#especially when they released legends arceus earlier this same year

[tinyetoile]

Every once in a while I think about how the loss of nintendo's handheld consoles has impacted their games overall for the worse and I just get so sad about it

Like take the LoZ franchise for example, with mainline console games coming out every 4-5 years, it worked in tandem with the smaller handheld titles that would come out between mainline games every 1-2 years, it allowed the mainline games timento breath while keeping interest in the franchise active with the smaller scope, but no less interesting and important, handheld titles. But with everything now on the switch, expected to have the scope and specs of a mainline console, there's no more room for those smaller, more experimental games anymore, and it makes me sad.

And the biggest victim of this is obviously pokemon, where its 2-3 year development cycle was much more feasible when they were working with the expectations that come with a handheld game, but now the employees at game freak are struggling to keep up with that same pace under the demands of a mainline console, leading to how badly they're overworked in such an environment.

[bluerosesburnblue]

The BDSP reveal has me legitimately concerned about the future of the way the franchise handles remakes (especially since next on the list is my second-favorite region, Unova). There’s just so much about them that looks bad, and the only actual defenses I’ve seen are extremely shallow (it’s nostalgic, it’s cute, I liked Sinnoh as-is). I'm looking at what both sides have to say, both in favor of and against BDSP, and trying to think of a solution that would work for the most amount of people

The one I came up with, and the one I think would probably be the best going forward, is:

Outsource an HD remaster of DPPt (or just Platinum) that just cleans up the spritework and updates some of the scenery, along with some relatively minor tweaks like getting everything onto one screen and upping the battle speed (like TWEWY Final Remix). This would be geared towards people just looking for a bit of nostalgia, people who already thought Sinnoh was basically perfect, people looking to replace the old game that they can't access anymore or that can’t access Wi-Fi, and people who might've missed the originals when they came out and are looking for the old-school experience. I feel like the game preservationist position is seriously overlooked, and a lot of defenders act like a remake is the ONLY way and that a Switch port simply can’t be done because DPPt were DS games when the very fact that TWEWY:FR exists proves this wrong. Most of them also seem to be of the “I just want to play DPPt again” persuasion, and in that case wouldn’t a better solution be to clean up the game that already exists for a decreased price? The World Ends With You already proved that the “HD port” model is viable, and “clean up this already made game” is much easier to outsource than “rebuild this old game from the ground up”

Make these a tie-in to the two new projects. Split GameFreak up into two teams:

One team makes Sinnoh remakes the way that was expected. Either SwSh's art style or LGPE's, just make sure they have the standard catching system. These are the ones taking a closer approach to ORAS with updated character design, some region design, and a refined story. I don't think working in Dynamax would be good due to how Galar-centric that mechanic is, and I'm not even asking for Megas back because I don't really care about them that much, but you can still update the Sinnoh experience by adding in some Fairy-types and maybe some Sinnohan variants of Pokemon from Gens 5-8 (maybe ones that would have their original form in Legends that don’t exist in the original Sinnoh Pokedex) to address the type variation issues in the Sinnoh Pokedex and give people something new to play around with. I did like the fact that you could see Mt. Coronet in the background of BDSP’s battle scenes and I think that could be worked in with much greater impact with a SwSh-like style and a camera that occasionally sweeps upward to show off Mt. Coronet

Also, I would die if we could incorporate some of the Ultra Space lore into these. Come onnnnn, there was so much untapped potential in that concept and what better time to bring it back then the games starring the Pokemon of Time and Space?

The other team makes Legends Arceus. The key with developing both internally is to have the two teams in contact with each other during development to synchronize the setting, worldbuilding, available Pokemon, and story between the two in a way that feels natural. You're looking to really sell Legends as the "past version" of the remade Sinnoh, and that could mean taking the Remake Team's design for something like the Solaceon Ruins and recreating it down to the details but making it look less worn with age. Add in some earlier variants of Pokemon we’re familiar with (which they may be doing already tbh). Maybe keep some buildings the same between the two to add to the "ancient" vibe that Sinnoh loves

The only current issue with this model is the size of GameFreak's team, admittedly. I don't think they have enough manpower to make something at the scope of Legends and a full remake simultaneously as they are now (just look at how they tried to juggle LGPE and SwSh, both of which were less ambitious than my proposal). But this is a pretty fixable problem, all things considered. There could also be possible budgetary issues that I can't make calls on because they don't release many numbers, but if the two teams were sharing some assets, I think that would probably cut production time and cost as well as heighten the visual unity of the Past Sinnoh and Present Sinnoh

For the record, I don’t hate SwSh at all. I think they’re a decent base, they just need some refinement and could benefit from more development time and a larger team. That’s not anything against GameFreak except maybe with team size, mostly against TPC and how they run the franchise

This is just the best idea I came up with to make the most people happy, with what I feel is the best potential for success as a Year of Sinnoh celebration. It pays direct honor to the originals, while providing something new, but still familiar, and also something completely different and experimental. Personally, I find I’d be much more supportive of an HD port than what looks like an uninspired and frankly a bit amateurish remake