I saw this video in my YouTube subscriptions from a guy I like to watch on YouTube and felt it was quite interesting. He brings up the fact that Let's Go could be just a ground to experiment with new features they may add to the series later. (He brings up that X and Y felt too unfinished, and yeah a lot of features that would be brought to the forefront in Sun and Moon did have a precursor in X/Y (notably PokeRides, which seem to be a series staple at this point)) He compares the backlash Let's Go gets to the backlash that Metroid Prime: Federation Force got, and how the latter game did deserve its backlash far more since Metroid has far less games and we haven't seen a Metroid game for a few years prior to Federation Force's announcement. (And yeah I do agree some of that backlash went too far (like with the 'cancel this game' petitions))
I think he should've brought up abilities in Gen 3 and the removal of HMs in Gen 7 though, which did shake up at least one aspect of the games. (the battling and the overworld respectively)
A lot of good points made and I generally agree with what was said. That said, I do want to discuss one thing he mentioned which was left pretty ambiguous despite it being a "major" demand: changing battling mechanics.
Now he didn't say that directly, but with him saying he wants the series to grow and evolve while also saying Sun & Moon didn't keep his interest leads me to believe that's what was being hinted at. Because Sun & Moon was a MAJOR change up for the series, getting rid of Gyms and instead having the Island Challenge. Now you can argue the Trials had similar beats to the Gyms: complete a puzzle, battle a boss, get proof that you won. But that gets directly to my point: while the context and aesthetic changes, the mechanics don't. When you play a main series Pokemon game, you play one and you know what to do for the rest. So even if they completely change the game into something akin to Colosseum he (and many others) would probably still have the same complaint about the battling system.
And I have a bit of a problem with that, because if you change the battling system dramatically the games are no longer Pokemon (in my opinion). That's like removing Mario's ability to jump but he can now teleport or giving Link a gun instead of a sword (no, Crossbow Training doesn't count); yeah it's the same character but you've completely changed an important characteristic about them. Same with Pokemon in a way, the main series was built on turn-based battles. And it's not like they haven't experimented with the concept, each game brings new things to the table (and there's plenty more that can still be done) to spice up the battling without changing the base of it because that's what everything is built upon.
Like, okay, what major change can be done to the battling system that'll freshen it up but keep the games feeling like Pokemon?
Having a turn order bar where faster Pokemon can attack more often? No, that's going too far, it'll make fast Pokemon overpowered and slow Pokemon about unusable unless they're a wall.
Able to position your Pokemon? Well, first off, what kind of positioning mechanic? There's the simple back row/front row or the grid field (and that varies how big it is). And exactly how will the positioning effect the battle, Moves, Items, and Abilities? No, this feels like it's adding a ton of extra unneeded things which might work better in a spin off like Mystery Dungeon or Conquest but no the main series where you can battle other people.
Quick time events for certain moves to have them do extra damage/Critical Hit/be more accurate/higher chance of doing an effect? That might be able to work but it comes with it's own can of worms like what are the quick time events, how do you decide which move gets what benefit, and can this be turned off without having an adverse effect on the experience. Also there's the issue of it making battles a little longer or people being good at certain kind of quick time events than others giving them a physical advantage there's no way to balance.
To wrap up my thoughts here, people who says they want the battle system to change have no idea what they're talking about or want to change Pokemon into a game style they like even if it goes against the overall feeling. With Pokemon the issue is more the story & setting and that, at least until Gen VII, they didn't try making boss battles feel different from normal battles. While I'd like to see Gyms back, I agree they could use an overhaul to make them more interesting battles (as well as battles with the rest of the Pokemon League and main villains, though rivals probably should be kept straight battles). Also, instead of a villain team, how about about another antagonistic force to go up against like having to help form a truce between two conflicting groups or preventing an impending disaster.
EARLY LEAKED RUMOR TRUE?:
So I came across an image of this 4Chan post
from this thread:
Now if it was the image alone I wouldn't believe it was real, but being its from a thread that was made before the announcement it has peaked my interest. And indeed, a lot of what it says was true. Let's Go are Yellow remakes, there's a Pikachu and Eevee version, following Pokemon have returned, it's integrated with Pokemon GO, catching works like Pokemon GO, connecting the two gives rewards, and there's a new accessory that works with Let's Go and GO (the Poke Ball).
But, of course, there were things on this "leak" which wasn't revealed:
Red & Blue Play A Role: Most notable being this. If Red and Blue are in the game, then what does that mean for the story? Because it looks like we were going through the same story beats, but if Red and Blue are characters than could it be that we're having side story adventure alongside the Gen I story? That would be a REALLY interesting twist and bring up a ton of new possibilities like having us explore Kanto via a different path. It would also forgive Trace being the rival as he's not replacing Blue but you and him just so happen to be two other trainers that Oak asked to help him. And depending how they play things out, they could have you either arriving some places earlier than or after Red which could change things up. I'm mainly thinking what this means for the 8th Gym, if we arrive early than we can battle Giovanni but will he not have his breakdown against us? Or, more interesting, we arrive to the 8th Gym after Red had his battle, what's going to happen then? Who would we battle to get our 8th Badge? Would be neat if they brought in the Executives and had them be our "Giovanni" in the game. Or maybe reveal this is how Blue became the 8th Gym Leader (though that would be a quick transition). And what about the Champion? Would we be facing Red?
HMs Still Replaced By Poke Rides: Now this is interesting as either they're going to have to change certain obstacles or introduce completely new Poke Rides. Now, before you say anything, yes, they'll obviously need to change a few Pokemon anyway. But would it be a 1:1 changes (like a Arcanine instead of a Stoutland, Rhyhorn instead of a Mudsdale, and Starmie instead Sharpedo and that's it) thus meaning changes to obstacles like trees you need to Cut. Or would they give us Poke Rides that directly relate to the five HMs for Gen I: Cut, Fly, Surf, Strength, & Flash. If so, we'd need two new ones for Cut and Flash (Scyther and Magneton?). I'm going to guess it's going to be the former than the latter, though would be cool to see both done.
Online Has A Hub For Players: Not sure what this means. A hub like XY's PSS or Gen VII's Festival Plaza? Something more complicated like an online version of Platinum's Wi-Fi Plaza? Like, I feel this is an obvious inclusion, the question is more what type of hub would it be like.
I'll respond to the current conversations later.