Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are just a few months away and the remakes are already looking to offer some of my favourite features from the original games. There are also features from the original games still to be confirmed that would improve the game and thus I bring you the list of features that would best suit the future Pokemon games. Some of these ideas have only appeared in a single game so I believe it would be a good idea to make use of these and create possibly one of the best Pokemon games ever made.
The experience system from X and Y
One of the ideas that annoyed me about the original Ruby and Sapphire was the experience system. I don’t believe it was any different to the system used in Red and Blue or Gold and Silver, but it was much easier. I would only go through the game with three or four Pokemon at most. This issue has since carried over to other Pokemon games including Diamond and Pearl and even Black and White (Black and White being the games that annoyed me the most for the experience system). The experience system used in X and Y however allowed a whole lot more freedom in my Pokemon choices particularly because of the new version of the exp.share item used in past games. This meant all my Pokemon could be trained equally and I could even get new Pokemon late into the game. I also liked that the experience given to my Pokemon came in full regardless of the number of Pokemon I used in the battle. I feel this system could really help make the experience of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire better and allow more access to all the Pokemon in the game without causing too much of a nuisance.
Pokemon World Tournament
In Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 the Pokemon World Tournament was definitely a great place for fans of the older games. It provided the player a chance to battle old Gym Leaders from past games and it was a great opportunity to see how their teams would change with the five generations of Pokemon. This also gave us a chance to battle opponents in a tournament setting and aim to be the best with your team. Unlike traditional gym battles, we couldn’t just take in one type of Pokemon and had to create and raise a team of multiple types of Pokemon. We then got to battle all the different gym leaders in a different form. In the upcoming Ruby and Sapphire remakes this could be a great feature for allowing players to challenge six generations of Gym Leaders. We could also see several other challenges. I would also enjoy having this as just part of the post game content to provide some of a challenge and bit more fun for the game.
Battle Frontier
The Battle Frontier has been used in four games Emerald, Platinum, Heartgold and Soulsilver. The best version of the Battle Frontier was actually in Emerald, the third game expansion on the classic Ruby and Sapphire. The Battle Frontier in this game had seven decent challenges to beat and provided quite a lot of fun. I was always quite a fan of the Battle Pike myself and the updated version of the Battle Frontier used in future games just lacked that same enjoyment. They contained only five attractions that just didn’t work out as well. Since we are going back in Hoen I feel this is the perfect opportunity to bring back the original Battle Frontier from Emerald and offer that original challenge that many of us loved. I also reckon they could even expand on the original Battle Frontier with the additional attractions from Platinum. This would offer even more content for enjoyment by the player. The challenge of the Emerald Battle Frontier could keep players happy, and the new Wi-Fi options available could even enhance the experience in unimaginable ways.
A better post game
One of the things that traditionally stands out with many of the Pokemon games is a shortage on post game content, from the original Red and Blue all the way to the recent X and Y the games have not really been known for there post game content. Then again I can argue that Gold and Silver are probably the only Pokemon games that actually a decent post game with the entire Kanto region at your disposal for exploration. Apart from that the only time we really saw much in the way of post game content was in the remake to Red and Blue with the addition of the Sevii Islands which gave an extra bit of story to play in the form of Team Rocket. As important as the main game is I feel the post game should share an equal importance presenting the player with extra story or a good selection of new areas to visit. It was sad that X and Y even lacked the post game not really providing anything to really past battling other players and training Pokemon, while this is a key component in a game I still think the games should offer a whole lot more. Though when I reference post game content I don’t actually mean the Battle Frontier or the Pokemon World Tournament. I want to explore entire new areas and get to enjoy more of the game past the story. During the course of the actual game itself I would not care less if we followed all the traditional story arcs of the original game with no extras, however post game could definitely use improvements when the original Ruby and Sapphire did not really provide anything in proper form of extra content apart from maybe an extra section in Meteor Falls. Post game Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire could take advice form Firered and Leafgreen and offer a series of islands or new locations to visit to deliver an extra story that could relate to where the members of Team Aqua and Magma go to.
VS Seeker
The Vs Seeker was one of my favourite items in Firered and Leafgreen as well as Diamond, Pearl and Platinum, and its absence has definitely been noticed in Black and White as well as X and Y. I really liked the Vs Seeker for being able to face down tough trainers again to help with training my Pokemon and it has annoyed me it not appearing in more recent games. I feel rather then bringing back the poor Pokenav rematch system from the original game the Vs Seeker could help make the rematch system better and allow more access to battles, I also think they should make an improvement allowing rematches to Gym Leaders at specific times of day as it could make the whole experience better. In case they don’t carry over the experience system from X and Y the Vs Seeker could be the next best option for training my Pokemon.
A better selection of mega Pokemon
Mega Evolution did not really do much for me with Pokemon X and Y, the Pokemon chosen for mega evolution were not that great in my opinion. I can leave the details on design and some of the other things to Game Freak and Nintendo to decide, but there a couple of Pokemon that I would like to see given Mega Evolutions. One of the first I have been thinking about for a while is the Pokemon, Slaking, as many of us know Slaking is a Pokemon with a whole lot of potential but unfortunately it seems to go mostly wasted because of its ability that causes it to slack off every second attack. A Mega Evolution for Slaking could remove that ability and bring out the true powerhouse nature of Slaking in a sense this could be just a dream that goes to far causing Slaking to be a bit overpowered but I believe this would be an Pokemon for Mega Evolution. I also think that Pokemon such as Swellow or even Camerupt could both look really cool and add some much needed power to these Pokemon particularly Swellow who is one of my favourites even if a bit notably underpowered. There are also several other Pokemon that could also benefit and be more enjoyed as a Mega Evolution might I suggest Salamence, Shiftry or even Claydol. There are so many Pokemon that deserve a Mega Evolutions and hopefully Game Freak make some good choices for the game now and in the future.
There are so many things that I think could be done in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire far beyond what I have already listed but for now I think my suggestions would be ones that could fully benefit the games when their released. Likewise, these suggestions could carry over into future games. These remakes have the potential to be the best and I feel with these ideas there will be a lot of happy people.
