The Pokémon franchise is a long and storied one, dating back all the way to the original Game Boy. With that in mind, it makes sense that there are a few choices the series makes that could stand to go to the wayside with generation 9, things that are just a bit outdated. Today, we will be going over 10 of those. Let’s get into it.
10 No Voice Acting
There aren’t all that many cutscenes in the Pokémon games, but when they are present, there’s no voice acting. This is a problem, because it makes the games feel very dated and… it’s just weird to have no one talking in an era where voice acting is so prevalent. This is something that needs to be fixed going into the next generations, even just to keep the games feeling at least somewhat current.
9 No National Dex
While this isn’t as big of a deal as people make it out to be by any means, having the full National Dex available in-game is something that would be nice to see return after the mess that was #Dexit. Not every single Pokémon needs to be catchable in the region, of course, but having the option to transfer them into the game through Pokémon Home would be a nice feature, and would likely end all of the screaming in the Pokémon Twitter replies.
8 Boring Events
Nowadays, event Pokémon are literally just thrown at players through Mystery Gifts, and then that’s it, nothing else to it. That is such a shame.
Back in the day, Mythical Pokémon were accompanied by story events, new areas, small little quests, they actually were something to do. We should go back to this. Mythicals should feel important to get, and actually giving them a little bit of story would make them feel much more weighty. They shouldn’t just be gifted to you by some random mail man.
7 Lack Of Story
On the subject of story, can we beef up the main plot a little bit? Sun & Moon had a great plot, and Black & White did as well. Game Freak has shown that they can do an impactful story time and time again, so can generation 9 not phone it in?
It’s not that Pokémon Sword & Shield had horrible stories, they did some interesting things with the Galar Region lore and gym challenge setup, but the actual story was predictable and boring, which made the games feel somewhat flat.
6 Removal Of Following Pokémon
HeartGold & SoulSilver introduced following Pokémon to the series (with sort of an intro from Pokémon Yellow), and they were taken away from us for years until Let’s Go came around. And then they got taken again. Stop doing that. It is not that hard to have one more model on the screen at all times, and all of the Pokémon already have walking animations programmed in, so just let them walk around with us. Don’t take it away again.
5 No Optional Areas
There are no places that exist in the Galar Region (pre-DLC, at least) that you don’t have to go to. Everywhere exists to fill a story beat, there’s nowhere you can explore just because you feel like it. There used to be plenty of optional areas for players to look around and explore back in the day, and now, that simply doesn’t exist. Let’s hope these areas return in generation 9.
4 Linear Progression
It might be a bit more difficult to balance the games if this were to be implemented, but can we get non-linear progression in these games? If the story isn’t that important, then what’s the problem with having non-linear progression in the games, where players can go wherever they want when they want?
Cut out all of the obvious/annoying gating, scale wild Pokémon to the player’s level, have each gym leader have a different team based on the order that you face them in, easy. Come on, make it happen Game Freak.
3 No Difficulty Options
We haven’t had difficulty options since three generations ago, and we’ve never had difficulty options from the beginning of an adventure, why? Why can’t veteran players up their challenge beyond “set” mode, and why can’t beginners get an easier ride? There’s simply no reason it has to be this way.
2 Fire, Water, And Grass Starters
Fire, Water, and Grass-type starters are tried-and-true, sure, but could we switch it up a bit? Why not throw in different typings, there are plenty that could still function in a triangle and make things feel a bit more interesting. Traditions were made to be broken, and this is one that’s gone on for far too long.
1 Battle Gimmick Swapping
Mega Evolution, Triple Battles, Dynamaxing, Z-Moves. While it isn’t necessary, for some reason Game Freak insists on throwing new battle gimmicks into each of their newest titles. Okay, fine, if you must. However, stop cutting them the second they aren’t important anymore. People tend to like some of these features, why cut something that fans enjoyed? Bring back Mega Evolution.
