I love Pokemon, but let's face it, the game has been pretty much the same thing for the last 10 years. It wasn't a huge deal because it was always good, but with the jump to the Nintendo DS there were a lot of opportunities that were never explored.
Instead of writing a gigantic "wouldn't this be cool?!?!" feature, I'll spare you my fanboy rants and focus on the battle system. I wanted to focus on the beauty contests, but apparently nobody besides me and Junichi Masuda actually likes those things anyway.
These are some rough notes, more of a nudge in a different direction than a full on layout for a new battle system. And I know, this isn't particularly funny, but not to worry. The Pokemon Platinum tournaments are coming up, so that should be a comedy goldmine of social awkwardness and BO.
Real Time Battles
Not to start with the obvious choice or anything, but the most radical way to change the battle system up in Pokemon would be to switch from the classic turn-based system to real time. It seems like an affront to a series that has remain unchanged for so long to turn the major gameplay element on its head, but if the developers were careful, it could work.
If you look at Pokemon as a franchise, going real time makes sense. The TV show and films have always presented the battles as more of a contest of who can shout the most moves the fastest. The strategies in the series are wider and more varied, and usually involve totally cheating. I'm not saying that the game should incorporate the ability to set off fire sprinklers to defeat an Onix, but it'd be nice if players could go on the defensive more proactively. I've always like the idea of moves being used to deflect attacks, like Ryu and Ken shooting hadoukens at each other.
Imagine the game being set up so that you can see what move the trainer selects, and have only few seconds to select a move or tell your Pokemon to dodge. Speed wouldn't just affect who goes first, it would directly relate to moves. A faster Pokemon could dodge attacks easier, and his attacks would be harder to dodge.
These suggestions might be hard to do given the game's current presentation of staring at the back of your Pokemon's head. Which brings me to my next suggestion.
3D Battles
I love sprites as much as the next guy, but I can't be the only one a little tired of seeing the back of a cranium for 90 percent of the game. Plenty of other games have gone 3D and I think the idea is long overdue for the handhelds.
Spectrobes has proven that a fully 3D monster battler can work, and while it was missing some of the cute charm that Pokemon possesses it felt new and fresh, something Pokemon hasn't been able to do for years.
If anything it would at least give the characters some decent animations. Battles feel very flat and sluggish when all we see is a stationary head and some nice fire effects. Pokemon Stadium and the subsequent sequels did a lot to make the Pokemon look like they were actually involved in the battle, and it's about time the handhelds got this, too.
The DS isn't a graphics powerhouse, but when you look at games like Suikoden Tierkreis, it becomes unacceptable that one of Nintendo's biggest franchises looks so basic. I want my Luxray to look badass when he rains Thunder down.
Touch Screen Controls
That touch screen is a pretty useful tool, developers. It can do a lot more than being used as a menu screen, or a doodle pad. For example, let's take a look at one of the best RPGs to ever grace the DS: The World Ends With You. Players used to the touch screen to select and use different attacks, constantly flicking and scribbling on the bottom screen to defeat the noise. It's not hard to imagine this same scenario being used for Pokemon. In fact many of the special moves in the game were reminiscent of Pokemon attacks.
Going one step further, replace the character on the top screen with a Trainer. Now, instead of having an arsenal of moves at your disposal, you have to actually follow commands to select moves, putting both parts of the battle in your control.
This would obviously make the game a dozen times more difficult. As much as I like being able to play Pokemon with one hand while watching TV and doing homework, I'd be down for some fast paced action.
Now clearly I'm not saying copy The World Ends With You (not not saying it though!) but by looking at titles like this, and Spectrobes, and a lot of other DS RPGs you can see that there is a ton of territory that Pokemon could cover.
Maybe instead of giving us another Mystery Dungeon or Ranger spinoff, Nintendo can try for a real time, fast paced Pokemon game.
I'm sure you've all got ideas, so let's hear 'em. If Pokemon decided to not be a standard turn-based RPG, what would you like to see instead? Hit the comments section below.
