Pokémonis a franchise that’s no stranger to criticism, but it seems that lately, more and more players are finding themselves unhappy with modern-dayPokémonreleases. Some would argue that the criticism is unfair, asPokémonis its own thing and shouldn’t be compared to other major franchises, but when you take a look at some of whatPokémonhas offered in the past, it’s hard to deny that today’s games don’t live up to the same standards.
Pokémon HeartGoldandSoulSilverare highly regarded as some of the best games in the franchise, and undeniably the bestPokémonremakes.Not only do they perfectly improve upon the foundation set byPokémon GoldandSilverto accommodate long-term fans, but the quality-of-life improvements alone make them easily approachable for new players as well.
Creating something that pleases both older and newer players is a hard balance to achieve and one that we may never see fromPokémonagain.
HeartGold & SoulSilver Will Never Be Topped
With Double The Amount Of Gyms And Two Regions, Pokémon HG & SS Is Hard To Beat
Considering thatHeartGoldandSoulSilveronly had one set of remakes before them,FireRedandLeafGreen, there wasn’t much to compare them to at the time. Now, however,with several remakes throughout thePokémonfranchise and nine generations' worth of games to compare it to,HeartGoldandSoulSilverremain some of the best gamesfor several reasons.
Pokémon Scarlet & Violethad a wide variety of content once both DLCs were released, but it still feels small in scale compared to other games releasing at this time, especially when you compare it to how much contentHG&SSwas offering in comparison to the games of their time.
While the traditional formula ofPokémonis almost always a single trainer battling their way through eight gyms, an Elite Four, and then a champion,HG&SStakes that formula one step further.In addition to Johto, players are also able to go back to Kanto and battle their way through the eight gyms there as well.
Despite being the same gyms and trainers as the Gen 1 games, aside from two, the trainers are now even stronger and pose an additional challenge to overcome after completing Johto. However, if that’s not enough, you’re also able to battle the Elite Four again, who are even stronger than in your first attempt, and an extra-special opponent.Once you’ve completed both regions and all 16 gyms, you’re finally ready to take on Red for an extremely challenging, but rewarding, battle.
In addition to the content,HG&SShave several other features that make them the best way to experience Gen 2. Since the content mentioned above is still available in the original release,what makes thesePokémonremakes uniqueis the QOL updates.Aside from better graphics and a larger Pokédex, which includes Pokémon up to Gen 4,HG&SSalso included the change to Special and Physical attacks. In the original games, special attacks and physical attacks were specific to Pokémon types, which meant that the Pokémon type would consist entirely of either physical moves or special moves.
Unfortunately, for several strong Pokémon, this left them virtually useless. For example, Gyarados, which is primarily a physical attacker, is a water-type Pokémon, meaning it only had access to special-type moves. Thankfully, that is no longer the case as each type features both physical and special attacks now, making previously weak Pokémon much more viable.
These changes, among others, along with the already hefty amount of content featured in the original Gen 2 games, madeHG&SStough to beat.
New Pokémon Games & Remakes Just Can’t Compete
Modern Pokémon Games Are Almost Exclusively Targeting New Players
When it comes to modernPokémongames, it seems that it’s become increasingly hard for the games to accommodate both new players and those that have been around since Gen 1.In addition toScarlet & Violet’s open world, a major change from the original formula, gimmicks, and lack of difficulty have been heavily critiqued points for the franchise as of late. Veteran players haven’t been shy about their disappointment with the lack of challenge presented in gyms and even the Elite Four.
I wouldn’t consider myself great at building strongPokémonteams, since I primarily enjoy the games for the adventure, but even I foundScarlet & Violet’s gyms and Elite Four to be disappointing. Even the champion didn’t pose much of a challenge, and so what should feel like a grand accomplishment at the end of a long journey just felt lackluster. It wasn’t until the DLCs that I had a couple of enjoyable and challenging matches, which shouldn’t ever be the case.
Relying heavily on gimmicks and the wrong nostalgia elements to keep player interest,Pokémonseems to be out of ideasand forgetting what made its games great in the first place.Even the most recentPokémonremakes,BD&SP,received mostly negative feedback for being a rehash of the original game that didn’t do anything to make it worth re-visiting. Updating graphics isn’t enough anymore; players want an enhanced experience, which is whatHG&SSdelivered, and what we have failed to receive since.
Pokémon Can Still Bring Massive Content To Future Games
Pokémon Needs To Stop Trying To Compete With Other Franchises & Expand On What It Does Best
As mentioned,Scarlet & Violetdid eventually end up with a fair bit of content onceThe Hidden Treasure of Area ZeroDLCwas fully released, but even that still isn’t the same.The Indigo Diskgave players access to every Pokémon starter thus far, and while that was more than appreciated, it shouldn’t have felt like some momentous gift.
With over 1000 Pokémon across 9 generations, I can understand why a new game may not include every single one, butScarlet & Violet’s base game contained less than half the total number of current Pokémon, which is almost inexcusable.
At this point, we shouldn’t be celebrating any small gesture of content that should’ve been in the game in the first place.Revisiting another region and battling its gym leaders who have newly refined teams is a genius idea that lengthens the game’s content for everyone and provides something special for long-term players to appreciate. I can’t understand why this has never been a returning idea, but I would love to see Gen 10, an anniversary generation, attempt something significant like this and drop the gimmicks.
I’m not sayingPokémonshouldn’t evolve beyond what it’s known for because, of course, after nearly 30 years ofPokémon, it’s only natural for a game’s formula to change. All I’m saying is thatPokémonshould take a moment to remember what made it so overwhelmingly popular in the first placeand stop trying to look ahead when it has tons of content to pull from to enhance modern games and make them feel connected. Perhaps then, we might finally see a game that can rival these phenomenalPokémonremakes.
