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How would you design a Pokemon game GAF?

SinDelta

Member
Or what would you want from such a game? I've been reading on how the series has evolved over the generations.

So assuming the remakes continue after Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, next up would be remakes of Black and White no? I've seen Platinum, HeartGold, SoulSilver and Black and White 1/2 described as the closest thing to perfect Pokemon games. I would probably build off of their strengths. X/Y, Sun/Moon I've heard mixed stuff, and a lot of backlash for Sword/Shield.

There is Pokémon Legends: Arceus also upcoming which goes full open world.
 
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Husky

THE Prey 2 fanatic
What I want most from Pokemon is more games like those of the DS era. Just like you said, DP & Platinum, HGSS, B&W 1/2, that was peak Pokemon in every fucking way. Give me a map made with 3D assets and populated by 2D sprites, make the worlds and characters interesting again, stop holding my fucking hand you fucking freak, and please give me enjoyable side activities.

Man those DS Pokemon games are mystical as fuck. That shit sparks wonder.

A fully 3D Pokemon game doesn't have to look bad, but I'd really like to be done with that, just for a little bit, and go back to having a 2D sprite.
 
Go back and retake the best of the various gen gimmicks - radio from Gen 2, berry growing and secret bases from Gen 3, excavation in caves from Gen 4, etc. Just have some neat distractions with rewards or customizability. Pokemon abandons ideas and leaves them underdeveloped instead of improving on them.
 

mortal

Gold Member
Just spitballing here...
  • MMORPG
  • fully 3D
  • huge seamless open world with diverse biomes with interwoven habitat mechanics
  • battles take place seamlessly with no battle screen transitions
  • battles are conditional. Depending on the biomes in which battles take place in can either provide buffs or serve as a weakness to certain elemental types.
  • maps are designed with terrain elevation and dynamic destructible environments in mind, fire types attacks can cause brush fires in grass fields, earth types attack can cause rock slides, electric types can take advantage of electronic etc.
  • character creator for your trainer, customizable outfits and gear
  • various modes of transpiration, with a personalized bike serving as the main means.
  • dynamic day & night cycle based by timezones.
  • gyms and stadiums host ranked battles with other players for tournament qualification.
 
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SinDelta

Member
Just spitballing here...
  • MMORPG
  • fully 3D
  • huge seamless open world with diverse biomes with interwoven habitat mechanics
  • battles take place seamlessly with no battle screen transitions
  • battles are conditional. Depending on the biomes in which battles take place in can either provide buffs or serve as a weakness to certain elemental types.
  • maps are designed with terrain elevation and dynamic destructible environments in mind, fire types attacks can cause brush fires in grass fields, earth types attack can cause rock slides, electric types can take advantage of electronic etc.
  • character creator for your trainer, customizable outfits and gear
  • various modes of transpiration, with a personalized bike serving as the main means.
  • dynamic day & night cycle based by timezones.
  • gyms and stadiums host ranked battles with other players for tournament qualification.
I like it. A MMO would make sense but I personally would rather have a single player game of what you described with optional online parts.
 

Fbh

Member
-Fully 3D.
-Lots of focus on great level design with fun exploration, secret paths, optional areas, sidequests, etc. I'd try to recapture that feeling I got as a kid when surfing down this optional river and getting to the power plant and encountering Zapdos. But through the entire game.
-Top tier visuals (for the hardware)
-Optional hard mode that actually puts up a challenge with better enemy AI and higher enemy LV's . I want to be like "Ok, I'll have to rethink my team to beat this gym leader"
- A better story. Nothing crazy and it wouldn't be full of cutsenes, but there would be a fun story with likeable characters.
-When you begin a new game you get a "how experienced are you with video games?" And "is this your first Pokémon game?" prompts to dynamically adjust the hand holding and not having people teaching you the same shit for the 50th time.
 
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Raonak

Banned
I stopped waiting for GF to make my dream pokemon game, so I just made it myself.
It's been real fun adding features that would never be found in a nomal pokemon game.

It's basically a Generation 2 nostalgia fest, mixed with tons of Final Fantasy influences including ATB battle system.
Equipment, Sidequests, defeat Boss pokemon to catch them, unlimited movesets,
You also have an Eevee which can freely switch between evolutions.

Super Pokemon Eevee Edition

zTaBiQi.gif
KtXSyYD.gif
 
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KielCasto

Member
I want difficulty options on the first playthrough. Dungeon/cave explorations should return (not like those in Shield please). Smarter AI in a sense that the kind of Pokemon Trainer would affect their decisions. Maybe copy (at least the first) Trails of Cold Steel or Digimon World speed/turn system.
And maybe try making the game a little bit watercolor-y or storybook-y.
 

Corgi1985

Banned
SMT does everything i would want pokemon to do anyway. Sw/Sh proved gamefreak can half ass a game with no difficulty/nothing to explore/runs and looks like shit, and it will sell millions anyway
 

Shubh_C63

Member
Never understood how this is the top selling franchise. Is nostalgia that big of a factor ?

I mean look at this running at 4fps with those graphics. and the characters and story of these games are so generic to be borderline moronic.
 

vewn

Member
Fully reboot it, BotW like exploration & visuals, drop round based for real time combat where you control the pokemon, find a capable Studio.
 

Fredrik

Member
I stopped waiting for GF to make my dream pokemon game, so I just made it myself.
It's been real fun adding features that would never be found in a nomal pokemon game.

It's basically a Generation 2 nostalgia fest, mixed with tons of Final Fantasy influences including ATB battle system.
Equipment, Sidequests, defeat Boss pokemon to catch them, unlimited movesets,
You also have an Eevee which can freely switch between evolutions.

Super Pokemon Eevee Edition

zTaBiQi.gif
KtXSyYD.gif
That’s awesome! 👏👏👏
I don’t know how you created it but can’t you call it backpackmon or something and change some things enough so you can sell it? Or maybe talk to Nintendo and get it published? Looks too professional to risk having Nintendo ninjas taking it down.

I’m playing around with Unity making a completely handdrawn and hand animated platformer with the whole family coming up with ideas, wouldn’t fly as a real game but it’s fun creating it.

 
I stopped waiting for GF to make my dream pokemon game, so I just made it myself.
It's been real fun adding features that would never be found in a nomal pokemon game.

It's basically a Generation 2 nostalgia fest, mixed with tons of Final Fantasy influences including ATB battle system.
Equipment, Sidequests, defeat Boss pokemon to catch them, unlimited movesets,
You also have an Eevee which can freely switch between evolutions.

Super Pokemon Eevee Edition

zTaBiQi.gif
KtXSyYD.gif
Wow that looks impressive. Is this game finished?
I wouldn’t make a Pokémon game. I would use the money to make a new ip.
Easier said than done, friendo. One reason Pokémon sells so well is that there’s no real competitor in the monster taming subgenre, because creating one that’s not a blatant rip-off is hard.
 
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BootsLoader

Banned
Wow that looks impressive. Is this game finished?

Easier said than done, friendo. One reason Pokémon sells so well is that there’s no real competitor in the monster taming subgenre, because creating one that’s not a blatant rip-off is hard.
Ok but I would not make a new Pokémon game. I would make a new ip.
 
Breath of The Wild but it's Pokemon.

I would also return to a Gen 1 setting, maybe throw in a few new ones but it'd mostly be the Gen 1 set, going back to the beginning but with a new level of detail and interaction like never before.

That's what I was expecting a "Switch Pokemon" to be and I'm sorely disappointed it wasn't.
 

Tams

Gold Member
I don't know. I'm a gen 3 person (gen 2 is great too, but the graphical jump to 3 was fantastic) but I'm not sure how much appeal such 'old' games would have any more.

I haven't been a big fan of anything from gen 4 onwards other than the remakes. I'm loving the new Pokémon Snap, but that's something else entirely.
 

BootsLoader

Banned
What kind of ip? Monster catching? Something else?

I'd love to see a developer try something new too.
Hmmmm this is a hard one. This depends on the experience of the studio.
From my perspective I like it when a studio takes the risk and make a completely out of their comfort zone game like SP made ghosts of Tsushima.
I imagine that game freak could make a nice JRPG adventure game, semi open world, active time battle (like ffx2). The story could be in the middle age. You are a knight and you start fighting in a contest to become the princesses new husband because her dad died and that was his dying wish (that his daughter must marry the strongest knight). Knights from all the continents came to fight for the throne etc. Then something goes wrong as always blah blah blah. They could give it a name like “Empress in the Abyss” 😂
 

Holammer

Member
As the series refuses to grow with the players, I would make something entirely new with mature themes.
Give me a studio and a budget and I'll give you a multi billion dollar franchise.
 

theclaw135

Banned
We're in a rut. Trapped in the double whammy of a development team who won't bring their technology up to par, and a fanbase who bawls when the games don't rehash, reuse, and recycle enough.
 

Banjo64

cumsessed
HD 2D w/sprites.

The transition to 3D has been appalling in my opinion. In my opinion, Octopath Traveller has nailed what Pokémon should be (but never will).

NSwitch_OctopathTraveler_04.jpg

octopath-traveler-june-pc-release-date-leaked-square-enix_feature.jpg

octopath-traveler-review-screenshot-1.jpg

octopath-traveler-snow.jpg


Oozes character compared to this;

pokemon-legends-blog-1614354073346.jpg


and;

Pokemon-Brilliant-Diamond-Shining-Pearl_20210226_11.png


In terms of gameplay, I’d like high level Pokémon like Gyarados and Tyranitar to have one off, high level sprite encounters with big XP pay offs and I’d like actual legendaries to come at the end of hour long dungeons. The Gyms and Elite 4 should be optional side quests that are actually intensely challenging (even the first gym). The story should ditch Team XYZ trying to take over the world (this could be a side quest line though) and go for a really original and unrelated story.

Oh and bring back random encounters.

Will we get it? Will we fuck.
 
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IDKFA

I am Become Bilbo Baggins
Make it open world, but like an open world WRPG.

Keep gyms. Earn your gym badges for a chance to compete in the final tournament. .

Once you have all your badges, you get to battle in the tournament like the show. It's a straight knock out tournament. Once you win that, then your crowned champion and have a shot at the elite four and the current champion.

Dark, mature storyline. I'm talking game of thrones or walking dead levels. For shits and giggles, I'd even throw in blood, sex and adult language.

Full voice acting. Get the best actors on earth to voice act.

Make it so you can switch between first person and third person.

Realtime battles.

There you have it. The perfect Pokémon game.
 
A visual hybrid of Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu and Pokemon SW/SH but heavily inspired by Gold/Silver/Crystal.

Fully open world. The entire map is accessible from the start and not locked behind story/badges/skills. You can pick from 3 starting areas which affects the order you face gyms. Example:

Town A = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
Town B = 4, 3, 1, 2, 5, 7, 6, 8.
Town C = 7, 5, 4, 3, 1, 2, 6, 8.

Whatever town you pick will have a gym and that's the gym you face first. No matter where you start you will do the same gym last.

Heavy focus on dialogue and RPG. You don't just level up your pokemon but also your character and pokeballs. Your pokemon will have Health, Stamina, Attack, Defense, etc. Your character will have stats like:

Fitness - how far you can run and how long you can battle for. at the start you'll only be able to battle wild pokemon in short fights. trainer battles will last longer requiring better fitness. gyms will require fighting multiple trainers in a row and the gym leader will take longer than a normal trainer fight. Also affects how much you can carry in your bag.
Skill - mostly affects pokeballs and how far/accurately you can throw them but also improves battle skills.
Charm - affects your relationship with pokemon, other trainers, and shop merchants. can help you get extra rewards or cheaper prices.
Tech - a small boost to the success rate of catching a pokemon but also helps you sneak into restricted areas (think hacking/lockpicking).

There is only one type of Pokeball in the game. The basic red/white one but you can change appearance with skins. You are given 8 at the start of the game and they attached to your belt. You can carry more in your bag. When you catch Pokemon and there is no empty Pokeball on your belt you would store that Pokeball in your bag instead of sending it to a computer. You can still do that but you'll always have full access to your Pokemon... as long as you have enough storage space and Fitness to carry them all. Even though you can level up your Pokeballs some stores might sell ones with really good stats. You can also change your Pokemon's Pokeball if you want to give it a certain stat boost for a battle.

Pokeballs need levelled up but are more about giving bonuses to pokemon/character stats. Stats would be:

Weight - ties with your characters Skill + Fitnesss. gives a large boost to how far you an throw it and a small boost to Fitness letting you run/battle longer. if you have high Weight lvl and you store it in your bag it takes up less capacity.
Accuracy - ties with your characters Skill + Tech. gives a small increased chance of hitting a pokemon and largely improves success rate of catching a pokemon.
Comfort - affects recovery health of a pokemon if it is damaged. if you catch a damaged Pokemon or take one out of battle it will recover health while in the Pokeball. Also affects happiness and relationship with you.
Type - ties in with a Pokemon type (fire, water, grass etc) and gives a boost (either attack or defense) to which ever type you pick. Say you pick Fire. if you put a fire Pokemon in it will have increased Fire damage. If you have a Grass Pokemon it will have increased Fire resistance.

Your Pokemon will level up as it battles or the more you interact with it. To level up your character and Pokeballs you use your Pokedex.

Get rid of the Elite 4. Make a Pokemon Knockout Tournament. Starts with 8 trainers:

1. You
2. Your best friend
3. A friend you meet throughout the story
4. Your rival
5. Enemy trainer (from something like Team Rocket)
6. Previous Champion
7. ???
8. ???

It's completely random so in the first round you could be facing your best friend or the previous champion. Quarter final > semi final > final. instead of fighting each round one after another there is a period of time that you need to spend training. it could be 24-72 hours in game. you really do need to train cause if you don't you will have very little chance of winning. whoever wins is crowned Champion.

Once you become champion then you go into something like a mix of Seasons/New Game+. Instead of starting off at the beginning of the game you go into a whole new area with new gyms, missions, story, etc (think of like going to Kanto in G/S). You are automatically entered into the next season of Pokemon League (Season #2) since you are champion (Season #1) so you don't really need to do anything but if you want to stand a chance you'll need to go through the new area, complete missions, and fight the 8 gym leaders to strengthen up. If you fail to defend your title you be kicked back to the start of that area and a new season begins (you won't lose story progress/missions/XP/levels etc. just your badges. so it should be much easier second time). If you become champion again then the entire game is reset except you keep your Pokemon, levels, stats but wild pokemon and trainers are much stronger.

wow...i got carried away lol. it's not perfect i suppose but i did just come up with all that as i typed it out lol. there's probably a lot more i could add or change but i think that gives you a general idea of what kind of Pokemon game i want lol.
 
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Saber

Gold Member
A game using Dragon Quest XI as a base. Full open world, pokemon everywhere, caverns and places to explore and full story and wonders of post-game content. Pretty straightfoward yet closes to the originals(at least in terms of battle transitions).

But this is too much for an Indie company to do.
 

DeceptiveAlarm

Gold Member
I hate turned based. So I would make it more like a spell system like mmos. So I could go in cast attack and watch my pokeman run in and blast them.
 

jigglet

Banned
BOTW engine, cell shaded graphics, WOW MMO style elements, deep Pokemon Go integration.
 
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