The closest thing that your talking about is the mystery dungeon series. It's actually kind of monotonous if you don't like the dungeon scrawling roguelike gaming.
Unfortunately unless you are a competitive player (yes I'm serious about "competitive play" in pokemon) you won't appreciate/condemn nintendo for the tiny little retarded nuances that they did put into this game.
(BIG POKEMON NERD HERE) Ruby and Sapphire really did change the game mechanics in the sense of in-game stats, stat growth and damage calculations.
This generation of pokemon (diamond, pearl and platinum) is actually really pandering on that minority of these competitive players. The additive of online play is what was huge about this generation.
You said everyhing I thought about everyday from the time i was six till 12. I know just what you were thinking mystery dungeon was not what you would be waiting for that sucked. though it gave you the "official" test of what pokemon you were.
The Closest 3rd person RPG like pokemon game for a console is for the Nintendo Gamecube called Pokemon Colosseum (not the tournament fighting games) and it's sequel Pokemon XD Gale of Darkness. I own Gale of Darkness and... it's an alright game. It does not involve gym battles as it revolves around dealing with evil organizations who wish to steal pokemon and bring darkness to their hearts thereby making them evil. The protagonist in return can recapture the pokemon and attempt to purify them through battle. However, as far as the gameplay mechanics it's the same as any generic pokemon game. It was just rather cool on how it's in that certain perspective and for once it does not deal with gym battles.
Good lord, if they do make a Pokemon MMORG I'm holding you personally responsible Lewis!
I agree, the early games were a neat idea, but the mobs of Pokemon fan-tweens must not be united in such a way.
Have you ever been trapped by a nephew who's over excitedly explaining to you about his Pokemon Cards? Now imagine you could multiply that fervor by way of the addicting elements of MMORGs.
I used to love the pkmn series, in fact I still do... I left the franchise after the crystal version. I found it irritating that once they release a new game with a 100 new pkmn in it, there was 1 stupid bastard you couldn't get like in forever because you can't find him in the wild or get someone to trade it... that is the case of mew and celebi that meant that I had 249 pkmn to get the 250 (in gold, silver and crystal) but I was never going to complete them because mew was included! (there were no give aways in my country like the ones held in north america)
I loved the mechanics in the gold, silver and crystal versions, the night-day clock system and the fact that some pkmn only appeared at night or at day and when ppl called to say weird stuff or to challenge you, I liked that too; I even ended up liking the new classes (dark, metal types) and the fact that one pkmn could be more than one type. Even the reproduction system was funny (a little awkward though)
When Ruby and Sapphire came out at first I wanted them too, because I love the game but knowing that celebi and mew were part of the new 350 pkmn was just a bit too much for me to handle XD
In regards of the pkmn spin offs I find pkmn snap entertaining and hey you pikachu was nice too XDD
Dude, you have no idea. My friends and I have been saying a 3-D Pokemon game would be cool since the days of the N64, before Stadium came out. We still talk about it as a cool idea. Honestly, we think it would be awesome to be able to battle in a 3-D Pokemon game Tales of Symphonia style, where you had your little field, you could run around it, you could press up-B to do a certain attack, down-B, etc., jump, dodge, the works. That would be awesome!
Additionally, Eugene is right, they did change a lot of the game mechanics in Ruby and Sapphire in the sense of stat growth and damage calculations. Personally, I think Gold/Silver was the peak of the series.
Yeah, every game which comes out is the same as the game before it. But I still buy it every time, because I'm a zombie sheep and each game is still fun as hell and addicting as crack. And I'm a slave to nostalgia. But yes, you are not the only one who feels this way. I've been waiting for a 3-D Pokemon game for 11 years, and I still hope one will pop up at some point.
Tackle is never super effective you silly! ... Oh and I agree the kind of game your talking about would be very cool. It'd be awesome to have one where a Meowth could kick ass and not be destoryed the moment some one Mewtwo'd your ass. Not necessarily a MMORPG though but with online ability. That'd be great.
I once made a rant about pokemon games and since this vlog made a lot of similiar points, I'll give you a link here http://screwattack.com/node/16414
Now I love the idea of Pokemon MMORPG. Just the idea of making pokemon for 100+ players at a time is sheer genius! Not only it will revive pokemon as a general franchise, but It will also add some freshness to MMORPG genre as well, especially since nowadays everything ends up being another Everquest/WoW clone. Makes me wanna make a petition, and Im not even that big of a MMORPG/Pokemon fan either.
linkara your right about the pokemon thing it has great mmorpg qualifications.also the sultry fox comics,is that the one with the alchemy machine the turns dog pop in too gold?
I have wanted to see what a pokemon 3d mmorpg would be like for AGES. I can't believe they still haven't done it. The main thing that bugs my about the pokemon series is the new pokemon. I loved the original 150, the 250 were also pretty cool but it's getting downright ridiculous now, they have like 1050 (Get off my lawn indeed ^_-) But one game you might want to check out was Jade Coocoon, it's what I imagine a 3D pokemon game would be like. You run around wild areas where there are monsters hanging around (which you can see and try to avoid if you want to). The battles were still turn based but more of a final fantasy style. check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9lGas5kqus
Huh. Interesting perspective... Though I do have to (painfully) agree that Pokemon is more or less the same as it was when it first started, I disagree that the formula has to be changed so Drastically. A 3rd person fighting game?? I'm sorry, but how about just adding a deeper and more involving battle menu that just "attack", "item","pokemon", and "run". I don't know exactly what could be added, but I'm Sure the brilliant minds at Nintendo (not sarcastic, by the way) could think of Something. ...Also kinda surprised you only touched on the aspect of no compatibility between various generations, meaning that getting the 300-400-someodd pokemon is practically impossible. Why can't Nintendo create some kind of Gameboy Color-Gameboy Advance link cable? Otherwise, great 'VLog'. You should do these more often ;D Then at least I could trade between every generation...To me, that'd be pretty damn sweet.
As most have already stated here, the Mystery Dungeon games are fast-paced, and fun for a long while. You can also find basically EVERYONE who's ever been in one of the generations.
Pokémon Stadium did not surprise me, but it was still fun, though the AI was a little cheap. PkmnS2 was amazing though.
If you're looking for third-person, you should look for Coliseum or XD: Gale of Darkness, both for the GameCube.
If you are looking for things a little bit faster and not as tedious, I'd suggest Platinum, which just came out (probably the reason why you're ranting).
I love Pokémon to death, it's the franchise that got me into gaming. This coming birthday will be 10 years of gaming, and the first game I ever bought was Red Version.
Yellow Version was also amazing with the fact that you could get all the starters.
Pokémon fighting game? I wouldn't think so, just can't imagine it.
What I would like to see from you as a side project is a "Let's Play" series of Blue Version playthroughs, with Baulbasaur (Spelling?) as the starter.
Pal Park in Diamond is the thing you're talking about when you said that there should be a way to get all the little creatures in one game, and in Emerald, you could get one of the Johto starters after completing the regular Pokédex.
I hope to see that playthrough, as well as more awesomeness.
Great video blog! I have to agree on a few points there. Especially when Stadium was involved. I fell out of it after Stadium and Gold were around, but still it's nice to see the basic sort of style of play out there. A few improvments would be awesome. A MMORG or Sandbox style of game in a Pokemon world would be awesome! They can have expansions like Warcraft to increase the # of Pokemon you can acquire. Nifty idea! So until someone assembles the Infinity Gauntlet to make these ideas real, MAKE MINE LINKARA!
To be honest I haven't paid much attention to Pokemon over the last fews years mainly because other games caught my attention and I stopped watching the anime a while ago because it's obviously never going to end (the manga version ended after the Orange Island arc and that was a satsifying enough ending for me). I've been considering getting Pokemon Platinum to see if I've missed anything over the years but..., that'll depend on my financial situation later.
Anyway, my two cents on what would get me back into Pokemon again is this. Collaborate with Bioware to create the next Pokemon game; make the new game a little more story driven with your character presented with choices to make that will affect the outcome of the game and whether your character will be a good guy kind of trainer or a bad guy trainer (whether or not you join and possibly take over Team Rocket is up to you).
On a side note, Linkara, is there any chance that you'll put in your thoughts on the upcoming Batman Arkham Asylum game? I'm sure you've seen the previews and are at least curious about it. I know what you said about being poor and all, but surely you know someone with an X Box 360 who'd be willing to let you give the game a try.
Long time watcher, First time commenter (always wanted to say that). I totally agree, a Pokemon Fighting game would kick ass. Closest thing that's come to it is M.U.G.E.N., a Fighting game where you make your own character. However, an over-the-shoulder Pokemon wouldn't work. I could, however, see a Fighting game using all the Fighting types. (Hitmonchan vs. Hitmonlee vs. Hitmontop vs. Tyrogue... ^_^) Oh, and Squirtle FTW.
actually they already made a pokemon fighting game its called smash brothers. granted they dont have all the pokemon they have some. But i feel more ashamed that when i was 12 i got caught up in the pokemon card game. my smart friends sold all their cards for cash. I horded them till they were worthless. I feel like such a nut bar even talking about pokemon (dear lord i still remember the poke' rap). but the best thing about the game was it was a portable multiplayer rpg. It was great a few of us at school used to always duke it out on the playground with our games, then we discovered that one glitch that lets you get unlimited items and a special pokemon that is over level 100, then wed max them out to 255 and duke it out with those pokemon. i used an abracadabra with all sorts of ridiculous stuff. ah memory lane its taking over ahh!
oh yeah totally agree with the pokemon stadium garbage, i had the thing on reserve and when i got it I was so pissed it was just a 3d version of the gameboy minus the world. I was like what the heck did i just pay for?! wish youtube had been out back then. but i gave up after gold. I hacked games to death with my game shark that was fun and it sorta got me interested in hacking other stuff like phones and computers so yeah maybe pokemon wasn't a waste of time or money or dignity. blasted cards, I gotta find somebody that knows how to play so we can laugh at how miserable and pathetic we are.
Hey Lewis, I absoutly agree with ya. I never gave it much thought about a Pokemon fighting game, but yeah, nintendo needs to make one. Why can't it be a Super Smash Brothers-style fighting game? There are some Pokemon in said fighting game but not enough.
The co-writer of my blog and myself didn't really have age remove the simple enjoyment of Pokemon, and one of his blog entries did, indeed, look back at the series. Like yourself, he is a big Gold fan, and I agree with both of you that it was the series's high point, after which it...sorta just petered off in a diagonal direction.
On a Pokemon fighter: As has already been noted here, Smash Bros. It's proof that the system can be done, the question is whether or not Nintendo will get the clue-bat that says "hey, maybe we could gather up an all-Pokemon team for a Smash Bros. style game, and add RPG elements in as well!" I wouldn't put too much faith in that happening, however. I rented the Wii Pokemon battler (cannot remember the title at the moment) to attempt to see if Nintendo had learned anything at all, and...they didn't. They really didn't.
But I digress...
It's good to see your opinions on the series, and I'll be happily awaiting more VLogs and reviews from you.
Pokémon fighting game? I wouldn't think so, just can't imagine it.
How so? Just look at the Super Smash Brothers series. Granted, I wouldn't call it a "Pokémon fighting game" (there's lots of other characters in it) but if you can imagine SSB (which is easy, as it exists!) then it would be easy to imagine a Pokémon fighting game, as it would just be like SSB except with more Pokémon characters instead of Mario/Link/Bowser/Kirby/etc.
I did like the anime in the original Kanto arc and even in the Orange Islands, but after that it just went downhill and got boring. I REALLY liked the "Pokemon Adventures" (or Pokemon Special) manga more (it prevents itself from being stale by switching protagonists between arcs), but unfortunately they stopped publishing it in the United States after volume 7. Good thing there's the Internet to read what happened afterwards!
And wow, a Pokémon MMORPG would be great. I'm surprised it never occurred to me before...
True, Lord Seth, but what Lewis stated that he wanted a Pokémon fighting game in which the creatures are in a "ring" using their own attacks to fight eachother. I know that SSBB is kind of an example of a Pkmn fighting game, but not what Linkara was talking about.
Very true, but even if it's a 2-D fighting game, it would still be an improvement over the repetitive turn-based style of fights. It wouldn't be that hard to modify the SSB engine to make it for Pokemon.
Pokeman? POKEMAN!!! With the Poke and the Man, and the thing where the guy comes out of the thing, and he gets stuck in the ball. AH AH AH AH AH AH!!!
In all seriousness I quite the series after the "first generation" I guess I found it a little demanding how you were supposed to "Catch em all" when the number or creatures jumped from 150 to 250
I was totally playing Platinum while watching this. -_-
Yeah, they are all practically the same, but that's what you come to expect with them. My only complaint is the inability to actually "catch 'em all". Someone already mentioned that by Gold and Silver, Mew and Celebi were uncatchable without going to obscure Nintendo events, but its gotten even worse with each generation. By my count, there are currently eight or nine Pokemon you can't get without praying to the Nintendo gods. Some of the side games ("Pokemon Ranger" 1 and 2, and the attrocious WiiWare title "My Pokemon Ranch"), can help you get a few, but other than that, you gotta cheat, or get them in a trade from someone else, who probably cheated. >_<
Lewis, if you're into PC gaming, you might want to try a 2002 game by Funatics: Zanzarah. Zanzarah is pretty much what you described, only without the Pokemons themselves: a 3rd person adventure game, where you train fairies (there are only 12 kinds, but it makes the training more RPG-like), and you have to directly control them in their battles. It has a wonderful, little bit Longest Journey-like atmosphere, a decent story, and multiplayer options, so you can beat you friends in deadly fairyfight! Hope I was of some help.
I've played Red Yellow Leaf Green and Sapphire and out of that group i'd have t say that Leaf Green is the best. it improves on the original games and then adds some new pokemon on the islands.
It's been my unfortunate experience with another highly-addictive collecting game *coughYu-Gi-Ohcough* that it's almost never a good idea to radically change the mechanics of a game that's had its formula fixed from the beginning and left unchanged for such a long time.
For instance, in one GBA Yu-Gi-Oh game, they mucked with the card mechanics to make it more like the Pokemon paper-rock-scissors element superiority gameplay, as well as add in some RPG leveling-up elements. It failed miserably, because the new changes severely hindered what they left alone with the game mechanics, not only making it not fun, but also making it not feel at all like a Yu-Gi-Oh game.
Why am I making this statement? Because, while I do agree that something needs to be done to improve the game's fighting mechanics so it doesn't become stale, the extreme changes you're suggesting probably wouldn't be a good way of doing that. As my mate (a fellow die-hard Pokemon fan) explained to me when I told him about your VLog, turning it into a full-fledged fighting game would severely undermine the basic combat mechanics the game has set up for the series, like attack speed and type weakness/resistance.
To wit, let's look at how attacks would be affected if you could move your pokemon around everywhere at the drop of a hat; if they've got free reign over where they can move, all they need to do is sidestep a non-field hitting attack (like Earthquake) and be safe, making stats like speed and evasiveness redundant...unless they factor that into the pokemon's maneuverability...but then that would prove problematic for attacks like Arial Ace that always land...y'see? This is what he was talking to me about: the very nature of the moves themselves just throw in way too many variables for such a free-roaming battle mechanic to work adequately.
Frankly, I think they should start out small, like give a player a chance to give certain orders during an opponent's attack (like evading or healing), or even cancel an attack of your own if it looks like the opponent is going to counter it. That, at least, would give you a little more control over the battle than simply throwing out a command and hoping for the best.
The rest, though, I completely agree with you on, and to an extent, so does my mate; he would love to check out Kanto or Johto or whatnot in the latest games, and I think the turn-based nature of the Pokemon battles would work well in an MMO - just use the WoW engine for it, and there you go. As an aside, I would also love to see more animation from the Pokemon themselves, like custom fainting animations for each; I kinda liked how they did that in the 3D Pokemon games, and I absolutely hate that Nintendo seems to focus on updating the graphics for everything BUT the Pokemon battles, kinda like how - until recently - Yu-Gi-Oh video games would upgrade the graphics for everything BUT the cards and duels.
BTW, if you're looking for bad manga to review, I've got the perfect series: Kiss Players. Loli-looking 20-some-year-old women kissing Transformers to merge with them and give them powers so they can fight Megatron clones with hentai tentacle tongues. It's as twisted and badly-conceived as it sounds.
I agree with you. I'm playing my way through Platinum now and yeah it's the same thing. Battling has changed with the special attack and regular attack move split as you can assign moves that are physical and special to a monster.
Still, I agree with you as I've played my way through four generations of Pokemon. Pokemon battle revolution, though does have some physical contact. However, they do go back to the same spot after. It is annoying. Nintendo really needs to up the ante in gen 5.
So my first time posting a comment on your blog… well actually an any blog… I’m not to much of a comment guy, but since you’ve some great vlogs and comic reviews I felt like posting something. Btw. (Thanks for saving me from buying Amazons Attack!)
As much as I would love “to hate” that games and series I just can’t… is been more than 12 years now and I still watch the show on TV Tokyo I thinks its more because I’ve study Japanese but true told I still like the franchise.
I actually felt a big change on the game mechanics on Pokémon Pearl especially with the online and the new ítems capabilities, and status and balanced gameplay, but most of the changes are almost only for the very competitive long time Pokémon players, like me ;), but I got to say it quite fell a little old by now. But to be honest the game does fell aged, especially compared to other good turn based RPGs like GoldenSun or more time action based like the Tales saga. I still getting platinum this week kind of late compared to the rest of the world (damn thing living in south America).
They seems to have tried to do some changes with other games like Pokémon Rangers but I was just weird and Mystery Dungeon had some nice story but the battle system even if new and more active based was kind of boring after a while, still the story was kind of nice… btw you should check the Pokémon mystery dungeon manga, kind of weird stuff, yet not bad as some other comics out there
About a 3D, kinda 3rd person view, Pokémon game, as someone had already posted here there is XD for for the gamecube which quite has some rather interesting story and different stuff from other games.
Still It does is time for Nintendo and GameFreaks to upgrade the game, big time. An MMORPG would be GREAT!!!
I agree SO MUCH linkara. I also think that the game is the same thing always, you beat the gym leaders, then get the legendary, then the elite four, then thats it. Thats why I only play the mystery dungeon series now.
I've always thought that a pokemon game where your 'mons could move would sell amazingly, even if it was turn based. I think that would be the best for the series. On your turn, you can move the mon, and attack. Their speed is based on their stats, attacks have different ranges, it wouldn't be too complicated. The only issue might be size, since some of them are huge, but it's not that big of a deal.
I figure it'd be the be the best way to get more variety in the game. It would be harder to do a fighting game with so many different possible mons, while this game could use the same system for attacks. Each mon has up to 4 different attacks, and you choose the attack before or after they move.
I do agree that the games have gotten stale. It's always the same: fight 8 Gym Leaders, then beat the Elite Four while single-handely beating up a crime syndicate along the way. The game needs more story. Lots more story. I'm tired of all the grinding because I exhausted all the story but can't take on the next Gym Leader yet.
I think we could use a real-time battle system, but outside of MMORPGs and Star Wars: KOTOR, I haven't played any real-time RPGs, so I can't comment much on how good that would be.
Despite having played all the games, I'd say my favorite is Sapphire. Specifically because of Kyogre, and sapphires are cool. It really felt like a step-up from G/S/C. Sure, it didn't have the day/night system, but it had better graphics, sound quality, and even the best Pokemon of any gen (Yeah, I went there. Gardevoir FTW!).
I actually enjoyed Pokemon Stadium when I played it at a demo station at Best Buy because it was 3D, and having the same battle system wasn't bad because the graphics and having a battle announcer vastly offset that. This is why I bought Pokemon Battle Revolution for Wii, which is like Stadium, but has customizable trainers, Wi-Fi, and you can actually see Pokemon hitting each other for attacks...sometimes. Others hate the game, and I do think it's shallow on content, but I love it.
Oh, and a Pokemon MMORPG is impossible due to Nintendo's online policy involving friend codes to protect kids from pedophiles and bad language.
To finalize, Pokemon has gotten stale, and I'll pass on the next gen set if nothing changes.
I found something else you missed with your vlog: to add to the disappointment of not being able to capture any of the old-generation pokemon, why don't they have updated pokemon cries like the new generations do? They still have those tinny little 2-tone midi sound bytes from the original games, despite their sprites getting an upgrade. Why? Is it that hard to give each of those old pokemon their own unique sound effects that are at the same quality as the new ones? Or better yet, do what they did with Pikachu in Pokemon Yellow and just replace the midi synthesizer sounds with, y'know, actual pokemon cries from the anime.
Pokemon ranger kills touch screen by that crazy swirling. Still it is little bit closer to what you mean. I still think that pokemon silver and gold are the best ones.
First of allNintendo doesn't make pc games, and the wii sucks to much to make an MMO, however there exist fan game pokemon MMOs.
Also Nintendo and Game Freak will just slowly upgrade the system and save time making the games, before the sales fall and they make what I would call a power stone style fighter. That means that 2 to 12 pokemon on screen using an upgradable and customizable moveset in an overheadish perspective. Also they would need time to create 3-D models of the pokemon and their attacks.
Lastly Gold will be getting a remake which will have additional content, more pokemon, slightly different plot etc. In Pokemon Heart Gold. Pokemon's main demographic is children, not old fans.
It's a classic case of "if it ain't broke, why fix it?" The game's (main title games, not spinoffs) have been doing so well everytime, they dare not screw around with it. They're a company, they need the mulah. Plus, I kinda love the turn base battling. Made me feel like an rpg nerd, but it was pokemon, so it was ok. lol.
Though I agree about the feeling of wanting my Golduck to claw the fuck out of a Venonat, without feeling like they're doing nothing.
If they ever do a Pokemon rpg, it probably won't be for a long while, or until they realize they can't think up any new pokemon designs anymore.
I love the Pokemon Colour games, Have done since I got Red ( Best friend got Blue. ) and I'm currently trying to get all of them as I bought my friends Blue, I have Yellow and had Gold ( Lent to a friend who lost it...), also got Crystal and looking to get the GBA ones ( Sapphire, Ruby, Emerald, Fire Red and Leaf Green ) BUT theres one this that kinda pisses me off about them and thats that you cannot get the Gold/Silver starters on Sapphire and what have you, or atleast not from what I've read so the only way to do that is to get the Game Cube games, and complete them, three bloody times to get the Gold/Silver starters. Unfortunatly I'm the sort of geek that would do that.
I full agree a 3D 3rd person Pokemon game would rock hard, maybe for the Wii and release like Red and Blue through to Pearl and Diamond as the 3D 3rd person games so you could get all the pokemon and trade them to the DS version maybe? I don't know even with the Pal Park it seems to ALOT of work to get every pokemon, like Chikorita, Cyndaquil and Totodile via the Cube games.. Now I'm just rambling, but yeah since the 3D Stadium games for the 64 came out I always thought Nintendo was wasting an opertunity to make millions from a 3D game, I mean sure having it on a handheld rocks, but no one I know plays Pokemon while out, probably as you'd get beaten senseless for it where I live.
Okay - I followed a long path to find this, and it's long past the actual post date . . . but hey, my two cents.
I like playing around with the Pokemon games when I can afford to buy them. I can see the sense in your criticisms, and don't feel a need to defend the games.
Rather, my personal gripes are with the limited-time-Pokemon which require special events to get. You know the ones I'm talking about, which require rabid fanaticism to go find . . . or a cheating device. The most recent versions have the Wi-Fi to assist, but suddenly they restricted it to the most recent release only instead of the older two (Diamond and Pearl, as opposed to Platinum).
I've seen one of my more liked turn-based games go to platformer (see: "Prinny: Can I Really Be The Hero?") so aim a little lower - let's just see a Pokemon platformer for starters.
Notably, there's the release overseas of a remade Gold and Silver; you might find those interesting if you're feeling nostalgic.
Regardless! Back to lurking and sharing links to videos out to friends.
I have to say that some of your ideas don't really appeal to me, but some things certainly did stick out:
1. Pokemon MMO - Freaking GOLD MINE oppurtunity! Given the popularity, this could rival WoW in terms of active members, and respective sales of consoles will skyrocket! I would slap down $15 a month for a Pokemon MMO. Hopefully with the next system they make (I doubt the Wii can handle something like that, sorry), Nintendo will seriously think about doing that.
2. 3rd-Person behind-the-shoulder + Real time Battle system
Again, this could be implemented with the Pokemon MMO. I imagine a sort of RE4-style camera for the overworld, and then center the camera behind your Pokemon during battle. The battle system would involve an ATB style (but still relatively real-time) system, choosing attacks at specific opportunities...oh man, now I want this game!
But Dawn of Sorrow style? Um...little odd for that.
Blah Blah Blah. Some stuff I know that will probably answer your questions:
1. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Series (Especialy the Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky). In these games, you can play as a Pokemon (That's right. Not a trainer, the actual Pokemon). Let me clarify this better. In the beginning of these games, you are transformed into a Pokemon. The type of species of Pokemon is determined by your gender and personality. You meet another Pokemon, which you pick as a partner you want to have during the personality test, and apparently both of you create a rescue team together. The gameplay is unique since it plays in a dungeon style gameplay while it sorta maintains most of the Pokemon RPG elements (limit to 4 moves, 16 elemental types, etc.) There is one game for the Gameboy Advanced and the rest are in DS. I believe this game would be good for you.
2. Pokemon Rumble. In this game, you play as a toy Pokemon in a world where other toy Pokemon battle each other for the sake of our entertainment (How evil has humanity has gotten to, making robot toys based off of a Nintendo game to kill each other). You start off as a low level Rattata toy who snuck into a battle arena, but soon you can obtain higher level Pokemon and even Legendary Pokemon. The gameplay is suprizing similar to Smash TV sinced it features real-time melee-based gameplay, other than just doing an attack and wait for the other player to attack. This game can be dowloaded through Wiiware.
3. Pokemon Type Wild. This game is suprizingly not made by Nintendo. This is a fighting game made using a MUGEN engine. You can play as a Pokemon (of course) and you fight other Pokemon (of course again). This fighting game spans to everywhere in the Poke'verse (wut?), and I mean everywhere! The stages span from all regions from the main games to the spin-off games, to even the Anime and Manga! Unfortunately, the full version haven't been released yet since most of the Pokemon fighters haven't been fully programmed and there is a few fighters to play as, but you could still play the demos and betas. The game can be downloaded on computer.
4. Pokepark Wii. This game is too childish to talk about, so try to search it on Wikipedia.
You are never going to read this but I am going to post this both here and as a response journal. I like the show and all, but this is one of the times I really have is disagree on some things.
[On changing the gameplay]
While I'll admit the battle animations are nothing to look at, the battle system itself is similar to Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest, though watered down in terms of opinions and the like.
But the point is, while changing how a game's mechanics work may interest some, the majority of people buy the game, for the gameplay they loved. Look at Sonic fans. While its not an RPG, it's still a franchise that people love for what it is. People complained at both the werehog and at Sonic using a sword, elements I liked since it changed the game.
I can't tell by the way you say it, but it seems you would like Pokemon to take a sort of shift that games like Kingdom Hearts did, where it keeps the Rpg elements but also adds the ability to control the pokemon and move around like the TV show. While I personally wouldn't like that, since as a tournament style player the strategy elements and customization is what keeps me playing the games, I can see the appeal.
Maybe you're talking you want to command the pokemon the pokemon to do these things, sort of an advanced version of the orginal Digimon world. I just think something like that would just confuse people who are used to the game.
All in all, to a causal player like you seem to be (no offense, though you shouldn't take any), it is a interesting concept. But to people buying a pokemon game, hoping to get a couple of new features and a couple new pokemon options, it would really bug them to see the game change.
[Story]
I agree with you on the fact that the story is monotonous and in itself too simple. I also agree that the ability to go to previous regions and fight old opponents again would be fun. A good substitute seems to be the battle frontier in emerald, where it was a new set of opponents to fight. Sorry if this half is short but it mirrors the plot of pokemon; too much of the same thing.
[Wrap-up]
This is just my opinion. I can't recommend any games outside the ones you've already played. Like you, I usually but only the main series, though I have gotten games like PBR so that I could play online (though I learned later that with a wi-fi connection you can play on the Diamond Pearl games as well. If you have anything you want to comment on, liek something I'm wrong about, send me a note on my deviantart account here http://diggorylost.deviantart.com/ or just ignore this outright. You'll never see this anyway since I'm commenting on an old blog anyway so there. Anyway good luck with both your comics and the shows.
i just thought id add three things to the possible improvements for pokemon. 1) how about attack combos so the pokemon can hit more than once: in the show they sometimes tell the pokemon to hit repeatedly so maybe pokemon black & white can have it where when a pokemon attacks it says on the screen "hit 2" that would be cool :) 2) maybe mixed moves: referring back to the show, there were times when they mixed attacks together (one really example being the fire spin-seismic toss in the 8th johto gym episode) so why not in the games, that way they're being more creative with the battling system. 3) they should add a new stat. maybe finally make evasivenise a major stat which you can train up, or maybe one for the attack combos addition i mentioned before, the higher the stat the bigger the combo. what do ya think?
Yeah, There are really I think two games that aren't Pokemon that pretty much do everything Linkara seems to want, and oddly enough, both are PS1 titles.
Digimon World- You usually could command your digimon in real time fighting much like you really would in Pokemon (which is odd, because it's not like in Digimon because in that show the digimon tended to fight however they wanted), granted you could only have one at a time, but you ended up caring for it a lot more, and the evolutions dependent on how you trained it felt much nicer than pre-determined evos. The later Digimon games discarded this and to there determinant.
Jade Cocoon: Story of the Tamamayu- The best and most underrated monster breeder, art designers by one of the main art leaders Studio Ghibli, and a nice story. It felt like what would happen if Princess Mononoke and Pokemon had a love child of sheer badassness. The main hero actually fights demons with weapons as well as capturing them, and it's one of the few RPGs where early on in the game you have to marry your girlfriend because of traditions relating to your culture in order to save your village, and it actually feels natural and the voice acting covers most of the game is pretty good. And the monsters themselves are unique in that they change based on what other monsters they are fused with in a dynamic way that leads to endless looks for your creatures.
Both are kinda hard to find, if you can emulate them, I say give them a try.
I know this is an old video but I don't care. THANK YOU LINKARA! I have been complaining about how they should make an MMORPG of Pokemon to my friends for YEARS. Granted I haven't played most myself(only own Blue/Yellow and I once saw a Green in a store, once I found out how rare that was I beat myself up for not buying it)But I have friends who played all of them. Once again thank you Linkara for vindicating my wish.
You know, Linkara, I enjoy Pokemon as much as the other kids and gamers who buy the games. They've done 3D games like Pokemon Stadium, Pokemon Colosseum and XD, and Pokemon Battle Revolution, as well as doing online play for the games.
Now, I don't know if it will be possible to actually do a true Pokemon MMO game, but making a game where you actually control Pokemon instead of issuing orders to Pokemon (like Super Smash Bros - you ever played that game?) does sound like an excellent idea.
I couldn't agree more with you on this one. I live in Serbia so gettinga console ten years after its release is normal, but getting another person who plays Pokémon or getting a Pokémon game cart is super hard, and getting a Pokémon game cart in English (cause the German branche is the closest one so most carts are in German unless they're multilingual) is nearly impossible. And Ruby/Sapphire really isn't as good as Gold/Silver, having a realtime clock function and no visible day/night transition and other sweeth things that the second generation had.
I got Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness recently and I was so glad to have me and my girl connect our GBAs to the GameCube (I had to buy two cables for this) and have our GBA raised Pokémon battle in awesome 3-D and ... and it turned out that the battles are more realistic on the GBA as it at least looks like Pokémon are doing something, as opposed to GCN where they stand still and mimic their moves while the hit Pokémon just mimics what is supposed to be its reaction to the attack. Lame.
The closest thing that your talking about is the mystery dungeon series. It's actually kind of monotonous if you don't like the dungeon scrawling roguelike gaming.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately unless you are a competitive player (yes I'm serious about "competitive play" in pokemon) you won't appreciate/condemn nintendo for the tiny little retarded nuances that they did put into this game.
(BIG POKEMON NERD HERE)
Ruby and Sapphire really did change the game mechanics in the sense of in-game stats, stat growth and damage calculations.
This generation of pokemon (diamond, pearl and platinum) is actually really pandering on that minority of these competitive players. The additive of online play is what was huge about this generation.
You said everyhing I thought about everyday from the time i was six till 12. I know just what you were thinking mystery dungeon was not what you would be waiting for that sucked. though it gave you the "official" test of what pokemon you were.
ReplyDeleteThe Closest 3rd person RPG like pokemon game for a console is for the Nintendo Gamecube called Pokemon Colosseum (not the tournament fighting games) and it's sequel Pokemon XD Gale of Darkness. I own Gale of Darkness and... it's an alright game. It does not involve gym battles as it revolves around dealing with evil organizations who wish to steal pokemon and bring darkness to their hearts thereby making them evil. The protagonist in return can recapture the pokemon and attempt to purify them through battle. However, as far as the gameplay mechanics it's the same as any generic pokemon game. It was just rather cool on how it's in that certain perspective and for once it does not deal with gym battles.
ReplyDeleteGood lord, if they do make a Pokemon MMORG I'm holding you personally responsible Lewis!
ReplyDeleteI agree, the early games were a neat idea, but the mobs of Pokemon fan-tweens must not be united in such a way.
Have you ever been trapped by a nephew who's over excitedly explaining to you about his Pokemon Cards? Now imagine you could multiply that fervor by way of the addicting elements of MMORGs.
And GET OFF MY LAWN!
*shakes his cane*
I used to love the pkmn series, in fact I still do... I left the franchise after the crystal version. I found it irritating that once they release a new game with a 100 new pkmn in it, there was 1 stupid bastard you couldn't get like in forever because you can't find him in the wild or get someone to trade it... that is the case of mew and celebi that meant that I had 249 pkmn to get the 250 (in gold, silver and crystal) but I was never going to complete them because mew was included! (there were no give aways in my country like the ones held in north america)
ReplyDeleteI loved the mechanics in the gold, silver and crystal versions, the night-day clock system and the fact that some pkmn only appeared at night or at day and when ppl called to say weird stuff or to challenge you, I liked that too; I even ended up liking the new classes (dark, metal types) and the fact that one pkmn could be more than one type. Even the reproduction system was funny (a little awkward though)
When Ruby and Sapphire came out at first I wanted them too, because I love the game but knowing that celebi and mew were part of the new 350 pkmn was just a bit too much for me to handle XD
In regards of the pkmn spin offs I find pkmn snap entertaining and hey you pikachu was nice too XDD
Dude, you have no idea. My friends and I have been saying a 3-D Pokemon game would be cool since the days of the N64, before Stadium came out. We still talk about it as a cool idea. Honestly, we think it would be awesome to be able to battle in a 3-D Pokemon game Tales of Symphonia style, where you had your little field, you could run around it, you could press up-B to do a certain attack, down-B, etc., jump, dodge, the works. That would be awesome!
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, Eugene is right, they did change a lot of the game mechanics in Ruby and Sapphire in the sense of stat growth and damage calculations. Personally, I think Gold/Silver was the peak of the series.
Yeah, every game which comes out is the same as the game before it. But I still buy it every time, because I'm a zombie sheep and each game is still fun as hell and addicting as crack. And I'm a slave to nostalgia. But yes, you are not the only one who feels this way. I've been waiting for a 3-D Pokemon game for 11 years, and I still hope one will pop up at some point.
I'm guessing you tried out Pokemon Platinum Lewis? I bought it recently to help me reminiscence.
ReplyDeleteTackle is never super effective you silly!
ReplyDelete...
Oh and I agree the kind of game your talking about would be very cool. It'd be awesome to have one where a Meowth could kick ass and not be destoryed the moment some one Mewtwo'd your ass. Not necessarily a MMORPG though but with online ability. That'd be great.
Sweet. Didn't know you were still into Pokemon as well. Just out of curiousity, are you planning to do a review on one of the various Pokemon comics?
ReplyDeleteP.S. I personally always went with Charmander.
I once made a rant about pokemon games and since this vlog made a lot of similiar points, I'll give you a link here
ReplyDeletehttp://screwattack.com/node/16414
Now I love the idea of Pokemon MMORPG. Just the idea of making pokemon for 100+ players at a time is sheer genius! Not only it will revive pokemon as a general franchise, but It will also add some freshness to MMORPG genre as well, especially since nowadays everything ends up being another Everquest/WoW clone. Makes me wanna make a petition, and Im not even that big of a MMORPG/Pokemon fan either.
linkara your right about the pokemon thing it has great mmorpg qualifications.also the sultry fox comics,is that the one with the alchemy machine the turns dog pop in too gold?
ReplyDeleteI have wanted to see what a pokemon 3d mmorpg would be like for AGES. I can't believe they still haven't done it. The main thing that bugs my about the pokemon series is the new pokemon. I loved the original 150, the 250 were also pretty cool but it's getting downright ridiculous now, they have like 1050 (Get off my lawn indeed ^_-)
ReplyDeleteBut one game you might want to check out was Jade Coocoon, it's what I imagine a 3D pokemon game would be like. You run around wild areas where there are monsters hanging around (which you can see and try to avoid if you want to). The battles were still turn based but more of a final fantasy style.
check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9lGas5kqus
Huh. Interesting perspective...
ReplyDeleteThough I do have to (painfully) agree that Pokemon is more or less the same as it was when it first started, I disagree that the formula has to be changed so Drastically.
A 3rd person fighting game??
I'm sorry, but how about just adding a deeper and more involving battle menu that just "attack", "item","pokemon", and "run".
I don't know exactly what could be added, but I'm Sure the brilliant minds at Nintendo (not sarcastic, by the way) could think of Something.
...Also kinda surprised you only touched on the aspect of no compatibility between various generations, meaning that getting the 300-400-someodd pokemon is practically impossible.
Why can't Nintendo create some kind of Gameboy Color-Gameboy Advance link cable?
Otherwise, great 'VLog'. You should do these more often ;D
Then at least I could trade between every generation...To me, that'd be pretty damn sweet.
Linkara, you have much to learn:
ReplyDeleteAs most have already stated here, the Mystery Dungeon games are fast-paced, and fun for a long while. You can also find basically EVERYONE who's ever been in one of the generations.
Pokémon Stadium did not surprise me, but it was still fun, though the AI was a little cheap. PkmnS2 was amazing though.
If you're looking for third-person, you should look for Coliseum or XD: Gale of Darkness, both for the GameCube.
If you are looking for things a little bit faster and not as tedious, I'd suggest Platinum, which just came out (probably the reason why you're ranting).
I love Pokémon to death, it's the franchise that got me into gaming. This coming birthday will be 10 years of gaming, and the first game I ever bought was Red Version.
Yellow Version was also amazing with the fact that you could get all the starters.
Pokémon fighting game? I wouldn't think so, just can't imagine it.
What I would like to see from you as a side project is a "Let's Play" series of Blue Version playthroughs, with Baulbasaur (Spelling?) as the starter.
Pal Park in Diamond is the thing you're talking about when you said that there should be a way to get all the little creatures in one game, and in Emerald, you could get one of the Johto starters after completing the regular Pokédex.
I hope to see that playthrough, as well as more awesomeness.
-SideSmash
Pokemon (at it's peak of merchandising) was Japan's revenge on the US for the Atomic Bomb
ReplyDeleteGreat video blog! I have to agree on a few points there. Especially when Stadium was involved. I fell out of it after Stadium and Gold were around, but still it's nice to see the basic sort of style of play out there. A few improvments would be awesome. A MMORG or Sandbox style of game in a Pokemon world would be awesome! They can have expansions like Warcraft to increase the # of Pokemon you can acquire. Nifty idea! So until someone assembles the Infinity Gauntlet to make these ideas real, MAKE MINE LINKARA!
ReplyDeleteTo be honest I haven't paid much attention to Pokemon over the last fews years mainly because other games caught my attention and I stopped watching the anime a while ago because it's obviously never going to end (the manga version ended after the Orange Island arc and that was a satsifying enough ending for me). I've been considering getting Pokemon Platinum to see if I've missed anything over the years but..., that'll depend on my financial situation later.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, my two cents on what would get me back into Pokemon again is this. Collaborate with Bioware to create the next Pokemon game; make the new game a little more story driven with your character presented with choices to make that will affect the outcome of the game and whether your character will be a good guy kind of trainer or a bad guy trainer (whether or not you join and possibly take over Team Rocket is up to you).
On a side note, Linkara, is there any chance that you'll put in your thoughts on the upcoming Batman Arkham Asylum game? I'm sure you've seen the previews and are at least curious about it. I know what you said about being poor and all, but surely you know someone with an X Box 360 who'd be willing to let you give the game a try.
Long time watcher, First time commenter (always wanted to say that).
ReplyDeleteI totally agree, a Pokemon Fighting game would kick ass.
Closest thing that's come to it is M.U.G.E.N., a Fighting game where you make your own character.
However, an over-the-shoulder Pokemon wouldn't work.
I could, however, see a Fighting game using all the Fighting types.
(Hitmonchan vs. Hitmonlee vs. Hitmontop vs. Tyrogue... ^_^)
Oh, and Squirtle FTW.
actually they already made a pokemon fighting game its called smash brothers. granted they dont have all the pokemon they have some. But i feel more ashamed that when i was 12 i got caught up in the pokemon card game. my smart friends sold all their cards for cash. I horded them till they were worthless. I feel like such a nut bar even talking about pokemon (dear lord i still remember the poke' rap). but the best thing about the game was it was a portable multiplayer rpg. It was great a few of us at school used to always duke it out on the playground with our games, then we discovered that one glitch that lets you get unlimited items and a special pokemon that is over level 100, then wed max them out to 255 and duke it out with those pokemon. i used an abracadabra with all sorts of ridiculous stuff. ah memory lane its taking over ahh!
ReplyDeleteoh yeah totally agree with the pokemon stadium garbage, i had the thing on reserve and when i got it I was so pissed it was just a 3d version of the gameboy minus the world. I was like what the heck did i just pay for?! wish youtube had been out back then. but i gave up after gold. I hacked games to death with my game shark that was fun and it sorta got me interested in hacking other stuff like phones and computers so yeah maybe pokemon wasn't a waste of time or money or dignity. blasted cards, I gotta find somebody that knows how to play so we can laugh at how miserable and pathetic we are.
Please oh please oh please tell me you might go with my suggestion for a bad comic - You know the one. With the elephants. Please?
ReplyDeleteHey Lewis, I absoutly agree with ya. I never gave it much thought about a Pokemon fighting game, but yeah, nintendo needs to make one. Why can't it be a Super Smash Brothers-style fighting game? There are some Pokemon in said fighting game but not enough.
ReplyDeleteNever thought of a Pokemon MMORPG. Good call!
The co-writer of my blog and myself didn't really have age remove the simple enjoyment of Pokemon, and one of his blog entries did, indeed, look back at the series. Like yourself, he is a big Gold fan, and I agree with both of you that it was the series's high point, after which it...sorta just petered off in a diagonal direction.
ReplyDeleteOn a Pokemon fighter: As has already been noted here, Smash Bros. It's proof that the system can be done, the question is whether or not Nintendo will get the clue-bat that says "hey, maybe we could gather up an all-Pokemon team for a Smash Bros. style game, and add RPG elements in as well!" I wouldn't put too much faith in that happening, however. I rented the Wii Pokemon battler (cannot remember the title at the moment) to attempt to see if Nintendo had learned anything at all, and...they didn't. They really didn't.
But I digress...
It's good to see your opinions on the series, and I'll be happily awaiting more VLogs and reviews from you.
Pokémon fighting game? I wouldn't think so, just can't imagine it.
ReplyDeleteHow so? Just look at the Super Smash Brothers series. Granted, I wouldn't call it a "Pokémon fighting game" (there's lots of other characters in it) but if you can imagine SSB (which is easy, as it exists!) then it would be easy to imagine a Pokémon fighting game, as it would just be like SSB except with more Pokémon characters instead of Mario/Link/Bowser/Kirby/etc.
I did like the anime in the original Kanto arc and even in the Orange Islands, but after that it just went downhill and got boring. I REALLY liked the "Pokemon Adventures" (or Pokemon Special) manga more (it prevents itself from being stale by switching protagonists between arcs), but unfortunately they stopped publishing it in the United States after volume 7. Good thing there's the Internet to read what happened afterwards!
And wow, a Pokémon MMORPG would be great. I'm surprised it never occurred to me before...
True, Lord Seth, but what Lewis stated that he wanted a Pokémon fighting game in which the creatures are in a "ring" using their own attacks to fight eachother. I know that SSBB is kind of an example of a Pkmn fighting game, but not what Linkara was talking about.
ReplyDeleteVery true, but even if it's a 2-D fighting game, it would still be an improvement over the repetitive turn-based style of fights. It wouldn't be that hard to modify the SSB engine to make it for Pokemon.
ReplyDeletePokeman? POKEMAN!!! With the Poke and the Man, and the thing where the guy comes out of the thing, and he gets stuck in the ball. AH AH AH AH AH AH!!!
ReplyDeleteIn all seriousness I quite the series after the "first generation"
I guess I found it a little demanding how you were supposed to "Catch em all" when the number or creatures jumped from 150 to 250
Also do you like Mudkips?
ReplyDelete...
ReplyDeleteTHEIR SMILES MOCK ME.
I was totally playing Platinum while watching this. -_-
ReplyDeleteYeah, they are all practically the same, but that's what you come to expect with them. My only complaint is the inability to actually "catch 'em all". Someone already mentioned that by Gold and Silver, Mew and Celebi were uncatchable without going to obscure Nintendo events, but its gotten even worse with each generation. By my count, there are currently eight or nine Pokemon you can't get without praying to the Nintendo gods. Some of the side games ("Pokemon Ranger" 1 and 2, and the attrocious WiiWare title "My Pokemon Ranch"), can help you get a few, but other than that, you gotta cheat, or get them in a trade from someone else, who probably cheated. >_<
Lewis, if you're into PC gaming, you might want to try a 2002 game by Funatics: Zanzarah. Zanzarah is pretty much what you described, only without the Pokemons themselves: a 3rd person adventure game, where you train fairies (there are only 12 kinds, but it makes the training more RPG-like), and you have to directly control them in their battles. It has a wonderful, little bit Longest Journey-like atmosphere, a decent story, and multiplayer options, so you can beat you friends in deadly fairyfight!
ReplyDeleteHope I was of some help.
I've played Red Yellow Leaf Green and Sapphire and out of that group i'd have t say that Leaf Green is the best. it improves on the original games and then adds some new pokemon on the islands.
ReplyDeleteIt's been my unfortunate experience with another highly-addictive collecting game *coughYu-Gi-Ohcough* that it's almost never a good idea to radically change the mechanics of a game that's had its formula fixed from the beginning and left unchanged for such a long time.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, in one GBA Yu-Gi-Oh game, they mucked with the card mechanics to make it more like the Pokemon paper-rock-scissors element superiority gameplay, as well as add in some RPG leveling-up elements. It failed miserably, because the new changes severely hindered what they left alone with the game mechanics, not only making it not fun, but also making it not feel at all like a Yu-Gi-Oh game.
Why am I making this statement? Because, while I do agree that something needs to be done to improve the game's fighting mechanics so it doesn't become stale, the extreme changes you're suggesting probably wouldn't be a good way of doing that. As my mate (a fellow die-hard Pokemon fan) explained to me when I told him about your VLog, turning it into a full-fledged fighting game would severely undermine the basic combat mechanics the game has set up for the series, like attack speed and type weakness/resistance.
To wit, let's look at how attacks would be affected if you could move your pokemon around everywhere at the drop of a hat; if they've got free reign over where they can move, all they need to do is sidestep a non-field hitting attack (like Earthquake) and be safe, making stats like speed and evasiveness redundant...unless they factor that into the pokemon's maneuverability...but then that would prove problematic for attacks like Arial Ace that always land...y'see? This is what he was talking to me about: the very nature of the moves themselves just throw in way too many variables for such a free-roaming battle mechanic to work adequately.
Frankly, I think they should start out small, like give a player a chance to give certain orders during an opponent's attack (like evading or healing), or even cancel an attack of your own if it looks like the opponent is going to counter it. That, at least, would give you a little more control over the battle than simply throwing out a command and hoping for the best.
The rest, though, I completely agree with you on, and to an extent, so does my mate; he would love to check out Kanto or Johto or whatnot in the latest games, and I think the turn-based nature of the Pokemon battles would work well in an MMO - just use the WoW engine for it, and there you go. As an aside, I would also love to see more animation from the Pokemon themselves, like custom fainting animations for each; I kinda liked how they did that in the 3D Pokemon games, and I absolutely hate that Nintendo seems to focus on updating the graphics for everything BUT the Pokemon battles, kinda like how - until recently - Yu-Gi-Oh video games would upgrade the graphics for everything BUT the cards and duels.
BTW, if you're looking for bad manga to review, I've got the perfect series: Kiss Players. Loli-looking 20-some-year-old women kissing Transformers to merge with them and give them powers so they can fight Megatron clones with hentai tentacle tongues. It's as twisted and badly-conceived as it sounds.
I agree with you. I'm playing my way through Platinum now and yeah it's the same thing. Battling has changed with the special attack and regular attack move split as you can assign moves that are physical and special to a monster.
ReplyDeleteStill, I agree with you as I've played my way through four generations of Pokemon. Pokemon battle revolution, though does have some physical contact. However, they do go back to the same spot after. It is annoying. Nintendo really needs to up the ante in gen 5.
Good vlog!
Cferra
So my first time posting a comment on your blog… well actually an any blog… I’m not to much of a comment guy, but since you’ve some great vlogs and comic reviews I felt like posting something. Btw. (Thanks for saving me from buying Amazons Attack!)
ReplyDeleteAs much as I would love “to hate” that games and series I just can’t… is been more than 12 years now and I still watch the show on TV Tokyo I thinks its more because I’ve study Japanese but true told I still like the franchise.
I actually felt a big change on the game mechanics on Pokémon Pearl especially with the online and the new ítems capabilities, and status and balanced gameplay, but most of the changes are almost only for the very competitive long time Pokémon players, like me ;), but I got to say it quite fell a little old by now. But to be honest the game does fell aged, especially compared to other good turn based RPGs like GoldenSun or more time action based like the Tales saga.
I still getting platinum this week kind of late compared to the rest of the world (damn thing living in south America).
They seems to have tried to do some changes with other games like Pokémon Rangers but I was just weird and Mystery Dungeon had some nice story but the battle system even if new and more active based was kind of boring after a while, still the story was kind of nice… btw you should check the Pokémon mystery dungeon manga, kind of weird stuff, yet not bad as some other comics out there
About a 3D, kinda 3rd person view, Pokémon game, as someone had already posted here there is XD for for the gamecube which quite has some rather interesting story and different stuff from other games.
Still It does is time for Nintendo and GameFreaks to upgrade the game, big time. An MMORPG would be GREAT!!!
I agree SO MUCH linkara. I also think that the game is the same thing always, you beat the gym leaders, then get the legendary, then the elite four, then thats it. Thats why I only play the mystery dungeon series now.
ReplyDeleteI used to play Pokemon. I stopped after Silver.
ReplyDeleteI just kinda grew out of it, and I prefered console games of a more adult theme.
I've always thought that a pokemon game where your 'mons could move would sell amazingly, even if it was turn based. I think that would be the best for the series. On your turn, you can move the mon, and attack. Their speed is based on their stats, attacks have different ranges, it wouldn't be too complicated. The only issue might be size, since some of them are huge, but it's not that big of a deal.
ReplyDeleteI figure it'd be the be the best way to get more variety in the game. It would be harder to do a fighting game with so many different possible mons, while this game could use the same system for attacks. Each mon has up to 4 different attacks, and you choose the attack before or after they move.
Would that be too hard to do Nintendo?
For the record, there are 493 Pokemon now.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that the games have gotten stale. It's always the same: fight 8 Gym Leaders, then beat the Elite Four while single-handely beating up a crime syndicate along the way. The game needs more story. Lots more story. I'm tired of all the grinding because I exhausted all the story but can't take on the next Gym Leader yet.
I think we could use a real-time battle system, but outside of MMORPGs and Star Wars: KOTOR, I haven't played any real-time RPGs, so I can't comment much on how good that would be.
Despite having played all the games, I'd say my favorite is Sapphire. Specifically because of Kyogre, and sapphires are cool. It really felt like a step-up from G/S/C. Sure, it didn't have the day/night system, but it had better graphics, sound quality, and even the best Pokemon of any gen (Yeah, I went there. Gardevoir FTW!).
I actually enjoyed Pokemon Stadium when I played it at a demo station at Best Buy because it was 3D, and having the same battle system wasn't bad because the graphics and having a battle announcer vastly offset that. This is why I bought Pokemon Battle Revolution for Wii, which is like Stadium, but has customizable trainers, Wi-Fi, and you can actually see Pokemon hitting each other for attacks...sometimes. Others hate the game, and I do think it's shallow on content, but I love it.
Oh, and a Pokemon MMORPG is impossible due to Nintendo's online policy involving friend codes to protect kids from pedophiles and bad language.
To finalize, Pokemon has gotten stale, and I'll pass on the next gen set if nothing changes.
I found something else you missed with your vlog: to add to the disappointment of not being able to capture any of the old-generation pokemon, why don't they have updated pokemon cries like the new generations do? They still have those tinny little 2-tone midi sound bytes from the original games, despite their sprites getting an upgrade. Why? Is it that hard to give each of those old pokemon their own unique sound effects that are at the same quality as the new ones? Or better yet, do what they did with Pikachu in Pokemon Yellow and just replace the midi synthesizer sounds with, y'know, actual pokemon cries from the anime.
ReplyDeleteAnother genre crossesd my mind. Why not raise Pokemon like in a tamagatchi game or Sonic Adventure 2?
ReplyDeletePokemon ranger kills touch screen by that crazy swirling. Still it is little bit closer to what you mean.
ReplyDeleteI still think that pokemon silver and gold are the best ones.
First of allNintendo doesn't make pc games, and the wii sucks to much to make an MMO, however there exist fan game pokemon MMOs.
ReplyDeleteAlso Nintendo and Game Freak will just slowly upgrade the system and save time making the games, before the sales fall and they make what I would call a power stone style fighter. That means that 2 to 12 pokemon on screen using an upgradable and customizable moveset in an overheadish perspective. Also they would need time to create 3-D models of the pokemon and their attacks.
Lastly Gold will be getting a remake which will have additional content, more pokemon, slightly different plot etc. In Pokemon Heart Gold. Pokemon's main demographic is children, not old fans.
It's a classic case of "if it ain't broke, why fix it?" The game's (main title games, not spinoffs) have been doing so well everytime, they dare not screw around with it. They're a company, they need the mulah. Plus, I kinda love the turn base battling. Made me feel like an rpg nerd, but it was pokemon, so it was ok. lol.
ReplyDeleteThough I agree about the feeling of wanting my Golduck to claw the fuck out of a Venonat, without feeling like they're doing nothing.
If they ever do a Pokemon rpg, it probably won't be for a long while, or until they realize they can't think up any new pokemon designs anymore.
I love the Pokemon Colour games, Have done since I got Red ( Best friend got Blue. ) and I'm currently trying to get all of them as I bought my friends Blue, I have Yellow and had Gold ( Lent to a friend who lost it...), also got Crystal and looking to get the GBA ones ( Sapphire, Ruby, Emerald, Fire Red and Leaf Green ) BUT theres one this that kinda pisses me off about them and thats that you cannot get the Gold/Silver starters on Sapphire and what have you, or atleast not from what I've read so the only way to do that is to get the Game Cube games, and complete them, three bloody times to get the Gold/Silver starters. Unfortunatly I'm the sort of geek that would do that.
ReplyDeleteI full agree a 3D 3rd person Pokemon game would rock hard, maybe for the Wii and release like Red and Blue through to Pearl and Diamond as the 3D 3rd person games so you could get all the pokemon and trade them to the DS version maybe? I don't know even with the Pal Park it seems to ALOT of work to get every pokemon, like Chikorita, Cyndaquil and Totodile via the Cube games.. Now I'm just rambling, but yeah since the 3D Stadium games for the 64 came out I always thought Nintendo was wasting an opertunity to make millions from a 3D game, I mean sure having it on a handheld rocks, but no one I know plays Pokemon while out, probably as you'd get beaten senseless for it where I live.
Okay - I followed a long path to find this, and it's long past the actual post date . . . but hey, my two cents.
ReplyDeleteI like playing around with the Pokemon games when I can afford to buy them. I can see the sense in your criticisms, and don't feel a need to defend the games.
Rather, my personal gripes are with the limited-time-Pokemon which require special events to get. You know the ones I'm talking about, which require rabid fanaticism to go find . . . or a cheating device. The most recent versions have the Wi-Fi to assist, but suddenly they restricted it to the most recent release only instead of the older two (Diamond and Pearl, as opposed to Platinum).
I've seen one of my more liked turn-based games go to platformer (see: "Prinny: Can I Really Be The Hero?") so aim a little lower - let's just see a Pokemon platformer for starters.
Notably, there's the release overseas of a remade Gold and Silver; you might find those interesting if you're feeling nostalgic.
Regardless! Back to lurking and sharing links to videos out to friends.
I have to say that some of your ideas don't really appeal to me, but some things certainly did stick out:
ReplyDelete1. Pokemon MMO - Freaking GOLD MINE oppurtunity! Given the popularity, this could rival WoW in terms of active members, and respective sales of consoles will skyrocket! I would slap down $15 a month for a Pokemon MMO. Hopefully with the next system they make (I doubt the Wii can handle something like that, sorry), Nintendo will seriously think about doing that.
2. 3rd-Person behind-the-shoulder + Real time Battle system
Again, this could be implemented with the Pokemon MMO. I imagine a sort of RE4-style camera for the overworld, and then center the camera behind your Pokemon during battle. The battle system would involve an ATB style (but still relatively real-time) system, choosing attacks at specific opportunities...oh man, now I want this game!
But Dawn of Sorrow style? Um...little odd for that.
Blah Blah Blah. Some stuff I know that will probably answer your questions:
ReplyDelete1. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Series (Especialy the Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky). In these games, you can play as a Pokemon (That's right. Not a trainer, the actual Pokemon). Let me clarify this better. In the beginning of these games, you are transformed into a Pokemon. The type of species of Pokemon is determined by your gender and personality. You meet another Pokemon, which you pick as a partner you want to have during the personality test, and apparently both of you create a rescue team together. The gameplay is unique since it plays in a dungeon style gameplay while it sorta maintains most of the Pokemon RPG elements (limit to 4 moves, 16 elemental types, etc.) There is one game for the Gameboy Advanced and the rest are in DS. I believe this game would be good for you.
2. Pokemon Rumble. In this game, you play as a toy Pokemon in a world where other toy Pokemon battle each other for the sake of our entertainment (How evil has humanity has gotten to, making robot toys based off of a Nintendo game to kill each other). You start off as a low level Rattata toy who snuck into a battle arena, but soon you can obtain higher level Pokemon and even Legendary Pokemon. The gameplay is suprizing similar to Smash TV sinced it features real-time melee-based gameplay, other than just doing an attack and wait for the other player to attack. This game can be dowloaded through Wiiware.
3. Pokemon Type Wild. This game is suprizingly not made by Nintendo. This is a fighting game made using a MUGEN engine. You can play as a Pokemon (of course) and you fight other Pokemon (of course again). This fighting game spans to everywhere in the Poke'verse (wut?), and I mean everywhere! The stages span from all regions from the main games to the spin-off games, to even the Anime and Manga! Unfortunately, the full version haven't been released yet since most of the Pokemon fighters haven't been fully programmed and there is a few fighters to play as, but you could still play the demos and betas. The game can be downloaded on computer.
4. Pokepark Wii. This game is too childish to talk about, so try to search it on Wikipedia.
Well, looks like that my work here is done.
You are never going to read this but I am going to post this both here and as a response journal. I like the show and all, but this is one of the times I really have is disagree on some things.
ReplyDelete[On changing the gameplay]
While I'll admit the battle animations are nothing to look at, the battle system itself is similar to Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest, though watered down in terms of opinions and the like.
But the point is, while changing how a game's mechanics work may interest some, the majority of people buy the game, for the gameplay they loved. Look at Sonic fans. While its not an RPG, it's still a franchise that people love for what it is. People complained at both the werehog and at Sonic using a sword, elements I liked since it changed the game.
I can't tell by the way you say it, but it seems you would like Pokemon to take a sort of shift that games like Kingdom Hearts did, where it keeps the Rpg elements but also adds the ability to control the pokemon and move around like the TV show. While I personally wouldn't like that, since as a tournament style player the strategy elements and customization is what keeps me playing the games, I can see the appeal.
Maybe you're talking you want to command the pokemon the pokemon to do these things, sort of an advanced version of the orginal Digimon world. I just think something like that would just confuse people who are used to the game.
All in all, to a causal player like you seem to be (no offense, though you shouldn't take any), it is a interesting concept. But to people buying a pokemon game, hoping to get a couple of new features and a couple new pokemon options, it would really bug them to see the game change.
[Story]
I agree with you on the fact that the story is monotonous and in itself too simple. I also agree that the ability to go to previous regions and fight old opponents again would be fun. A good substitute seems to be the battle frontier in emerald, where it was a new set of opponents to fight. Sorry if this half is short but it mirrors the plot of pokemon; too much of the same thing.
[Wrap-up]
This is just my opinion. I can't recommend any games outside the ones you've already played. Like you, I usually but only the main series, though I have gotten games like PBR so that I could play online (though I learned later that with a wi-fi connection you can play on the Diamond Pearl games as well. If you have anything you want to comment on, liek something I'm wrong about, send me a note on my deviantart account here http://diggorylost.deviantart.com/ or just ignore this outright. You'll never see this anyway since I'm commenting on an old blog anyway so there. Anyway good luck with both your comics and the shows.
Damn you, Linkara! You made all those good points and now I want something like that.
ReplyDeleteWhere would I mail the letter to?
You know what would be a good idea for a new pokemon game? A God of War style Beat em' up or a Powerstone fighting game.
ReplyDeletei just thought id add three things to the possible improvements for pokemon.
ReplyDelete1) how about attack combos so the pokemon can hit more than once: in the show they sometimes tell the pokemon to hit repeatedly so maybe pokemon black & white can have it where when a pokemon attacks it says on the screen "hit 2" that would be cool :)
2) maybe mixed moves: referring back to the show, there were times when they mixed attacks together (one really example being the fire spin-seismic toss in the 8th johto gym episode) so why not in the games, that way they're being more creative with the battling system.
3) they should add a new stat. maybe finally make evasivenise a major stat which you can train up, or maybe one for the attack combos addition i mentioned before, the higher the stat the bigger the combo.
what do ya think?
Yeah, There are really I think two games that aren't Pokemon that pretty much do everything Linkara seems to want, and oddly enough, both are PS1 titles.
ReplyDeleteDigimon World- You usually could command your digimon in real time fighting much like you really would in Pokemon (which is odd, because it's not like in Digimon because in that show the digimon tended to fight however they wanted), granted you could only have one at a time, but you ended up caring for it a lot more, and the evolutions dependent on how you trained it felt much nicer than pre-determined evos. The later Digimon games discarded this and to there determinant.
Jade Cocoon: Story of the Tamamayu- The best and most underrated monster breeder, art designers by one of the main art leaders Studio Ghibli, and a nice story. It felt like what would happen if Princess Mononoke and Pokemon had a love child of sheer badassness. The main hero actually fights demons with weapons as well as capturing them, and it's one of the few RPGs where early on in the game you have to marry your girlfriend because of traditions relating to your culture in order to save your village, and it actually feels natural and the voice acting covers most of the game is pretty good. And the monsters themselves are unique in that they change based on what other monsters they are fused with in a dynamic way that leads to endless looks for your creatures.
Both are kinda hard to find, if you can emulate them, I say give them a try.
I know this is an old video but I don't care. THANK YOU LINKARA! I have been complaining about how they should make an MMORPG of Pokemon to my friends for YEARS. Granted I haven't played most myself(only own Blue/Yellow and I once saw a Green in a store, once I found out how rare that was I beat myself up for not buying it)But I have friends who played all of them. Once again thank you Linkara for vindicating my wish.
ReplyDeleteYou know, Linkara, I enjoy Pokemon as much as the other kids and gamers who buy the games. They've done 3D games like Pokemon Stadium, Pokemon Colosseum and XD, and Pokemon Battle Revolution, as well as doing online play for the games.
ReplyDeleteNow, I don't know if it will be possible to actually do a true Pokemon MMO game, but making a game where you actually control Pokemon instead of issuing orders to Pokemon (like Super Smash Bros - you ever played that game?) does sound like an excellent idea.
Despite the games being pretty much the same, I'm still an avid player of the series-although your arguments are correct, and completely justified.
ReplyDeleteThe game Pokemon Rumble is sort of a Pokemon fighting game. It's not anything close to what you described, but it's the closest thing we have.
Finally, now that Black and White versions are out, what's your opinion on them?
I couldn't agree more with you on this one. I live in Serbia so gettinga console ten years after its release is normal, but getting another person who plays Pokémon or getting a Pokémon game cart is super hard, and getting a Pokémon game cart in English (cause the German branche is the closest one so most carts are in German unless they're multilingual) is nearly impossible. And Ruby/Sapphire really isn't as good as Gold/Silver, having a realtime clock function and no visible day/night transition and other sweeth things that the second generation had.
ReplyDeleteI got Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness recently and I was so glad to have me and my girl connect our GBAs to the GameCube (I had to buy two cables for this) and have our GBA raised Pokémon battle in awesome 3-D and ... and it turned out that the battles are more realistic on the GBA as it at least looks like Pokémon are doing something, as opposed to GCN where they stand still and mimic their moves while the hit Pokémon just mimics what is supposed to be its reaction to the attack. Lame.