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Pokemon Generation 9 Speculation and Discussion Thread

Aleh

Aleh

Member
Oct 27, 2017
16,295
lvl 99 Pixel said:
Nah the water looked really, really bad in SwSh too.
Pokemon-Sword-Shield2.jpg


There is no hand crafted element, its a flat plane with some completely wrong reflections and a ripple effect.
The other game wasn't the best but it had exaggerated caustics and shallows which worked so much better with Pokemons toon aesthetic. Id take something like Wind Waker over generated water like they want to use now.

pokesuf_feature.jpg


How it looks now, disregarding tiling in the long distance shots:
pokemon-legends-arceus-basculegion-900x506.jpg

That aint water
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But that's the thing, Let's Go's water is meant to be seen from a single perspective. You say the water in legends looks tiled now, it would look even more tiled if they used the Let's Go one. In a 3D environment you can't use the same thing. Besides that, the sea water in Legends is different from the rivers and lakes, which looks a lot better, with real time reflections, transparency, distortion effects for stuff underwater, better adaptability to lighting:

image0.png


SWSH's water was indeed basic, but it worked better in towns with a more curated use of it
 
fourfourfun

fourfourfun

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,680
England
Aranjah said:
I guess I'm confused, then. I always thought the generations counted mainline titles, so.....Gen 9 is Legends, question answered?
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This would be the best path to Gen 9 for me. Keep working on the Legends structure, keep iterating away from the old style battle system towards real time, make the hunting loop go far far far away from encounter-whittle down-capture into something more organic and appropriate. This is its BOTW moment to completely change it and ditch the past.
 
lvl 99 Pixel

lvl 99 Pixel

Member
Oct 25, 2017
44,647
Aleh said:
But that's the thing, Let's Go's water is meant to be seen from a single perspective. You say the water in legends looks tiled now, it would look even more tiled if they used the Let's Go one. In a 3D environment you can't use the same thing. Besides that, the sea water in Legends is different from the rivers and lakes, which looks a lot better, with real time reflections, transparency, distortion effects for stuff underwater, better adaptability to lighting:

image0.png


SWSH's water was indeed basic, but it worked better in towns with a more curated use of it
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It looks extra flat from a low angle, which I also did post. Ill give them credit for now having reflections that make sense I guess.
 
Aleh

Aleh

Member
Oct 27, 2017
16,295
lvl 99 Pixel said:
It looks extra flat from a low angle, which I also did post. Ill give them credit for now having reflections that make sense I guess.
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I'm not saying it's perfect, but for a 3D game you'll have to make some sacrifices here and there, and at least compared to SWSH they've upgraded the technical side of it.
Water is also one of those things that works a lot better in motion than still shots
 
BeanBoi

BeanBoi

Member
Jun 20, 2019
362
My hope is that PLA is successful and that they use a lot of the open world ideas in Gen 9.
 
lvl 99 Pixel

lvl 99 Pixel

Member
Oct 25, 2017
44,647
Aleh said:
I'm not saying it's perfect, but for a 3D game you'll have to make some sacrifices here and there, and at least compared to SWSH they've upgraded the technical side of it.
Water is also one of those things that works a lot better in motion than still shots
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I just think for an IP which is so insanely popular because of its homely, hand crafted and cartoony aesthetic its extra disappointing to see it rely so heavily on computer generated techniques to render things like water. The clouds look great in comparison, the sky appears stylized and deliberate.
Finally doing away with sprites in the menus is just an extra kick in the groin for people who grew up with that.
 
Aleh

Aleh

Member
Oct 27, 2017
16,295
lvl 99 Pixel said:
I just think for an IP which is so insanely popular because of its homely, hand crafted and cartoony aesthetic its extra disappointing to see it rely so heavily on computer generated techniques to render things like water. The clouds look great in comparison, the sky appears stylized and deliberate.
Finally doing away with sprites in the menus is just an extra kick in the groin for people who grew up with that.
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Sprites have been kept where it makes sense, but they would clash horribly in an old timey setting like Legends.
They should have kept them for BDSP though, although those are different developers
 
lvl 99 Pixel

lvl 99 Pixel

Member
Oct 25, 2017
44,647
Aleh said:
Sprites have been kept where it makes sense, but they would clash horribly in an old timey setting like Legends.
They should have kept them for BDSP though, although those are different developers
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They should have hand painted drawings instead of 3d models if the time period is the reason.
 
ArchedThunder

ArchedThunder

Uncle Beerus
Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,018
My main hopes are that it mixes the traditional structure of a Pokemon game with the large open style of Arceus with a lot of the gameplay and visual elements from that game (exploration, battles in the game world, trainer health, taking Pokemon out of their balls whenever you want, Pokemon battles looking more dynamic, varying sizes of Pokemon in a single species, etc). My biggest hope is that it doesn't feel like an incredibly rushed game like SwSh do and has some more engaging post game content. Also really hoping for an Australia based region.
 
Birdie

Birdie

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
26,289
A little touch I'd like is Pokémon having unique animations when they're in the red...

Nothing major but like looking visibly tired, battle damage for some Pokémon, etc.
 
OP
OP
TheGamingNewsGuy

TheGamingNewsGuy

One Winged Slayer
Member
Nov 5, 2017
31,459





Not sure how pepole would react to Italy but it makes A LOT of sense for a reigon. The only thing really going against it is we just had the UK but it's always a possibility
 
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ILikeFeet

ILikeFeet

DF Deet Master
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
61,987
it could just be them putting classical art in the game. before, teases have been more abstract, like the tiki totem in ORAS for Alola
 
Birdie

Birdie

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
26,289
That just makes me think the graphic team was lazy and just found cheap, easy to use paintings lol.

As opposed to making new unique paintings.
 
OP
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TheGamingNewsGuy

TheGamingNewsGuy

One Winged Slayer
Member
Nov 5, 2017
31,459
I do think there will be a hint in Legends Arecus to Gen 9 but it will be very subtle and probalby won't actually be collerated till Gen 9 is revealed
 
RatskyWatsky

RatskyWatsky

Are we human or are we dancer?
Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,931
I want a platypus water starter for gen 9

fire starter is horse

grass can be some kind of bug

🤔
 
Anth0ny

Anth0ny

Member
Oct 25, 2017
46,825
The real question:

Can they top the trainer designs from gen 8?

Is such a thing even possible?
 
Delio

Delio

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,464
That Platypus was the only good looking temtem and it was made to look like a Pokémon by the person who made it.
 
Jejefff

Jejefff

Member
Jan 26, 2021
38
I'd really really love if Pokemon battles went in an action direction, without turns. More like FFVII elements.

But everything looks just to difficult for gamefreak, even with other companies doing it for ages… people forget Gamefreak is a 20+ years studio, almost work on one franchise only. It should be above everyone else with quality, but its always one step foward and 3 steps back with them 😕😕😕
 
Jejefff

Jejefff

Member
Jan 26, 2021
38
2021, Pokemon still dont have voice. That should be the first thing on gamefreak's "to do" list
 
Atheerios

Atheerios

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,097
When do you think gen 9 will be unveiled (not necessarily launched)?

2022 or 2023?

I think Legends could be the start of more irregular release months, Gen 9 could launch in Spring 2023 for example.

They really need a new competitive game for the 2023 competitive season and worlds.
 
ILikeFeet

ILikeFeet

DF Deet Master
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
61,987
Atheerios said:
When do you think gen 9 will be unveiled (not necessarily launched)?

2022 or 2023?

I think Legends could be the start of more irregular release months, Gen 9 could launch in Spring 2023 for example.

They really need a new competitive game for the 2023 competitive season and worlds.
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2023 at the earliest. I'd find it hard to believe GF can split their staff to do an open world game and (probably) a game with large open environment and reveal them within a year/year and a half of each other
 
Maple

Maple

Member
Oct 27, 2017
11,722
Atheerios said:
When do you think gen 9 will be unveiled (not necessarily launched)?

2022 or 2023?

I think Legends could be the start of more irregular release months, Gen 9 could launch in Spring 2023 for example.

They really need a new competitive game for the 2023 competitive season and worlds.
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This is the real question. Legends Arceus throws off the 3 year cadence for new generations, but the release date for Legends is just so damn odd. This looks to be a massive, highly ambitious title from Game Freak - so why in the world is it releasing in late January, just 2 months after remakes of Gen 4? It's just an odd time for TPC to release a major new game.

Unless, of course, they have yet another Pokemon game coming out in fall of 2022, which would explain why they want to get Legends out early in the year. But I just don't think GF is large enough to be working on two massive projects like that with both releasing in the same year. I guess 2023 makes sense, with a fall 2023 release date - that would be 4 years after Sword/Shield. I guess that means no Pokemon games for almost another 2 years after Legends comes out.
 
Aleh

Aleh

Member
Oct 27, 2017
16,295
February 2023 reveal, November 2023 release.
2022 will be about Legends and possibly some DLC for it
 
Birdie

Birdie

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
26,289
They should just make a game with all the movie locations.

La Rousse is another high point.
 
Soltis

Soltis

Member
Feb 28, 2019
1,027
United States
Huh.

Italy is an interesting base for Gen 9's region. I'm not sure why, but for some reason I was just feeling so sure that it might be Australia's time to shine. I would be down to explore Pokemon's version of Italy, though. I could definitely imagine a wild area inspired by Tuscany.
 
Galactic Tides

Galactic Tides

Member
Jul 17, 2021
111
The bit at the very end of the Legends Arceus trailer is making me hope they try a cell shaded style for the next game
 
Lbbaker

Lbbaker

Member
May 21, 2018
1,746
Honestly I just want Pokemon based on animals/myths/folklore we haven't seen yet. No more monkeys, dogs, cats, etc.

Give me my goddamn proper dolphin, moose, platypus, flamingo, etc.
 
Forkball

Forkball

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,940
If Game Freak didn't decide to experiment with Legends, Gen IX would likely have been a 2022 game.

I think Gen IX will be closer to Gen VIII than Legends, but wild areas will be more elaborate. Not sure if max raids will come back, but having some sort of instanced section where you infinitely grind seems like something Game Freak wouldn't want to toss out.
 
Scarlet Spider

Scarlet Spider

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,741
Brooklyn, NY
  1. Less mammalian starters, please. Less humanoid final evolutions, too.
  2. Keep variable Pokémon sizes.
  3. Pull back the trainers and their Pokémon from each other like in the Genius Sonority games. Single player battles/gym battles feel hella cramped with the layout they've been using since the 3Ds era. Hoping Legends Arceus is the next evolution of the layout.
  4. Bring back that panic inducing music when your Pokémon's health gets into the red zone.
  5. Include a speed up option for offline battles.
  6. Include a skip cutscene option/no forced tutorial.
  7. Extend the time in PVP.
  8. Bring back the rollerblades from XY.
 
ArchedThunder

ArchedThunder

Uncle Beerus
Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,018
I'm hoping we don't get another form changing gimmick. I'm really hoping instead we keep GMax and Megas return and we get roughly 15 new ones of each.
Overall I'm hoping for something like this

70-80 new Pokemon (6 Legends, 0 Mythicals at launch, a handful of new evolutions)
15-20 new regional variants
10-15 new GMax forms
10-15 new Mega evolutions

This would be a similar amount of new designs to what SwSh launched with.
 
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Fnnrqwin

Fnnrqwin

Member
Sep 19, 2019
2,297
I hope we don't get a new form changing gimmick and they combine Megas and G-Max into essentially the same thing. Make them all normal-sized transformations, make them all last for a limited number of turns, bring back Ultra Necrozma, and if they make any new transformations keep them within that framework. Stop focusing on gimmicks as the selling point and just make the base game/battles stand enough on their own.
 
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