How Pokémon’s jump to the next generation became the catalyst for many fans falling out with the franchise.

You know what game’s been blowing up like gangbusters? Palworld. Taking plenty of elements from popular franchises like Breath of the Wild & Ark: Survival Evolved, this surprise hit with fans & critics can best be described as “Pokémon with guns.” While many view the game as nothing but a knockoff, player counts are rivalling popular games like Baldur’s Gate 3 & sales figures have already passed 5 million even though the game’s still in early access & it’s been out for less than a week. (via IGN) Personally, I don’t have much interest in playing the game currently, but Palworld’s success got me thinking about how Pokémon (the obvious source of inspiration) but the more I remembered, the more I realized how out of focus I’ve been with the Pokémon franchise, but why?

It’s not like Pokémon’s been on some mysterious hiatus, as of 2023, the Pokémon franchise has sold more than $150 billion in games, trading cards, movies, merchandise, etc. (info via Fandom). Yet something feels off with the franchise. Ever since Nintendo migrated their second biggest cash cow to the Nintendo Switch, it feels like Game Freak’s been giving us less & less quality in their releases. Sure there’s always been the one or two releases that go beyond what I’m saying, but ask any Pokémon fan about their favourite entry in the franchise, and a very small minority will actually give you games that game from the Nintendo Switch.

Pokémon Sword/Shield & The National Dex Debacle

Released in 2019, Pokémon Sword & Shield was the first official mainline Pokémon game released on a home console, and the overall reaction was mixed. While critics were impressed with the game, giving it an average score of 8/10 or 4/5, most reviews outside of publicized sources thought that Pokémon Sword & Shield was either nothing special or a lazy entry for the franchise. Simply put, Pokémon was starting to become stale, and given the hardware capabilities of the Nintendo Switch, Game Freak had done nothing more but slap another coat of paint on their prized racehorse. Personally, I found the games to be okay, but there were some glaring issues (the lack of new Pokémon to the region, no options for skipping dialogue, and the new region not being that memorable). Yet, there was another issue that hit Pokémon fans harder than too much water.

Before the game’s release in November 2019, Nintendo & Game Freak showed off a preview of the game & some of its features, they mentioned that not every Pokémon would be returning to the new instalments because they were focusing on upgrading Pokémon models to better fit the Switch’s hardware. Sure this offended many in the community, as at the time, Pokémon had close to 900 Pokémon to catch & collect so of course cuts had to be made, but then two major discoveries were made.

1. Missing Pokémon from Sword & Shield were not only unavailable in the base game, but you couldn’t even bring them over from other Pokémon games via Pokémon Home. In a statement posted to Pokémon.com, series director Junichi Masuda said that “even if a specific Pokémon is not available in Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield, that does not mean it will not appear in future games.” To fans, this basically meant that if a Pokémon you like isn’t in the new game, go buy the next game and maybe they’ll be there.
2. Pokémon lied about reconstructing Pokémon models, walk cycles, and move animations. Most of the models appeared similar, if not copied directly from Pokémon Sun & Moon, the previous games on far less superior hardware. In fact, the preview footage showcased many of the game’s graphical flaws, like a poorly rendered tree or a Pokémon kick move in where the Pokémon barely lifts his foot to attack.

Obviously, fans were pissed, citing the game as lazy or the product of a rushed development. Yet, it didn’t stop the game from selling over 26 million copies as of the end of 2023 (via Wikipedia) So what happened? Obviously, there were critics who panned many of these issues, yet Pokémon fans continued on, playing the game, buying the DLC which fixed some of the issues that fans had with the game (even though it was extra), and evolving the game as the competitive community started to migrate in. It was almost like all the negativity surrounding these games vanished, like it was completely ignored, but I believe it comes down to two main ideas. Pokémon fans still enjoyed the formula that worked for decades, and the negativity that affected the franchise was mainly targeted towards the hardcore fans. If Game Freak wanted to piss off their regulars, they’d have to wait until the next generation, but if they wanted to piss off long-time fans like me, they only had to wait until their next releases…

Brilliant, but Lazy

Most Pokemon fans who grew up in my generation of Pokemon started off playing either Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, or Platinum. So by the early 2020s, these games were more than due for a proper big-budget remake with enhanced graphics, modern gameplay mechanics, and a more grand story. Lo and behold, Pokémon fans were granted their wish in February 2021, with Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, & a trailer that blew their minds, and not in a good way. Game Freak & Nintendo were giving the fans a remake of Pokémon Diamond & Pearl, but it was basically the same games from almost 20 years ago but with different chibi-like graphics. Pokemon fans were not happy, not only because of the amazingly underwhelming reveal, but also because prior to the game’s release in November 2021, very little was shown off that Pokémon fans already knew about.

Once November pulled around, reviews piled in and not even the usually generous review outlets were capable of saving this waste of time. From the 6-7/10’s from industry reviewers to the legions of fans on YouTube venting their immense frustration at a game that they already played 20 years ago but barely any different. Hell, I was still mad about the reveal so I didn’t bother playing it. Even the most divisive Pokémon games like Sword & Shield, Sun & Moon, and another example later on have some level of replayability to it, yet Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl were so interchangeable from their DS counterparts, that most players just went back to their old copies of Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, or even Platinum (which had so much more content than the 2021 rerelease). Outside of the graphical choices, the biggest issues that players had with BDSP were that yet again Game Freak barely utilized the Switch and its hardware (leading to long load times, textures not popping up, and an overall dull product), and that content that was in the original source material being removed because of time restrictions (i.e. the Battle Frontier & select mystery events). Hell, these games sold so poorly compared to Pokémon standards, that Game Freak released all the planned events for these games all at once just so they could be done with it. So I ask you this, were Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl a disappointment for fans, absolutely. Was it a failure for Nintendo? I mean you could find copies on Amazon currently for around $50 (which is unheard of for first-party Nintendo Switch games) so you be the judge. Yet, BDSP wasn’t as big of a failure for GF as originally thought.

You see, even though GF had helped with development, an almost unheard-of team of developers named ILCA were the primary developers behind the Diamond & Pearl remakes. So if ICLA were developing BDSP, what was Game Freak working on?

Enter Pokémon Legends: Arceus, an alternative look at remaking the Diamond & Pearl games that dropped a couple months after BDSP in January 2022. Instead of the linear Pokémon experience, gamers were dropped into a large environment and got to explore large areas of the Sinnoh region & play to their heart’s content. Pokémon battles were there, but players could approach battles by examining how the Pokémon moves around, or utilize different tools to apprehend the Pokémon. The story also allowed players to experience an era in Pokémon that’s brimming with potential, and rework Pokémon to better suit the environment.

Don’t get me wrong, the game is great, and a fresh take on the repetitive nature of playing Pokémon, yet Nintendo & Game Freak never really capitalized on that initial success. Once the game got released, there was one update that gave us two legendaries to capture, and that’s all she wrote. It felt almost like Nintendo & Game Freak abandoned ship once the game was out to work on the next title that was released the same year (which is never a good sign).

The Problem with Game Freak

Pokémon Scarlet & Violet is bad. No hyperbole, or any wacky story of anything before launch, the game is bad, yet how can that be considering the previous release in January? Easily put, the game is unfinished, and easily the worst generation of Pokémon to date from a technical perspective. Bear in mind that Pokémon Scarlet & Violet are Fall 2022 releases, so when I say that the game runs like you deep-fried your Nintendo Switch, that’s being generous. The region is constantly dealing with pop-in textures, the frame rate will tank at random, and oh lord to glitches. It’s even funny since these massive experiences like Xenoblade Chronicles 3 & Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom were released relatively close to Pokémon SV, so the problem isn’t the Switch, this is a lack of effort & rushed development that falls 100% on Game Freak.

Gameplay-wise, GF evolved from what they attempted in Pokémon Legends: Arceus and made the entire game open world, meaning that if you want to go somewhere, you’re allowed. Yet, the balancing available in the game means that you really don’t serve a reason to go there, unless you just want to go somewhere. On top of that, the region itself is nothing more than empty space, with like one or two major points on the map that actually stand out. Also since the game is non-linear, the story is one that’s cut into three separate mini-campaigns which can be summarized as:

1. Fight the 8 Gym Leaders & become the champions
2. Beat the evil Team Star (a.k.a the worst Pokémon evil team ever)
3. Go fight big Pokémon to upgrade your mount

Battles are incredibly easy, and the yearly gimmick is just adding a new type to your Pokémon felt uninspired. Characters weren’t as developed as The Pokémon Company wanted, and furthermore, the game feels half-baked. There’s no post-game content, no patching for any bugs & crashes, and even worse, content that feels like it belongs in the base game was saved for the DLC, but even the DLC was half-baked. DLC 1 takes away the freedom from the base game and feels like a segment of the original map that you had to pay for. DLC 2 gives you a new area that’s just as soulless as the main map, and has you do a bunch of tedious quests before anything relevant happens.

Is there Hope?

People were not happy with Pokémon SV, especially at launch. Beyond the critics who soured up to the new entries, fans flat out decided against buying the new games in protest of the game’s flaws. Yet, as of 2024, the game sold more than 23 million copies (via NintendoLife), despite the game still being a mess. So why is the franchise still succeeding? Is it because the bright & colourful designs appeal to the younger audiences? Is it solely based off the franchises’ legacy & selling off name brand alone? Or is it that we as consumers attracted to buying products, regardless of quality.

I honestly consider Pokémon to be this “zombie franchise” in where The Pokémon Company & Game Freak can produce literally anything, regardless of quality and people will still flock in droves to buy it. Obviously, COVID-19 has plenty to do with some of the latter games, but compared to other studios within Nintendo, this is barely an excuse. If a game isn’t ready, you delay it or else your brand & company will suffer in the long run. Hell, Retro Studios has been working on Metroid Prime 4 since 2019 and we haven’t heard any updates. Why? Development takes time, and fans can afford to wait, especially since Pokémon fans have been mouth-fed some kind of Pokemon game yearly, rather it be mainline or spinoff.

Games like Pokémon Legends: Arceus prove that Game Freak is willing to take time to innovate, given that they don’t have to meet a deadline, yet given the recent trajectory of the franchise, I don’t expect the next Pokémon games to push the needle. Even if you don’t take away much from this article, I want you to realize that Game Freak & Nintendo aren’t putting as much effort into the latter generations of Pokémon compared to previous games. The amount of new Pokémon are shrinking, gameplay is getting stale & repetitive, and the biggest issue is that Game Freak is always pushing out a product & meeting a deadline so there’s no room to innovate. Regardless, remember that even giants fall, and for a franchise as big as Pokémon, the next console from Nintendo could become the end of the road for many Pokémon fans.