Topic: What Kind of Story Should a Pokemon Game Have?

Welcome to the marvelous world of Pokemon, but is it really so marvelous? Whenever you play the games do you ever feel like something is missing, such as an adventure that made you want to keep going?

That's where this thread comes into play. Here we discuss the kind of story you think a Pokemon game should have. Do you prefer one that's light, or maybe something a little darker and more in depth? I personally feel that the games were doing great story wise in generation V, but kind of blew it when generation VI came around. It seemed a little too simple compared to what was going on in Black and White.

Remember to:

1. Think things through before answering.

2. Don't be shy to post a new idea.

3. Be open to new thoughts.

This topic may become a philosophical topic on Pokemon later on if people wish for it.

I'm honestly fine with the main Pokemon titles being a little light on story. I haven't played Black and White, but X and Y's story was OK, though I found the postgame (featuring a certain detective) to be more interesting than the main plot. I feel if they wanted a tighter, or slightly more complex narrative though, they'd have to change quite a few things... Like, making Gym Leaders and Elite Four members AND the Champion matter in the overall story, as opposed to a few. But then, its hard to fit that many people into the narrative, so maybe shortening the number of Gym Leaders or something....or is that too drastic?!

I really think side games would do better to focus on stories, while the main ones can set up the overall gameplay mechanics and refine those...

@B-Squared But wouldn't side games have a different feel to them? Whenever I play Colosseum or the Mystery Dungeon series, I never get the same feeling I get from a main Pokemon game. Story wise, you could always put little hints or subtle meanings within text. Perhaps what we need is more storytelling. There was a lack of an explanation of the legendary Pokemon in X and Y. The legendary Pokemon also did not live up to their Pokedex entries.

@BlatantlyHeroic Most Pokemon in general don't live up to Pokedex entries. Charizard has flame that should melt rock...but its attacks aren't super effective on rock. And X and Y aren't the only games to kinda just drop legendaries in there. Heatran in Diamond and Pearl was just...there, for one. I'm not saying these aren't things I wouldn't mind seeing more fleshed out, but its not like this is something new with the series.

I think in general, Game Freak looks to make the main Pokemon games more accessible, and thus is looser with overall narrative, while the other games can target a slightly different demographic that might want a Pokemon game to try something new. Not that Game Freak COULDN'T do this, but it is a risk to tamper with a well proven formula.

@B-Squared Tampering with a proven formula is fine. Don't you get bored of playing the same game over and over? They definitely need to add some huge changes to keep the series going.

Friendship! Develop the characters more! The characters in X and Y were flatter than a piece of paper.

Like they did for this gen's mega evolution? And I think gf don't want to risk their "perfect" formula until it's at risk for being "old"

I honestly don't mind that Pokemon games are fairly light on story, but it would be nice to have an engaging narrative for some added motivation. I think part of the problem is that your avatar is generally always the same. You're always a new 10 year-old trainer entrusted with a pokedex and trying to become Pokemon master while taking down Team X along the way. I understand this has more to do with the game's target demographic, but it would be refreshing to see the Pokemon world from a different perspective. Maybe a detective that's trying to solve a case that spans an entire region or any other motivation really that would require your character to travel around the countryside. Gym leaders could even be done away with or be left as optional post-game challenges if they don't fit well into the main story. There are so many possibilities and it would be really cool to play as a veteran trainer for once to reflect the fact that a vey good chunk of the Pokemon fan base aren't kids anymore and we've been around the block. Several times, in some cases.

I do think X and Y blew it when it came to story. I enjoyed the slightly more layered plot and characters of Black and White. So, something along those lines. Give the characters more history, the world more depth, the villains more legitimate reasons for their villainy.

I think we should get the Shadow Pokémon again(like in Colosseum and XD) but in a far larger scale and why not make all the gym leaders part of the bad team, maybe some evil machine that hurts the oposing trainer if he loses....
I'd also like the return of the Team Rocket style villains(you know bad guys that want to benefit themselves not in the name of evil and without any "noble cause" as excuse no good Vs. Evil, no rewriting of reality, just bandits being bandits) maybe even a mafia that controls the world of competitive batling from the shadows and "erases" those who are too strong and refuse to join them(of course the "erasing" in Pokémon game standards would be limited to kidnaping at most)

I could find a easy way to implemnt them, the gym leaders are suspects for this crime or important people in the case

Let's say that we're trying to keep the formula, but add in story elements. We could expand on character development, add in more story telling, maybe do something like SS and make the player feel extremely attached to a character, and like @Ralizah said: "Give the characters more history, the world more depth, the villains more legitimate reasons for their villainy."

guess I'm the only one that feel the villains are better without a reason, like real lowly bandits.... but yeah it'd be awesome to have a better storytelling. and maybe more focus on other kinds of battle there are single, double, tripple and rotation. but only single(and far less frequently double) battles are done in the game, only multiplayer and "battle something" give more options frequently...

They should bring in more real-world themes. I like the B/W story with the 'animal protection' theme, worked great in Pokemon.

Maybe add in a companion character then? Any depth would have to come from another character if the protagonist has to remain silent.

Maybe it's from listening to Lavender Town remixes lately, but I kinda want things to go in a more creepy/disturbing direction. Like perhaps the villain is using Chandelures, Gengars, and other Ghost or Ghost-like Pokemon to steal souls to fuel some giant machine and turn the world into eternal darkness or something. Way too extreme, but all the same it'd be interesting if the creepy elements of the past like Lavender Town and the haunted mansion in Black and White 2 were expanded upon and had a major presence in the overall story instead of off to the side events. Though such a plot would probably work better in a spin-off title rather then in the main series.

@19Robb92 The theme was actually truth vs. ideals....
@Garos Protagonists shouldn't talk. They represent the player. Of course it would have to be some other character.

I was thinking of a game that takes story elements from Pokemon Colosseum like the darkness in Pokemon's hearts have the protagonists as a group of Pokemon snatchers with the twists in the plot of them stealing your starter Pokemon and throw in some moral elements from BW.

I just think having four companions is ridiculous. X and Y failed to flesh out any of them besides maybe Calem/Serena, who still felt like a plot device more than a real character. As a result it felt like they were there to just pad out the story. In my opinion two companions is perfect as then you won't just be seeing the same character over and over, but the game is able to properly develop both of them and not make it feel too crowded.

I would like it if the story worked on developing its characters more... They don't all need huge backstories or anything but I just didn't get attached to any of the characters from X or Y. I dunno, maybe it's just me, but it felt more like "look! Here's obligatory rival/professor/villain" more than ever in this gen :/ (and that's not helped by the fact X and Y feel like they rely more on nostalgia than the other games either- honestly, they're good games but I'm in the crowd who thinks they feel a bit too rushed and they failed to develop a real unique identity from the other games to me, it feels more like a "best of"... The region is pretty good but that's about it. Maybe I've just been spoiled going back to SS with all its fancy extra features >_>)

It's especially disappointing because I think last gen had some of the best character writing in the series. It was still pretty cheesy but it was nice how characters came and helped and the truth and ideals theme gave it a bit of an interesting twist, seeing them question those things. To be fair, I haven't played BW in a while so I might be looking through rose-tinted glasses but I definetly remember Gen V being better-written than XY. It felt more grand and it felt deeper and everything, and it was just more interesting.

Even when I don't compare it to BW, I still like XY's story less than any of the other games. It's just that nothing was really memorable. :/ None of the characters were great, the villains were weak and there wasn't really anything new in the plot.

A good one.