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Beloved as the series and its iconic creatures may be, though, it’s an uncomfortable truth that the games are far from perfect. From iffy designs to questionable battle mechanics and a reliance on the power of nostalgia, here are some issues with Pokémon that fans sometimes don’t like to admit.
10 Designs Just Can’t Hit The Mark Every Time
We’ll start with one of the biggest issues that some naysayers have with the franchise: the designs of the Pokémon themselves. We’ve all heard the snarky comments about the ice-cream cone, the literal garbage bag and so on, but maybe it’s a deeper problem than that.
With hundreds upon hundreds of Pokémon, as well as their various Galarian forms, Mega Evolutions and suchlike, it’s inevitable that it might become increasingly challenging to nail a unique design. For some, the original 151 represented the pinnacle in that regard, after which everything was lackluster. This viewpoint might be a little extreme, but it resonates a little more more with every game released.
9 It’s Simply Not A Competitive Game
Competitive Pokémon is certainly becoming a bigger and bigger deal, in terms of the size and scope of international competitions. It’s also true that there’s a befuddling amount of depth to battling, which newcomers to that aspect of the series can easily become swamped by. EVs and IVs and egg moves, oh my!
At the same time, though, everybody who’s ever played seriously will probably tell you that they’ve been cheated out of a sure win by nothing more than unfortunate circumstances. Several times. Competitive games should be skill-based, and Pokémon players find themselves at the mercy of RNG far too often.
8 The Best Players Can Lose Through No Fault Of Their Own
Now, of course, we all know that there can be a lot of luck involved in a battle, and the most talented players have learned to mitigate that factor whenever they can. Sooner or later, though, a match result will come down to luck, and it always stings when it does.
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RNG comes into play in all sorts of ways. An unfortunate miss, a 10% chance for a burn or freeze kicking in at the worst possible moment, a timely flinch, a critical hit… these sorts of things really shouldn’t be deciding factors in high-level matches, but they really can be.
7 The Same Old Plot
The franchise is over two decades old, and it’s completely understandable that some fans of the original games have fallen away in the years since. Perhaps they’re still gaming, but have grown a little jaded by Pokémon in particular. there’s a ‘you’ve played one Pokémon game, you’ve played them all’ mentality that a lot of dedicated fans today really don’t want to deal with.
Sadly, there’s an element of truth to that. As far as the core formula goes, you always know what you’re getting yourself into with a Pokémon title: a quest to travel the region and become the Champion, a villainous team to square off with along the way… wrinkles have been introduced lately, such as the Island Challenge of Alola, but that’s really what it all boils down to.
6 Online Functionality Is Still A Little Lacking
Well, yes, there’s an important caveat here: this isn’t entirely Game Freak’s fault. As fans of Nintendo systems will know, the company have never exactly been on the cutting edge of online gameplay. Connectivity is sometimes more of an afterthought than an aspect to build a game around.
This is understandable to an extent, as Nintendo don’t exactly specialize in online-reliant genres like the FPS. Regardless though, interconnectivity between players is paramount with Pokémon, and has been since the days of brick-esque Game Boys and Link Cables. It’s never been particularly convenient to connect with fellow trainers, especially online.
5 The Gimmicks Are… Well, Exactly That
As with many issues on this list, this is another that has been frequently voiced, though more dedicated fans sometimes try to sweep under the rug. Would our lives really have been incomplete with Dynamaxing/Gigantamaxing, Z-Moves or Mega Evolutions?
These are the mechanics with which Game Freak sought to sell us on recent generations, the ‘hey, that’s sort of cool’ factor. While each of them provide new tactical opportunities and some very cool-looking designs (plus some that really weren’t), we don’t know if any will really stand the test of time as far as the overarching series goes. Or if they deserve to.
4 There Are Just So Many Leaks
Granted, we really can’t point the finger at Game Freak for this one. The company seem to specialize in drip-feeding tantalizing drops of information in the run-up to a release, proving that they want us to know as little as possible going into it. Leakers seem to have other ideas, though.
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The designs of starter evolutions, for instance, is often supposed to be a closely guarded secret, but the community goes haywire as a release date approaches. That’s just the nature of the internet, of course, but it’s a real shame for those fans who want to be surprised. These things can be very hard to avoid.
3 Game Freak Are A Little Too Reliant On Nostalgia
The first 151 Pokémon have a special place in long-time fans’ hearts, and rightly so. They were huge parts of some of our childhoods, after all, and you can’t put a price on that. The trouble is, Game Freak often try to do just that, by prioritizing Gen I Pokémon in all sorts of ways.
Pikachu wears around 10,000 different seasonal hats in Pokémon Go. Only first-gen Pokémon were given Alolan forms. Original fan favorites Charizard and Mewtwo were the only ones to get two different Mega Evolutions. It’s a bitter pill for die-hards to swallow, but there’s more to the series than Kanto Pokémon.
2 The Type Chart Is Very Unbalanced In Some Ways
Another topic that dedicated Pokéholics don’t really like to address is the type chart. In some ways, it’s a work of art (the whole Fire-Water-Grass thing just slots together magnificently), but in others, it’s sorely lacking.
Why are the poor old Ice and Bug types still so bad, balance-wise? Why are Ice and Rock weak to absolutely everything ever, even if they are great offensively? Certain elements just don’t work as well as they sound like they should on paper.
1 Competition Is (Perhaps) Hotting Up, With The Arrival Of Temtem
For all the accusations of Pokémon resting on its laurels over the years, the truth is that there have really been no challengers to its throne. No real reason to push the envelope. Perhaps things are changing in that regard, though, with the arrival of Temtem.
Of course, this new title has barely even begun to hint at its full potential, so it’s tough to really draw a comparison yet. One thing we can say is that it takes an approach to creature-collecting that’s both very familiar and very new, and the sky’s really the limit. If it does manage to take off, it may become the next phenomenon. It’s possible that Pokémon could have a real fight on its hands in the future.
NEXT: Temtem: The 10 Coolest Looking Creatures
