How would you improve Pokemon?

[calthaer]

I agree with ubersaurus - the time of day thing was pretty neat. I think they should make the time of day / night alternate with play time, however, and not with the actual time of day in the real world.

Re: the huge amounts of Pokemon
Many of the new Pokemon added in Ruby / Sapphire were necessary to fill out the ranks of the Steel and Dark types, which were introduced in GSC and not fully utilized. It seems that they're trying to create a lot of different mixes & matches of types, even covering some of the more obscure ones (i.e. - Jumpluff as a grass / flying type). This really does add to the game, as it can make for some intriguing strategic challenges if somebody makes a team with some of these oddballs.

In addition, the Steel, Ice, and Rock legendaries from Ruby / Sapphire were a welcome change from the Electric / Ice / Fire legendaries from RBY / GSC.

And re: this whole thread -
It sounds like most, if not all of you have never played Colosseum. That game took the rules of Pokemon and "twisted" them a little, having you "snag" or steal other trainers' Pokemon, having Shadow Pokemon, and having all battles be 2v2. That game certainly kept the formula "fresh" and avoided a lot of the stale-ness that the original poster was talking about. Give it a try!

[poloplayr]

Isn't the storyline almost identical in all Pokemon games?!

[Mitch_Naz]

Online play will take the pokemon series to whole new level - just imagine the possibilities (trading, battle'n, chatting, breeding, = community etc.)

[calthaer]

Pokemon is not really about story - it's about game mechanics. The story is relatively unimportant. With the exception of Pokemon Colosseum, all "real" Pokemon games (i.e. - the RPGs) do have the same story:

-You are a kid who gets one Pokemon from a famous professor who studies these creatures. Somewhere along the way this professor (or another one similar to the first and likewise with an arboreal moniker) asks you to go around capturing / sighting these critters and putting the information into an electronic database, called a "Pokedex."

-Along the way, there are usually eight (or more) "gyms" to defeat. Each gym features a particular type of Pokemon (Grass, Fire, Water, Poison, etc.), making a winning strategy against them somewhat easy to formulate. Each gym also gives you a "badge" upon completing it that allow you certain abilities (control more powerful Pokemon, use certain movement abilities like chopping down trees or surfing / swimming on water, etc.) The final challenge is usually an elite group of trainers whose team makeup is more varied.

-Along the way, there is also a team of "evil" trainers who has some agenda and uses Pokemon for terroristic purposes. Team Rocket, Team Magma, Team Aqua, and Team Snag'Em are all examples.

That is about the extent of the "story." It's a very loose and bare-bones framework that exists only to support a complex and intriguing set of game mechanics.


Colosseum changed some of this, namely:

-The evil team HAD the ability to steal other peoples' Pokemon (normally not allowed in the games - you can only catch "wild" ones), but in the opening cinematic your character steals the device that allows this and now uses it against them.

-The evil team is breeding some Pokemon to be "shadow" or "evil" Pokemon, and it is your task to steal these back and "purify" them using various methods (using them in battle, leaving them at the daycare, etc.). Depending on the personality of the critter, some methods are more effecacious than others, and discovering the personality is part of the challenge.

-Nobody asks you to go around getting info and filling up your Pokedex, and there is no professor.

-There are no gyms, only Colosseum(s?), and none of them give you badges - just certain "points" that can be used to purchase things.

Probably more info than you wanted to know, but I'm in one of those "phases" where these are the only games I play

p.s. - Online battle play with Pokemon would be neat, but what I want to hear is how you propose that Nintendo keeps people from pulling an Action Replay and fighting you with six max-gene legendaries that they raised from level 1 and jacked up all the stats with. The cheaters would dominate this game - most players already use cheat devices anyways to get Mew, Celebi, and / or Deoxys.

p.p.s - besides the fact that they market this thing as a kids' game. Can you imagine if someone got in there and, with their chat system, typed in a bunch of swear words to everyone? That would jack up their ESRB rating really quickly. Right now the Union Rooms only allow certain words to be said.

[jdc]

Well.....the interesting thing about Pokemon is that it was originally an RPG "primer" for kids. Yes, I know that many adults played Pokemon, but it hasn't evolved much from being a kid's game. Too bad, because the concept of collecting Pokemon and swapping party members on the fly is addictive as hell and fun. I'd love to see it OFF of the handheld and on to the console as a true turn based 3D RPG. Let the attacks "grow up" as well, making them slightly more visceral while still keeping it acceptable for a broad audience. This franchise has so many possibilities for growth, but Nintendo seems happy to restrict it.

[devilman]

And re: this whole thread -
It sounds like most, if not all of you have never played Colosseum. That game took the rules of Pokemon and "twisted" them a little, having you "snag" or steal other trainers' Pokemon, having Shadow Pokemon, and having all battles be 2v2. That game certainly kept the formula "fresh" and avoided a lot of the stale-ness that the original poster was talking about. Give it a try!

It's a shame that the battles in Colosseum were paced so slowly though - I could easily fall asleep playing it. Were there options of moving things along a little quicker?

[calthaer]

It's a shame that the battles in Colosseum were paced so slowly though - I could easily fall asleep playing it. Were there options of moving things along a little quicker?

I've thought about that, and I think the reason for the "longer" battles was the fact that you had to take out two foes instead of one - it made it a bit longer.

Best way to speed it up is to learn (or look up) which trainers had which guys and to carry types that could easily (and quickly) destroy them (and leave any other ones you want to gain XP in the background with EXP SHARE).

[Steven J. Lumas]

I would improve Pokemon by adding twin thrusters for additional speed, air-to-surface missiles for improved combat ability, and heat-sensing vision so that no living creature could escape the carnage. Just to screw with people a little I'd also add one of those beanie caps with the propeller on top. Imagine the embarrassment of being killed off then !

[Jorpho]

I've only played Yellow, and I have to ask: Did they finally make organizing Pokemon in those confounded 15 boxes any easier? I know that Pokemon Stadium apparently had a reasonable facility for such shuffling.

I also never liked the idea that I might be wasting a TM on a Pokemon that was going to learn the TM's skill eventually anyway. And thus I ended up with a great many unused TMs...

[joshnickerson]

I've only played Yellow, and I have to ask: Did they finally make organizing Pokemon in those confounded 15 boxes any easier? I know that Pokemon Stadium apparently had a reasonable facility for such shuffling.

Yes, Ruby and Sapphire finally introduced a MUCH improved system. You no longer have to save when switching boxes, you can jump from box to box on the fly and move Pokemon from box to party and back without a hitch.

[calthaer]

I also never liked the idea that I might be wasting a TM on a Pokemon that was going to learn the TM's skill eventually anyway. And thus I ended up with a great many unused TMs...

As an addendum to the last comment - you can name the boxes and give them different backgrounds, and Pokemon now have mini-icons that show you visually who they are as well as their names. It's really a breeze.

Re: TMs
The new breeding system allows male Pokemon to pass on moves, and TM moves are included in this. This means that if you teach a TM to one Pokemon, and it is male, you can get that move onto different Pokemon through the breeding process (although there are some limits).

Smeargle, with the move "sketch" that permanently copies any move used against it in experience-based battles (so no fighting your friends to get moves), is also really helpful in this regard.

[MegaDrive20XX]

I'd say, stop adding more Pokemon, there's too many to begin with. What is it now? like 400+?

a 3D remake of Pokemon Blue, Yellow, and Red would be the bomb...those GameBoy games need to come to life.

Stadium is fun, but I was really hoping for some exploring and venturing into those famous cities/towns and such.

[sabre2922]

Kill them all I hate Pokeman

[CatchFiveBats]

a 3D remake of Pokemon Blue, Yellow, and Red would be the bomb...those GameBoy games need to come to life.

I've been dreaming of this idea since a year or two after Pokemon first came out, but it would have to be done right.

I would want the 3D version to stay as faithful to the original as possible, while still adding some features that would make the game a little more exciting for people that have already played through the Game Boy games. It would be pretty cool to be able to relive some of my favorite moments from a game series that consumed a good year or two of my life, so I wouldn't want the new features to be too drastic, but some subtle changes would be most excellent.

Then again, a completely new 3D Pokemon game that actually plays like the Game Boy originals would be great too, although I'm sure that will come soon enough (hopefully).

[maxmouse2008]

I haven't played Pokemon since the Gold version...but I think it would be cool if there was some sort of breeding system.

Like take a male and female, each with their own respective abilities (like resistance to electricity or something)...then their offspring would be a sort of super-powerful breed combining the qualities from both parents.

Well, there is a breeding system already...the offspring get the species from their mother, and can breed moves from the father. As I understand it, their stats are also based on the parents using some formula I've long forgotten.

They need to use some of the things they had from GS. The idea of time and days was awesome, and they took it out in the followups in the series.

There's also ridiculous amounts of Pokemon, making it more difficult to balance out the game when you get to the trainer duels, the biggest replay value. The advent of online play could make that extremely helpful, as making it easier to play other people would do wonders for the game.

How about an "injuries" concept? An injured Pokemon is weaker in some aspect until it heals over the course of a few days. The more fights you put it in without a break, the more prone to injury it'd be. This'd put a nice twist on powertraining one pokemon.

I LOVE the injury concept. My friend(s) always power house ONE pokemon. How many are there anyways?

[Fuyukaze]

The biggest changes I would like to the series would be to include online multiplayer. Ignore this post if such features have been included. I havent played the series sense Red/Blue.

[calthaer]

Not sure if anybody else has seen the latest news on Pokemon XD (rumored title: "Dark Winds, Dark Lugia"), but here is some linkage to some places that have screenshots and pix:

http://www.serebii.net/pokemon_cube/

http://www.cube-europe.com/news.php?nid=7719

And just wanted to highlight an interview with The Reggie that talked about Pokemon XD and how it will be a "real" 3D Pokemon RPG for the 'Cube (which a few of you mentioned in this thread as something you wanted to see):

http://ds.ign.com/articles/594/594846p2.html