Pokemon games are at an all-time low.Pokemon Scarlet & Violethave a few redeeming qualities, but are largely terrible. From the unfinished textures to the horrific framerate drops and disgraceful pop-in, these games straight up don’t work. But at least thePokemonbattles are fun, right? Right?
As well as being broken and poorly optimised, Scarlet & Violet offered no challenge whatsoever. While this difficulty was artificially ramped up in the second piece of DLC,The Indigo Disk, the removal of Set mode and free distribution of healing items makes battles dull. The only saving graces are some of the new monster designs, but even then, for every Fuecoco and Ceruledge is Flamigo and Veluza.
So, what’s next? The fact that The Indigo Disk takes place in Unova suggests that a Gen 5 remake is in the works – it only seems natural afterBrilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl– but what will that look like? The Gen 4 remakes were also pretty terrible, simply putting a modern filter on the ageing games, skipping any Platinum content (some of the Generation’s best stuff), and showing the same poor performance as the mainline Pokemon games. Why should we get excited about the next remake if the last one was dire?
The one saving grace among this £60 drivel isLegends: Arceus. It’s not perfect; it still looks terrible, and while the battle styles are interesting for single-player trainer combat, it reduces any semblance of competitive play to zero. However, the open areas and ball-throwing mechanics are brilliant, exciting, and fresh. If anything, the dire state of Scarlet & Violet has made me appreciate the things Arceus did right. I’m still waiting forLegends: Celebi, whether that’sset in the past again or a future Johto.
But what is the future of Pokemon? Educated guesses would suggest the Gen 5 remake followed by Gen 10. Hopeful players may wish for another spin-off game, perhaps a new Mystery Dungeon or Legends, but these have a less regular cadence than the main series. But the games that are coming next are not important. What is important is the quality of them.
Scarlet & Violet had the series’ first truly open world, but it has been a long time coming.Sword & Shield’sWild Area was clearly a test, a stepping stone. Even Sun & Moon’s more open routes were less linear than previous Generations. But now Pokemon has made an open world game, as has clearly been its intention for nigh on a decade at this point, so what next?
Hopefully, we get an open world game that actually works this time. One that feels fun to explore, with Zelda-esque side quests hidden in caverns and towns, and looks gorgeous while you do so. This seems like a stretch, but if theSwitch 2releases this year, as has been rumoured, the new hardware could allow Game Freak to produce a banger.
However, a better route may be going back to basics. Maybe it’s time to admit that Pokemon’s open-world experiment has failed, and it should return to what it does best. Pixel art is back in fashion, HD-2D RPGs like Octopath Traveller are some of the best around, and Pokemon fans would appreciate playing classics with those quality of life updates. I’vecalled for an HD-2D Pokemon gamebefore, and I maintain it would make for a better game than Scarlet 2 & Violet 2.
I’d love aBlack & Whiteremake on the level of FireRed or Alpha Sapphire, games that not only brought old games to modern technology, but also iterated on them with new Gym puzzles, post game content, and extra bonuses like new Mega Evolutions, islands, and Legendary encounters. I can’t help but feel that this is a pipedream, though, and we’ll get another cash-in title from a different developer that doesn’t understand what made these games special.
The future of Pokemon looks bleak, at least for the main series games. Maybe Game Freak will make all our dreams come true with a beautiful open world on the Switch 2, an incredible Gen 5 remake, and anew Eeveelutionto boot. But it doesn’t seem likely.
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