A Little Pokemon Research

Good afternoon, I am asking a little research question for my game development project which is nearing completion of its prototype.

My question is regarding the 2D Pokemon RPG games. Specifically, what did you like about those games, what didn't you like, what would you add and what would you take away.

For example, I really liked-

The emergent strategy arising from choosing a team and move-sets for that team.

Each Pokemon has a limited move set of 4.

Pokemon has elemental strengths and weaknesses.

Evolutions!

No Pokemon were impossible to catch.

Pokemon captured at the beginning were still useful at the end-game.

Some things I would have liked changed were-

I would have liked a deeper story and more interesting characters.

More world-building and background (for example, what ARE Pokemon? Have they always been here or did they recently arrive and kill all the regular animals?!)

More sprite animations for in-battle abilities (I understand this was partly due to software limitations).

Better balancing (no completely useless Pokemon).

More end-game content.

Thank you for your time!

Quick answer:

Liked - You could form your own unique team of cool monsters

Disliked - Impossible to lose mentality/replayability limited on one run

because i loved every GB Pokemon game i just tell you what i didnt like, the games are way too easy if you dont "quickrun" them, means if you just take a little bit of time to train your pokemon (just a little bit more then the normal encounters on the way) there is maximum only a handfull of trainers that arent totally easy to beat.

didn't like - the level up stuff - once you get your first pokemon lvl 80+ you can solo anyone with it.

- annoying grindfest

- no story / boring going from one place to other farming badges - wtf (yes i know that's the pokemon thing to do, but no)

- annoying enemy encounters (every guy attacks you - give me a break while i get somewhere -.- )

- music (just music, sounds were ok)

- midgame healing (i'm ok if pokemon has ability to heal itself, but not with taking out some other pokemon and healing your lvl 80+ to full hp then returning it to field.. no.)

liked - evolutions

- searching for pokemons

- sounds and fights

- gb "graphics" - more like systems that were fun but some of them had no meaning - hiding in grass / cutting trees / jumping over walls etc..

Thank you for your feedback, this is all useful information for how to pace the game and what features to include.

I really liked how there were no real instructions or tutorial to really guide you through the game like most games do now.

While it was linear it was also non linear in a way allowing you to explore and experience things on your own. walking into a cave without the flash HM.

like:

-the concept of a large number of creatures, instead of x classes

-type relations are a base of almost every combat

-random encounters are limited to grassy areas (except on caves)

-Vaporeon is lovely, It had to be said

did not like:

-overdoing some of the "multiplayer aspects" when the technology just was not yet

-the sort of elitism and science going around it to have the best teams, seriously, it is just too much for me

-shinies, most useless things since the splash attack, I prefer not catching a pokemon if it is shiny because of how weird people are with them

-leveling up can be a bother since wild pokemons are low levels generally...

dont forget about cool sounds

LIKE:

-- The deep paper-rock-scissors strategy "hidden" in a seemingly kiddie game.

-- Large, spacious cities. Lots to do on the side.

-- Expanding Pokedex features and other available add-ons (like the watch that even responded to external input on the GameBoy / Nintendo DS).

DISLIKE:

-- While this is more in tune with traditional RPGs, I didn't like that battles didn't have more direct control from the player. In other more action-oriented RGPs (ie: Super Mario RPG), you have additional player-input that can affect the outcome of the match. This requires more skill from the player, which I like.

-- "Incomplete" towns or cities. More people than there are homes for or towns that just don't make a lot of sense in their planning...even for "small communities".

Pros

• To catch em all!

Cons

• I'm getting too old... got a gba sp in 2003 for ruby, got a new 3ds xl in 2015 for omega ruby. The game has improved so much yet the new game doesn't seem as captivating as 1997-2003 days

Pros:

-The pokemon are cute

Cons:

-literally everything else

OK, maybe that's a bit too far, but I really don't see many redeeming qualities in pokemon or most other similar RPG's. You're basically doing the same thing over and over again 1000 times until you win the game. The type rock/paper/scissors thing is cool until you get past fire/water/grass and realize it's all incredibly arbitrary and completely undocumented. Also, the random encounters system is the worst thing ever. And yeah, even the story is shallow and boring.

sqiddster - Agreed about the random encounters and story.