and there and, even if I don't enjoy them, I at least see the merits of their inclusion if nothing more than the world building it provides. Gen V (and to an extent VII) has shown Pokemon is capable of more complex stories and character interactions.
Because let me throw this back at ya: if I wanted to play a barebones Pokemon game, I would just go back to a Gen before 5. Sure it doesn't have the shiny new Pokemon and mechanics, but if I'm only caring about the barebone stuff I wouldn't be caring about that stuff either (though Gen III has Contests and Gen IV has that and HGSS has the Pokeathlon). Gen V showed that Pokemon can have a story that asks questions of the player, Gen VII can present players with adult themes, both show the player being more than just a "wrench in the works" and having personal involvement in the story, both show the non-player & villain team characters (Gym Leaders, Captains, Kahuna, Professor, Rivals, etc.) can have more involvement with the story and throughout it instead of being a one-and-done encounter.
I'm not asking for them to write Citizen Kane here, I'm asking them to develop a thoughout region with developed characters who I want to experience this world of Pokemon with. Give me a reason to care about these packets of 1s and 0s, that they hold a story and/or character concept which is worth exploring with. And if GF doesn't want to do that, maybe then they should just make that big Pokemon MMO, instead of releasing a new region with each gen just release the new batch of Pokemon in the MMO region while only changing up the NPCs every now and again
(and maybe adding new locations) to give players something to do.
we need a REAL, MATURE pokemon game for REAL GAMERS. here's my list of what it needs
- all pokemon, and unique animations for all of them except everything after gen5
- a good storyline but i need to be able to skip all the dialogue
- change the formula of the games (NOT LIKE GEN7)
- every trainer has to be CHALLENGING. the only way to do this is by giving them a full team of pokemon
- open world that lets me get close enough to the trees to inspect them for any faults
- asshole rival
- charizard dies. so does pikachu
Let's not be too hyperbolic.
Unique Animations: ... I mean, to an extent, yes. At least during battles I want the Pokemon to be in a more dynamic pose when idling than just standing there waiting to be smacked. I also think each Pokemon can be given a set number of unique animations that, along with special effects and camera angle manipulation (and placement of the 3D models), can make the battle also look more action-packed and hide the illusion the Pokemon aren't touching each other.
Good Storyline, Skippable Cutscenes: Yes. I would like a good Pokemon story. And for those who have either played through the game already or just don't care, give them the option to hit a "pause" button that gives them the option to skip cutscenes. Maybe in the option menu even give players the choice to hold down the A or B button to speed through dialogue boxes without having to mash the button.
Change The Formula: And what exactly do you mean by this? If you mean have real-time battles, I would have to disagree. I feel the turn-based combat is fine, if there's anything to change about battles it would be the menus allowing you to have more options (
some of my ideas). If you mean the Gym Challenge, then I wouldn't be opposed to that. The Gym Challenge is a nice default to go back to every other generation, but it also wouldn't hurt to have a different kind of "challenge".
I myself thought of different "Challenge" ideas, moreso to show that there are other options. Though the Gym Challenge itself could do with a formula mix-up, like let us choose the order of Gyms we want to challenge, give the Gym Leader a leg up by abling to power-up their Pokemon like Totem Pokemon, restrict levels like in Battle Facilities, etc..
Challenging Trainers: All I'm asking is to do Difficulty Levels, at minimum Easy, Normal, & Hard. And with Easy difficulty they could even make Normal slightly more difficulty by letting NPC's Pokemon hold items & maybe have their Pokemon know coverage moves (and moves they learn via TM or Tutors). Though if you want an overall mechanic idea that could maybe provide challenge or at least even the grounds, I've always supported the idea of implementing
level caps.
Faults In Trees: Yeah, I think they should bring by
Hidden Grottos too.
Rival(s) Of Different Personalities: Look, there's a WHOLE spectrum of personalities between & adjacent to "friendly" and "asshole", would like to have some rivals who don't want to be buddy-buddy with me though that doesn't mean I want them to hate my guts. Like, maybe have a Rival that is quirky like they made Green in Let's Go. Imagine having to put up with her strange shenanigans throughout an adventure? Or how about a Rival who thinks they're the main character and you're "The Rival". Or a Rival that's indifferent to you (at least at first), they have their own goals and see you as someone they can train against (aka they think of you like you think of all the random NPCs on routes). Maybe even have the rival be a sibling or cousin, having a family bond which would create a different kind of interaction than we've seen so far.
Not Die, Sit On The Sidelines: That said I think after giving Charizard both Megas and Gigantamax even GF has to be tired of it (and I say this with Charizard being my favorite Pokemon). As for Pikachu, not only let it sit to the side but also maybe stop with the Pikaclones unless they have a really good/interesting idea. You're not going to recapture what Pikachu had, stop trying and instead create a more unique Pokemon.
First party/AAA Switch games are 60 bucks.
Iirc, it's the same for PC/Other consoles too.
It's industry-standard. Nothing inherently greedy or bad about it, GF just followed the standard.
*Looks nervously at EA & Activision Blizzard trying to push games being $70 standard* 
- BW1 screwed up not just by having only Unova mons at first but also not doing enough to showcase its better Pokemon, especially early enough. I don't want Patrat or Lillipup or elemental monkeys - give me Drilbur, Darumaka, Petilil, or even Venipede.
- Instead of making Pikachu lookalikes in every game, they should just create new regional variants.
- Lusamine being less psycho in USUM was a good thing, her being willing to kill Lillie makes her sound too evil.
- Pokemon could benefit from a slightly darker tone for the anime and animated movies, not grimdark or edgy but with a tone closer to conventional shonen or similar like Naruto, One Piece, Demon Slayer, Code Geass, etc.
- BW1 Mon Variety: Eh, I think you're overexaggerating things. After the first Gym you gain access to a lot more Types (mainly because they were using the first 2 Gyms as a tutorial to Type effectiveness) and after the 2nd many of the Pokemon you mentioned soon become available. I don't think even limiting the dex to just Unova mons held it back cause we had over 150 of them, just like Gen I (which is by design). Now there are things to complain about like the ridiculously high evo levels or the overabundance of Elemental Monkeys filling in Type gaps.
- Pikaclones: That wouldn't really solve anything, at that point you're just admitting the Pikaclones are indeed a hopeless attempt to recapture the popularity of Pikachu. As I said above, how about we just give the Pikaclones a rest.
- USUM Lusamine: Eh, one thing I don't like about USUM with how they handled Lusamine. Let us not forget that Lusamine mentally abused her kids, froze Pokemon so they can remain "beautiful" in a trophy room, and was willing to kill Nebby. USUM tried paving all over that though that all still happened in USUM, all USUM did was give Lusamine a sort of justification for killing Nebby... but we know Lusamine would have done that anyway so she's not making a moral sacrifice for the greater good. And worst, one of the the best scenes in SM where Lillie finally stands up against her mother and the scene after where Lusamine snaps back to her senses and says Lillie is "beautiful", both gone and instead we're told they made-up OFF SCREEN! Actually SM Lusamine didn't fully heel-face, but Lillie is willing to work with her to have her realize what she did wrong (which also shows Lillie hasn't fully forgiven Lusamine but has hope she can reforge their relationship over time).
- Darker Pokemon: Do you mean the main games? Cause the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games can actually get pretty dark at times.
), same for the DP anime. Platinum and future games really got Cyrus on point, as well as the Pokemon Generations short.
