Game news “No, the move to 3D is not the worst thing that has happened to Pokémon”, there are much worse!

Game news “No, the transition to 3D is not the worst thing that has happened to Pokémon”, there are much worse!

“Wow, the graphics of Pokémon Scarlet and Purple are really smashed to the ground”headlined Numerama at the release of the latest part of Game Freak’s flagship license, and we could find this kind of sentence on other information sites. And we must admit that 3D and Pokémon are not a great love story. Released in 2023 on Nintendo Switch, Pokémon Scarlet and Purple had bugs galore, a yo-yo framerate and textures clearly below industry standards (even for the Japanese console). In short, a difficult result to look in the eye – which has revived players’ distrust of the third dimension in the universe of pocket monsters. And even if I completely understand that we might prefer 2D shutters – tastes and colors are not up for debate -, I think we need to stop blaming everything on 3D when we talk about Pokémon!

See Pokémon Scarlet/Purple on Amazon

3D and its good sides

I find it a shame that players only criticize the 3D graphics of Pokémon games and therefore only focus on the technical aspect of these opuses. Because if you look closely, 3D has brought a lot to the license, whether we like it or not. On the one hand, the first three-dimensional games brought a breath of fresh air that Game Freak really needed, while being total successes. Pokémon X and Y, which marked this transition, is a very good example. We then acclaimed the feat of having created more than 3,000 different animations for more than 400 creatures, and all this in three dimensions, not to mention everything that was implemented outside of combat. And how can we not talk about the mega-evolutions, surely one of the best additions to any Pokémon game combined.

But X and Y are not the only exceptions of Game Freak’s 3D games. Although it was hugely criticized for its graphics – and rightly so – Pokémon Legends: Arceus is, in my opinion, the most innovative game released in a long time. It presents a formula very different from other opuses, based on capturing Pokémon and not on fighting. The player evolves in the Hisui region, which precedes that of Sinnoh from the Diamond and Pearl games, and where humans are not yet in perfect harmony with the pocket monsters.. This gives the game a very different atmosphere from that of the other parts. Although it serves as a 4G remake, Arceus clearly presents a new way to play Pokémon. This new formula called Legends will surely resurface in the future, Legends Arceus which can be considered as a sort of prototype.

But here we are, despite good ideas and even good results (Pokémon Y placing itself today 6th in Game Freak’s best sellers), three-dimensional Pokémon games have major flaws. However, the graphic quality, although disturbing I grant you, is not the main criticism to make of them. In my opinion, games have suffered for years from a casualization of the license, completely desired by the studio.

Casualization of the license: Game Freak’s worst idea

Since the release of the Nintendo Switch, Game Freak has radically changed its approach to licensing. For several years now, I have noticed a casualization of the franchise, which started in 2018 with Pokémon Let’s Go Eevee/Pikachu. The game, although visually beautiful, stands out compared to other opuses. Released two years after Pokémon GO which crushed everything in its path, this Let’s Go draws great inspiration from the mobile game, also taking up its monster capture mode. From combat to creature hunting, the game was more approachable, more fun and more “childish” than usual, therefore clearly geared towards a younger audience.

From that moment on, I found that difficulty became almost absent from Pokémon games, adding with each generation features to facilitate the players’ experience, and removing elements deemed too complicated. The example that strikes me the most is the total disappearance of the Victory Route in recent games. It, which represented one of the biggest challenges of the first generations, the final stretch before the Pokémon League, is now nothing more than a vague, fleeting memory. Even in terms of End Game content, we have very few challenges available. Every day, I think about the fight against Red in Pokémon Heartgold or even the Pokémon Sun battle tree, which required me to develop a real attack strategy.

But it’s not just the fights that mark the casualization of the license. Game Freak also decided to remove elements that complicated the player’s progress. From now on, there is no need to know Pokémon’s weaknesses by heart or struggle to find an ability master, the game does it for you. In Pokémon Scarlet and Purple, we no longer even need to farm the League to increase the level of our creatures, we just need to do 4 to 5 Dynamax raids. In just 30 minutes, the animal went from level 1 to level 60. We even have access to our PC boxes – the stock of monsters normally only accessible in a Pokémon center – from our bag, which literally makes no sense! But despite much criticism from the public, Pokémon Scarlet and Purple has sold more than 23 million copies, placing 4th in the best-selling license.

In short, I find that the major problem with recent Pokémon games comes from a casualization of the license completely desired by the studio. Certainly, the 3D graphics are to be deplored, but they only represent the tip of the iceberg; if the games were better made, we wouldn’t spit on them so much. So what does the future hold for Pokémon? Even with very good scores for the last few games, it vaguely feels like a point of no return has been reached. The Legends formula makes me hope for better days for the franchise, even if I have a hard time believing it. However, despite a certain lack of originality, increasing redundancies and an obvious graphic delay, it seems that the Pokémon license remains a goose that lays golden eggs that will not stop laying eggs anytime soon.