Pokémon Hopes For Generation 8?

[MapleSilver]

Just to be clear, I'm not talking about Let's Go, but the next game that takes place in a completely new region. What kinds of things do you hope they would add?

I really hope they keep the feature from Let's Go where Pok?mon follow you, and they don't just remove it like they did in Gen 4. In fact, and this should really go without saying, any direct downgrade from last games is an unwelcome development. I also think it would be interesting if they did a sort of combination of Secret Bases and Join Avenue. It would behave somewhat like Join Avenue but allow for much more customization. That would probably allow for a decent amount of end-game content.

 

[Raayzx]

N E W P O K E M O N S

 

[-Apples-]

The Ice Type to resist Ground and Flying moves. It’s the worst type defensively, and Game Freak hasn’t even improved this type.

 

[EvilTheCat6600]

Just to be clear, I'm not talking about Let's Go, but the next game that takes place in a completely new region. What kinds of things do you hope they would add?

I really hope they keep the feature from Let's Go where Pok?mon follow you, and they don't just remove it like they did in Gen 4. In fact, and this should really go without saying, any direct downgrade from last games is an unwelcome development. I also think it would be interesting if they did a sort of combination of Secret Bases and Join Avenue. It would behave somewhat like Join Avenue but allow for much more customization. That would probably allow for a decent amount of end-game content.

Well I know ALL of these hopes are wishful thinking and will never happen (Masuda once said playing the game casually (aka for fun) is the wrong way to play) but here are a few things I'd like to see to improve the casual-friendly experience:

1. A larger selection of outfit pieces, outfit colors, hairstyles and hair colors. Borrow inspiration from games like Pokken Tournament DX if you must, but I feel that, especially with the limited selection of hair colors, trainer customization is a bit of a joke.

2. The ability to purchase Apricorn Pokeballs at PokeMarts: If you look VERY closely at the displays in the Lumiose City Pokeball Boutique you'll notice they have Apricorn Balls them. This means its entirely possible for these Pokeballs to be sold outside of Johto. And as I like to use aesthetics, such as certain Pokemon in certain Pokeballs, for my collection this is something that would be nice for me and all aesthetic collectors.

3. Severe nerfing of the Masuda Method: How about if you have the shiny charm, you're guaranteed a shiny with 30 egg hatches (Still randomized, of course) and if not 90 to 120 eggs will guarantee? I completed the Alolan Pokedex FOUR TIMES and I still cannot get a shiny Lurantis. And no one online is willing to help me. A "100% Guarantee Of Catching A Shiny" would be nice.

4. A causal friendly battle facility: Imagine if the type-matching system of the Battle Hall in Gen 4 (Choose which Pokemon type your opponent uses) but instead of a competitive level, EV trained AI for the CPU, you can just have fun taking out your opponent with super effective move match ups?

Bear in mind NONE of these wishes are meant to replace any competitive aspect of the game. All the main core elements that competitive scene knows and loves would still be present. But as someone who doesn't play for competition, I feel GameFreak doesn't want me playing the game at all. Actions speak louder then words and when the post game is filled with nothing but Competitive Friendly features, I feel GameFreak is saying I'm not welcome in the Pokemon World until I learn how to "play correctly."

Actually due to their hatred of casual Pokemon players, Generation 8 WILL be the final generation I ever play. I'm giving them what they want and exiting from the Pokemon scene.

 

[MapleSilver]

The Ice Type to resist Ground and Flying moves. It’s the worst type defensively, and Game Freak hasn’t even improved this type.

I am in favor of this suggestion. Not only would a Ground resistance help nerf the dreaded Earthquake, but it would also make a bit of sense because of permafrost. If they want to make most Ice-types slow and bulky, they shouldn't make that type so terrible defensively.

 

[-Apples-]

I am in favor of this suggestion. Not only would a Ground resistance help nerf the dreaded Earthquake, but it would also make a bit of sense because of permafrost. If they want to make most Ice-types slow and bulky, they shouldn't make that type so terrible defensively.

There are a couple of problems, either new problems or problems from gen one. But this is the most serious one.

Other things they should do:

1. Make the trials more interesting (like the Super Mario Sunshine levels).
2. Make hand holding optional.
3. Add more Special Rock moves (Power Gem and Ancient Power aren’t enough), and make them beautiful.
4. Add Flash Freeze or whatever move similar to Thunder Wave, Hypnosis, Toxic, and Will-o-wisp, but causes frozen status condition.

One thing they did right was dropping HMs. And I am neutral to how to level up your Pok?mon in Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee.

 

[Snowesque]

Needs more ghost Pokemon.

 

[EvilTheCat6600]

Needs more ghost Pokemon.

Aren't Fire, Psychic, Ghost and Dragon the four types that have least amount of Pokemon in that typing? (I'm not counting Fairy on that list since it's only been around for two generations)

 

[Snowesque]

EvilTheCat6600
No idea, I just said that as I really like ghost Pokemon.
I do think if they're lacking, they should get more in general realistically.

 

[EvilTheCat6600]

Very true. But I feel that some types have more Pokemon then others do in general to begin with.

 

[Matt0106]

This one is obvious, but a hard difficulty option is SEVERELY needed. Truth me, I don't mind if they have an easy mode for younger audiences, but they should be catering to their older demographic as well. I'm tired of mindlessly defeating easy trainers and OHKO'ing everything, it's ridiculous. So I think they could make an easy mode where trainers are lower-leveled, a normal/hard mode where trainers are tougher, and THEN for some laughs, add a "Pokemon Master" mode, where trainers are significantly stronger, and you receive less EXP than the other two modes (might be a grind but who cares xD).

Another thing is that they need to create a greater amount of new Pokemon. Kalos and Alola brought barely any to the table, while Hoenn, Sinnoh and Unova all came out one after another and yet had very large amounts of Pokemon per region. I want to see at least 90+, but I really think 100+ is necessary. I mean, Alola had such unique and cool looking creatures with interesting stats, but there were barely any to work with, and some were apparently not even competitively viable.

And finally, post-game. We need a bigger and better post-game. Sinnoh had an AWESOME post-game, with so many new areas to explore after the Pokemon League was beaten, and that's not even counting the amount of older-gen Pokemon that were available across the region. Same goes for FireRed/Leafgreen. Those two offered more islands from the Sevii Islands and allowed you to capture Johto Pokemon and trade between Ruby and Sapphire.

 

[EvilTheCat6600]

This one is obvious, but a hard difficulty option is SEVERELY needed. Truth me, I don't mind if they have an easy mode for younger audiences, but they should be catering to their older demographic as well. I'm tired of mindlessly defeating easy trainers and OHKO'ing everything, it's ridiculous. So I think they could make an easy mode where trainers are lower-leveled, a normal/hard mode where trainers are tougher, and THEN for some laughs, add a "Pokemon Master" mode, where trainers are significantly stronger, and you receive less EXP than the other two modes (might be a grind but who cares xD).

Another thing is that they need to create a greater amount of new Pokemon. Kalos and Alola brought barely any to the table, while Hoenn, Sinnoh and Unova all came out one after another and yet had very large amounts of Pokemon per region. I want to see at least 90+, but I really think 100+ is necessary. I mean, Alola had such unique and cool looking creatures with interesting stats, but there were barely any to work with, and some were apparently not even competitively viable.

And finally, post-game. We need a bigger and better post-game. Sinnoh had an AWESOME post-game, with so many new areas to explore after the Pokemon League was beaten, and that's not even counting the amount of older-gen Pokemon that were available across the region. Same goes for FireRed/Leafgreen. Those two offered more islands from the Sevii Islands and allowed you to capture Johto Pokemon and trade between Ruby and Sapphire.

You're issue that you're a competitive Pokemon player. I play Pokemon casually for fun and the last time game had an easy mode was Generation 6. But in Generation 7 the story's AI was on par with the competitive AI used in Post Game Battle Facilities. But in Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, I was NOT one hit KOing everything. And again, I do NOT play competitively. Ever. So the fact that I WAS one hit KOing everything in Generation 5 and 6 pretty much shows that the AI had a difficulty increase.

I still find it hilarious that competitive Pokemon players have become so used to owning the AI that they mistake Gen 7's AI as "Too easy." It's only too easy because they're used to training their Pokemon a specific way so the only real challenge is other humans.

 

[MapleSilver]

This one is obvious, but a hard difficulty option is SEVERELY needed. Truth me, I don't mind if they have an easy mode for younger audiences, but they should be catering to their older demographic as well. I'm tired of mindlessly defeating easy trainers and OHKO'ing everything, it's ridiculous. So I think they could make an easy mode where trainers are lower-leveled, a normal/hard mode where trainers are tougher, and THEN for some laughs, add a "Pokemon Master" mode, where trainers are significantly stronger, and you receive less EXP than the other two modes (might be a grind but who cares xD).

To add to this, trainer AI should improve based on difficulty. They shouldn't do cheap things like "predict" your moves or switches with perfect accuracy, but I've seen AI trainers do some questionable things before.

- - - Post Merge - - -

You're issue that you're a competitive Pokemon player. I play Pokemon casually for fun and the last time game had an easy mode was Generation 6. But in Generation 7 the story's AI was on par with the competitive AI used in Post Game Battle Facilities. But in Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, I was NOT one hit KOing everything. And again, I do NOT play competitively. Ever. So the fact that I WAS one hit KOing everything in Generation 5 and 6 pretty much shows that the AI had a difficulty increase.

I still find it hilarious that competitive Pokemon players have become so used to owning the AI that they mistake Gen 7's AI as "Too easy." It's only too easy because they're used to training their Pokemon a specific way so the only real challenge is other humans.

Keep in mind the word option. You may not be a competitive Pok?mon fan, but there is a large amount of people who are. They should be able to have the experience they want, and if it is an option, then it will not detract from your experience.

 

[EvilTheCat6600]

I am keeping in mind the word option. You misunderstand what I was saying. I was merely voicing my disagreement with Matt's opinion that Generation 7 was "too easy." I found Generations 5 and 6 to be much easier. In fact, if you'll recall my first post in this thread, I ended my long winded statement by saying (or at least I HOPE I said this) that I feel that game needs to provide a mix of casual friendly and competitive friendly features. Whether that's allowing the gamers to select a difficulty level before starting a new game or adding any of the things I would personally like to see, I openly support Pokemon being more open to casual and competitive gamers alike.

I also stand by my statement that I feel Pokemon is geared more towards competitive gamers while hardly offering anything for us casual Pokemon players. The post game battle facility is usually always designed with competitive gamers in mind. I rarely even touch Pokemon anymore unless I'm updating my collection, completing a Pokedex in game or buying outfits for my trainer. There's nothing else FOR me to do as a casual player.

 

[Matt0106]

You're issue that you're a competitive Pokemon player. I play Pokemon casually for fun and the last time game had an easy mode was Generation 6. But in Generation 7 the story's AI was on par with the competitive AI used in Post Game Battle Facilities. But in Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, I was NOT one hit KOing everything. And again, I do NOT play competitively. Ever. So the fact that I WAS one hit KOing everything in Generation 5 and 6 pretty much shows that the AI had a difficulty increase.

I still find it hilarious that competitive Pokemon players have become so used to owning the AI that they mistake Gen 7's AI as "Too easy." It's only too easy because they're used to training their Pokemon a specific way so the only real challenge is other humans.

Um I never said I was a competitive Pokemon player. In fact, I only have a handful of Pokemon that are actually competitively viable, and they are not Pokemon that I choose based on tier; they are chosen based on how much I like them as an actual Pokemon. But regardless, I said OPTION. I'm glad you like how things are, which is why the easy/normal mode would be better for someone who prefers to play Pokemon more casually. I like playing the game casually as well; I don't take natures, IVs and EVs into consideration during my playthrough, but I remember back in Pokemon Platinum, there were some gyms, and even the Pokemon League (Cynthia's Garchomp, I'm looking at you), that made me think "Whoa, that did not go as planned, I need to rethink this." I have not had that feeling at all in the past two generations, and therefore, I'm looking for a challenge, where I could actually think strategically as if I was fighting a real player, hence why there should be more options. Maybe these options could fix the Battle Tree/Battle Maison so you can enjoy them as well, I don't know.

I'm glad you like playing casual, but I'm not you, and therefore, I would prefer to see more options that cater to EVERYONE'S preference and not just casual players.

EDIT: I'm also not saying to make all AI have OP EV-trained, 6 IV galore Pokemon (that's what Pokemon Master mode is for haha). But a lot of AI Pokemon don't use coverage that is available to them.

EDIT #2: I should I also note I have never played Pokemon Ultra Sun/Moon and I am aware that there was apparently a Necrozma fight that was ridiculous.

 

[EvilTheCat6600]

Um I never said I was a competitive Pokemon player. In fact, I only have a handful of Pokemon that are actually competitively viable, and they are not Pokemon that I choose based on tier; they are chosen based on how much I like them as an actual Pokemon. But regardless, I said OPTION. I'm glad you like how things are, which is why the easy/normal mode would be better for someone who prefers to play Pokemon more casually. I like playing the game casually as well; I don't take natures, IVs and EVs into consideration during my playthrough, but I remember back in Pokemon Platinum, there were some gyms, and even the Pokemon League (Cynthia's Garchomp, I'm looking at you), that made me think "Whoa, that did not go as planned, I need to rethink this." I have not had that feeling at all in the past two generations, and therefore, I'm looking for a challenge, where I could actually think strategically as if I was fighting a real player, hence why there should be more options.

I'm glad you like playing casual, but I'm not you, and therefore, I would prefer to see more options that cater to EVERYONE'S preference and not just casual players.

Well that was on me for assuming play competitively. I apologize for that. I'm so used to that complaint coming from the competitive crowd that I just automatically, and sometimes incorrectly, assume that only the competitive crowd thinks that way.

Additionally I have to say that I strictly feel that the game is geared more toward competitive players then casual players, so while I 100% agree with you that Pokemon should cater to everyone's preference, I think we're going to have different opinions as to which preference GameFreak tends to cater towards.

In 2013, I remember reading an article (I can't remember where I read it or whether or not a retraction was printed afterwards) where they basically said "In an interview with so-and-so, Junici Masuda said that there is a right way to play Pokemon and a wrong way to play Pokemon." The article also mentioned that Masuda's opinion was that playing competitively was the right way to play.

Not only do I disagree with that statement, that's also why I feel like the game favors competitive play over causal play to begin with. You turn though. Why do you feel the opposite about who it caters towards? (And yes, I'm seriously asking because I do enjoy having a good discussion about gaming)

 

[Matt0106]

Well that was on me for assuming play competitively. I apologize for that. I'm so used to that complaint coming from the competitive crowd that I just automatically, and sometimes incorrectly, assume that only the competitive crowd thinks that way.

Additionally I have to say that I strictly feel that the game is geared more toward competitive players then casual players, so while I 100% agree with you that Pokemon should cater to everyone's preference, I think we're going to have different opinions as to which preference GameFreak tends to cater towards.

In 2013, I remember reading an article (I can't remember where I read it or whether or not a retraction was printed afterwards) where they basically said "In an interview with so-and-so, Junici Masuda said that there is a right way to play Pokemon and a wrong way to play Pokemon." The article also mentioned that Masuda's opinion was that playing competitively was the right way to play.

Not only do I disagree with that statement, that's also why I feel like the game favors competitive play over causal play to begin with. You turn though. Why do you feel the opposite about who it caters towards? (And yes, I'm seriously asking because I do enjoy having a good discussion about gaming)

I understand, but GameFreak has been moving from this. I actually read up somewhere (I don't remember where but if you look it up, you could maybe find), that GameFreak is trying to shy gamers away from excessive breeding in Pokemon. Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go is a prime example, as the option to breed was removed, though that could also be because breeding was not in Gen 1. But a good example is Sun and Moon. They introduced the Hyper-Training method in order to allow more novice players to have easier access to higher stat Pokemon. So personally, I feel like GameFreak is headed towards a more casual direction, especially because Pokemon Go players could be potential consumers if the games are easy enough.

EDIT: Just missed the part where you said what Masuda said so I edited the post. Sorry, I'm illiterate today.

 

[EvilTheCat6600]

I understand, but GameFreak has been moving from this. I actually read up somewhere (I don't remember where but if you look it up, you could maybe find), that GameFreak is trying to shy gamers away from excessive breeding in Pokemon. Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go is a prime example, as the option to breed was removed, though that could also be because breeding was not in Gen 1. But a good example is Sun and Moon. They introduced the Hyper-Training method in order to allow more novice players to have easier access to higher stat Pokemon. So personally, I feel like GameFreak is headed towards a more casual direction, especially because Pokemon Go players could be potential consumers if the games are easy enough.

EDIT: Just missed the part where you said what Masuda said so I edited the post. Sorry, I'm illiterate today.

Eh I think we all have our illiterate days so it's all good. I'm glad that they're trying to stray away from the strictly competitive market, but I believe their best strategy would be to actually just up and ask "What do you want?" to the community and implement whatever the most reasonable features to find the best balance.

I'll definitely have to look it up if I can. Are there any keywords or phrases besides "Pokemon" and "less excessive breeding" that I should use? I am bad with Google, honestly. Lol.

Also, I always thought breeding was removed because they were trying to make the game as close to looking and feeling like a Gen 1 game by removing specific features that didn't exist prior to Gen 2 while keeping in obvious changes like the Fairy type, so what they said in the article about why the removed breeding is me learning something for the day. Pretty cool though.

 

[MapleSilver]

I am keeping in mind the word option. You misunderstand what I was saying. I was merely voicing my disagreement with Matt's opinion that Generation 7 was "too easy." I found Generations 5 and 6 to be much easier. In fact, if you'll recall my first post in this thread, I ended my long winded statement by saying (or at least I HOPE I said this) that I feel that game needs to provide a mix of casual friendly and competitive friendly features. Whether that's allowing the gamers to select a difficulty level before starting a new game or adding any of the things I would personally like to see, I openly support Pokemon being more open to casual and competitive gamers alike.

I also stand by my statement that I feel Pokemon is geared more towards competitive gamers while hardly offering anything for us casual Pokemon players. The post game battle facility is usually always designed with competitive gamers in mind. I rarely even touch Pokemon anymore unless I'm updating my collection, completing a Pokedex in game or buying outfits for my trainer. There's nothing else FOR me to do as a casual player.

Ah I think I understand you now. I think we pretty much agree with each other, and we simply have different play styles. I think part of this problem is their insistence on removing seemingly every fun casual experience in whatever game comes after. I do enjoy the more relaxing parts of Pok?mon like Secret Bases or The Underground, especially after some particularly intense online battles. It would be great if they could figure out how to effectively appeal to both of these markets, because they each seem to have a large amount of people in them. Even if the competitive crowd does tend to be the more vocal of these groups.

I think that adding a hard mode, and some more end-game content that doesn't involve competitive battling could help satisfy both markets. Of course I'm sure it's not that simple, but it seems like a decent starting point.

 

[Matt0106]

Eh I think we all have our illiterate days so it's all good. I'm glad that they're trying to stray away from the strictly competitive market, but I believe their best strategy would be to actually just up and ask "What do you want?" to the community and implement whatever the most reasonable features to find the best balance.

I'll definitely have to look it up if I can. Are there any keywords or phrases besides "Pokemon" and "less excessive breeding" that I should use? I am bad with Google, honestly. Lol.

Also, I always thought breeding was removed because they were trying to make the game as close to looking and feeling like a Gen 1 game by removing specific features that didn't exist prior to Gen 2 while keeping in obvious changes like the Fairy type, so what they said in the article about why the removed breeding is me learning something for the day. Pretty cool though.

Yeah exactly, that's why they removed it for Let's Go. Just like how they removed abilities and held items, which honestly I didn't mind at all, because I don't put held items aside from the Lucky Egg during my playthrough. As for the breeding thing, I just looked it up by typing "Masuda dislikes breeding Pokemon" and a video from a guy named Verlisify showed up, so maybe it's similar to what I was talking about. And yeah, I really think they should just ask what we want to see. I know for Octopath Traveler, Square Enix made a demo and took the feedback from that demo to make the game better. I would LOVE to see that implemented in a Pokemon Demo!

ALSO! I only remembered now, but one thing I want to see is bigger environments and less linear paths. I know some people are against this, so this is just my personal preference, but I would love to see an open-world Pokemon game. Maybe not for the next one, but some day!