Topic: Next Pokémon Game Hopes and Wishes

This year, it will have been 4 years since the release of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. Thus, we are due for a brand new generation of Pokémon. In this thread, please share your hopes for the all but guaranteed new Pokémon release later this year. Feel free to discuss gameplay mechanics, story ideas, region concepts, and more.

Some things to note:

• This thread is for hopes, not leaks. Please refrain from discussing unofficial leaked information about the upcoming games.
• Try to be constructive with your responses. Avoid basic answers like "I hope x is good/fun." because that's obvious and adds little to the discussion.

Some of my wishes:

• I'd like to see the real-time battle system introduced in Legends: Z-A to return and be expanded upon. Improvements such as bringing back Pokémon abilities and using a gimmick that takes full advantage of the system could make for an exceptionally action-packed experience.
• Whether the world is open or linear, I would like it to be packed with secrets and discoveries to be made. The inclusion of hidden locales, secret bosses, rare roaming legendaries, and more could make exploration feel far more worthwhile than it did in SV.
• We need difficulty settings unlocked from the beginning of the game. It's no secret that Game Freak has tried to make recent games easier to appeal to newer players. We need options available: a novice mode can appease newcomers, a normal mode can satisfy casual fans, and a hard mode can challenge veterans.

I'll probably return to this thread later on to post more hopes.

My main hope is for the game to become more linear, something more like X/Y than Scarlet/Violet. I get the chances are very slim though as when a franchise goes open world it rarely returns to more linear.

My hopes:

Physical cartridge isn't a Game Key Card
Some interesting new Pokémon designs (almost always the case)
An actually evil bad guy team
More of the core formula stuff like turn-based battles, because I'm used to it

I hate that this has to be a wish but @Nep-Nep-Freak is right unfortunately. I really hope Gen 10 is fully on the cartridge. Pokopia has got to be a one off. But every pokemon generation has that one thing that upsets fans so who knows?

Besides that, I'd honestly like them to expand on the open world format from Scarlet and Violet; more to explore and discover. Gyms that scale to the players level and more ways to interact with your pokemon would be a nice treat.

I think Pokemon should go back to being good looking 2D games instead of bad looking 3D games, this is the beginning and end of my wishes for Pokemon, thank you.

@kkslider5552000, whenever I think about it, I think another new 2D Pokémon game would be interesting. Though I also quite like the 3D ones as well. Maybe I just like any kind of mainline Pokémon too much 😅.

My more realistic idea tbh is for them to take an HD-2D approach for most of the RPGs so they can save whatever talent they might have for making a better looking 3D game for the actual mainline next generation game.

1. Three Pokemons in battle, another three Pokemons for backup.
2. FF XII style Battle system with customizable commands when being controlled by NPC.
3. Quick command changes like Paradigm Shift FF XIII.
4. Trainer can also get attacked by enemies like Ni no Kuni or Yokai Watch 4.
5. Full 3D world exploration.

I hope for more fun and cool new characters and stories. In general I tend to like Pokemon a ton though so... yeagh.

Maybe I'm thinking too far ahead, but I could see a Pokémon Legends game set in Unova potentially doing something like this, since Black and White introduced Triple and Rotation battles. I definitely agree that a fully fleshed out and realized 3v3 battle system (which is the format for the whole game) could be interesting.

Big ask, I know, but that it doesn't require 2 sets of DLC, special events, and trading to complete a pokedex fully. Pokemon Blue is among my top 5 games of all time, but I missed out on every generation after. Aside from the Let's Go Pikachu remake for Switch, I have not bought a Pokemon game since. I am just too overwhelmed by the idea of completing the Dex properly these days!

@Grumblevolcano That would help me get back into it too. Open world is not for me. Even if it was for just one 2d entry, it would be nice.
I would buy Brilliant Diamond, but I don't think anyone is still playing it, so I'd be worried that I wouldn't find anyone to help me complete the dex.

@Mana_Knight I agree all the version exclusives and FOMO online events for Pokedex completion are one of the worst things about Pokemon. If it helps, Legends Arceus is my favourite Switch-era Pokemon game and there's no nonsense in that one, you can 100% it completely offline and by yourself. (Ok, there's a slight exception to that: the quests to catch Shaymin and Darkrai are only unlocked if you have save data from Sword/Shield and BD/SP respectively, but those are more like extra bonuses than essential parts of the game. It still counts as completing the Pokedex if you don't have those two.) It's also not a full open-world game, it's split into separate areas which you explore one at a time.

The Open World in Scarlet/Violet was ok in my opinion and they did do it right. It was also still quite linear as well, since you had three linear progression paths to follow. The gyms, The bases and the Titans. Then Elite 4, followed by the final quest line into the crater.
The two DLCs were also great. First one was a bit short, but the second was was great!
The open world makes it a lot more fun hunting and catching Pokemon in my opinion.

The main issue with Scarlet/Violet was that it was held back by the Switch 1 hardware, which made the game look bad and run like ***** on the Switch 1.
So in that regard, they should have waited going open world until this upcoming Gen that's going to be Switch 2 only, so they aren't constrained by the old and heavily outdated Switch 1 hardware.

It's also why Lumiose City in Legends ZA looks so bland and disappointing. All because it was developed for the Switch 1, delayed and then the Switch 2 got only a resolution and fps boost.
If Legends ZA had only launched on the Switch 2, it would have looked much better. Earlier development builds with much more varied and detailed buildings and environments attest to that. They had to tone it down significantly in the final build to make it run good enough on the Switch 1. /Sigh

@Mana_Knight, oh heck yeah, I long for the days when only version exclusives were kind of difficult to obtain and there was no limited time events that required internet, and having all the game content on the cartridge too! As much as I love the current era of Pokémon games as well, I want that kind of thing back so badly!

Hopes: Back to 2d or HD 2D/dragon quest 7 remake style.
Full 3D was a mistake.
Gamefreak just isn't a good enough developer to do those.
Otherwise just going to be another dead empty open world game with flat textures again.

@Jeronan For me it’s more that open world is something I don’t want to be every entry. Good example is Mario Kart, while free roam is kind of pointless I really liked how the open world allowed Knockout Tour to exist and the way intermissions work. But I wouldn’t want every future Mario Kart to be like World, a mixture where some games expand the World formula while others return to the 8 style would be the ideal outcome.