Gen 4

[RLRL]

Its such a Cliche topic.. but this section is very dead for the time being...

So lets bring about the old topic of "what do you want to see happen in Gen4?"

Lets think, its on the DS, which means it could be like Sonic rush with ability to walk from one screen to the other... or it could be the main focus on the top screen, and the status screen on the touch screen, which would be cool... Also, what new pokémon could feature? Is this gen going to be more of an expansion to the previous generations, like gen2 was to gen1? We know its backwards compatible, what do you think about that?

[ImJessieTR]

I don't know if you could hook up the DS with the Gamecube, but it would be cool to bring in characters from the GC games via linkup. Also, to bring over characters to the GC.

I don't really know a lot about the premise of the Battle Tower season, but I think hopping around to all the regions for a new reason other than collecting and battling the E4 would be refreshing. They should exploit the Union Room wireless feature more, letting characters make up their own plots. Villains should be playable. I don't wanted scripted nonsense plots from TR, TA, TM, TS, etc ... I want players to come up with their own plots and use the wireless feature to make their attacks on other "hero" players.

I don't want more pokemon unless it's a new region they're in because those regions can only hold so many pokemon. Actually, I'd rather not have new pokemon at all, not counting variations (preevos or evos) of existing pokemon.

Surely that would free up space to accomplish my wish list.

And I want the fan clubs in the game to actually be fan clubs. Wouldn't it be cool to head over to a city and join up with Pokeschool in our very own building?

And I want the Legendaries to gang up on humanity...

And I want all the poke tech to stop working temporarily and you have to improv in an apocalyptic environment...

Hack, wheeze, sorry: hyperventilating...

[Bullados]

What I would like to see from the new game...

Diverging story lines. Like, you can choose the path that you want to take. You can join the teams, you can become a GL, whatever you want. No more "travel around, battle, beat the best" kind of stuff as the standard.

Gym leaders whose levels match up with your Pokemon. I'm not talking about the current system, where the Leaders levels gradually increase as you play the game, I'm talking about levelmatching similar to what was done in Stadium. A weaker version of this could be implimented for regular Trainers as well.

Realtime battles. Turnbased is so passe right now. Get those battles into realtime, and have fun with the possibilities.

Voice recognition for attacks. Similar to Phoenix Wright matching various voice patterns, try implimenting that for Pokemon.

More 2v2 battles. Really, those are the most phun, as they allow for more strategic thinking other than "blast away".

I'm sure I can think of more, just gimme some time...

[Yoshimitsu27]

BEING ABLE TO MAKE YOUR OWN SPRITE!

Seriously, it could get VERY tiring, if it is online, to walk around and have everyone with the same sprite. Give us some pre-set options, and being able to choose other colours. I'd be fine with that. Just as long as I don't have to wear a freakin' hat.

[Linkachu]

I highly doubt the online features of D/P would be anything more than trading, battling, and playing mini-games with friends. Maybe I'm wrong, but I can't see them having MMORPG capabilities. That's something we'd probably more likely see in the 3rd installment of the collection.

Anyways, what do I want to see...?

Bull had a good idea - diverging plots. That's something I would really enjoy because it'd up replay value. I also want Gamefreak to stick to their plans about changing the beginning of the games. They didn't say exactly what they'd do, but any change is well wanted and needed after so many years of the same old thing.

Lots of new Pokemon - not just pre-evos/evos of older Pokemon - which has already been confirmed thankfully (Sorry Jessie, but it's a reality ^^). Lots of Ice/Steel/Dark types for sure, and some new Dragons wouldn't hurt. If they make more Ice/Water combos I'm gonna scream.

All in all... I want changes. ANY changes. I don't want the same old thing done again, and I don't want to see any older regions revisited. That was a bad idea in GSC IMO. Putting the older regions in means the new region gets half-assed like Johto did. A Johto remake would be nice at some point, but not right now. I'd rather see it done in 3D for a console anyways.

Gym leaders whose levels match up with your Pokemon. I'm not talking about the current system, where the Leaders levels gradually increase as you play the game, I'm talking about levelmatching similar to what was done in Stadium. A weaker version of this could be implimented for regular Trainers as well.

Some RPGs have a similar but better method of that sort of idea. They multiply the stats and level of the end bosses by the level of your strongest character. That way, no matter how much you level up the end boss will always be a challenge. That be better than the Gym leaders levels matching directly to yours, eh?

[Bullados]

I meant something like that. Look at the Stadium levels for the Gym Leaders. They're either set at 50 or at the highest level in your team. Stats/attacks corresponding to level, automatically choosing the BEST 4 attacks, instead of the last 4 attacks learned.

Might also be a good idea to ditch the whole 4 attack max thing, but I'm not sure what system would be better. limiting the number of attacks a Pokemon can have is somewhat tiring, and makes many powerful moves in the PRP here absolutely useless in the game (Imprison, Taunt, Torment, etc).

Again, realtime >>>>>> turn based battling. Played RT RPG battles, most awesome thing ever. Would like to see that mod, as it would REALLY help prove who is the better Trainer, instead of simple typematching and shtuff like that (ala PRP battles).

[Salamence-trainer221]

I'm just wishing for a plot. ANY PLOT. ANYTHING!! Anything better than beat the bad guys, beat the gym leaders. Blah....something a little more intriguing. Also, as Yoshi said, choosable Sprites. I would really like to create my own instead choosing a boy or a girl.

Also..they need to get rid of same-type gyms. How about gyms that are "Human-Shaped Pokemon" or some sort of common theme rather than just the same type. I still have gotten to the Frontier in Emerald....(X.X Yeah...I know) but putting that into the game again would be great.

Hmm..maybe bigger cities with more things to do. I'm really tired of these extremely small towns with nothing to do. I would really love a city jam-packed of things. Goldenrod was the closest they have ever gotten to satisfying me.

RT battles would also be cool, but I don't think they'll take the risk of changing the battles so drasticially. I think from the videos I've seen, the Pokemon Dungeon game is the closest we'll get to that.

I could probably go on forever, but I'll stop here....

[jirachi]

I would love to see:
click/point move system(For DS)
Visible Wild Pokemon
On map battles
Day and Night
badder teams
New PokemonCenter- You have to leave your pokemon for a few minutes, not just 5 seconds. Meantime, you cannot go out of town.
Larger towns
You can faint out of hunger, thirst, tiredness
Your Pokemon can get hungry
Evil Professors

Yeah...That's kinda all. ^^

[Linkachu]

New PokemonCenter- You have to leave your pokemon for a few minutes, not just 5 seconds. Meantime, you cannot go out of town.

No offense, but why would you want that? It'd just slow the gameplay down and become a huge annoyance o.O

I agree with "on map battles", if you meant what I think you meant. They really need to get rid of the standard battle set up where you can only see the opponent's front and your Pokemon's back. Even if they keep things turnbased (which I personally hope they would) they should make the battling more like something you'd see in Chrono Trigger - happens directly on the map, and you see the entire Pokemon while they battle. It's not like it can't be done. If Pokemon Ranger can do it, D/P should be able to, too.

[jirachi]

No offense, but why would you want that? It'd just slow the gameplay down and become a huge annoyance o.O


Ehehe...More 'realistic' if online.
I meant, why not put some minigames while waiting, or have some side-quests...I think the Pokemon games are too fast...Only the catching is slow.

Yes, and I did mean like chrono trigger...

Oh...And I like too add a few stuff:
-Pokeballs don't break like in the anime
-Hate and love meter/something like pokemon yellow
-More skills in battle
-New skills

[Shlllink]

Yeah..I would love to get rid of the 4 move limit. Anything to make it more accurate. I think it would add more strategy, not take away.

I think its time for an altogether new battle system, but a huge change like that would probably annoy a lot of people. I would love to see a nicely done action rpg to capture the true realism of an actual pokemon battle...but thats probably something for gamecube. Actually, I think it would be awesome if they made the battle system along the lines of NamcoXCapcom. And if people dont like that idea or think its too harsh of a change, then they should at least have it as a battle tower option or something along those lines.

I would love to see a pokemon tactical rpg. There are endless possibilities for that one. A game I could spend 100s of hours playing.

An attack combo system would be nice, like they do in the pokemon contests on the show, only it would be for battles (single or double). Example: On a team, a vaporeon uses bubble beam. An espeon uses psychic on the bubbles and can control their shape and where they move. Perhaps it would turn them into needles to make a liquid pin missile attack. Again, the possibilities are endless.

And probably the most important (and doable) thing that should be done is making a game to the fullest of the systems potential. The DS has a lot of potential. A little bit sharper graphics and use of 2 screens doesn't cut it. Even on GBA they didn't come too close to the systems abilities. I would consider the game that took the GBA to its limits was Golden Sun. They have a lot to work with on the DS, I hope they put some thought into it.

[kimishiro]

I'm not a big pokemon gamer to be honest. @_@ Nor have I watched beyond season 1 of the show.

I played all three Gens, but ended up selling/giving them all away cept a the first gen.

They are all basically the same thing, with just a few more gadgets to play with, or better graphics.


I HAVE played a few fanmade games, such as on BYOND, and I liked the idea of being able to see trainers and pokemon out and about in the wild. Like, actualy people who are playing online with you as either trainer or pokemon. I'm sure the pokemon option won't come true, but it was fun trying to be caught. When you were, pokeballs sucked. =/ But ignoring your trainer and erm...I'm ranting..


anyhoo, they should abuse their online powers. @_@

[Abhorsen]

Yeah..I would love to get rid of the 4 move limit. Anything to make it more accurate. I think it would add more strategy, not take away.

I think its time for an altogether new battle system, but a huge change like that would probably annoy a lot of people. I would love to see a nicely done action rpg to capture the true realism of an actual pokemon battle...but thats probably something for gamecube. Actually, I think it would be awesome if they made the battle system along the lines of NamcoXCapcom. And if people dont like that idea or think its too harsh of a change, then they should at least have it as a battle tower option or something along those lines.

I would love to see a pokemon tactical rpg. There are endless possibilities for that one. A game I could spend 100s of hours playing.

An attack combo system would be nice, like they do in the pokemon contests on the show, only it would be for battles (single or double). Example: On a team, a vaporeon uses bubble beam. An espeon uses psychic on the bubbles and can control their shape and where they move. Perhaps it would turn them into needles to make a liquid pin missile attack. Again, the possibilities are endless.

I would like a change in the battle system in any way. The normal system has been the exact same way for 8 years (I think) and it needs to change. I have always wanted it to be more like an RPG 3D game where you can control your entire pokemon and not just moves to select. It would be cool to actually control your pokemon with the stylus and dodge attacks, something which would be great. But they should also have the old system there for people who dont wanta change. I have a feeling they wont change it at all but just make the set up different or add in small extra things to give it a bit of reality...

[Nyaa-Neko]

Er...if I could have one wish for D/P come true, it would be for a long, complex game with a HUGE amount of side-quests and sequel-quests during the game, all the time. Actually, my favorite gen. was GSC, because it had the longest game. Yeah, the Kanto region in it sucked (but really, how much can you expect the poor Gamefreak people to do in one GC cartridge?), but at least it made me feel like the game kept going. I always hate the end of the last gym or Elite Four, because it feels like it's ENDED, and I hate that.

As for the starters, I love the F/G/W trio, and I think they should keep that (because it really is the best, Fighting-Rock-Flying doesn't come close, though it is good). But I think there should be more variation. How? Well, I think it was on the old boards (point is, somebody else said this, but I didn't. I don't remember who, but it was a cool idea!) where somebody suggested a new way to get a starter. You get a Normal-type Pokemon, and there's only one. Yes, your rival gets the same thing because there's only one starter in the region. But, depending on how you raise it, it evolves into one of three different second-stage Normal Pokemon, and depending on how you raise your Pokemon (your rival's would evolve into one of the other two), it evolves into one of three third stage Pokemon, either Fire, Water, or Grass. That way, there are nine different third-stage starters, which means more variation!

Yeah. Though they did say they'd change the start of the game, and possibly the amount you start with...meh, I liked starting with one. Maybe the second "starters" should come after the first badge, or something. That'd be cool.

[Dyne]

I would like to see a 3D game like FF, where you actually walk around, stratgey based and all. I think it would be kool if they abused the online capabilites, kinda have regions online where you can catch rare pokemon on some occasions, or at least get the chance too. I dunno, seems like a lot to ask from Game Freak, but it could happen.

[ImJessieTR]

I don't mean to sound irritated, and it's not that I'm irritated at you:

Why is it so much to ask of Game Freak? When people all over the world ask Nintendo to improve Pokemon, they act like it can't physically be done. It's like they have an everstone attached to the franchise -- the thing almost never evolves and only through minor details. Surely there's been a few revolutions in gaming that could get us the games we want to see. It's just so frustrating that the franchise doesn't seem to have any desire to push the envelope way further than better sprite shading and double battles and items.

[Abhorsen]

It's like they have an everstone attached to the franchise -- the thing almost never evolves and only through minor details..

Haha, lol, I liked that :p

Nintendo do improve the GBA gaming with each new generation of games. I thought G/S/C was Uber-fantastic compared to R/B/Y and when R/S/E/FR/LG came out, I was blown away once again. They improve the graphics each and every time. I would love to have a whole new style of gameplay for D/P yet I dont want it to change dramatically to small copies of Colosseum/XD. Something COMPLETELY NEW would be a nice change.

[Linkachu]

I don't mean to sound irritated, and it's not that I'm irritated at you:

Why is it so much to ask of Game Freak? When people all over the world ask Nintendo to improve Pokemon, they act like it can't physically be done. It's like they have an everstone attached to the franchise -- the thing almost never evolves and only through minor details. Surely there's been a few revolutions in gaming that could get us the games we want to see. It's just so frustrating that the franchise doesn't seem to have any desire to push the envelope way further than better sprite shading and double battles and items.

Heh... This sounds like the argument I had about Pokemon Ranger with a friend, yet that was before I saw just how good it actually looked.

Everyone wants to see the franchise go in different directions so it's hard to say that they're not giving us what we want. What exactly do we want that everyone can agree on? It seems the only answer to that is "changes" and MMORPG capabilities, and the reason I don't see anything MMORPG-ish happening is because Nintendo themselves dislike the idea of them (and have said so multiple times in interviews). Yes, Animal Crossing has some MMORPG features, but it is NOT an MMORPG for obvious reasons. I imagine the extent of work that'd have to be put into a Pokemon system like that would be more than they'd want. But again, maybe I'm wrong - Nintendo has been known to surprise us (ie. Colosseum Scenario Mode/XD). I just don't see D/P being their big leap. DS might be more powerful than a GBA cart but it can still only do so much.

I personally thought R/S was great. I enjoyed what we were given and what stayed the same, and I was pretty much content aside from the graphics department. After some thought on the issue though, and talking with others, I realized why the graphics weren't "oober sweet". If they'd spent all their time trying to make the game look pretty it would've taken away from everything else. Something would've taken a blow... Did we really want better graphics verses better gameplay?

Some ideas people want for D/P are too radical to be done and they know it. Then there are some ideas I'd just never even want to see done and would be annoyed if they were. Everytime Gamefreak makes a change in the series somebody is ecstatic and another is turned away. It's hard to please everyone.

[Bullados]

I don't really care if they use 8bit graphics and crap battle scenes: I turn off the battle scenes anyway. I want to see them make the battles more realistic, more like what we saw in the first season of the anime (and, subsequently, in a few other episodes, Orange Island Championships comes to mind readily). I personally thought that RS were horrible games, completely unchallanging, and just not fun games. The new features that were added were pathetic and thoughtless, and the entire game was too dam easy. I'm looking for a game that will challange me throughout, and not just in the first 10 minutes. This is the reason that I loved the GS series (Crystal suk'd royally). It took me 20 hours to beat the elite four the first time I played through the game, and that's only half the game. Red was actually challanging, excellent AI for him. I just didn't see that kind of commitment to the RS games. FRLG, however, was a quantum leap forward in terms of degree of difficulty. They had the game finetuned to the point where it was VERY challanging, but not impossible, especially the 2nd time through the E4. Emerald was another quantum leap due to the unique programming of the Battle Frontier, but that just doesn't whet my appetite we much as a game that is good from beginning to end, and I just haven't seen that from a Pokemon game, really ever.

Nintendo looks like it's leaning towards an eventual MMO game, with its current WiFi connections, and I wouldn't be surprised if Nintendogs is the next game to go WiFi off that. Pokemon wouldn't be too difficult to program WiFi for, as it would only be a few sprites here and there. It'd just be nice to be able to battle a real person in the game for once, instead of the lackluster computer.

[Abhorsen]

Yes that is one of the major things that i loved about G/S/C, the extra long gameplay. I became VERY excited when i found out that you needed 16 badges and able to travel through 2 different regions. Like everyone else, I basically rushed through R/S/E in average time. I managed to get passed the Elite 4 in under 6 hours when I REALLY rushed it.

All the new concepts in G/S/C that werent in R/B/Y made it a great game. Things like Eggs, Legendaries which Ran Away from you, new types of pokeballs, new types, all new gyms, etc really made them fantastic. I was disapointed in R/S/E since there was a great lack of new things. I could have come up with different, better looking pokemon then some of the ones made. I hope D/P goes beyond this and has new things too, like G/S/C, but still keeps good gameplay. It would be interesting to see a stage 3 evolution and break the chain of maxing out at stage 2's.

[Linkachu]

Yes that is one of the major things that i loved about G/S/C, the extra long gameplay. I became VERY excited when i found out that you needed 16 badges and able to travel through 2 different regions. Like everyone else, I basically rushed through R/S/E in average time. I managed to get passed the Elite 4 in under 6 hours when I REALLY rushed it.

Guess I am a minority here... As I said before, I felt that G/S dragged because of the extended adventure. I didn't even fully beat the games until about 3 months after getting them - a very rare thing to happen when I get a new Pokemon game. Even now I have absolutely no urge to go back and play them again. Johto was the worst region and it was mainly because of Kanto being tacked on. If G/S had used FR/LG's idea and given you a more powerful Elite 4 to face after collecting the Kanto badges it would've actually felt like you were working towards something. A single battle with a powerful trainer (Red) was not enough incentive. Because of this I was very disappointed with the Johto Elite 4. Their levels are the lowest out of all the games, and I personally didn't find them that tough at all. Steven is definitely the toughest Elite 4/Champion I've ever fought because I had no idea how to fight him properly. Yes... An extended game is nice, but not the way G/S did it. That all just seemed pointless, unlike the Sevii Island quest in FR/LG which actually meant something.

I don't see this dynamic of gameplay difficulty of G/S vs R/S either. ALL of the Pokemon games are easy throughout the game - the originals, GSC, RSE, FRLG. They've never been any different. As for Gym Leaders, it all depends on your level and team. Usually the ones that give me trouble change each time I play because my Pokemon do, and every one of the games have their easy-as-pie and or hair-pulling leaders. The only Elite 4 that ever gave me trouble was the original because I was bad at the games. Ever since its all been the same... FR/LG were the first games to really do them right by giving you the powered-up version. That was something the games had needed back from day one.

As for R/S' features added being pathetic... Abilities, Natures, 2 on 2 battling... How are those thoughtless? I get major usage out of all of them - especially Natures. Maybe it wasn't until Emerald that we really saw them used correctly, but at least that means it'll continue that way onto the next games.

[Abhorsen]

As for R/S' features added being pathetic... Abilities, Natures, 2 on 2 battling... How are those thoughtless? I get major usage out of all of them - especially Natures. Maybe it wasn't until Emerald that we really saw them used correctly, but at least that means it'll continue that way onto the next games.

Ah yes, how could I forget! The thing that I use the most in R/S/E are EVs and Natures :p I rarely 2v2 battle but Colosseum got me back into it, yet it also brought about many cheap combos which people copied.

I personally liked G/S/C much better then R/S/E but it was a close decision. I liked the gameplay, music and graphics (at that time). The toughest thing I have found in ALL the pokemon games would have to be the Battle Tower in Crystal (I think). That was friggen impossible for me and I dont think I got very far at all. I'll have to go back and try it again some day.

I rarely finish the games. I normally do everything possible and I just cant be bothered completing my pokedex. I used to go for pokedex but now I dont really care, it's all fun and competition now :)

[Linkachu]

Heh... Guess I should've worded that differently. I never completed my PokeDex in G/S/C. I came close, but still had about 30 Pokemon to go. When I said "fully beat" I meant Johto/Elite 4 + Kanto/Red. There was just a point where I couldn't bring myself to play the game again (I think it was Gold at that time). The Anime can be blamed for getting me back into it.

I forgot one of the greatest points of R/S for me personally: being able to trade eggs at the beginning of the games. I hate boosted Pokemon with a passion as they disrupt your gameplay early on. For me, someone who restarts the games multiple times and loves to try out different teams, egg trading in R/S was a blessing. I raved for weeks when I realized the same couldn't be done in FR/LG, then repeated the same when Emerald came out (I had a team all ready to go for Emerald's release, too). Now, if D/P were to allow you to do this it wouldn't take much for them to become my favourite Pokemon games. Egg trading is a big deal for me, and its what got me really into breeding. Back in the G/S/C age I barely used it at all. So yeah... R/S are much worse games than Emerald or FR/LG, but allowing me the freedom to play through the games with any team I choose made all the difference.

So, there's another point for D/P. They need to have the same breeding freedom! If they don't I'll be severely disappointed :P