NintendObs Thinks: Reflecting on the new direction of Pokémon games.
Discovering why Pokémon does not bear the habit of being groundbreaking anymore.
Pokémon and I are no longer friends. And that’s from someone who was in elementary school with his Game Boy Color and Pokémon Red in the 90’s. There was a time when every single Pokémon game, just like Nintendo games, would at least try to be the best at what it was trying to accomplish, the very best, like no one ever was. That’s not the case anymore at The Pokémon Company, ever since Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield launched on Nintendo Switch. Original and new fans have been complaining about this since these games too, but now I want to explore why this pivot took place. Why The Pokémon Company seems to have made the calculated decision of not giving their all, now that they are working on a current-generation home console rather than on strictly underpowered handhelds.
But before I go there let’s be honest with ourselves real quick. Sure, the latest trailer for Pokémon Legends Arceus had its share of interesting features. The ability to fly, surf and race across the Hisui region. Pokémon battles happening seamlessly on the map, even right where they are triggered. But it goes without saying that the presentation, the scope and the execution of the game are in no way comparable to its obvious inspiration on the same console, even though the new Pokémon title arrives nearly five years later. (“Legends” being a reference to The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild.) It also bears mentioning how much Pokémon Legends Arceus unquestionably pales in comparison to the upcoming Sequel to The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild.
There have to be reasons why Pokémon no longer cares to place the quality of their titles as their number one priority vis-à-vis the hardware they’re working on, and I think that I’m partially beginning to understand them. First, and it is absolutely not an excuse, switching from Nintendo 3DS to Nintendo Switch is quite a momentous leap to say the least, which therefore requires a different order of magnitude in terms of resources to be done at the level one could expect from a franchise as reknown as Pokémon. But I believe these changes also came to The Pokémon Company as an opportunity, giving them the guarantee that no matter the investment, the first core mainline Pokémon games in high definition would have a 100% chance of being breakaway hits, and they did. So putting one’s self in Mr. Ishihara’s shoes, why take more time, more money, and hire more permanent employees into the Pokémon family for exactly the same results?