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sage-nebula · 5 years

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I hope you dont mind my asking, but wouldn't GF have decided to remove the national dex long before LGPE released? I can see those games selling well confirming to GF that "pokemon sell well regardless of cut features" but it feels strange to blame it on LGPE when the development time on the games would suggest they made this choice awhile ago. (Not to defend lgpe lack of content) Sorry if this is a bother, I just feel like I'm missing something and would really like to understand your reasoning

For almost any other game I would agree, however for Pokémon in particular:

The National Dex (insofar as the ability to transfer old pokémon over) was never going to be a Day One feature. It’s never a Day One feature in the first games of the generation. Even if they wanted to make it one, in this case they couldn’t because Home isn’t releasing until 2020. As I’ve said in other posts, if they wanted to patch in the NatDex, they’d have the time to do it. Technically speaking, they’d have the time to do it, especially since the fanbase would be willing to wait (even if there’d be a few whiners here or there) the extra time.

Since it’s not a Day One feature, it’s something that can be worked on later in the development cycle (/can even continue to be worked on after the development cycle, or at least it could be if this series were treated with the respect of, say, The Legend of Zelda series). Again, I’m not talking about DLC that’s already on the game card that needs to be activated later, I’m talking about DLC that’s patched in, content created after that you download either to the harddrive or (though I don’t know if Switch DLC works this way specifically) onto the game card itself. Given the type of content they generally want to show early in the release cycle (the general theme / concept of the games, scenes of the various areas in the region, new ‘mon), and the fact that this would be a feature added post-release anyway, we can make a safe bet that the NatDex is something they’d work on much later in the development cycle, possibly even in the last year since, again . . . they’d have that time if they wanted to use it (and if this series was treated with genuine respect).

The Let’s Go games were stated by Masuda to be the future of the franchise if they sold well. They featured a Pokédex that was limited to only the Kanto ‘Dex, plus Meltan and Melmetal. They released in November 2018, and indeed, they sold well. In early 2019 (February, IIRC) Sword & Shield were released. While of course I don’t work at Game Freak and thus can’t say for sure, I would place money on the idea that if they were even a bit on the fence about adding the National Dex, the fact that Let’s Go sold so well despite being limited to 153 ‘mon pushed them right over the edge to, “Cut the National Dex from Sword & Shield, there’s no point in working on it.” I mean, why should they expend the effort if people will buy the games anyway? Especially when President Ishihara went on record saying that long-time fans only cared about “new pokémon and features” around the time of Let’s Go’s release. Sure, they might have already been thinking about cutting the National Dex beforehand, but Let’s Go no doubt assured them that it was a safe and correct call to make.

So that’s what I mean when I say that Let’s Go’s positive sales figures sealed all of our fates. To be entirely honest, before the National Dex announcement, I was certain that we wouldn’t see the shockwaves from Let’s Go until Gen IX. But Sword & Shield having a limited ‘Dex just like Let’s Go, and having special feature ‘mon behind $60 paywalls like Let’s Go, and having core features stripped out like Let’s Go, and the fact that it’s starting to look frighteningly like the starters won’t be able to evolve like in Let’s Go . . . the effect is pretty apparent. Sure, some of this stuff was present even before Let’s Go (namely the whole “let’s ditch useful features in the name of simplifying things” tack that Masuda has been married to for years now), but in the wake of Let’s Go, it’s success, and what Masuda said would happen if it was successful, it’s really hard not to see the link.

(Note just in case anyone read too quickly: I’m not saying the starters WON’T evolve. I’m only saying that I’m starting to fear that’s the case since we’re less than a month away from release and we haven’t even seen second stage evolutions yet. Maybe they’re just trying to keep starter evolutions a surprise, that’s entirely possible, but it’s also highly suspect, and Game Freak destroyed any trust or good faith I had in them a while back.)

As a final note, the reason why I say that the Pokémon games aren’t treated with respect is . . . well, there are a few reasons:

Game Freak stated themselves that they put their B Team on Sword & Shield while their A Team worked on Little Town Hero. They also said they wanted to create something, “as exciting, or perhaps even more exciting” than Pokémon. They’re tired of working on Pokémon, and it shows. Which, I mean, I get it, it’s been 20+ years, but in that case tell Nintendo so that they can shift the main games over to another studio. I get that Game Freak was created for the sole purpose of making Pokémon, and maybe Taijiri-san is pissed at how you’re disrespecting his baby (I would be), but for the good of the series, if you don’t want to work on it, give it to someone who does. Don’t just shift it onto your bare bones secondary dev team.

These games are in a hellish development cycle where a new one is popped out every year. Contrast this to The Legend of Zelda where, while we’ve had some anomalies where assets were able to be largely reused and so games came out only a couple years apart (see: Ocarina of Time to Majora’s Mask) --- even that had two or three years before releases, not one the very next year. Most mainline Zelda games spend five or six years in development. I’m fully aware that we will likely be waiting until something like 2022 for Breath of the Wild 2, and I am prepared to wait that time because I know the game we get will be incredible. Granted, I’m going to be dying every single time they announce a release date to push it back, but it’ll be a death I’m grateful for because I will know that the end product will be worth it. The Pokémon games used to have a similar luxury. While there were a grand total of five games released during that time (with “five games” being used loosely, given that one was a slight upgrade and the other four were really two games with slight differences between versions), Gen IV lasted for a grand total of four years. We had Diamond & Pearl in 2006, Platinum in 2008, HeartGold & SoulSilver in 2009, and then finally, Black & White in 2010. By contrast, Gen VII didn’t even last three years, technically. I mean, this November would be its third anniversary, but that’s when Gen VIII officially starts instead. To be fair, it could be argued that Gen IV didn’t have a full four years since it came out in September 2006, and Gen V came out in September 2010. But even if you make that argument, it still had a full year on Gen VII, and to be honest, that showed. The Sinnoh games are far and away not my faves, but they were still full of content. HeartGold & SoulSilver are often considered to be the best remakes in the entire franchise, and considering the content that was cut from OmegaRuby & AlphaSapphire and Masuda’s reasoning for why that content was cut, I can’t exactly argue with that even though I did genuinely enjoy ORAS. And the games that Gen IV ushered in? Controversial opinion, but I think that the Pokémon games peaked with Gen V. Black & White not only initially had a ‘dex that was nothing but new pokémon (and yet STILL included the Nat Dex later, because in Masuda’s own words he felt it cruel to keep people from playing with their faves forever!), but it also introduced a METRIC TON of new mechanics, some of which we no longer get to use (Rotation Battles? Game Freak doesn’t know her). Who knows what exactly Game Freak did with that extra year, but it was clearly a lot of work given how wonderful the games were in Gen IV and Gen V. The extra dev time showed.By contrast, Gen VII got 2.5 years (or 3 if you’re being generous). Every single game released during this gen had massive content cuts, even when comparing to Gen VI, which also had massive content cuts. Mechanics were stripped away, and Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon technically didn’t have a NatDex either, but at least you could still have all of your ‘mon in them at a later date if you wanted to. Now with Sword & Shield, we don’t even have that, despite the Switch being far more powerful than the 3DS. (We also don’t have Mega Evolution for whatever godforsaken reason, even though the Kanto Mega Evolutions at the very least were already used in Let’s Go, the fuck, Game Freak). Pokémon games print money and always have, and Game Freak has taken this and their lack of interest in the series to the depressing but I suppose logical extreme of “do whatever and they’ll buy it anyway.” There’s no love here, there’s no respect here. They just don’t care anymore, and as someone who does care an awful lot, it’s super upsetting to me.

And while people have tried to argue that the games can’t be delayed because of the anime or the card game or whatever else:

The games come first. They’ve always come first. I know some people mistakenly think that the anime came first and that the games were created later, but that is 100% false. Pokémon started as a game series and the anime was created to advertise the games, straight up.

Filler episodes exist, and the PokéAni is no stranger to them. The Orange Islands arc was an entire arc of filler created to pad time between Gens I and II. The Delacora Islands (or whatever they were called) was a filler arc meant to pad time between Gens V and VI. Arguably the majority of the Sun & Moon anime was filler, given its slice-of-life genre, meaning the anime was even less of an excuse not to delay Sword & Shield. You can’t tell me people wouldn’t have been happy with another year of the Alola crew running around getting into random adventures. People would have eaten that up and loved it. We could have had it all.

I’m not even going to dignify “but the card game” with a response lmao. This isn’t Yu-Gi-Oh!. Sure, the card game makes money, and probably a decent amount of it (merch sales probably make up the franchise’s greatest source of income, and as someone who easily spent several hundred dollars in two weeks at the PokéCenters in Japan---including over $100 in one trip to a PokéCenter while I was there, and we went multiple times---I am a big part of that), but they come up with bullshit new expansions all the time and could easily keep doing it. Again, not a reason to delay the games if the games need more time in development.

So all in all, at the end of the day, Game Freak is no longer treating these games with love and respect, which makes them an awful lot like the villains in the games they create. The Let’s Go games were harbingers of disaster for the games, and we were told this very plainly, and just about no one listened. In fact, I legitimately lost friendships with people who got mad at me for making Facebook statuses about how they should buy Let’s Go used if they absolutely had to have them because how DARE I believe Ishihara when he said that Let’s Go were considered core titles, and how DARE I believe Masuda when he said that Let’s Go would usher in the last twenty years of the franchise. Clearly, I was just being an ugly bitch. (I wish I was exaggerating, but this actually happened, I got blocked over it, it was ridiculous.) And now here we are as a result, with no hope of things getting better unless Nintendo forcibly rips Pokémon out of Game Freak’s hands, which I don’t even think they can legally do given that they only own 1/3rd of the IP. (The other 2/3rds belong to Game Freak and Creatures Inc., as I understand it.)

TL;DR:

Pokémon is still my favorite fictional fantasy world, but as someone who has always loved the games first and foremost, the current state of it depresses me to no end.

#this kind of got off the original topic but i hope it's coherent at least #pokemon salt #pokemon negativity #long post for ts #Anonymous

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gracifleur · 1 year

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VERSE DUMP 02; here listed are the verses that are intricately tied to the mainline games spanning gen 1 to gen 9. these are short descriptions for each gen for the ease of interaction & summary of the events within & shea’s association with each. certain games will have a more in-depth verse post at a later date, such as gen 4. by default, shea masquerades as a human child & a traveler unless her origins are revealed by herself or against her will by those connected to cyrus or volo. for the most part, shea acts on the behalf of arceus to check & care for the various legendary & mystical pokemon throughout the regions. her priority will always be the safety of said pokemon. unlike her sinnoh kin, however, she is not directly related to the mythical & legendary pokemon in the other regions.

#MAIN. ( GENERATION KANTO. / ARC VI. )

a boon from the creator themselves, arceus; shea travels to the kanto region feeling unease about their fellow mythical mew. a creature that hadn’t been seen for centuries, being sighted & even worse pursued. shea arrives sometime before the events of the game & keeps themselves hidden as she researches the destruction of the lab on cinnabar island. after word reaches that a young trainer has been taking down members of team rocket, shea decides to stick her nose where it doesn’t belong hoping that this young trainer will lead them to mew--- discovering the origins of mewtwo.

#MAIN. ( GENERATION JOHTO. / ARC VII. )

on her way back toward her home within the sinnoh region, shea travels through johto & finds herself once again wrapped up in someone else’s business. meeting crystal & finding herself in quite the dilemma for if this young trainer found out about shea’s origins--- well, she’d be trapped in a professors lab for sure ! fortunately the return of team rocket in search of their fearless leader tends to put priority on matters as regions legendaries wake up causing shea to rush to their aid as one of their own. this verse is highly influenced by @starmarkcd @unmcsked & @gxldenstreak who are canon to shea as the trainers; Crys / Silver / Gold respectfully.

#MAIN. ( GENERATION HOENN. / ARC VIII. )

once more shea travels to a region outside her own, this time in peril as a sixth sense compels her to rush to hoenn in time for team aqua & team magma to purposefully disturb the rest of both kyogre & groudon. joining the young trainer(s) climbing the rank of the gym challenge of the region, she aims to calm down the legendary titans who helped formed the earth & sea before it’s too late--- && find those responsible to deal with them before it’s too late, for no doubt the sky dragon is soon to approach.

#MAIN. ( GENERATION SINNOH. / ARC IX. )

sinnoh, the home of shea & her brethren. no longer called the hisui region--- shea lives primarily in the flower paradise with the other shaymin. however her ancient adventures have left a impact that she has yet to understand the gravity of. the people of sinnoh speak in their legends of a child of space & time that transcends dimensions, capable of controlling the legendary beasts of creation. while the reality is far from; shea a child born from arceus themselves the myth remains drawing the attention of two major players within sinnoh: cynthia, a celestial descendant of volo, & cyrus. no fool, cyrus is quicker to unravel the truth about this ‘child of space time’ & moves toward the flower paradise with a red chain in tow to capture shea & use her to summon the creation trio so that he may use them to create his new world.... **this verse will have an expanded post of which will be linked here when finished.

#MAIN. ( GENERATION UNOVA. / ARC X. )

finding the news of an organization that promotes releasing one’s pokemon from human “servitude” shea travels to the unova region, discovering team plasma roaming the various cities. worried for the twin dragons she travels toward the relic castle to find it empty.

#MAIN. ( GENERATION KALOS. / ARC XI. )

xerneas & shea are no stranger to each other; as shaymin are often found near the tree of life, the beastie itself visiting the flower paradise within sinnoh at times. it is in fact a visit from shea to the forests of kalos of which starts their journey into worry for her friend & it’s counterpart. however shea only finds a collection of zygarde cells & cores, tipping her off to a much bigger problem at hand. knowing exactly who to turn to for help, shea seeks out the descendant of a old friend in the form of serena, a young trainer who’s destiny is intertwined with the legendaries of life & death. this verse is highly influenced by @iruludavare

#MAIN. ( GENERATION ALOLA. / ARC XII. )

alola ! shea decides she wants to see the ocean. a different ocean than one near the flower paradise & with a hankering for some malasadas--- of she goes to the island region ! however midway into her little adventure she runs into scientists of the aether foundation, who’s various scientific instruments out shea’s origins as a human-pokemon chimera & capture her to bring her to the president herself; lusamine. narrowly escaping being contained to be “protected” shea spends her time thereafter running from aether workers tasked on retrieving her.

#MAIN. ( GENERATION GALAR. / ARC XIII. )

the slumbering weald is home to the heroes of the darkest day & sometimes it is visited by a wandering shea; visiting to help shaymin bring the change of seasons to the forest & care for the altar where the heroes rest. however on one journey out to the weald she notices the absence of the hero duo & turns her attention outside the weald curious as to what caused the beasties to stir from their slumber & if there is a new threat to the world on the horizon.

#MAIN. ( GENERATION PALDEA. / ARC XIV. )

dialga finds itself irritable, upset, & even sick--- a sign of time distortion forced by human hand somewhere in the world. as shea cares for her sibling her worries for their health & well being grows as dialga shows signs of it’s primal rage returning in it’s mysterious illness. asking the trio of the lake to stand & care for the deity of time as shea travels outside of sinnoh toward the paldea region after consulting with giratina if there are any distortions in the world outside of their own. in paldea she learns of a giant crater in the region’s center known as area zero that is forbidden to enter under any circumstance. convinced what lies there holds the answer to dialga’s sickness she decides to do a bit of recon, pretending to be a student of the famous naranja/uva academy( the default will be uva bc i like the color purple however this will fluctuate depending on the writing partner’s chosen/preferred school ) she sets off during the treasure hunt to find clues as to what could have happened in area zero & a way inside to confront professors turo & sada, those very clearly linked to the time-sickness effecting dialga. **this verse contains an original story based on shea’s lore & the events of the game, this description is spoiler-free ! click here for more info on this verse; contains minimal spoilers.

#( ooc; verse post. )#MAIN. ( GENERATION KANTO. / ARC VI. )#MAIN. ( GENERATION JOHTO. / ARC VII. )#MAIN. ( GENERATION HOENN. / ARC VIII. )#MAIN. ( GENERATION SINNOH. / ARC IX. )#MAIN. ( GENERATION UNOVA. / ARC X. )#MAIN. ( GENERATION KALOS. / ARC XI. )#MAIN. ( GENERATION ALOLA. / ARC XII. )#MAIN. ( GENERATION GALAR. / ARC XIII. )#MAIN. ( GENERATION PALDEA. / ARC XIV. )#( ooc; do not reblog. )

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