8. Seasons
Shockingly only included in the Generation 5 games, seasons are an aesthetic change to the games overworld that happen once a month. Changing the spawn rates of certain Pokemon and causing snow/leaves to pile up in other months, this also allows you to access secret areas for cool rewards. This change in weather had an affect on Deerling and Sawsbuck which underwent a transformation depending on the season which could have opened the floodgates to seasonal transformations. But alas, we haven’t seen this feature since 2012 and with the 3D engine it’s unlikely we’ll see this for a long time again.
9. In Game Events
When Mythical events were introduced, you were usually given an item such as a boat ticket or a letter which you then had to take to a certain place or ride a boat to travel to the Pokemon. Then you had to complete a few battles or complete a puzzle, sometimes both, to then encounter and catch the mythical Pokemon. In Generation 6 they did away with this in favour of just giving you the Pokemon at a Pokemon Center, and if you were lucky some flavour text. Make us work for our mythicals, Game Freak!
10. Player Search System
X and Y had their flaws, but their online communication system was not one of them. They did away from union rooms and colosseums and introduced a seamless local and online system on the bottom screen where you were never more than 3 taps away from a trade or a battle. They took a huge step back with the festival plaza and the Y-Comm in Sword and Shield uses finnicky codes rather than a friend list which still doesn’t hit the potential that the PSS had. Don’t fix what isn’t broken and don’t pull another Festival Plaza on us please!
And these are my picks for the 10 features every Pokemon game should try to include. Do you agree with my choices? What features would you love to see come back consistently? Let me know in the comments!
Video game completionist and 3D platformer connoisseur, Riley is a fan of the whimsical frenzy of bright and colourful characters that blessed us in the late 90's. Their favourite game's are Spyro, Persona 5 and Super Mario Sunshine.
