If you could design a Pokemon game, what would you do differently?

[Banister75]

1. I'd add 2 kinds of battle: First, the 2D standard battle which would include one-on-one, two-on-two, and three-on three. And there would also be a 3D strategic action one-on-one mode. Every pokemon would have a stamina bar, determined by certain factors, recharging over time, or once they have been hit. Pokemon would be able to dodge attacks and charge to get closer or away with the stylus, lowering their stamina bar, making them rest when it's gone. Attacks and held items would still have effects, and attacks would still be similar, flame thrower would still be a stream of fire, but you could use the L and R buttons to turn, and use the stylus to move the stream of fire.

2. A ability to throughly interact with your pokemon, other than "You found another useless accessory on the ground, YAAY Arceus!" With flying pokemon, you'll actually able to fly everywhere above the map, and reach secret TMs and evolution item shops, and find rare flying types. You'll able to use ground types to go underground like P/D/PLA. And you can use water pokemon to use surf and dive like R/S/E and find sunkern ships and submarine with rare items.

3.There are no HMs, the trainer gets skills like cut and rock smash.

4.When you catch a wild pokemon, you can choose its ability.

5.A more developed storyline than " We want to capture your electric rat that is useless, and that our boss probably doesn't want anymore."

6.We get more regions, less version exclusive pokemon, and less event legendaries.

 

[Pearwood]

Oh and I forgot to mention one big problem.

Someone was paid money to design this. Also stuff like this:

just won't do. That's not even a palette swap, it's just not caring.

 

[chromewarriorXIII]

I'd also stop the one action per turn gameplay, allowing for more strategy in the games.

This, definitely. I'd personally make it so that the battles were time based instead of turn based. Have a bar that fills up and when it fills up, you can attack. Have it fill up faster depending on your Pokemon's speed. I think it make it much more interesting.

Also, mimicking what others have said, all the regions and all the Pokemon, in one game.

 

[electronicgoat]

No grinding. At all. Ditch the whole moral of bonding with your pokemon = fighting with them. B&W almost had a decent villain gang, but the whole thing was ruined by that lousy, forced "moral". Then again, it would be asking a whole lot to add the topic of moral justification and animal cruelty to a game designed for children, but I just think there should be some other workaround for it.

 

[SoranMBane]

If I was a game developer and, for whatever reason, Nintendo suddenly dropped the Pokemon IP on my lap and said "make something out of this," I'd probably just drop the whole party-based RPG concept completely and make something entirely different. Most likely an action RPG for the consoles played from the point of view of a single pokemon (probably an Eevee, since they're so flexible in terms of what they can become and the kind of choices that would allow the player to make) on some sort of epic quest. I always wondered why this has never really been done before, considering all the fun and possibly innovative mechanics that could come from putting a pokemon's powers directly into the player's hands.

 

[AussieTex]

Make it an MMO.

Seriously... does anybody else think they're missing a great opportunity? Pre-existing fanbase, open-world concept, levelling system.

Seems like it would be a perfect fit to me.

I like that idea. It might actually get me into MMOs

 

[higgs20]

Has anyone here taken the Nuzlocke Challenge? I think having an option to integrate it into the game could be a good way to make Pokemon more meaningful than cardboard cut-outs you yell orders at.

just started one, I lost Kevin the pidgey to a critical hit quick attack this morning...it was rough.

the next pokemon I could catch was another pidgey...but it's not the same.

 

[J.McMillen]

Make it an MMO.

Seriously... does anybody else think they're missing a great opportunity? Pre-existing fanbase, open-world concept, levelling system.

Seems like it would be a perfect fit to me.

I like that idea. It might actually get me into MMOs

I've always wondered why they never tried that. I'd set it up like Guild Wars where the towns are shared zones, but when you leave it's instanced for you and your group. Mostly to try and cut back on dickish behavior, especially since the average player age would be lower. What I wouldn't do is try to charge $14.99 a month. I'd either charge $4.99 a month or make it Free-to-Play and charge a small fee for higher end pokeballs and equipment (TM's, bicycle, etc).

 

[Flippincrazy]

I'd introduce 150 new Pokémon, add four v four Pokémon battles and a new antagonist group known as Team Darkness. Wait, sorry, that is the next Pokémon game.

Seriously though? I like the Mystery Dungeon idea - if they made that in the style of a proper RPG I'd be happy enough.

 

[TheEverix]

I wouldn't touch the current series, it makes WAY too much money.

That said, I would like to see an all-encompassing, 3d, open-world, sort of game, with all pokemon and all regions available. Possibly an mmo in the style of GuildWars (safe-zones with pvp areas (towns with gyms, battle centers, etc) and instanced-zones (routes and caves) where you can take friends to adventure and train and capture and stuff).

 

[Uszi]

Make it an MMO.

Seriously... does anybody else think they're missing a great opportunity? Pre-existing fanbase, open-world concept, levelling system.

Seems like it would be a perfect fit to me.

Yeah this. I don't know why it hasn't happened yet. The one thing you forgot to add was the emphasis on trading and playing with other people that's existed from the first game.

The only other thing I would like to see is a 3D pokemon game where you run around as a trainer and then switch to your pokemon to fight in real time.

 

[AdamRBi]

So... many... bad ideas.

It's a grand thing Gamefreak doesn't listen to half of what you guys are saying. A lot of these common ideas everyone's bouncing around are terrible.

Pokemon is a Massive Multiplayer Offline game where you're encouraged to go out and socialize. An MMO would be a side thing at best, but would need a vastly redefined battle system.

Any change to the battle system in the core games would be met with imbalances and complications to Pokemon strategy the Turn-Based gameplay negates. Plus, turn based just works better for a portable title meant to be played on the road.

Taking direct control over your Pokemon is a silly idea. The point of the game is to immerse you in a role of trainer, telling your Pokemon what to do and having it do it. Direct Control works for a spin-off, but it's counterproductive to the core games.

The games should never be like the Anime, ever.

All changes to story suggested have sounded like a cry for more gritty dialogue and action. Name the last lighthearted series intended for younger audiences that benefited from being given a gritty reboot and didn't fail on a massive level.

Starters will always be Fire, Grass, Water. I know you want otherwise, but this triangle is the easiest to figure out for new players.

Anyway, I've said this before on another topic like this one, here's a few things I'd suggest.

1. Branching stories, based on choice, that all lead to the same end but offer a varient of narratives in between. Say I was given the choice to avoid Team Rocket in Town A, which changes my encounter with them in Town C. Then depending on my choice in Town C I may meet them in Town D or later on in Town G and so on and so on.

2. More Pokemon (Gotta have new Pokemon) with simpler designs based off of creatures in the wild. (Seriously, while some object and idea based Pokemon are good did we really need Garbage Man? Or Gothita? Or that Chicken in a Diaper?)

3. Rebattles with Gym Leaders, at their gym, with weaker level Pokemon options. Helps with training and let's you feel like you can play through again. In fact...

4. Significant Side quests in previous towns, on the same level as story quests pre-elite 4.

5. Unmentioned Sub-Abilities, I'm tired of my Flygon only being able to leviate. Useful, obvious, but restrictive. Make levitate a Sub-Ability, give him a few new abilities to choose from.

6. Rare Candy Flavors that affect EVs.

7. Side Quest Starter Pokemon, much like the Monkeys in B&W but harder to get and a lot more useful. Kinda like secondary starters, but with a different elemental triangle.

8. A Spin-Off game, SSB style, where all playable characters are Pokemon. Import your own team, attacks mapped to the B-UP, B-Down, B, and Smash B buttons. A button attacks are weaker tackles and scratches.

 

[Dexiro]

Here's my idea, completely improvised because it's more fun that way:

> Moving Out:
You start somewhere a little more non-conventional; a big city, a ranch, on a boat moving towards your new home town.

This game starts with you gaining complete independence from your parents, which is similar to what happens in the other games, but in this your first task is to move out. You move into a small town and buy your first house, you can buy furniture and whatnot and eventually buy better homes in other cities later in the game.

> Open World:
In this game you have freedom to go pretty much wherever you want. Many places will be blocked off; such as islands that require a surfing Pokemon, a few blocked caves, and various buildings; but for the most-part you can travel to the opposite end of the map without too much variation in wild Pokemon or trainer difficulty.

> Trainer Difficulty:
The difficulty works a little differently. The "open world" trainers dotted around get stronger as you progress through the game level-wise, and a few more get added due to story events. This aspect might be hard to get right but I think it's an idea worth experimenting with.

> Pokemon Baits:
As for the wild Pokemon, as you progress through the story you find different types of "baits", these affect what Pokemon you see as long as they're equipped, and can be swapped out for other baits. You start off with a relatively weak bait and you see only weak Pokemon, then as you progress you get others that will make stronger Pokemon or certain types of Pokemon appear. Bug Bait, Lvl 20 Bait, Legendary Bait, tons of possibilities. This would be a pretty integral part of gameplay.
In some areas, such as story areas, you'll find more aggressive Pokemon that will attack regardless of the bait you have equipped.

Edit: It'd be great if different types of baits could be combined. For example you could have "Rock Bait" and "Level 30" bait, making rock Pokemon around the level 30 mark more likely to appear.

> Quests + Side-quests:
The games story will largely be based around quests. The story quests will always be available whenever the player is ready to do them with an entirely optional recommended level, while players can do story missions whenever they want they'll often have to do side-quests to bump up their levels.

> Side quests
Most quests will be small side-quests though, usually doing fetch quests of some sort much like those already in the Pokemon games. Battle-heavy quests will usually have trainers with variable levels. Gyms would be an example of this as they get harder as you progress through them, I'll elaborate on that in a second. Side quests could be anything from exploring sewers to trekking through a forest wearing a particular bait so you can catch a particular Pokemon.

> Gym quests
These are secondary to the story quests, being one of the more important quest lines. These can be done in a desired order getting increasingly hard each time, but the sets of gyms will be unlocked until the previous gyms are completed. Say you could have 4 regular gyms, 3 super gyms and 1 elite gym, followed by the elite 4. Completing the elite 4 unlocks the battle frontier and side quests to unlock rarer baits that make use of the national pokedex and make higher level Pokemon appear.

> Story quests
The story quests will largely be about your average Team Rocket equivalents, preferably with an interesting twist to them, could be a group of ninjas or something! Breaking into their hideouts, stopping their evil plans, going undercover, etc. The end of this quest chain gives you some legendary as usual, and also unlocks a load of side-quests to find other legendaries through new areas and legendary baits.

> Battle frontier
Not much to add, but it'd be nice if this included more modular competitions for players of varying skill. And it'd be nice if you could actually train your Pokemon in a few of these competitions, giving more of an incentive to play them, as well as more regular rewards.

 

[Solo-Wing]

Flareon gets +30 Base Speed.

And Flare Blitz.

SECOND THIS! I love flareon. it is just not all that useful...

 

[Al-Bundy-da-G]

Allow you to travel through all the previous regions and fight all the gym leaders and catch most of the legendarys

Yes thank you. Is it too much to ask that we start in kanto (first game) and make our way through all the other lands to the newest one......i just want chamander back

 

[Scizophrenic Llama]

As it has been said before, a Pokemon MMO. That would be the first MMO that I would actually be willing to drop a monthly fee on.

 

[Artina89]

I would stop adding new Pokemon every generation. I don't even know how many there are at the moment, so it makes the phrase "Gotta catch 'em all" a bit ridiculous.

Oh this is far to easy. How about a goal besides 'Catch them all' or 'Become the Pokémon Master'. Or hell, if you're going to let me become the Pokémon Master at least have it mean something. Okay so great I beat the Elite Four and the current Master, but what I just get to go home as if nothing ever happened? How about letting me be the Master and have random powerful trainers challenge my title every now and then?

I also agree with this. Once the main story is over and done with there is usually very little to do other than start the game again. There isn't that much in terms of replayability.

 

[Spandexpanda]

I always thought that the premise of a powerful and world renowned professor of Pokemon, who, upon meeting a small child immediately gives them one of his three pokemon. I always thought it would make more sense for the child to have a pokemon already, or to have to catch the first one (like wally in Ruby).

The other thing is guilds (not like oblivion) but side quests, with missions with xp rewards and such. Not just one linear quest which you have no control over. What if you don't want to be the pokemon champion? And if you do, why don't you get to battle the trainers as the pokemon champion? Nobody recognises you or anything...

 

[artanis_neravar]

easy...

Allow the Trainer to Join the Enemy Team if they want to..

also a Buddy System because Pokemon is Better with a friend...

Allow you to travel through all the previous regions and fight all the gym leaders and catch most of the legendarys

Both of these are the most important, along with changing HM's to not take up a move slot, it is a real big pain to have to carry an HM pokemon or two with me everywhere