What Do You Want Pokémon X & Y to Change or Add to the Pokémon Formula?

[Jimmu]

What are some of the things that Game Freak could do differently in Pokémon X & Y? What do you think they should try that they haven't done before?

I'd like to see a larger map with more than the traditional 8 gyms and some other smaller towns without gyms but that still serve a purpose. Adding a few new moves, Pokéball types and even a couple of new Pokémon types would be nice to see too.

 

[Deeds]

Get rid of all Black and White pokemon. Nintendo, we don't want a trash-can pokemon, that is not pokemon. (I doubt they'll do this).
Make the PokeMarts have new items, raise the prices of potions? (Depends how much money you get from trainers, I suppose).
Less linear town placement. Have an option of what town to go to first, out of two though. If you were able to go to all of the towns then that would make it incredibly hard to stop a new player battling level 60 pokemon. It could work, but it would be messy.

 

[Koosholts]

Here are some of the things on my wish-list:

- A more flushed out story with a not-so-cheesy plot. Also, I want the two legendary Pokemon to be heavily intertwined with whatever plot/theme the developers choose to go with. Instead of having a cheesy (albeit classic), cynical cooperation like Team Rocket who wants to take over the world for power's sake, I want our villains to have a more serious -- perhaps a more emotional/personal -- agenda. I definitely want to see some underlying dark themes with this game.

- I want to feel more connected with the NPC's. I don't want to visit a town and then completely forget about everyone I just talked to -- this has been plaguing the Pokemon games since Red/Blue/Yellow. I want better dialogue, and I want more vibrant characters so I actually feel like I'm visiting a new town with people in it instead of mindless robots who offer the same three lines of dialogue the entire game. The NPC's reacting to the events around you would be a really nice feature.

- For the love of God, bring back the VS. Seeker Nintendo.

Less linear town placement. Have an option of what town to go to first

I personally like this idea of non-linearity, although there's a problem with it. The whole reason Pokemon games are linear is because as you progress through the game, your Pokemon get progressively stronger. The wild Pokemon and trainers are placed in specific proximity to the next town to give you an adequate challenge with where you are relative to the game. For example: let's say Nintendo gives us the option to go to town A, B or C in any specific order. For my first playthrough I choose to go in this order -- A, B and then C. Each town the Pokemon get progressively stronger, meaning that town C has the toughest Pokemon in its surrounding area. However, for my next playthrough, I choose to go in this order -- C, B and then A. How is my lvl 7 frog thing going to take on those higher-leveled Pokemon in Town C right off the bat?

My point is, linearity is there for a good reason, although I do like the idea of Pokemon X and Y being non-linear. I just don't know how it would work.

 

[RegalBryant]

Non linearity? Simply adjust the levels depending on which town you went to first.

All the Pokemon catchable.

Customizable outfits (In the trailer, there were skme shots where it looked like the main char had no sunglasses, and parts where he had some.)

 

[Xinnamin]

Clothing options for the main character and larger variety of pokemon available early game, so you can actually work on your team composition instead of just "HERE'S THE REGION RODENT! HERE'S THE REGION BIRD! HERE'S A FRIGGIN ZUBAT/WOOBAT! GO WAIT ANOTHER 3 GYMS BEFORE YOU CAN GET SOMETHING COOL". I always feel like it's too easy to get stuck with your early game team, which is annoying because so many pokemon just are not available for so long. Makes your team composition too predictable sometimes, and that's no fun.

On the whole though, I don't like the mindset of change things just for the sake of change. Linearity is there for a reason as Koosholts said, there is no reason why the 8-gym formula needs to be changed, more pokemon types now after all these years is just asking to make a HUGE mess with the competitive community, etc etc etc.

 

[RegalBryant]

It's not change for the shape of change. It's change to prevent stagnation. It's not broken, but it could be better. change for the sake of change beats repitition for the sake of tradition.

 

[The Wanderer]

What, me? Oh, nothing much. Just....

- Completely customizable main characters
- A deep, well-written, engaging story that clearly takes priority over simply earning Badges
- All Pokemon obtainable between the two games (meaning no more species of Pokemon gotten exclusively from events)
- Full 3D controls to go with the graphics
- Dozens of unique, fun sidequests from NPCs
- Rewards for total exploration (uncovering the whole map, finding all items in the area, seeing all the Pokemon in the area, etc.)
- A deep Rival who ties heavily into the story and changes his roster and tactics based on previous encounters
- More interaction with how to discover Pokemon in addition to random encounters (laying traps, beating challenges, creating recipes, etc.)
- PokeDex entries which aren't two sentences and mostly self-explanatory
- Some sort of side-game, like surviving in the wild starting from nothing or helping someone refurbish and decorate a mansion
- Numerous swappable Abilities which can be unlocked and can interact with other Pokemon Abilities
- Tons of hidden caves and dungeons with substantial rewards for exploration
- HMs that no longer have to take up move slots
- The return of Secret Bases or a personal home to decorate

Some of these things are merely changes that I'd find interesting, not necessarily stuff I demand. Still, I think most of you can see I am hoping for heavy changes and upgrades in the Pokemon games. After playing through five Pokemon games (two of them representing the first couple generations) and concluding they all play almost exactly the same, I want more bang for my buck than some more Pokemon, slightly different locations, an obligatory additional game mode like the Underground or Wi-Fi Plaza (which never sticks around), and an ever-so-slightly different story. Let's shake things up a bit more. When the finished product comes out and it's been handled with care, I think most Pokemon players would be pleased.

 

[Sir Quaffler]

I definitely want this new generation to prioritize the story over the gym badges. I've seen some good out of the 5th generation in this regard, and I want them to keep the ball rolling and make us want to play the game with more reason than getting the badges. I really like how Plasma in particular were more engaging, and that you fought Ghetsis instead of the Champion for the final challenge of BW1. I want a villain who has real presence in the game, whom you meet on a regular basis and see the effects he/she has on the world around you. Have them wreaking havoc on the world around you. Let's see some buildings destroyed, fields on fire, etc. Hell, make it an actual war. That would be really interesting. You're going on your quest to collect the badges and challenge the League, but then the conflicts with the villains escalates to the point that people are being called out from their general lives to fight in battle against these guys. And if you don't join in on the fight, then the villains take over the region and you lose the game.

What I think would be good to happen is if, the first time you challenge the villain in battle, he completely destroys you. I mean, he's supposed to be the strongest person in the region, why would a fledgeling trainer be able to beat him in battle? He should have his Pokemon at least level 50, and for the final challenge he should be around level 80. Make it hard for us! And on top of that, have the rival side with them eventually, and have him beat the Pokemon League and become the Champion as a sort of second-in-command for the rival to rule the region. That'll give you motivation to get the badges and take on the League: to take down the rule of your rival just before you go on to face the villain in combat!

...Huh. I kinda ran off with that whole concept there. Point is, I think it'll be really cool if the story was prioritized over the gym challenge this time around.

 

[A Link In Time]

I don't have many requests...

• A full 3D Pokedex along the lines of Pokedex 3D
• Transfer options from the DS Pokemon games
• A gruffer, more memorable rival like Blue or Silver
• A more involved criminal organization like Team Plasma
• Full 3D controls-not a grid layout
• Interesting use of Streetpass and Spotpass
• Return to glory days of Pokemon competitions as in Gen III
• New Eeveelutions
• New method(s) of Pokemon evolution
• Return of Undgerground like feature from Gen IV
• Return of Dreamworld from Gen V

 

[tysonrss]

I want the story to actually have meaning and I want a evil syndicate like Plasma, wait...ditch that..I want something different from the classic collect 8 badges and defeat Team whoever...I want there to be a villian that is about to not just destroy the region but the world itself with a party of Legendary Pokemon under his control...have some lietanates and grunts and various pokemon, not just Rattata or Zubat or Ekans...just pokemon you generally would fight elsewhere.

If there would be badges, why not extend them to more like 16 or something? Split the region from East to West, 8 on each continent, a Pokemon League that's like the anime's not just fighting 4 Elite trainers and then the Champion. Give it some more story plot after defeating the Champion as well so we don't have to feel that once we defeat him there's no reason to play again.

Basically the structure needs to be heavily changed to something more RPG-ish...I'm glad things will be 3D, I honestly thought they wouldn't do that, just the battles in some way but they also should just add a new spin to things, they tried with 5th gen and I like how that's going. I hope Pokemon X and Y blows my mind, and I think it will.

 

[RegalBryant]

I want the Joker of the Pokemon world.

 

[The Wanderer]

I definitely want this new generation to prioritize the story over the gym badges. I've seen some good out of the 5th generation in this regard, and I want them to keep the ball rolling and make us want to play the game with more reason than getting the badges. I really like how Plasma in particular were more engaging, and that you fought Ghetsis instead of the Champion for the final challenge of BW1. I want a villain who has real presence in the game, whom you meet on a regular basis and see the effects he/she has on the world around you. Have them wreaking havoc on the world around you. Let's see some buildings destroyed, fields on fire, etc. Hell, make it an actual war. That would be really interesting. You're going on your quest to collect the badges and challenge the League, but then the conflicts with the villains escalates to the point that people are being called out from their general lives to fight in battle against these guys. And if you don't join in on the fight, then the villains take over the region and you lose the game.

What I think would be good to happen is if, the first time you challenge the villain in battle, he completely destroys you. I mean, he's supposed to be the strongest person in the region, why would a fledgeling trainer be able to beat him in battle? He should have his Pokemon at least level 50, and for the final challenge he should be around level 80. Make it hard for us! And on top of that, have the rival side with them eventually, and have him beat the Pokemon League and become the Champion as a sort of second-in-command for the rival to rule the region. That'll give you motivation to get the badges and take on the League: to take down the rule of your rival just before you go on to face the villain in combat!

...Huh. I kinda ran off with that whole concept there. Point is, I think it'll be really cool if the story was prioritized over the gym challenge this time around.

I completely agree with you that Badges need to play second fiddle to the story itself; I haven't played Black or White, but I'm told they do a better job at this than the other games in the series, which is definitely a good direction to go in. Even so, the story really needs to take clear precedence over the acquisition of Badges as a (mostly) permanent change in the series. The player may start with becoming the Pokemon League Champion in mind, but as the game goes on, he/she needs to take righting the newfound wrongs over a personal agenda. In most Pokemon games so far, you just kinda accidentally saved the world when it became convenient to do so (because you can't get the eighth Gym Badge when you're dead). Not totally epic when you're fighting the bad guy to save the planet and your mind is stuck on when the road to the next Gym will become open.

I would actually take it a step further to say gathering all the Badges and beating the Elite Four is completely optional. That sounds like a horrible sacrilege, but that's how much I want the story to take precedence over the Badges. If you want to beat the Elite Four before finishing the story, that's entirely within your freedom. If you want to take time and smell the proverbial roses of the Pokemon world, do it. If defeating the dark evil is your more pressing concern, it's your choice. Freedom of choice is, as I've said before, an important aspect of RPGs, so you shouldn't look at it as "But what if players don't play the game a certain way?" Doesn't matter HOW they want to play it, whether they hold the controller with their feet or go through the game with only one Pokemon. Isn't having fun doing it the important part of playing a game? Unless the freedom actually presents some unforeseen impediments to enjoying the game, you shouldn't fear that liberty.

 

[Snow Queen]

I think that there should be more places to explore in the games. Every time I play Pokemon I have a blast, but the worlds just feel so... empty and deprived of content. Not enough secrets. In old classic games, secrets would drive people nuts, so why not add that to the Pokemon formula? Of course there is the problem that now there is the whole internet here to provide unwanted spoilers (instead of Nintendo Power as it used to be).

 

[Musicfan]

They need to stop adding hundreds of new Pokemon every release. When will it stop? When there's like 1000 Pokemon, it will be very difficult to build a team. They need to add maybe 10 or so each release or things will really get out of hand. There's already too many imo.

So 4 new pokemon "familys" I personly think it should be in the 70's in termes of new pokemon. It leaves room for more lines but still makes them intergrate past generations.

 

[Maniacal Ezlo]

Aside from the 3D graphics, there's really not much that they need to add. Some things I personally want added are:
*Bigger moveset. With the addition of 3D, I can see GameFreak adding more moves just to take advantage of the 3D technology
*Bigger party. With a complete national pokedex of over 700 Pokemon confirmed, 6 just seems like too small of a team to take advantage of the large diversity of Pokemon
*More gyms. I know eight gyms is the standard for Pokemon, but I wouldn't complain if there were more. I'm not saying there should be a gym in every town, but we should at least have more of them.