Pokémon doesn’t have a technical problem, it has a pacing problem – Pokémon Legends: Z-A

I begin this article with a confession. I am a hypocrite. I will tell people not to pre-order, to stop rewarding developers who only give you more of the same, and to gladly buy a new Pokémon game when it comes along. As much as I can tell myself that I am self-aware and therefore free from criticism, at heart I am a simple pig who loves slop. I’ve come to terms with that, but I can still look at the franchise that got me into games and say it could be better.

That’s how we all feel, right? Deep down, somewhere. Even if we love the games as they are, there is a feeling that permeates the franchise and its fans that the old spunk just isn’t quite there. The gameplay is still engaging, each generation comes with some fire designs, and yet here we are. I’m not the first person to point this out and I don’t expect to be the last, but where many point to the missing visuals and technical problems of Switch-era Pokémon games and see the series’ biggest shortcomings, I think we need to look beyond the superficial level and find the root of this problem.

Yes, better graphics and performance would be nice, but as we have seen throughout gaming history, visuals are really just icing on the cake of a very complicated cake. Pokémon spent most of its history without 3D models and even started without color. Seeing a Charizard with an HD shimmering like one of those viral Facebook posts showing “realistic” Pokémon is not going to make these games better. It just isn’t. The reason fans look at technical problems and blame them for the series’ woes is because they are the easiest to spot. Also, with a winning gameplay formula like Pokémon, you can’t really criticize much else.

Aside from the fact that Switch-era games are all chasing the wrong thing, leading to pacing issues that make you feel less like you’re traveling through a trainer, and more like you’re grinding through an MMO, but instead of facing off against raid bosses, you’re beating up level 1 goblins. This isn’t a difficulty issue, as I haven’t had a problem with a Pokémon game since my age was in single digits (ooh, catch me), but even when I knew I was going to win a battle, I still felt like I was working toward a natural conclusion, and that my journey had been one that had been a pleasure to continue.

I can’t say the same since the series opened up in its game world. Both the main releases of Gen 8 and 9 have had solid introductions, solid endings and an absolute mess in the middle. Pokémon is about a decade late to the open world trend, and while we all still like to pretend that every game has to be an open world because of player freedom, about five franchises truly offer a superior experience because of an open world, and Pokémon is not one of them. The ability to rush a team together, stomp through levels with ease by finding a Pokémon or area that has been leveled too high and gain victories before smashing through the main gyms. “But that’s not how you’re supposed to play.” Okay? But it’s almost impossible in the open-world experience not to just be massively overwhelmed.

It doesn’t help that the stories haven’t had much weight since Black and White. Some were fun, and the rivalry in Gen 9 was particularly enjoyable, but again, because of the slow beginning, fast-paced middle and pointless ending, it’s hard to have a nail-biting conclusion to your final fights when you’ve had prime Michael Jordan cradled in your back pocket since Route 2. The games just move too fast now, with the open world feeling more like padding than any random bridge construction. The fact that you can get free XP with the padding only makes the fighting and training experience feel much more weightless.

Open worlds probably aren’t going anywhere, so how do we solve Pokémon’s pacing problem? Well, removing XP share, splitting it across only two Pokémon, or making it a late-game item would work, but that would effectively increase the difficulty, something Pokémon will not do at this time. Instead, I would suggest putting a firmer limit on exploration. I hear the boos and I don’t care. A more linear structure, with different Pokémon in different areas, will again add that excitement and give a story clearer acts. I may be the only one, but I don’t want to decide in what order to take on the gyms. I don’t want to feel like the developers couldn’t be bothered to come up with a golden path and let us define our own path, making for a largely forgettable adventure.

Setting the pace, bringing back the excitement of new horizons and catching new Pokémon that you can’t just go find if you’re willing to ride a free legendary long enough, those are the things that will bring Pokémon back for me. Visuals, technical achievements, they just paint over the cracks. There are maybe four people on the planet who refrain from playing Pokémon just because it doesn’t run at 120 fps. People long for the Pokémon games they had as children, and while that magic may never come back, Game Freak can help by showing that they still have the same passion for detail and adventure that they had 20 years ago.