Gotta Catch Them Polygons

We’ve caught them all, we’ve caught them all again, and again, we caught the one that made the land, the one that made the sea, the one that made time, the one that made space, the one from another dimension, and the creator of the whole freaking universe. Yes, I’m talking about Pokemon, and if this is starting to sound pretty cynical that’s because I am very cynical when it comes to Pokemon. However I’m willing to give the new games announced today a fair hearing, and the benefit of the doubt. If you haven’t already seen the trailer (where were you?) then take a minute to breathe it all in and join me again on the other side.

Now the main problem I have with Pokemon is that it’s a great game. Seriously that’s it. It’s a game I played as a child almost non stop from the age of 8 to about the age of 14, and even afterwards still dusted it off now and then to revisit old memories. The problem is that whilst the games were good it didn’t really go anywhere, the boatload of sequels only ever featured some extra graphical polish to the sprite based game, and a new feature here or there. In any other world, I would call that a rehash. Playing a new iteration of Pokemon was a lot like revisiting the old games, and that was a good feeling, but if I want to revisit old favourites I can just boot them up and play them on their original consoles, or play remakes that are always popping up (I’m looking at you Nintendo). When I want to play a sequel, I want to play a different game, even if it’s just the same mechanics with a different story that’s fine by me.

Pokemon never shook it up, never changed the story, never changed the mechanics much aside from adding a few new moves, double battles, and more new Pokemon than you can shake a sizeable stick at. In fact it almost seemed like every new feature hurt the franchise just a little bit more. I mean, I could barely catch 150 Pokemon, I’ve got no hope with damn near a thousand of them.

However all that’s changed now, because Pokemon is suddenly in three shiny dimensions, or has it? I mean, it is a pretty extreme graphical overhaul, and clearly a new overworld engine, if that’s not proof the developers want to make some serious changes this time around then I don’t know what is. Looking at the trailer, it seems there may be some platforming involved, which to me is an important sign, because it’s all very well changing the graphics but if movement and gameplay haven’t changed then it’ll be the same flat experience as before. I'd like to see more platforming, more puzzle solving elements, however this is only speculation based upon one trailer.

In terms of the graphics though I’m a little concerned. I mean they look better aesthetically than sprites composed of 10 pixels, but they look very rough around the edges. Now I know that it’s an early build of the game, and some of those kinks and vertical tearing will get worked out. However my biggest issue is something that looks deliberately added into the game, and that’s all those damn black lines around everything. Now I get they’re going for the cell shaded look, and that’s cool with me, but the black lines around cartoons and cell shaded characters are a little bit smoother than that. To my eyes it just breaks the picture up and makes it hard to look at. I mean seriously is a little anti-aliasing in short supply round these parts? It looks sloppy and it looks like an eye strain in the making, and if I can’t play a game for more than half an hour because it hurts the eyes of a dude with 20:20 vision, then that’s going to be a serious downside.

At the heart of the matter though, and what will influence whether the game is worth your hard earned cash, is the core game experience. To me, 3D is like Colour, it’s like double battles, it’s like the ten gagillion new Pokemon, and all the new regions. It’s not why I bought the original game, and it doesn’t add anything to the core experience other than a bit of bling. I’d like to see some real changes to the game, whether it’s adding a platforming element, a different way to level up and determine experience, more RPG elements, or even more action elements and moving away from the turn based side of things. I’m not going to lie, it’s a fine line to walk, to bring the best bits of an old game into a new world. Metroid tried, and it’s jump into 3D platforming was a bit of a flop, it’s success came when it completely reinvented itself as Metroid Prime, but at the cost of isolating itself from the elements that made it a great series to begin with. I fear that’s the step Pokemon may have to take to break the rehash cycle.

Still... it’s got Magicarp in it, so that alone is worth a preorder. Pikachu is Day 1 DLC though.
Jamie out xoxoxo