Is Pokemon a bad franchise?

[Child Amnesiac]

I've been looking at Pokemon with a more critical eye, and taking into consideration other games.

Now I've got to ask: Is the Pokemon game franchise a bad one? I'm not talking about in sales or quality, but as an RPG

Looking at other RPGs and other creature collecting RPGs they do a lot of what Pokemon does but better.

Pokemon has never had really good writing, stories, side quests, characters, structure, pacing, or worlds. Other JRPGs (Your Final Fantasys, your Dragon Quests, and stuff like Nino Kuni) do these things much better.

If you think about it, Pokemon has really stayed the same since 1996, it really hasn't changed all that much, (Yes I know, FF games stuck to the whole 4 crystals thing until 6, and then returned back to it for one last game in 9 but that one was a throwback to classic FF games). You for the most part, collect Gym Badges in order to fight the Elite 4 and defeat and become the champion. All while contending with your rival and an Evil Team that provides somewhat of a story. They did switch this formula up in Gen 7 with the island trials, but they're mostly the same thing as gyms, with the actual "Leaders" the Kahunas being kind of more like these bosses you would find guarding one of the elemental crystals or what have you in the FF games. For better or for worse, these games have stayed ultimately the same. On top of that, features from previous games are removed never to be seen again (for the most part). Mega Evolution, Z-Moves, Seasons, following Pokemon, contests. It's like they're actively taking steps backwards

Factoring in everything else, (the writing being kind of poor, there being no real side quests outside of some fetch quests, the worlds being not that big, the main campaign being short and not providing that much in terms of story, the slow pacing at the beginning of the games, with a bunch of unskippable tutorials, and the low difficulty.) is this franchise not good?

I know there's a reason for these things, the games are for kids. But even then, there are seemingly better introductory RPGS out there.
Final Fantasy Mythic Quest comes to mind.

To answer my own question: I have no idea. I've had a lot of fun with the games in spite of these numerous flaws, I like the team customization, the adventures themselves, the battles are fun and interesting, and it's just fun to see your team grow and overcome the challenges that are thrown your way.

But, what do you think? Do you think Pokemon is a bad RPG franchise?

 

[Palamon]

No, it's not a bad RPG franchise? No, they're not perfect, and they're nowhere near the best RPGs. But, at the end of the day, Pokemon is and always will be an entry level RPG.

 

[pkmin3033]

That depends on what you want out of the franchise and what constitutes "bad" really.

If you're talking about sales, then it's definitely not a bad franchise.

If you're talking about customer value, it is definitely on its way to becoming a bad franchise, with Pokemon Home, DLC, and massively reduced titles costing 50% more the asking price. Although Pokemon's business model has never been about customer value, given that they've been selling third versions and sequels/alternate games that are basically identical to the previous ones before this. But it's getting worse.

If you're talking about it in terms of a "traditional" RPG franchise, I would say it's an absolutely awful franchise, because it's been recycling the same narrative since Generation 3 and hasn't evolved gameplay in any significant fashion for years. It's a far cry from other RPG series; it's barely above Kemco RPGs for quality of narrative and gameplay in places.

If you're talking about accessibility, it's a fantastic franchise, because anyone can play Pokemon. It's designed to be for all ages and it sticks fairly well to this - perhaps some elements are a little more advanced, but consider, you can overcome any problem by grinding, which anyone can do.

But above all, if you're happy with Pokemon, then it's not a bad franchise. At the end of the day, the company will measure it by sales and profit, and the customer will measure it by the amount of enjoyment they get from the games. If you get less enjoyment, it's a bad franchise. If you get a lot of enjoyment, it's a good one. It's that simple, really.

 

[Percy]

They're not the best but surely not the worst either, in my opinion. the first generation, in hindsight, seems to be lacking but that is fine since the technology at that time was not that extravagant. but anyone gotta admit how the mechanics were unique in comparison to other games. It was also impressive how they managed to double the number of regions in the second generation. The third to fourth may seem more gym-centric but that was the winning formula for the games and they're still a company who's looking for profits so its understandable.

The fifth was more story-centric rather than gym-centric in my opinion, led to lesser fan approval don't you think? the sixth tried to bring back that gym-centric game but it went meh with some fans (even though I think XY was great :P). they tried to mix the gym mechanics with gen 7. some approved, some didn't and that's natural.

there's always areas, gameplay-wise, that can be lacking and may need some improvements. there will always be people who would disapprove. everything that the franchise can do is improve the gameplay while having profitable returns (much like any other franchises hehe).

so for me, no. pokemon is not a bad franchise, they are steadily trying to have a unique game with the same charm as the old games. it may be a big hurdle but I'm sure they can get by

 

[Bellsprout]

I don't think it's a bad franchise it just never progressed the way I always hoped it would. Which has left me feeling pretty disappointed as a long time fan. Personally it really stung to see the treatment other franchises have gotten since coming to the Switch and having so much anticipation for something great and then seeing what we were actually getting. Because of all that has happened I now have zero hopes for any future main series Pokemon game.

 

[colours]

it's alright. i dislike how over the years it's become more and more of a divisive thing in online communities. it seems like the more analytical people become, the less they enjoy the pokemon games because so much more can be done (not that they're wrong). i certainly think pokemon games are far lacking compared to other JRPGs, but pokemon games were never the type to sell based on plot, or graphics, characters, or anything like that. it's always been about the creatures themselves and battling/trading/interaction, for better or for worse.

 

[Megan]

I agree that on a superficial level the games have remained the same. You still get gyms and you still get evil teams and rivals. Those were part of the core mechanics in gen 1 and they still are in gen 8.

However, in regards to major changes the franchise had multiple big leaps that changed how the games are to be played. The first major one being gen 3 which not only turned the player driven adventure story with a semi open world into a linear jRPG-like story driven spectacle with legendaries going on a rampage and what not. Its also that point when GF decided to change the drading mechanic from backwards- to forwards compatible meaning generation prior would not be able to receive Pokemon from the future.
The second major leap was gen 6 which not only changed the way how you look at the game (quite literally) by turning the 2/2.5D appearance into a fully realised 3D environment; but it's also the major turning point for accesibility. Though the games have always been fairly easy to get into, in gen 6 they actually started removing more and more of the "complicated" elementes in favor for more streamlined replacements. Now, its your call if you want to consider this good or bad. Gen 7 then went one step further by removing HMs which had been a core mechanic ever since inception.
The current generation itself brought something completely new (though, cynic people will call it old and outdated). It's the first time ever a main series game got a home console release. But not only that: they even abandonded the tried and true third installment and instead focused on DLC "episoded" that continue the game you already own. You can literally go through the main story, do some postgame stuff, then put the game away and a couple months later pick it back up, get the DLC and continue the new story/exploration elements with your old team. No new game required, no need to transfer stuff to a new game, it's all there, right where you left off.

I could probably make a case for both sides (it's good/it's bad), I could also go full out genwunner mode. However, the truth is that it would most likely even out somewhere between good or bad. Compared to the old Pokemon ways it's different today and that's all I can really judge it for. Time and people's patience will tell, where the games are heading.