Well it comes to Game Freak, they won’t change the tried and true pokémon formula, but they will add a new battle Gimmick each region even if they abandon it the next region. There have been so many fly-by-night ideas passed around its hard to make heads or tales of it all.
While some were good many faltered because they were poorly executed and undeveloped or simply didn’t add anything to the Pokémon formula that made the game severely better. The other one’s actually added a new degree to the gameplay that was interesting to work with. It can only be questioned if Pokémon would look the same each time without these gimmicks? And if they included all the gimmicks available, would pokemon play completely different? Well, here are all the Pokémon battle gimmicks ranked.
11 Raid Battles
Raid battles are one of the worst inclusions in the Pokémon mainline games ever. This idea was so unbalanced in every aspect it essentially ruined the experience of a normal Pokémon playthrough.
From start to end the items are given out, none of it was thought out. The battles themselves are unbalanced with forced damage walls for the Gmax Pokémon and extremely slow and cumbersome battling that is literally frustrating to play.
10 Battle Royales
Battle royals were introduced in Sun and Moon and they rarely worked right. It’s bad when you have an aspect that breaks the game but it’s pretty bad when the aspect itself is brown and hard to enjoy.
Besides one event it wasn’t even necessary to complete the game so many players probably glossed over it anyways, as they should have. If it were put together better, it would have still been a forgettable system, especially with how obvious this was going to be a one region thing.
9 Pokémon Go Catching
Pokémon Go-style catching takes out a lot of the excitement of catching Pokémon. This was introduced in the Let’s Go series and uses the same style as Pokémon Go. While it’s okay for Pokémon Go because it is an app and it’s understandable that it will play different, for a main series game it is monotonous between each encounter and catching them.
Not having to battle them is actually a betrayal of the Pokémon formula and an element people like and expect from Pokémon. It made for a way easier game, especially since catching them gave all your Pokémon experience points so they were constantly over-leveled.
8 Z Moves
Z Moves had very few things interesting about, it could have been a good feature to implement, but overall the execution is what ruined them. Big cheesy and overly lengthy cutscenes already taking away from a lengthy turn-based system only made them irritating to use in normal gameplay.
It’s obviously a feature developed for comparative play as any time it actually could make a huge impact and be worth using it in Pokémon is in a competitive match like that. Otherwise, you could get through Sun and Moon just fine without them, even though they were thrown in your face about how great they are every 5 minutes.
7 G-Maxing
G-maxing, dyna-maxing, or whatever form of gigantic Pokémon you decide to use is a really cheesy aspect. It’s only a slight improvement from Z-moves as a feature, but the execution in battle makes it quite pointless.
It does raise strength in battle but it is still more of a visual feature that like the Pokémon, is over the top.
6 Rotation Battles
Rotation battles were never effectively explained in the game and were confusing to make your way through. It was much like triple battles but there were optional in the late game to take part in.
It’s another feature that died by the wayside, forgotten by Gamefreak and fans alike. It was another feature if modified and developed on it could have been an interested if not good feature.
5 Handicap Battles
Handicap battles were a challenge, but a realistic take on what would happen in the Pokémon world as bad guys will try anything to stop the player. It got lost in the wind with the next generation of Pokémon games.
But it did lead to the question of why the player wouldn’t just send out more Pokémon in most cases, hurting the point of having it in the first place.
4 Double Battles
Double battles used to be a big staple in Pokémon and still are in the competitive scene. It was one of the most important features added onto Pokémon because of that, and it made its first appearance in season 1 of the Pokémon anime before ever coming to the games. It made battles quicker but added logic holes based on execution.
Questions arose based on why when fighting bad guys do they limit themselves to 3 Pokémon each when fighting you when the could have 12 in total? It would have been a tough challenge fighting 12 Pokémon, much like the handicap battles introduced in Black and White.
3 Mega Evolution
Mega Evolution works a lot like G maxing, but with better forms. Many people were always curious about a 4 form Pokémon and Gamefreak provided a way without changing the system.
But this system was killed by Gamefreak limiting it to very specific Pokémon and not all. It pointed out too much the favorites of Nintendo and made them put it on the more profitable Pokémon or the Pokémon they were trying to push instead.
2 Triple Battles
Triple battles brought double battles up a level to a new level and brought a lot of interesting elements to battles themselves. It took longer to prep every move but now you had a new Pokémon of a new type to deal with and plan around.
It was much like a standard turn-based RPG in that way but applied to Pokémon. It always made for some really interesting and intense battles which is something lacking in Pokémon lately.
1 Co-op
Co-Op gameplay from the Let’s Go series is one of the best features included in a Pokémon game. It’s something that was well requested by fans for many years.
This feature could have been done better by making the Co-op player a separate trainer with their own Pokémon as an option and making all encounters double battles, but overall it was a fun feature that actually brought up the whole experience of the Let’s Go games.
NEXT: 10 Pokémon Ash Still Needs To Capture In The Anime
