Pokémon Gen VIII; a retrospective

 Controversial but with lots of variety

In only a few short weeks, Pokémon Scarlet & Violet will herald the start of the 9th Pokémon generation. With this beginning also comes an ending: the end of generation 8. The end of the Sword & Shield era of games. A controversial and rocky era for the Pokémon franchise but also one that showed a lot of variety and a lot of promise for the games’ future. 

Let’s take a look back at the last 3 years of Pokémon, the good and the bad, where gen 9 could go from here and, of course, how I experienced it. To get the disclaimer out of the way early: I didn’t play every single game that came out as part of this generation. I never got around to buying Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX, but never got around to it. In the case of New Pokémon Snap and all the mobile games, they just never interested me. But all entries in the core series are accounted for, don’t worry about that!

So, without further ado, let’s dive in.

The divide of the fanbase: Déxit.

Before Sword & Shield were even out, trouble was brewing. The 2nd biggest controversy in the history of the franchise hit. Only the ‘anti-Pokémon’ movement during the big PokéMania of the late90s was worse. Déxit. Up until Sword & Shield, all Pokémon were programmed into every single core series entry. Even if you couldn’t catch, say, Ralts in the game you could always transfer them in. Starting with Sword & Shield that’s no longer the case. The Pokémon in the Pokédex, bar very few exceptions, is all you get.

With this, the genie was out of the bottle. Not only were their heated, borderline aggressive debates about Déxit, but it was also an invitation for all the toxicity to break through the surface like a volcanic eruption. It got really bad, employees and game freaks getting harassed and threatened bad, and I don’t look back at this time fondly.

I myself understand the reasoning behind the decision but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. I play Pokémon for singleplayer. Going through the region with different teams of Pokémon, with different starters. I always found it a lot of fun to bring in Pokémon not native to the game and use them throughout a 2nd or 3rd playthrough. I liked that I could bring in all my old Pokémon from my ‘official’ team and have them all hanging around and standing by in the latest games. I still miss these things.

 There are nearly 1000 Pokémon now, not even including different forms. I understand that’s a lot and it’s a lot of work to give these all updated models of quality. It’s a lot to keep track of for developers and fans alike. So yeah, I do understand the decision. But couldn’t they at least have worked on their communication? We know the reason now but back then, it was all kind of dodgy. The way the news was brought out was confusing and the reasons they used were… flimsy.

In the future, whenever something like this pops up again, the Pokémon Company would be wise to make sure that their communication on the subject is top-notch. It’ll spare everyone a lot of unpleasantness.

Sword & Shield

With that unpleasantness out of the way, we can get to Sword & Shield proper; and even that is its own Ekans pit. I will reiterate what I said in my review: Pokémon Sword & Shield aren’t great games but they are good games. They are perfectly fine Pokémon games even with all their flaws.

Those flaws are plentiful; from Déxit to the lacklustre and limiting story to how unambitious it feels. Sword & Shield are the first, traditional, core Pokémon titles on a ‘home’ console. Game Freak has so much more power they could leverage and, well, it doesn’t feel like they made any use of it. These games are very standard and by the numbers. Linear, without camera control, with random encounters and with graphics and performance that most found to be below average. All of the above is why Sword & Shield are looked down upon by the more hardcore Pokémon fanbase.

Sword & Shield are far from a masterclass in visuals but I still think the visuals aren't bad. I mean, doesn't the above look lovely?

They might be disappointing, but they are still good games. They’re fun, have a great aesthetic and atmosphere, come with lots of multiplayer features, quality of live improvements and well-designed Pokémon And most importantly: are fun. I don’t think they would’ve sold nearly 25 million copies if they weren’t. 

And I had fun. I thought the story was frustrating and I agree that the game did not make use of the power of the Switch. I still enjoyed my time with it for all the reasons stated above. With over 270 hours of playtime, it’s my most played Switch game in no small part thanks to completing the Pokédex, Max Raid battles and another bright spot these games have: the DLC. 

The Isle of Armor & The Crown Tundra

The Isle of Armor & The Crown Tundra are the first set of DLC a Pokémon game has ever gotten and they are quite good. Both pieces improve on the base game and bring in features that people have wanted, like level scaling and a 360° camera outside of the Wild Area. With some fun stories, brand-new Pokémon and experimentation that felt like Game Freak testing the waters for bigger things to come.

In short: they were better than Sword & Shield and even more enjoyable, especially to an older player like me. Even they weren’t without controversy; a lot of people saw the returning Pokémon as Game Freak ‘selling us back Pokémon’ but when all was said and done the DLC was a success and is looked back upon fondly.

Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl

We’re not out of the controversial/disappointing part of the woods just yet. As has been the pattern for the last decade or so, gen 8 saw another pair of remakes hit the shelves. The long-anticipated Diamond & Pearl remakes; Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl. What could’ve been a slam-dunk became once again marred it came with disappointment and controversy.

The problems with BDSP, for many, are the visuals and performance. Instead of going for the same cell-shaded style as Sword & Shield, Sun & Moon etc. Instead, these games went for a chibi art style that’s reminiscent of Diamond & Pearl’s pixel graphics. Not a lot of people liked this chibi art, which many thought was childish, a downgrade and just not that appealing. 

Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl are developed by ILCA, the same developers behind Pokémon Home, and the first core-series games developed by not-Game Freak. People aren’t that happy with this decision. The game is, let’s say, rough in the performance department. There were problems with the programming and, to this day, there’s stuff like characters not having shadows when it's raining for some odd reason.

I find this rather… ironic and hypocritical. For the last few years, people have wanted Game Freak to take more time with their games and experiment. Let other studios have a crack at a core series game and when they do experiment a bit and let the game be developed by another studio, people shoot it down. 

That said, I’m not the biggest fan of these remakes either. The graphics I’m fine with but the performance problems plaguing made me sigh quite a bit. The third piece of criticism, that the games stick too close to the originals, I 100% agree with as well. The issues I had with Diamond & Pearl went beyond the slow battles. The pacing of the story, small and unvaried Pokémon selection etc. The new content, like the revamped Underground, is nice and fun but doesn’t solve any of these problems but does bring in problems of its own. The games didn’t even bother to include evolutions introduced later like the other remakes did while that’s only one Pokémon, Sylveon, nor have there been any attempts to connect it to Legends: Arceus. The game was marketed heavily as a companion piece of sorts. 

I think Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl are better than the originals but not by much. For newcomers, those who’ve never been to Sinnoh before they’re fine but if you’re a bit older then I would recommend hunting down Pokémon Platinum instead. 

Legends: Arceus

Finally, we’re at the non-controversial entry of the generation. Pokémon Legends: Arceus. A game that took a gamble and saw that gamble pay off. Taking the series to a different era in history and to an open-world formula resulted in the best Pokémon game in years. Going ‘Breath of the Wild’ so to speak. Just like Pokémon GO recaptured a lot of lapsed Pokémon players, so did Legends: Arceus. It moves the series in an exciting new direction by going semi-open world, combining lots of elements that make these games so appealing with Pokémon. The sense of freedom the exploration, the crafting and the lack of any transitions to a battle give you so much more control and feels like that Pokémon game you wanted as a kid.

I could go on but I think you get the point. It’s flawed (what isn’t) but it's hands down the best game of the generation. I’m crossing my fingers that Game Freak will continue the ‘Legends' brand. Quite a bit of the talk surrounding Scarlet & Violet was about how many elements of Legends Arceus would be in it (another feather in its cap) but from the looks of it, quite a bit is left out. The catching, the crafting, the battle system, the research tasks etc. Enough to, alongside new innovations, differentiate ‘Legends’ from the core series. I think the brand has a lot of potential and that Game Freak won’t let this game be a ‘one-and-done’.

There are flaws, of course, but I think you get the picture by now. The game is good. More please!

Want to guess who my favourite Pokémon of this gen is?

The spin-offs; Mystery Dungeon & Pokémon Snap

Pokémon generation 8 was kind to spin-off titles as well. People had written off console spin-offs with how well the mobile spin-off were doing that we wouldn’t get them on consoles anymore. Seeing them pop up here on Switch is nice to see.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon DX is the first remake of a spin-off title and succeeds in that, though from what I’ve seen and heard it lacks improvements. Just like BDSP, it sticks too close to the originals and feels ‘old’ as a result. I think the mileage on the gameplay, the randomized dungeons, is also something that just isn’t that strong nor has that much appeal to it. The visuals look good though, a bit of a ‘painted’ feel and unliked BDSP they did include the new evolutions. Sylveon included.

Pokémon Snap has always been a fan favourite for those who played it so it finally getting a sequel is nice. The game looks quality, with the graphics, in particular, being better than anything Game Freak has put out. Not that I think the graphics are that big of a deal for Pokémon games but it has to be said. They are good and I don’t think it’s a total coincidence Scarlet & Violet’s visuals resemble it.

What I find telling though is how quickly this game fell off. It sold very well in its debut but I haven’t found any evidence it had any legs to speak off. The conversation around the game died off quickly as well. By the time the free updates rolled around, people didn’t really seem to notice them.

Both titles sold well, both sold over 2 million copies but were not ‘greatest hits’ material. There’s some room for improvement here, is what I take away from this. Again, I didn’t play them, but just their existence was good to see. That the Pokémon Company is still willing to make/ have them made is good to see. Perhaps coming Black Friday, if I find a decent deal, I’ll finally pick up Mystery Dungeon DX.

Oh, and the console/mobile titles? They don’t interest me but if you liked them, more power to you!

Overall thoughts

Pokémon generation 8 was a rocky generation. From the numerous controversies surrounding Déxit, the quality of the releases and just the choices Pokémon made in general. Even when they made games that were surprising and people liked, it only seemed to be more wood on the ‘Game Freak is bad’ fire. ‘New Pokémon Snap looks really good so that made the visuals of Sword & Shield even worse.’ So tiring.

Anyway, counter to that is the sheer variety and promise the generation had. If we cheat a little and also include the Let’s Go games, the Switch has 4 very different core series titles. From a very casual and beginner-friendly title to the standard game, to the remake done by a different studio to the (almost) open-world title. Add in the spin-offs and you have a generation full of different experiences to choose from.

Such a variety, such willingness to experiment and innovate is promising for the series’ future. Scarlet and Violet are already shaping up to be quite different. Even more open world than Legends Arceus and as free to choose what you do as in Breath of the Wild.

I look back with some disappointment toward this gen, I could indeed have been a greater and all the controversies have really soured a lot for me, but in the end, I do have a fondness for it and don’t consider it a bad generation. Just a disappointing and wild one.