Our obsession with Pokemon Black and White, and our interest in having more major releases for the Nintendo 3DS, has us wondering what Nintendo's big franchise might do on a new console. When the series leaped to the DS, we found ourselves treated to more intuitive controls and greatly-improved connectivity. Certainly the 3DS should afford us some great changes to the house that Pikachu built.
To be clear, Nintendo and Pokemon Company International have yet to confirm that Pokemon is coming to the Nintendo 3DS. They have yet to confirm another installment in the series. But saying a new Pokemon game is coming is about as obvious saying water is wet, so let's just assume something is coming.
Keep+Expanding+on+the+Story+Quality
One of the things that surprised us the most in Pokemon Black and White was its story. Displaying a surprising amount of depth for a series not known for narrative complexity, the game mixes the player's journey to become Pokemon League Champion with a background plot involving Team Plasma's attempt to liberate Pokemon. The lead antagonist, N, is likewise more complex than he seems, and individual gym leaders certainly had more depth than in previous iterations.
It'd be great to see this trend continue. The Pokemon series is known as much for its repetitive qualities as its addictive ones. Changing the basic structure of the series, driven by a compelling story, would be a fantastic way to mark the series' transition to the 3DS. Let's find a region that doesn't always feature gym leaders. Let's fight the Pokemon League Champion earlier. Let's see the main villain become more sympathetic, similar to some of the best comic book and movie bad guys out there. It's hard to imagine rooting for an enemy in Pokemon, but it'd be cool if it happened.
As much as we draw a great deal of nostalgia and joy in seeing a kid leaving home on an epic journey, it's become a bit old. More than fashion shows or bizarre methods to import Pokemon from old games, we want to see a fresh take on our main adventure, particularly as the franchise moves to a powerful new system.
Improved+Graphics,+Please
This one seems obvious, yet we never thought Pokemon would fundamentally be the same game after 15 years either. Simply put, it's time for Nintendo's series to evolve past basic sprites with overly basic animation sequences. We love the classic presentation as much as anyone, but we've had it for over a decade. If we have a burning desire to see Charmander or Chimchar in 2D, we'll head back to our old portables.
Pokemon needs to make its way to the Nintendo 3DS in 3D, both in depth and in creature design. It's time for polygons. It's time for complex effects. It's time to see these creatures in an entirely new dimension, which is something that would excite us more than just about any other feature. In fact, we could buy into the idea of seeing no new Pokemon in the next release, so long as there were revised versions of the old ones. With over 600 creatures, there would be plenty to discover.
Attacks would need an upgrade too. We don't want to see a creature swirl in a circle and think that it's hitting something. Let's see it hit something. This franchise has been incredibly clever with its resources, but it can't hide once it hits the 3DS. It's time to step it up a notch.
Expanded+Multiplayer
We realize it seems a bit odd to demand more from a series that is fundamentally built around a critical social experience. The fact that Pokemon's greatest appeal is trading and battling with others seems to almost defy the notion that it needs to expand upon that premise. But that's precisely why we're thinking it's time for more.
For years we've wondered what a Pokemon MMO would look like, but let's just assume that's never going to happen. (Let's be serious -- it isn't.) What if developer GameFreak took us halfway there? What if we could register our game with a small group of friends, and we could all populate a new region? Imagine your rival no longer being a generic NPC, but your friend down the street. Imagine arriving in a town to discover your co-worker managed to change some fundamental properties about that area?
Of course, some accommodation to basic design would need to be made. Typically legendary Pokemon are one-of-a-kind, and once they're captured, that's it. No doubt it'd be a bummer to discover your friend captured the region's only Zekrom, leaving you out in the cold. GameFreak would need to account for this type of scenario and avoid it. It seems a small price to pay for something potentially very cool.
Adding to the possibilities of expanded multiplayer functionality, what if you could team with friends rather than just battle them? What if some enemies in the game were so powerful you had to find someone to be your ally? What if some rare Pokemon would only appear if you journey through an area with a teammate?
Street+Pass+and+Spot+Pass
It's no secret that the IGN Nintendo team is in love with StreetPass (and Spot Pass), and that admiration has extended too much of the IGN office. But as cool as it is to trade puzzle pieces and acquire Miis, we need more. What if we could trade and acquire Pokemon instead?
GameFreak would definitely need to handle this one carefully. It's clear players aren't going to want to have battles passively handled for them, as even a basic Pokemon fight requires dozens of decisions. Likewise trades would need to have some sort of oversight, given that no one wants to blindly trade with others. (Think the GTS, but bigger, better and more effective.) Still the need to make trading with strangers more seamless is definitely a necessity, as is the need to take advantage of the 3DS's great communication abilities.
When it comes to SpotPass, we've already seen how the DS's ability to receive communication (and Pokemon) from set points is an incredible tool. How many of us trekked around town for a Shiny Raikou or Entei? Who wandered from store to store for Ash's Pikachu? SpotPass makes this even easier, as any 3DS HotSpot (such as the ones that will be offered by AT&T or Best Buy) could add new creatures, new features or new items to your game. Think of the possibilities.
Fixing+the+Past
We've already written extensively on things we'd like to change about the Pokemon franchise, and no doubt you have a list yourself. (No doubt that will be the bulk of the comments below.) But we'd be remiss if we didn't mention a few things that we're desperate to see revised when the series jumps to the Nintendo 3DS.
First and foremost, let's ditch this bizarre and antique concept of a "PC box." It's not only clunky, it's a huge waste of our time. Why do we have to store things in bins? Why do we have to constantly manage them? Why do we have to deposit and remove separately? For a series that has improved its user interface by leaps and bounds, this stuff has always confused the hell out of us. Kids have laptops and iPhones these days. Can't our aspiring Pokemon champ manage his creatures on the go? We're playing on a portable game system, for crying out loud!
Next is something that frustrates us about RPGs across the board -- leveling up. It's not that we don't want our creatures to grow in experience and ability. When our Pokemon learn new moves or evolve, we're thrilled, and it's a core concept that cannot be removed. What we hate is that the process of battling, gaining experience and leveling up at a reasonable rate is clunky. We hate the notion of "grinding" as an essential part of gameplay. The repetitive nature of endless battles seems contrary to what the best games in the world do, and it also hinders the story of the single-player game.
The last thing on our hit list is importing Pokemon from past games. How many of you tried to bring old creatures into your Black and White copies? Surely you hated that silly, trivial game that you had to play? The idea that we can't simply shift characters from one version to the next without jumping through some hoops is a bit bizarre to us. We'd love this to be streamlined, particularly since Pokemon "Grey" (or whatever it ends up being called) will likely open up the region of Unova to even more creatures than before.
That's what we'd love to see in the next Pokemon game, particularly as the series makes its way (we suspect) to the Nintendo 3DS. But what do you want to see? Is there anything you're dying to see the series do? Is there anything you definitely don't want? Is it time for the series to make some more significant changes, despite the fact that Pokemon Black and White altered quite a bit?
Sound off below…