Controversial but with lots of variety
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.
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| 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? |
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!
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| 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.
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