Pokémon is my childhood obsession. Back in the day, my friends and I would wait for Friday evenings for it to air on local TV, and we never missed an episode. Ash’s journey with Brock and Misty was the best way to round up the week. The same can be said about the games: I’ve dumped hundreds of hours playing Yellow and Emerald on my Gameboy Advance and Pokemon Sun on my 3DS.

Fast forward to today with Pokémon Sword and Shield. If both versions were standalone titles and not part of a franchise, they’d be considered groundbreaking. Although they’re great games in their own right, they prove that Pokémon has remained stagnant all these years and have only had a few tweaks to the gameplay and, of course, new Pokémon.

Game Freak has done a stellar job in making the franchise extremely popular and profitable. Still, they have to step up and deliver new gameplay elements and a ton of other improvements. Even if people will continue to buy the games without new features, they have to step up to avoid the criticism they’ve received from the community.

Pokémon: what changed?

The games still have the same coming of age story of a child leaving his childhood home to pursue the dream of being the region’s Pokémon master. You’ll challenge gym leaders, collect their badges, and ultimately, head over to the Pokémon League to battle the Elite 4 and the champion. Along the way, you’ll also have to deal with a rival and a nefarious organization like Team Rocket.

Although each game always delivers in handing out fresh new characters, Pokémon, and better visuals, a massive chunk of the game’s plot and how you start and finish remains the same. It’s been this way for decades and, quite frankly, the effort has been relatively unambitious.

Introduction and removal of various mechanics

However, we can’t blame Game Freak for not being innovative. They’ve introduced several gameplay aspects in the past, including:

- The Battle Frontier
- Mega Evolutions
- Pokémon Contests
- Z- Moves

Unfortunately, these were nothing more than short-lived gimmicks. For example, the Battle Frontier in Pokémon Emerald was a prime example of excellent post-game content. Accessible after beating the Elite 4, it’s essentially an island where you go up against other trainers in battles with different rules and requirements. However, we’ve never heard of it again since the HeartGold and SoulSilver games on the Nintendo DS. The same can be said about Mega Evolutions, Pokémon Contests, and Z-Moves. They were gone after a few games, only to be replaced by a new gimmick.

Game Freak introduced these aspects only to shelve them shortly. These were great ideas, but they didn’t build on them, and instead, they resorted to introducing new schemes that they will eventually throw out the window again. Just imagine if Sword and Shield had a Battle Frontier or an expanded tournament.

Pokémon vs other franchises

“But wait, aren’t sports and other franchises guilty of recycling content?”

Well, you can’t exactly expect games like FIFA and NBA 2K to make revolutionary changes. In the same context, first-person shooters shouldn’t change their formula since this is what people expect. You can’t say the same about an RPG like Pokémon, which has a vast potential to grow. Compared to its contemporaries, it hasn’t changed much. For example, take a look at how franchises like The Legend of Zelda, Fire Emblem, and Final Fantasy evolved over the years.

Still no voice acting?

One of the biggest gripes I have with Pokémon is the lack of voice acting. Sure, the lack of it on the Game Boy and 3DS games were understandable, but it just shouldn’t continue in the future. It just breaks the immersion, and seeing the 3D character models in Sword and Shield flap their mouths without making any sound feels game-breaking. The monologue Gym Leader Piers had when you challenged him makes this evident. It’s both sad and hilarious to see him sing, without hearing anything.

If a Pokémon mobile game, specifically Pokémon Masters EX, has voice acting, why can’t Game Freak do the same with big-budget mainline games? Considering that the franchise has a long-running anime with Japanese and English voice acting, we’re sure this is entirely within the realm of possibility. Here’s to hoping that the next game will be voiced.

Will things change soon?